Best hardware acquisition of 2017

I'm a big Denon MC fan.....run a DL301MKII now but am very happy to add this.

Chap purchased a few when they were being discontinued and now is getting out of vinyl.
He mounted this....spun a few sides to confirm all was well and put everything back in the box.
....maybe 15 hours on it

 

I found a pair of KEF IQ50s at the Salvation Army yesterday for $50.00. They sound great very detailed.
I found a Denon AV receiver Friday for $19.99 an AVR-2808CI that is HDMI and has a phono pre-amp. Made in Japan.

The Kefs are the best score of the year. I did find a Hafler power amp in April.

 

Interesting, why the EMM over the DCS.

Claus, how about some pics?

 

Made a big purchase earlier this year buying the Graham Audio LS 5/9,
For Christmas my wonderful wife bought me a pair og AKG K712 Pro that will coexist with their older brother K701
For 2018 I will be looking for a new amp to drive my LS 5/9.
My shortlist is
Accuphase e-570
Luxman L590axII
Or the Norma IPA-140, where I would need a external headphone amp!

To everyone that likes to visit this forum, a big thanks from me and a wonderful 2018

 

Focal Utopia headphones and McIntosh MHA150 Headphone Amplifier/DAC.

 

Looking at your setup, that m6si is a beast of an amp.......I think you will greatly benefit from the Oval 10 rather than the little bro. I demo the m5 for a few weeks and liked the sound a lot. It was big, maybe too big for my liking, I wanted more resolution and dynamics. The Halo easily gives me that....Plus hard to beat all the options the Halo has.
I think you would be well in doing what you can to get the Oval 10, or something similar..........

Cheers

 

Replaced a Grado P-Mount cartridge with a "New Old Stock" Audio Technica cartridge (AT450, nude elliptical stylus).

Very pleased with the results.

 

I recently retired and downsized from a home with audio and video setups in separate rooms to a house with a single living area. I scrapped a collection of mediocre equipemnt (consumer sony receivers, cambridge audio 5.1 speakers, ancient yamaha steroe speakers) for a KEF LS50 Wireless powered speaker setup. I read numerous reviews, admired the system level design philosophy and apparent value for money, and felt it would be a good long term choice. I should be good until a later generation has software to utilize room profiles for equalization with the dsp. The listening room is somewhat problematic; I'm still experimenting with positioning of equipment, but listening at the sweet spot is considerably improved.

I consider myself a recovering audiophile. After a frustrating 25+ years of vinyl collecting (1965-1987) and low-budget audiophilia, I started transitioning to digital. I have needle drops of select vinyl, but at this point don't even own a turntable. I'm still a hard core music collector, and find this site invaluable for identifying the best mastering available, but at this point I'm far more about enjoying the music with decent sound than chasing endlessly after hardware nirvana.

 

I just picked up one of these little guys just yesterday. I was looking for a nice DAC/Headphone amp for the office and I'm a fan of pro-ject stuff.... This thing is very versatile, although the headphone stage is a bit underpowered. Works fine with The Nighthawks.

• Dual mono construction

• High end ESS Sabre ESS9038 dual DAC

• Proprietary clock circuity design

• Organic polymer capacitors and thin film miniMELF resistors

• MQA hardware decoding

• DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 & DSD512 (DSD over PCM)

• Up to 24bit/192kHz for optical & coax inputs

• 7 selectable digital filter characteristics

• 1 proprietary optimum transient digital filter

• Headphone output on the front (6.3mm)

• Synchronization of all internal oscillators

• Jitter as low as 100 Femtoseconds!

• Gold plated four layer PCB

• Full alu/metal sandwich casing in silver or black

 

Without a doubt it's Sweet Vinyl's Sugarcube SC-2


The SugarCube SC-2 Is Here At Last...Clicks & Pops R.I.P.


Second is the all tube Lector CDP 0.6t, fabulous sound

 

I demoed that amp...very nice, just could not go for the tag. Ended up with a Feliks Elise and I am enjoying it.

 

I've been fortunate to have acquired a new Modwright LS-100 Linestage Preamp this past year, along with an OPPO-203 and a PS Audio NuWave DSD DAC.

The OPPO and the NuWave DAC have certainly upped my Digital enjoyment, but the LS-100 has had the biggest impact on the System as a whole.

IMG_1931.JPG

 

I replaced my entire Naim system with the more affordable pre/100w monoblocks from Exposure (3010S2), and they sound sublime, with the DAC and Cyrus CD transport among other sources.

 

My My biggest upgrade this year was going from a VPI Classic 2 to a Prime Signature. Night and day. Both are great tables but the Prime Signature brings everything to a new level.

Second would be a Simaudio Moon 280D DAC with MiND. I bought it to smooth the top end brightness of my OPPO 105 that always caused me to have listening fatigue for any longer listening sessions. It improved the OPPO more than I had hoped. However the MiND software is so amazing I find myself almost only streaming when I am not spinning vinyl.

My last would be a Christmas surprise. My wife had a custom isolation platform made for my new table. I have not done any extended listening but it sure is more aesthetically pleasing than the maple block I was using.

 

I was fortunate enough to have some money come my way and that was how I was able to treat myself. A once in a lifetime opportunity to be honest.

 

USB measurement microphone

 

A mint vintage Kenwood KR_6050 receiver for $160.00!

 

What a lovely gift and gesture on her part!!!
Looks great!

 

Stax finally got rid of their poor service U.S. importer and dealers now deal directly with Stax in China. Very good service and very good prices. So I broke down and got the L700's and 353X amp I've wanted for years.

 

Purchased a set of Sennheiser HD660S headphones and retired my 600's.

 

Sold my B&W 800D2 and went to a set of Daedalus Orpheus.

My second favorite move was going from a VPI Avenger to Artisan Fidelity 301.

 

My whole set up was acquired this year, but my favorite item so far are my SVS Ultra Bookshelf speakers and SVS S-2000 sub.. amazing for my dedicated 2 channel listening room..

 

Do you like the 660's more than the 600's?

 

Yes, significantly. Better detail, better bass, smoother frequency response overall. They also pair well with my Pono balanced at 150ohms. It could never push the 600's to my satisfaction, even balanced.

I'm pretty much a "no EQ" listener and I find the 660's to be very neutral overall.

 

My OPPO player. Should have invested in one years ago. Really, it's about the only highlight of last year.