Post photos of your systems/rooms here! (Part 15)

Family room system is being massively updated. I'll still use the megaclassic Grundig console as the stand, and it will still have the baby-proofing. However, the Marantz SR-7500 receiver (that I got on Craigslist for $50) will be replaced with a Pioneer Elite VSX-72TSV (that I just got for $150 from someone on Facebook Marketplace), and the 32" TV sitting on the receiver has been replaced with a 55" TV on the wall. It will be some time before I post photos though. Sorry. We're remodeling the kitchen also so there's that. VERY SOON our 15 year old Formica will be replaced with brand new beautiful granite.

 

...lookin' forward to seein' that setup!

 

Not nearly as much as I am.

 

The musical notes on your wall did they come with the gold on them or did you paint them. I have the same one in my listing room.

 

never had tubes before either until about 4 years ago when i bought a tube phono preamp just to see what was what. it sounded so good that i knew after a few weeks that i had to have a tube amplifier so that all of my sources were amplified by a tube based system.
the first thing i noticed was a clarity that was not there before, a transparency yet with a smoothness that made things sound non-fatiguing compared to my solid state phono preamp. but by far the thing that i liked the most was the size of the music. the musical "window" became much larger- taller, wider, deeper but without losing focus and imaging. when i looked at my wall while music was playing it filled it up completely- all the way to the ceiling and wider than the placement of the speakers.
i noticed more of the above when i got my first tube based integrated amplifier. it sounded incredible in all the ways described above- transparency, smoothness, huge sound stage window.
after a few months i swapped in my solid state amp and everything collapsed into a narrow horizontal "band" of music about ear level high but only a few feet tall- same speakers. it also sounded veiled and slightly edgy by comparison.
i find it hard to imagine i would ever have a system that did not include tubes (at least) at the linestage level.

 

I've tried going back to solid state, and while SS does have its relative strengths I've always gone back to the tubes.

 

So I guess you would know where all the skeletons are buried!

 

Of archival interest pretty much now. I'm downsizing but this has been our system for the past 15-18 years. Once I've sold all of this, we'll making a complete changeover to high resolution digital audio and headphones. Wow is that going to be a paradigm change for us!

 

The Musical Notes are as-purchased.

They are by Curtis Jere.

I bought them second-hand in the late 1990s.

I think they may have been made in the late 1980s.



Curtis Jere:
C. Jeré - Wikipedia

 

Lovely!
Big change indeed!
Good luck with the transition.

 

Before I restored this home, everybody told me it had good bones.

 

Thanks. Yes it is, I used to collect quite a bit of b&o stuff. Really love the design and the way it all works together. Also, I appreciate the fact that they allways were ahead of their game pretty much until the nineties, very innovating at times.

 

i'd love to hear more about why you're taking such a different direction and what you're thinking about getting

 

Possibly downsizing and or retiring, like me. I was thinking about selling all my records and CDs and going all digital, but my best friend's boys would get a kick out of inheriting them (I doubt my young grand sons would have any interest).

 

My wife and I have retired and we're ready to stop maintaining a house. We've decided that, while we're still active, now is the time to move into a much smaller residence. There simply will not be space for 7,000 records and this equipment that is built around playing them as well as we can accomplish. So, all of my records are now sold except for 100 premium LPs that I will be selling on Discogs.

We could certainly find speakers and amps that would fit a much smaller residence. But, the smaller residence likely means an apartment and we don't want to be the folks about whom others complain about hearing their music playing. Thus the headphones direction. And this is a challenging transition because I've greatly valued the recreation of the soundstage in playback. Not just laterally, but in depth. I'll have to establish different sonic priorities to tickle my fancy with headphones. (Anyone looking for a lovely pair of classic Avalon Eidolons?)

So, I'm on a journey of new exploration in which I'm learning that there is musical live after vinyl after all! A whole new world to explore.

 

While I never in this life will have a system like that, I doubt I could get rid of it if I did!

 

It's been a hard thing to do, that is for sure. But, life is ever changing and I intend to be around for a while yet moving with the flow!

 

Very cool and congratulations. I bet that will be liberating.

You could always pick up a pair of wireless KEF LS50's or the new KEF LSX's to scratch the speaker itch here and there. Going all digital makes that an easy choice.

 

Hmmm, I see I will have to get a new avatar sometime. ;-)

 

My wife and I decided on matching Stax SR-009S headphones with tube electrostatic headphone amp. The combination just punched all of our audio-nerd buttons. Should have them sometime in December once the amp gets built.

 

I know Y'all got some more photos of your systems/rooms here!

 

I want that TV!

 

Understood. I expect to make that transition eventually. I just wish that I could reach that level of gear before transitioning. Well done.

I foresee myself ending up with a bluetooth system/headphones and an expanded music server. Although that may include an upgraded vehicle system (boat) where I can jam out on the lake during the day in my own space in the middle of no one. haha.

 

Here’s a pic from my living room. I’m running Audio Note speakers with a 2w 45tube power amp.

 

Thank you. I’ve also finally gotten around to installing my Linn Ekos II tonearm, Linn Troika cart (rebuilt by David Giffin of Goldring UK) and Audio Note AN-S2 SUT. Now it’s a real LP12. Leaps and bounds ahead of the Linn Basik + Ortofon 2M Red that came with the table.