Current setup 20 Nov 2011

As of tonight...

CAL Delta CD transport
Nuforce DAC 9
Adcom GFP-750 preamplifier
Channel Islands Audio D-100 power amplifiers
Polk Audio LSi-15 loudspeakers

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"Current arrangement..."

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hear through

i am beginning to hear things and more.....

but i cant pinpoint the source....

is it because of the

a. DAC improving with time

b. new diffusor panels on the ceiling

c. Acrolink D5000 XLR cables

d. new arrangement of 3 shunmook mpingo discs on the CD transport

even though i can nail it down, i am fine.....

and i am not complaining since everything sounds cool and good.....

one change.....

remember there's no more shunyata hydra? ... so there's one empty shelf on the left..... as the oyaide power outlet faces up, it's more convenient to let it sit on the floor..... anyway there are floor spikes for the mtb-6, so there's no issue with a floor placement.....

to make things neater the glass shelves adjacent of the loudspeaker on the left had been removed..... which led to a small but perceptible improvement to the soundstage.... maybe less diffraction i dunno....

the system still sounds very good..... so i am satisfied.......

cheers

back to basics

i've been telling myself to find that little bit of time to listen to music.......

in recent months i was so tired out after work and on many occasions, i would fall asleep on the sofa and couch while watching tv.... that was how hopeless i became..... haha

on monday i said i would..... and today i must do it.....

AHHHH it sure feels so good to go the room and fire up the system.... YEAH CRANK IT UP..!!....

and i can sense this feeling .... as if i am back to embrace my CAL delta tranport, MSB DAC, adcom pre-amp, CIA power amp and polk audio speakers........ OH what a reunion we are having right now haha.....

i feel so glad i did what i have been wanting to do......

and if you have been messing around with hifi and audio stuff for many years, you surely have seen and heard of the ebony wood pieces in the picture....

HA..... did it bring back any fond memories...???? especially places like hifi corner at the adelphi and people like joe lee...???

intro: my audio system

1st day of june.....

suddenly realised that it's almost at the mid-point of the year.....so fast huh, seems like jan and feb was just days ago.....time really flies, time and tide wait for no man......gone means gone ......

grow older day by day, week by week and then finally year by year......my birthday month was may, and it's oredi over in a flash....

ok lah back to the topic......this morning quite straightforward.....just list the various components i am currently using.......can refer to the pics in the link....

http://www.audiocircle.com/gallery/index.php?cat=48747

source:

california audio labs delta cd transport......

i like this shoebox-sized transport very much.... it's affordable and sounds great..... comes with S/PDIF, Toslink and AES/EBU digital outputs....... during its production years, it used to sell at about S$1500.......

the original piece developed a problem after years of loyal service and also could not read cd-r discs properly...... approached the dealer and was offered a mint display set for a small change....... it's still in service today haha...... great work cal.... too bad they are not around anymore....

msb link iii full nelson and p1000 power supply........

before this dac, i was using an audionote dac1, a simple but pretty good dac with a tubed output stage...... the AN used 2 sovtek 6922 triodes..... and way before that, was using audio alchemy dde....... haha, can anyone remember that classic???..... small in size but had big sound, big reputation and relatively small-price....

pre-amp:

adcom gfp-750

this classic preamp was designed by nelson pass for adcom....... i think at first not many people paid attention to it until it was reviewed and awarded a class A rating by stereophile..... overnight it gained a BIG reputation and it was also the cheapest preamp to get that rating back then...

well other than the hype, i must say it's really difficult to identify the sonic characteristics of this active/passive (user selectable) preamp..... it just sounded like nothing at all....... compared to a straight wire passive attenuator, there could be just that tiny weeny bit of transparency lost....... very very minor.... negligible especially if u need the gain.....

again it's out of production......

power amp:

channel islands audio d100 mono block:

100 watts per channel at 8 ohms..... hypex-based class d analogue switching amp...... each one smaller than a loaf of gardenia bread.......... while i could try to attempt to convey how good the amps are in words, i dun think i can do a better job than wes phillips of www.stereophile.com

so pls check out his review......

loudspeakers:

polkaudio LSi-15

3 and 1/2 way 4-driver floorstanding loudspeaker......... this is another major steal ..... at the display set price, it's almost foolish to ignore this pair of loudspeaker..... even if the dealer were to order a brand new pair, it's still worth every penny.....

well at the risk of being accused of believing too much in reviews..... i suggest you read what wes phillips has to say about the LSi-15 at http://www.onhifi.com/product/polk_lsi15.htm .......

other items:

pls visit http://www.audiocircle.com/systems/index.php?systemid=592