htm_1968 Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 (edited) OK, there have been big changes here. A year or so ago my system looked like this:There are photos of this system's evolution here and my old system in a shed in Melbourne here. Anyway, we moved house before the UK "summer" and I fancied a change/couldn't be bothered packing up all that gubbins so I decided to sell up and have a complete change of direction. All that is left is a stack of Fraim and the LP12 rig. The Fraim will be sold soon .The current state of play looks like this:The wallpaper and carpet came with the house. It is a bit of a killer, but I've gotten used to it and am leaving it well alone. The mana is a relic of my misspent youth and was intended to be temporary, but I really quite like it now. The LP12 is definitely more at home on the mana rather than the fraim. Footfall is a thing of the past unless I engage in some of my lumbering elephantine dancing. The Gato amp is a huge surprise. It is 250W into8 ohms and class D to boot, but musically is absolutely superb. I intended to move to a Devaliet, but am happy enough for now.An added bonus is that the Gato does not buzz and hum. Some of the Naim boxes were quite noisy to say the least. This LP matches the wallpaper quite well:The Aro is the only remaining bit of Naim kit I own. It has been a huge shift.Streaming is currently provided by a Simple Audio Roomplayer which is under the Radikal. I am waiting for an Auralic Aries to show up. I am told it will be here during the weekwhich will be good as the Simple Audio is not in the league of my old NDS.So I have gone from a multi-box active system to a passive rig with 3 boxes and a record deck. Do I miss the old rig? Yes, but not much really. Did I have lots of money left over? Not really due to reinvestment , largely because of these chaps:Another view:And one more for luck:Art Alnico 8s in walnut. Absolutely the best speakers I have ever owned, by a country mile.As the new place is bigger this is a dedicated listening room. So there is plenty of space for the vinyl to come out of hiding:My CDs are ripped to a Vortexbox and are in storage in various parts of the house. All I need at the moment is some more furniture as it is a bit of a fortress of solitude at the moment, with a single very comfy armchair only. I haven't been able to find a sofa to suit me yet. Edited September 13, 2014 by htm_1968 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankn Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 That is a radical revamp. The speakers look shmik and it's good to see all that vinyl out and about. How do you keep them so nicely vertical, mine always slip about. Looks like a nice evolving system Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htm_1968 Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 That is a radical revamp. The speakers look shmik and it's good to see all that vinyl out and about. How do you keep them so nicely vertical, mine always slip about. Looks like a nice evolving system Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Cheers for the nice comments. The LPs are stored on Ikea Kallax frames. They stay vertical as there are just enough LPs in each cube to fill the cube snugly. There are 13 cubes full of 12" records, 1 of 10" and 2 of 7" singles. None of my classical, jazz or miscellaneous records (soundtracks etc) have been shelved. I suspect there are another 8-10 cubes worth. I need another 2 4x4 Kallax units . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 I like the decor.............but I'm nuts Lovely system! and looks like a nice collection of LPs too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fun-Ghoul Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Damn htm! Gato anything and Art speakers... I'm drooling big-time. Well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elcamry Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 That what you call simplifying . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htm_1968 Posted September 14, 2014 Author Share Posted September 14, 2014 I like the decor.............but I'm nuts Lovely system! and looks like a nice collection of LPs too. I'm not pushed about the decor, but I hate decorating , so it stays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htm_1968 Posted September 14, 2014 Author Share Posted September 14, 2014 Damn htm! Gato anything and Art speakers... I'm drooling big-time. Well done. Cheers! The Gato is an absolutely lovely thing to use, and the ARTS, well..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htm_1968 Posted September 14, 2014 Author Share Posted September 14, 2014 That what you call simplifying . Simple is as simple does . It works for me . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve u Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 (edited) Speakers look beautiful. And the vinyl well..... Congrats on the changes. Cheers Steve Edited September 14, 2014 by steve u 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htm_1968 Posted September 14, 2014 Author Share Posted September 14, 2014 Speakers look beautiful. And the vinyl well..... Congrats on the changes. Cheers Steve Thanks. Realisation that I prefer vinyl over digital whether CD or streaming pushed me to shift the NDS etc. LP is the only way to go for me. Digital is a distant second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew S. Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Thanks for sharing. I love the look of the system. