pete_mac Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 Am I seeing some non-black faced stuff there?? Not the Pete I know! Shock horror!!! I do have a set of black faceplates for the DAC and PSU, but I quite like the silver ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mac Posted June 29, 2016 Author Share Posted June 29, 2016 School holidays, annual leave, a block of dark chocolate, a glass (or three) of red grape juice, a late night and some fine tunes. Stress be gone! It could be the red wine talking, but the recent addition of an UpTone Regen with SBooster linear PSU and Curious USB Regen Link cable has further enhanced the smoothness and clarity of my digital rig. Very noice!! The trio of Sansui Alphas on hand are also just brilliant. This Sansui fanboi is incredibly spoiled for choice at the moment. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 You talk of regen and all that digital gimmicks but the pic shows the table spinning gracefully. Pete you're vinyl polluted already Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A J Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 looking good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 What's with that silver...thing, in the place of the 222 Mkll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 Otherwise, looking good, Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mac Posted June 29, 2016 Author Share Posted June 29, 2016 (edited) What's with that silver...thing, in the place of the 222 Mkll Hehehe... my first major concession to the 'silver side' of the force! She's a lovely turntable though. The overhauled and Cardas re-wired SME tonearm works beautifully and the combination of the Nagaoka headshell, DL110 cart and complete re-wiring from cart to RCAs makes beautiful music. Edited June 29, 2016 by pete_mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 Technics.....not even Sansui.....blasphemy at chez McKenna! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mac Posted June 29, 2016 Author Share Posted June 29, 2016 You talk of regen and all that digital gimmicks but the pic shows the table spinning gracefully. Pete you're vinyl polluted already Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk It's the first time I've played a record in over a month. It is reserved for special occasions (ie. the rare instance that I'm alone and uninterrupted ) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mac Posted June 30, 2016 Author Share Posted June 30, 2016 Technics.....not even Sansui.....blasphemy at chez McKenna! Hehehe! The previous Sansui SR-222 Mk2 was a great belt-drive. It now lives at Casa Del Skippy (the spiritual home of Sansui in Sydney). The Technics has some history behind it. It belonged to a friend's grandfather who I was quite friendly with. He was an old tech and the turntable was non-functional when I received it after he passed away, and the tonearm was damaged and in pieces. Restoring it was a privilege and I can't see it going anywhere. The Technics brand also links to my old DJing days with a pair of SL1200mk2s, so it's appropriate that there's a Technics deck in my system. That said... a lovely SR-838 or 929 would be tempting! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 It's the first time I've played a record in over a month. It is reserved for special occasions (ie. the rare instance that I'm alone and uninterrupted ) this is (partly) why i've decided a big no to kids in me life 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 (edited) @@pete_mac Pete, has the 222 Mkll been rewired? I found that the original hard wired signal leads on my 838 held the table back in sound quality, just a thought, might improve things for John with it if not already done. Maybe it had RCA sockets and was not hard wired? Edit: possibly that 110 is better matched with the SME anyway Edited June 30, 2016 by Muon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mac Posted June 30, 2016 Author Share Posted June 30, 2016 (edited) @@pete_mac Pete, has the 222 Mkll been rewired? I found that the original hard wired signal leads on my 838 held the table back in sound quality, just a thought, might improve things for John with it if not already done. Maybe it had RCA sockets and was not hard wired? Edit: possibly that 110 is better matched with the SME anyway No, I didn't do any work on the SR-222mk2 at all. I do have 50cm of spare Cardas tonearm wire though, so I may look at doing this in future. It also has the original signal leads from the tonearm base to RCA jacks. I might look at replacing it with some Van Damme cable and Aurealis Star RCAs like the SME arm. I'm lucky that my SME arm isn't the later 'improved' model with the lighter tonearm assembly which apparently doesn't work as well with the DL-110 and similar Denon carts. The earlier SME is better in this regard. I found the Denon to work beautifully with OEM Technics tonearms, as well as the factory Sansui item. Edited June 30, 2016 by pete_mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 Tis a nice arm indeed That's what I used for leads off Geoff, except ETI plugs.... was a sound upgrade for this table. Love ya' sertup even if it does have a splash of silver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclemack Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 There's something very special about the look of the SME arm... Such a well engineered, timeless arm. Cheers M 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mac Posted November 10, 2018 Author Share Posted November 10, 2018 (edited) It's been a while since I've updated this thread! Over two years of relatively little change, apart from using a restored and enhanced Sansui AU-X711 as my main amp. However, a few recent changes have occurred. I've