My Ever-Changing System...

[cube-tube]

I can't believe that I never started a "My System" thread, but have posted it several times in the "Pics of your listening space" thread, so most of you probably already know about it, or at least have seen plenty of pics of it.

Anyway...

I made a few changes to the setup today.

I switched out my amp temporarily with one of my brothers, his Marsh Audio A200s. I reinstalled my Pioneer Elite PD-D6J SACD player, patched into the Bifrost as the Marantz receiver has no more analog inputs. And lastly, I have finally decided to move on and put my beloved NHT 2.9's up for sale, giving the Polk RTi12's back to my brother, and most likely purchasing these Monitor Audio BX6's.

As usual, some pics to go along with the story.

 

[Wes_in_VA]

Very nice. Really clean. I love the cable risers: I use the same in my listening room

 

[cube-tube]

Very nice. Really clean. I love the cable risers: I use the same in my listening room

Thanks! Yeah, those cable risers (old telegraph insulators) cost me roughly 60 bucks shipped for a dozen of them in colors of my choice. Four of the "audiophile grade" ones will run you $75 plus shipping! They're the exact same thing!

 

[SuperLead100]

High end goodness! I imagine it sounds as good as it looks.:thmbsp:

 

[cubdog]

Great looking system. Very classy.

cubdog

 

[PureSilver]

Nice eye candy! I can only imagine how good it sounds and it certainly looks like you, my good sir, know how to appreciate it!

 

[cube-tube]

Thank you, guys!

I hate to say it, but the Marsh amp does in fact look 100 times better than the Odyssey amp. As far as sound differences, I don't know yet as I swapped out the amp and speakers at the same time. I do know that my Odyssey amp is making my brother's Triangle Color towers sound much larger than they are. Those Triangles now have heft and balls being powered by the Odyssey. His Audio Research D130 can't even do that.

As for the Monitor Audio's that I'm using, these things sound gooooood... These BX6's seem to extend down just as much as the Polk's and NHT's, just not as "in your face" as the others. Treble is still crisp, extended and airy, but much smoother, sweeter and refined than the other two, plus the tweeters blend in much better with the midrange. The tweeter and mid-bass drivers sound as one single source, something the Polk's could never do. The midrange is even better with these. And the best part, these BX6's have a vast sound stage, both wide and deep, and extended behind me depending on the recording. Something neither of the other speakers were capable of.

This isn't my first time playing around with Monitor Audio either. Years ago, I had a pair of beautiful RS6's. Unfortunately, they were highly disappointing, at least in the room I had them in, with the equipment upstream of them. They had decent bass and midrange, but the treble would just shred your ears to pieces. Then again, back then, my gear and cables were nothing like they are now. I was using some "magwire" interconnects that some dude on Audiogon made and sold, stock power cables, some home-brew speaker cables, and probably the worst offender, an Adcom GFA-555 MKII.

I didn't have those RS6's long. I bought them in the middle of March 2008, and sold them by the beginning of April. That's how bad they were in my room/system. These BX6's are a million times better. Again, I'm 100% positive the gear and cables and room all have a lot to do with that.

 

[Rome]

Truly a very nice setup!

Rome

 

[lunchbox22]

Those are some serious f-in cables! Very nice system, too! I like that rack too.

 

[cube-tube]

Thanks again, guys!

lunchbox22... Those are the Wireworld Oasis 7 bi-wire cables. I love these cables. They arrived the same time my Odyssey Audio amp arrived. I was hoping the cables would have showed up either before or after the amp did so I could do a comparison to my previous cables. However, since they both showed up on the same day and I was eager to get both installed, I said the heck with it and just installed both at the same time. LOL

Not a very smart move if I were a reviewer. Haha

 

[Danddd]

Very nice set up.

Some speakers just don't sound good with certain amps. My McCormack DNA 0.5 is a little bright. Great for my current speakers. When I set up my Focal 807Ws on the Mac, they were too bright to listen to. On the Sonic Frontiers SFS 40 tube amp, they sound outstanding.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SPL db]

Still love that center channel speaker, tried to find some information on it but couldn't locate any.

I like the insulator idea, very nice! :yes: :thmbsp:

 

[cube-tube]

Still love that center channel speaker, tried to find some information on it but couldn't locate any.