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htm_1968 Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 Thanks for sharing. I love the look of the system. No problem. It is much easier to deal with than the naim setup. I certainly don't miss the mass of interconnect, burndy cables, and power cables behind the naim rig. Eventually, I guess I'll move the mana on, but I'm very pleased for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew S. Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Simple is often a good thing.... Your speakers certainly have my attention...bet they sound de-lic-ious 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holliswhy Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 (edited) My dream system is an LP12 with a Devialet 200. Less boxes means more time for music. Looks like a lovely new system, more about the music Edited September 16, 2014 by holliswhy 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htm_1968 Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 Simple is often a good thing.... Your speakers certainly have my attention...bet they sound de-lic-ious Simple in this case is truely excellent. I spent yesterday digging through some LPs that I hadn't played in years mainly electronic material Leftism by Leftfield (inspired by the Album Club on Hi Fi Wigwam, UFOrb by The Orb and 100th Window by Massive Attack. End result: . I finished with two of my all time favourite LPs, namely Laser Guided Melodies and Pure Phase by Spiritualized with stunning results. The speakers are be-yond de-lic-ious 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htm_1968 Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 My dream system is an LP12 with a Devialet 200. Less boxes means more time for music. Looks like a lovely new system, more about the music The original plan was to go dual mono with a pair of Devialet 200s. The Gato is doing a sufficiently fine job that, despite being really impressed by the pizza-boxes in demo, I'm in no hurry to shell out £10K + my Gato. I'm balanced from the Urika into the Gato, which is significantly better that connecting via phonos (both balanced and phono leads are Linn silvers - nice but not over the top), If I didn't have the Urika, I might have been more inclined to move to the Devialets. The DAC in the Gato is pretty decent too, so streaming is a nice alternative. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob181 Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Love those speakers... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htm_1968 Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 Love those speakers... Get off, they are mine. Get your own! :nana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willco Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Looking Great--and I bet sounding oh so musical -- I got the sense the one thing the system you've assembled has --is Synergy Kudos as it's a tricky correlation to achieve - --also good to see the LP12 on the venerable Manas-- Bikies Ruuuuuuullll!--well they did-ha I never went for the Naim FraIm with the Linn frankly--recall your thread on this a year or two back?-- I made a comment re this Enjoy and Good Listening Willco 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htm_1968 Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 Looking Great--and I bet sounding oh so musical -- I got the sense the one thing the system you've assembled has --is Synergy Kudos as it's a tricky correlation to achieve - --also good to see the LP12 on the venerable Manas-- Bikies Ruuuuuuullll!--well they did-ha I never went for the Naim FraIm with the Linn frankly--recall your thread on this a year or two back?-- I made a comment re this Enjoy and Good Listening Willco The Fraim weighs a lot, and so is no good with a suspended wooden floor as it simply amplifies the footfall effect. On a slab floor the Fraim is superb. The Mana, being relatively light, seems to address this problem with footfall, albeit at the cost of having a bunch of angle iron in the listening room. Lets face it, the Mana is butt ugly . I also have a Mana wall shelf and another sound top but couldn't bring myself to use it. Partly, it is to preserve my magnificent wallpaper for posterity :lol: , but mainly it is because just don't like the look of the thing. I know looks shouldn't matter, but I need to draw the line somewhere . Anyway, the last of the Fraim is up for sale , following which I'll have a bespoke stand made using the proceeds of the sale. Then the mana can go. Nearly there... In late breaking news my Auralic Aries has been delayed (yet again). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htm_1968 Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share Posted October 9, 2014 Still no sign of the Auralic. I am using a Moon MiND 180 renderer in place of the Simple Audio Room Player. Everything looks the same, save for the fact that my Auralic Aries is 3 months overdue :angry: . Cancellation of order beckons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew S. Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 If you are happy with what you have then no need to change eh? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htm_1968 Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 If you are happy with what you have then no need to change eh? Exactly, but the ability to stream spotify, qobuz etc that is built in to the Auralic makes it quite a useful product for relatively little outlay once the Moon is traded in. In fact, there is almost zero extra after the hefty deposit I paid in July for August delivery. First world problems eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willco Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Seen this? W http://www.audiostream.com/content/auralic-aries-0 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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