Atomic ranch living room system

I wanted to begin posting some impressions of my entire system now that I have finally gotten it to an iteration that I can imagine living with for a very, very long time. I'll probably post a little something about each component and what I've learned by listening to it over time. So stay tuned for updates in the coming days. First, the speakers:

I've had to do some careful matching to get these Tektons to really work for me. They are crisp and lively, but verged on being harsh (and were harsh with hot recording and bad recordings) in my space--especially in the beginning when I had no window treatments or rugs. They were paired with a Brio-R for quite some time, which is known to boogie, but I always felt this pairing was missing something. But every now and then, like when I'd throw on a record, something like Art Blakey's Moanin', I heard something special. This combo just got his drums right--it could represent the pace and drive just so. I played around a with positioning, toe-in, and rake quite a bit to see if it could help with the treble harshness, as well as the imaging and soundstage, but ultimately knew I needed to change the speakers or amp. A few things about the soundstage and imaging of these speakers: in my space these have always imaged well, but the soundstage has never been that wide or deep. I can get some added depth if I moved my listening position up, but I really am limited if I want to make sure there is a truly easy path through my living area. I've settled on having the speakers 7.5' apart (tweeter to tweeter) and 11.5' from listening position (each ear to tweeter). The speakers' front baffles are 2.5' ft from the wall/blinds behind it. I have no idea how far they are from side walls. If I could move my sofa up just 6" it would make a pretty big improvement on soundstage depth and width. I've tried pushing the speakers more forward when listening but I don't gain anything. I need to get my ears away from the wall behind me to make the biggest difference--but I have to compromise when my listening space is a common living area and there's no way I could live with a path in front of the speakers that I'd have to traverse sideways. The Tektons with the LM-211 pushed the soundstage farther forward and wider. I could really hear a much better representation of space and air. An improvement I was not expecting was a larger listening sweet spot. Honestly, it was a bit of a shock when I hooked everything up. The harshness was also gone, but I'd lost some of the liveliness and speed that I was used to with the Brio-R. I'll say more when I talk about the integrated amp itself, but even with what was lost I knew I was hearing something I could live with long term.

More to come...
 
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soul-Nice write up, just don't be quick to throw the Tektons out without maybe doing some fine tuning, maybe some tube rolling or even dare I say it, experiment a little with some cabling. Either one can be a rabbit hole of course, all depends on how one feels about those things. When I read about your LM integrated, I thought that you were headed in the right direction, seems like a good thing in my mind. Taking nothing at all away from the Rega Brio, it is a cracker of an amplifier too.

As to the Devores, I was headed down that path myself and came very close to buying a set of the Orangutan O93's and Well Temepered Labs Amadeus turntable to use with my Croft Acoustics tube amps, but kind of put the brakes on and decided to listen to some other systems. That led me to where I am now. I could have lived with either system though, even though there are some fundamental differences in the two systems.

The main thing, have fun as you go along, enjoy the music no matter what! You have a very nice setup in a fantastic space from what it appears to me!
 
soul-by the way, did Geoff have the German line Octave tube amplifiers when you went to listen at his place? That is another brand that is very good too, obviously you have your LM now and that is great too. I was just curious if he had mentioned it. I do not think they have had that line all that long however.
 
TimF said:
soul-by the way, did Geoff have the German line Octave tube amplifiers when you went to listen at his place? That is another brand that is very good too, obviously you have your LM now and that is great too. I was just curious if he had mentioned it. I do not think they have had that line all that long however.
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Not sure that he did at the time. As I recall, we were talking about Carver and BAT amps at price points of around 5K. I don't think Octave came up, but I can't remember clearly because we were at the upper limit of what I could (at the time) ever reasonably think of paying for a piece of gear.

TimF said:
soul-Nice write up, just don't be quick to throw the Tektons out without maybe doing some fine tuning, maybe some tube rolling or even dare I say it, experiment a little with some cabling. Either one can be a rabbit hole of course, all depends on how one feels about those things. When I read about your LM integrated, I thought that you were headed in the right direction, seems like a good thing in my mind. Taking nothing at all away from the Rega Brio, it is a cracker of an amplifier too.

As to the Devores, I was headed down that path myself and came very close to buying a set of the Orangutan O93's and Well Temepered Labs Amadeus turntable to use with my Croft Acoustics tube amps, but kind of put the brakes on and decided to listen to some other systems. That led me to where I am now. I could have lived with either system though, even though there are some fundamental differences in the two systems.