I like the insulator idea, very nice! :yes: :thmbsp:

If you do a Google search for "AV123 X-Voce", you'll find several links to reviews and such of the X-Statik and X-Voce. They both have the same exact specs, and even though the bass drivers are in separate enclosures on the X-Voce, they still utilize the same amount of airspace if combined.

The quick and dirty...

90dB @ 1w/1m
65Hz - 20kHz
Mids and tweeter are open baffle on both towers and center
Best part, Danny Richie is the overall designer of these speakers as well as the crossovers.

And because they are sealed, the put out a lot lower bass than the rated 65Hz. I have yet to find a single center channel that sounds as good as this one for under $2000-$3000.

 

[cube-tube]

Just added something else to the mix. Actually, swapped it out with the Marsh amp, and from what I can tell so far at whisper levels (it is well past 1am), it sounds considerably better than the Marsh amp.

The little SS Audio Research D130. Mint inside and out. After a good couple of hours for it to warm up, I sat down for a listen. Well, you can see I'm still sitting here listening.

 

[cube-tube]

And speaking of "ever changing"...

What's this peeking into the pic?...

 

[arclight73]

Are you using the Marantz receiver as your pre-amp ? I have been curious about doing this due to the Audyssey functionality and air play wireless capabilities.

 

[cube-tube]

Are you using the Marantz receiver as your pre-amp ? I have been curious about doing this due to the Audyssey functionality and air play wireless capabilities.

Yes I am. The little NR1504 was a major upgrade in sound quality over the Onkyo receiver I was using, and now I just upgraded to an SR7007.

I was seriously considering the AV7702 DSP/Preamp, but then I would have had to purchase a multi-ch amp and more cables, and I just don't have the room for such nonsense. Sure, the balanced outputs would be nice, but certainly aren't needed.

The SR7007 already has the amps built in, and they're all I need for my center and two surrounds. But what I really like about the SR7007 is the HDAM (Hyper-Dynamic Amplifier Module) preamp stage. In short, it's got a damn good preamp stage which is focused on sound quality.

This is quoted right from Matantz's site...

"Marantz developed its own discrete circuit boards to replace standard IC's. These HDAM's consists of discrete surface mount components with short mirror image L/R signal paths. Those devices are doing exactly the same thing as the Op-Amps, but outperform the regular IC Op-amps dramatically in terms of the Slew Rate and reduced noise level, resulting in a much more dynamic, accurate and detailed sound. Over the years Marantz developed different types of the HDAM to improve quality and to fit to the special requirements of a product category like CD or amplifier."

 

[arclight73]

Yes I am. The little NR1504 was a major upgrade in sound quality over the Onkyo receiver I was using, and now I just upgraded to an SR7007.

I was seriously considering the AV7702 DSP/Preamp, but then I would have had to purchase a multi-ch amp and more cables, and I just don't have the room for such nonsense. Sure, the balanced outputs would be nice, but certainly aren't needed.

The SR7007 already has the amps built in, and they're all I need for my center and two surrounds. But what I really like about the SR7007 is the HDAM (Hyper-Dynamic Amplifier Module) preamp stage. In short, it's got a damn good preamp stage which is focused on sound quality.

This is quoted right from Matantz's site...

"Marantz developed its own discrete circuit boards to replace standard IC's. These HDAM's consists of discrete surface mount components with short mirror image L/R signal paths. Those devices are doing exactly the same thing as the Op-Amps, but outperform the regular IC Op-amps dramatically in terms of the Slew Rate and reduced noise level, resulting in a much more dynamic, accurate and detailed sound. Over the years Marantz developed different types of the HDAM to improve quality and to fit to the special requirements of a product category like CD or amplifier."

Thanks for the input. The 1504 drives your center ? That's impressive.

 

[cube-tube]

Thanks for the input. The 1504 drives your center ? That's impressive.

Of course it did, just fine. The center and surrounds are rated at 90dB, not to mention that I live in an apartment, so I don't need a lot of power anyway.

 

[cube-tube]

A few updated pics with the new Marantz SR7007 installed. Man, does this thing sound great! Smooth, wide, deep, detailed, extended, dynamic, it's all there and better than before.

It's not the best arrangement, but it'll do for now until I get a different/better rack.