Dreaming away that awful itch

[shep]

This probably will only increase it. Be warned: I'm going to be wordy! I seem to be all alone here today. Y'all at the races or burning meat in the backyard so I will take the liberty of filling a page with my extended version of Nervosa, in the hopes that this recent itch will abate (or reach such proportions that I will fling myself in the pool later). You all heard this before; "my dream system" or "audio lust" or simply how to alienate the wife, bankrupt your children's future, end up in audio-rehab or impress and depress your friends and neighbors. Hence: If I had the means, the patience ( and a very burly, understanding maleman), what would I buy to satisfy this dreadful dis-ease? I have some sort of ethical, audio modesty, so this would not be outragious but neither will I skimp! I want this system to last and keep me happy well into senility and beyond so it had better be good. It will be really quite conservative, given the options. I've allowed some room for maneuver, change of heart and up-todate additions. Of course I want a turntable and it's going to be the Well Tempered Amadeus. I might try the latest (and greatest) Grado, the Statement 1, assuming compatabiltiy. Otherwise probably a Dyanavector, seeing as how they apparently are synergistic. MM or MC? Don't know and I'm not fussy. All depends on the phono amp and there I draw a blank for the moment. CDP? Well at present it's a toss-up. I want a single box so candidates are Abbington, Ayon and the Esoteric line. Nothing fancy mind you... Ok as for amps, I want both tubes and SS. For the former I want a medium power but great integrated. I'm thinking along the lines of Leben but I am certainly not forgetting other posibilites. What turns me on about tubes at this late stage of the game is the arrival of the Sunguan Treasury tubes (Rich..AC thread and elsewhere) which apparently have elevated this ancient art to dizzy new heights. That and the fact that both in design and parts and construction quality, tube gear had reached a great maturity. For SS I am first going to have one by the master, i.e. Nelson Pass, so it will be an F5 or whatever his fertile mind comes up with next. I'm going to throw in a power house and it may well be the new Cambridge Azur (I want to hear another review of this). I'm not forgetting interesting things like Macormic, modsquad and the latest high end from Lux or Marantz. As for a pre. well that's tricky. Maybe the new Wyred pre. Maybe Lamm. I haven't enough info. to decide. As for speakers.. I'm going to play it safe here. I think Devore 9's or their Silverback, with some planars to flavor the mix. Probably Maggies but there are others I'm less familiar with. As for cabling...I'm not going to dither with this. I'm going for the top, all out. So unless I'm very wrong, Kubala-Sosna Elation all the way. What have I forgotten? Electricity. CLean silent, no money spared, battery where possible; and of course a dedicated room, created by some expert unknown. Lots of records, cd's, not a computer in sight, a closet full of magical tweaky bits. See? that wasn't too unreasonable was it? I think it will sound pretty good too!

[richidoo]

I hope you're planning to take boarders... I would love a short jaunt to France to hear your your super system. I wish you Godspeed in fulfilling your dream shep...

I'm not familiar with many of the components you mentioned, but the Pass and Amadeus are also on my wish list. I can recommend the EE Phono Preamp with confidence, having heard it sound stellar in 3 different sytems, plus bacobits' too which I haven't heard yet. In Europe you have so many additional options to learn about. 

[shep]

Aways the gentleman you are Rich! Hey this is the stuff of dreams so I'll pay for a bunch of you to come and burn meat in my front yard and listen to where the itch led. That was a good tip about the EE minimax phono pre. I had forgotten what good press it got. If I'm not wrong there are some serious semi-official modded versions out there? The Grado is a lowish output MM. I'm not sure it can't be driven direct. Probably not. Which brands didn't you recognize from the list (a part from the ones I spelled wrong)? The Cambridge Azur 840W just came out. It's supposed to be some kind of giant killer amp for peanuts (2,500$ approx). The Amadeus has got to be the best kept analogue secret out there. I wouldn't even consider spending more for a TT and anyway it's probably 90% of the very best there is. Leben is a wonderful small Japanese company created by an ex Luxman guru. The design is very retro but apparently the sound is absolutely wonderful. Anyway you probably know this.

[richidoo]

I guess I've read of those brands, but not heard much of it. The Cambridge stuff looks interesting, and NAD new class D coming soon. I would like to hear those both. There is so much new stuff coming out now. The minimax can handle MC, btw.

You probably saw this Amadeus review.
http://www.avguide.com/review/tested-the-well-tempered-amadeus-turntable-and-tonearm

Well, back to soldering together my new DAC. I just gave a friend a trumpet lesson! That was fun.

[rollo]

 A fine dream Shep, but but you forgot the wine, duck and those wonderful pastries and last but not least the MAID.
  As yes can't you see her dusting off the top of the Maggie 20.1s in that short dress, oh my. Polishing the brass knobs of the MBL mono blocks and cleaning your tube sockets for that CJ preamp. Putting your LPs in alphabetical order for the Rockport and Goldfinger cart.  Serving up your CDs for that Meridian 800 or MBL.
Now wake up. Forget all those new wanna bees. BUY USED. Say a pair of Maggie 3As [ $900] or Mirage M1is, CJ PV 10A preamp, Classe DR25 SS Amp, all Transparent Music Wave wiring. A Linn Valhalla TT [ no mods], a Dynavector cart. A Jadis Defy 7 Mk3 with those Mirage speakers and  a CAT Mk2 preamp.
If one reads the older reviews of the components I mentioned they were saying the same about the new gear of today. Class "A" is class "A" aye. Viva le revolution!



charles   

[shep]

You're right about used stuff but I don't want to be bothered looking for it here and anyway I love opening new boxes! Lynn...phooey. No way. You changed my list completely (except for the Maggies)! No duck for you! No maid either! and I don't drink but I'll get some nice wine for you guys. The pastry is nothing to write home about, believe me. This is gastronomically a poor area. Nice veggies and fruit though.

[rollo]

You're right about used stuff but I don't want to be bothered looking for it here and anyway I love opening new boxes! Lynn...phooey. No way. You changed my list completely (except for the Maggies)! No duck for you! No maid either! and I don't drink but I'll get some nice wine for you guys. The pastry is nothing to write home about, believe me. This is gastronomically a poor area. Nice veggies and fruit though.

Shep don't slam the Linniepoo. No need to be a " Linnie Wackadoo ". Linn IMO lost it when they added the Lingo and all the other nonsense. Forget about the Linn philosophy and the whole Linn BS. The Valhalla model still makes nice music with the Micro Benz cart especially with a Klyne SS phono preamp [ SK5A].
  Sorry I changed your list. Change is good no ?  Live and learn. I'll bring over the maids for Richadoo and the Duck for all.

charles

[richidoo]

Maid sounds good.  Can she dress audio wires?

[shep]

Don't you mean undress them? I don't want to be a spoil-sport but there aren't any maids around here and precious few maidens