moved the equipment rack away from the very centre of the rig, and have fitted some temporary cheapy entertainment unit thingies in preparation for a wall-mounted TV (if the pre-Christmas and Boxing Day sales are kind!). I've had to ditch my DIY solid core speaker cables, and are now using some Canare 4S8 star quad cable in 4.5m lenghts. I've also recently changed to a Gieseler Klein III USB DAC which sounds brilliant, and courtesy of @Cafad have a simply sublime AU-alpha907XR performing sterling duty. The speakers remain the Elite Aesthet I Mk II and the interconnects are the brilliant Aurealis R1 Dragon silver/copper litz. Best of all, after the recent changes, my rig has never sounded better. Edited November 10, 2018 by pete_mac 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mac Posted September 11, 2019 Author Share Posted September 11, 2019 (edited) A quick update re: the System La Mac... A Sansui AU-alpha 907MR has usurped the AU-Alpha 907XR for the time being, with freshly recovered side panels. She looks and sounds fantastic! 33kg of Sansui's finest. However, I did notice that this amp exhibited a slight channel imbalance at very low volume levels, which is typical of many analogue pots at the extreme end of their range. To address this, I've made up some -12dB attenuated RCA links for installation between the processor send and return connections on the amp (the short loops at the bottom of the photo, below the lovely Aurealis Dragon silver and copper litz RCAs). These can be switched in or out of circuit by pressing the 'processor' button on the front panel. The RCAs are the great AECO star RCAs with tellurium copper and silver plating, and the cabling is Van Damme. Silver solder was used for extra audiophile cred. The result is that I can wind the volume pot up a bit higher whilst achieving the same dB level via the speakers, and the channel imbalance is eliminated entirely. I'm a very happy camper indeed. Edited September 11, 2019 by pete_mac 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon N' Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 Looking nice there, Pete.............and Silmic's in the Klien, sweet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mac Posted June 29, 2020 Author Share Posted June 29, 2020 (edited) Time for a bit of an update, as the room has been reshuffled, up-spec'd, and made more inviting and comfortable for the rest of the family. I really can't complain - my backside is a direct beneficiary of the new lounge and ottoman! I haven't changed anything on the pure 2 channel front in terms of components. The gear has, however, been relocated to a modified cabinet to accommodate the large and heavy amps and centre speaker. As a result, my Canare 4S8 speaker cables have been halved in length which is a win! The big change to the room is accommodating a TV and associated upgrades to allow my hifi gear to mate with a home theatre setup. Key additions are a TV (Samsung Q75R 75"), a Denon 3312 home theatre receiver, and a lovely Silverline Center Stage centre speaker in birdseye maple which matches the finish of my Elite Aesthet I Mk 2 speakers (thanks to @givita_burl for passing this onto me and your patience!! You are a gentleman and a scholar ) The 3312 acts as a preamp for the left and right speakers, feeding signal to the Sansui AU-alpha 907MR which powers these speakers. The 3312 powers the Silverline Center Stage and also a pair of temporary side/rear speakers which I am experimenting with (Realistic Minimus 7 bricks) and offers plenty of tweakability and sounds pretty decent. I only hooked-up the Silverline speaker quite recently as whilst the left and right speakers did a good job of creating a phantom centre speaker if you sat right in the sweet spot, this didn't suit multiple viewers who were sitting off-centre as the centre image would collapse. I found this incredibly frustrating. The Silverline has massively improved movie and TV viewing and is a pretty decent tonal match for the Aesthet speakers. Alan Yun knows how to design a nice sounding speaker, that's for sure! I'm 100% a convert regarding the benefits of a centre speaker, particularly when sitting relatively close to the TV. Tucked in a corner is a HSU Research STF-2 subwoofer which I sourced from @vagabond as a non-working unit (thanks again mate!). The Class D amp was repaired and fully overhauled and is performing sterling duty with movies. The previous configuration of the room featured numerous large Martini Polymax XHD50 panels to help tame the room acoustics. I've since pulled-back a bit for aesthetic reasons, with some small panels dispersed around the room, including a trio of canvas prints inside oak frames with XHD50 inside. Unfortunately the canvas prints limit the outright effectiveness of these panels, hence the extra bare panels sitting underneath. Wifey doesn't mind as she loves her framed canvas prints, so all is good on that front. Aluminium french cleats made it easy to securely mount the panels given their bulk. Interestingly, I can feel the leather lounge vibrate with vocals at certain frequencies at higher volumes - it's amazing to witness the difference that different types of upholstery can play regarding absorption, reflection, and even resonance! Edited June 29, 2020 by pete_mac 12 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 This is such a beautiful well thought out system and room. Well done Pete. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mac Posted June 30, 2020 Author Share Posted June 30, 2020 On 29/06/2020 at 4:30 PM, Snake said: This is such a beautiful well thought out system and room. Well done Pete. Thanks for the kind words! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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