General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ General Asylum ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

New Here..My System

Posted by rvb100@comcast.net (A) on March 31, 2021 at 17:49:02

Posted by rvb100@comcast.net (A) on March 31, 2021 at 17:43:57
Loving the banter over here....Was out of the world of HiFi for last 15 yuears or so. Although I made my living for 40 years selling the stuff. I was convinced that after many years of Rock n Roll. Motorcycles, Firearms....my hearing would not appreciate anything approaching a good system. I visited a good friend that just built a system costing north of $250,000.....I was totally blown away. Although I have zero hearing above about 15K. I easily could hear quality of stage, air around instruments, depth of field....I was hooked again.

Duig out my mothballed Cambridge Audio Azur 840, Cambridge Audio DVD/CD-89 and KEF 103.2 speakers....Sounded great, but not good enough.

My friends system was all tubes....I wanted tubes.

But I wanted to see how good I could build a system for absolutely minimum expenditure.

First I bought a DOUK TwoTube preamplifier for a whooping $109....Then an Emotiva BASX 100 amp ($229)....using my KEF 103.2 speakers. Much better than the CA, but not there yet.

The Emotiva was retuned and I bought a Bob Latino VTA ST-120 Dynaco Clone kit.($1200) Built it in two nights and it is simply magnificient. The difference between it and the Emotiva was "like Night and Day"....Huge difference. The Emotiva sounded like a good car stereo....The VTA sounds like, well, perfect!

But still not there....I thought maybe the $109 Preamp was holding the vocals back. The vocals were thin and a bit receding.

Bought a used Schiit Saga ($270) and it came with a bunch of tubes to roll. Honestly, not much of a difference over the DOUK. In fact, because the DOUK has bass and treble controls I could "fix" the room a little bit and it sounded better than the Saga.

So I added a Schiit Loki EQ to the Saga ($149)....BINGO! Not we are getting somewhere.

But I wanted to try other speakers

Always was a fan of B&W DM601 with a subwoofer....Found a set of DM601 ($150) and a B&W Subwoofer ($200).....FANTASTIC! Fits the room and spouse acceptance factor!

And to just see what all the hype was about I bought a set of ELAN 2.0/6.2 speakers on sale for $229.....Amazing speaker for the price. Compared to the B&W DM601 WITHOUT the subwoofer, they are actually better....

But then it happened, like new Magnapan MMGs, 30 minutes away for $490....You must own a Corvette, a Porsche and Magnapans once in your life before you die!

Holy Schiit! Are they amazing with the subwoofer and the VTA amplifier! I listen to this system and it nearly brings me to tears.

During all this I was using a Andover Songbird streamer ($129)...Great sound and sold me on streaming....But I lucked into a Bluesound Node2i for $179!....More bettah! Love this whole streaming thing...Qobuz and Amazon HD are my sources.....The B&O RX turntable and all the records are in the closet.....

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it....Love the end result.

And my goal of INEXPENSIVE....$2339.00.....I think I nailed it!
Roy Bertalotto
South of Boston
Sound Artist SA200ia
Buchardt i150
VTA ST120 Dynaco Clone
Magnepan LRS
Schiit Loki
Bluesound Node2i
KEF LS50 Meta
Too Many Others

• More pictures and a few videos here   (Open in New Window)

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

VH Audio

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---