The main thing, have fun as you go along, enjoy the music no matter what! You have a very nice setup in a fantastic space from what it appears to me!
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I have very much been enjoying the music--much more so now with the LM. It really is fun to hear the differences between gear, learning the strengths and limits all while listening to music I enjoy. Honestly, the trip to Charlie's is just to hear other systems and think about what an upgrade path might mean. I don't get to hear many systems--some friends have some vintage gear and entry level stuff--and I like the idea of Charlie's setups being in actual rooms.
 
Charlie certainly is a great visit for sure, it just gives you another perspective on things. He is a good guy, I think he can be rather biased of course towards his own gear and what makes a system “musical”, but that is pretty normal. I enjoyed my time there. It helps if you have ideas of what you might like to listen to, that way he can have things ready and warmed up for you, he is very accommodating. I think the key word too is system, if you listen to wholistic approach, I think that helps to steer you without side steps etc. That is my approach/thought, but many ways to Audio nirvana for sure! Have fun!

Again, it might also open that Pandora’s box, hah, but it is all good! Take care, Tim
 
Some speaker pics before I move on to my impressions of the LM-211ia with the speakers:

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Eminence driver and SEAS soft dome tweeter

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Pretty nice binding posts at this price point

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I've swapped out the stock spikes with brass spikes and really long set screws, locking nuts designed for camera hot shoe mounts, and brass floor discs inside Magic Gliders.
 
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On to the LM-211ia and its pairing with the Tektons..

As mentioned earlier, though the Brio-R and Tekton pairing could sound fantastic, I knew I had to swap one of them to get a smoother, fuller sound than I was getting. My research led me to tubes and the hunt for a tube integrated was on. I actually tried two APPJ Miniwatts--the older 4 tube and newer 3 tube--to get an idea of "tube sound" and to see if a low wattage amp would really work with the Tektons in my space. The results of those two amps in my system revealed that 3.5 watts might be enough--I was uncertain because they could get me the volume needed, but dynamics and coherency really dropped off when pushed. Those two amps also made me realize how many inputs I really needed and how much I valued the ability to use a remote with a mute button because these little amps had neither. The Line Magnetic LM-211ia seemed to tick all the boxes for me. I did consider several other amps, but no need to talk about what I decided against.

In stock form, hooked up to the Tekton via a Schiit Magni and Rega RP6/Exact 2, the sound was smooth and slightly rich (or bloomy, if you prefer) in triode mode. It sounded very, very good but perhaps a bit slow. Soundstage depth and width were greatly improved in comparison to the Brio-R. And the bass! Oh the bass! The texture of a double bass, bass guitar, and even 808 bass drums was coming through like I didn't even think possible with these little speakers. They can't dig all the way down to depths of hip hop bass, but I didn't feel like I was missing out anymore. Bass control improved when I ran the amp in ultralinear mode, but sense of warmth and space diminished--I liked being able to switch between modes depending on genre of music and mood. Anyway, I knew this pairing had a chance to be special.

The missing speed and energy, I thought, might be found through tube swaps and an improvement in phono stage. Unexpectedly, Charlie--the dealer I bought the amp from--sent me a set of new production Tung-Sol El34b tubes to make up for a little mishap and I was happy to swap them into the amp. Bass extension and control seemed to improved in both modes, midrange clarity improved. I then rolled new production Gold Lion 12ax7 tubes and, as noted earlier in this thread, they sounded clear and clean, but maybe were a bit dry for my tastes--not harsh, but definitely not as mellow as the stock tubes. The stock tubes seemed to smooth out the harshness of bad recordings. Well, after many more hours, the tubes and my ears settled in and adjusted, this tube combo in triode mode produced the best sound I'd ever heard out of the Tektons. I mention triode mode because some note that these switchable mode amps usually sound best run in ultralinear. I think it really is dependent on the music you listen to, the speakers they are paired with, the room, the tubes, etc, etc. The sound I heard was more detailed but not harsh and full but not quite as rich as with the stock tubes. In ultralinear it veered toward dry and just sounded more analytical--some might prefer this, I did not.

At this point I was already on the waitlist for a Tavish Vintage phono stage and was eagerly awaiting what a tubed phono preamp would sound like in my system. But for now, a couple of amp pictures:

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I figured I'd talk about the rest of my system in one section because I don't have so much to say about each of them. So this post covers the Rega RP6/Exact 2, Tavish Vintage phono stage, and Quadraspire Rack. Before the Rega RP6 I was using a Technics 1200 with KAB/Ortofon Pro S30 (I still use this turntable in my office--mostly playing old, used records). I've used the internal phono pre on the Rega Brio-R and also a Schiit Mani phono pre--with the Brio and LM-211. Before the Quadraspire I was using an Ikea besta unit that I configured with some legs.

Rega RP6/Exact 2 with various phono pres and integrated amps: Hooked up to the internal phono pre of the Brio-R the sound was dynamic and punchy. It could have a little too much sizzle for me at times. I played around with VTF and anti-skate, and really worked on getting the table level, but the hot top end and lack of bass energy was something I wanted to alleviate. Hooked up to the Schiit Mani and into the Brio-R line level input, well, midrange was sucked out and still got the hot top end, but smoothed out a little by increased, though flabbier, bass. The Mani hooked up to the LM-211 was more balanced, with more bass extension that was slightly bloated. The Mani is a nice little preamp, but midrange detail was better from the internal of the Brio-R. The Mani also seemed slow in comparison. Top end had less sizzle, but was also less crisp. The Rega RP6/Exact 2 > Mani > LM-211ia > Tektons was an easy system to listen to--it was very musical, though not lively or exciting--a character I'd gotten used to and something I think the Tektons do well.

Subbing the Tavish Vintage in for the Mani made it clear that my phono pre had always been a bottleneck in my system. The Tavish is better in every way than either the Mani or internal of the Brio-R. It is quieter (this surprised me), clearer, and more detailed all while extending better on both ends. I guess this should be the case because it cost 6x as much as the Mani and about as much as the Brio-R. I regret not investing in a better phono preamp earlier. The combo of Exact 2 and Tavish is not overly warm in my system--which was a worry of mine considering I'm also using a tube integrated. Midrange detail retrieval with this combo is exceptional to my ears. It's not as lively as Brio-R, but this combo can boogie and is a bit more natural sounding. Soundstage depth, something my system had really, really lacked improved significantly. It's still not great, but it's livable and just might be a limitation of my lived-in, untreated room.

Quadraspire Q4 EVO with SVT columns: This actually improved my system because it allowed the left speaker to breathe. The Ikea unit had a sidewall and acted like a corner. Imaging greatly improved and is much more stable. The left side was always out of balance and I could never get it to fully disappear because I couldn't pull the speaker far enough away. Clarity also improved. My guess is the Ikea unit was vibrating and was impacting record playback in some way. The Q4 seems to manage this better. Is it the open rack? The bamboo? I don't know. I know that there is an improvement and it is not subtle. Could this have been achieved with something cheaper? Something like the Salamander? Probably, but I liked how the Q4 looked.

So that's my system wrap. I'll probably experiment with more tube rolling in the LM-211ia and maybe some cables. But I am very happy with what I'm hearing. I don't think I'll be posting much more in this thread.
 
Just noting a minor addition for my own records. Picked up a Sony Playstation (SCPH-1001) from a buddy who happened to have a couple laying around. I'm using it to play cd's that I have not yet ripped to my library. It sounds good, though rolled off on both ends. Streaming Tidal via Roon to a Chromecast Audio hooked up to a Schitt Modi Multibit sounds better--more depth and more resolving. No complaints with the little PS1 though. I've also tried tube rolling various new productions small tubes on the LM-211ia and have settled on the Gold Lion 12ax7 and Tung Sol 12au7. NOS tube rolling will happen at some point. No pics of the PS1 in system yet, but here's a pano to add to the pics in the thread so far.

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I thought I'd just keep this thread going. Maybe I'll start a new one when we find our own house and it's not a ranch. Anyway, here are some pictures of how it's set up now with all the furnishings. It's sounding pretty nice in here, maybe a tad more focused and warm than the old spot. Soundstage depth has increased in comparison to the old space since the sofa is now off the back wall.

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Just noting some small system updates for myself: Gold Lion KT77 tubes and Groovetracer Reference subplatter for the RP6. They both made small improvements to the sound. Notably, the subplatter dropped the noise floor. Thought I'd just be in this space for a year, but the pandemic changed those plans.
 
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