Charles' Little 2-ch Hi-Fi System...

Chops

Well-Known Member
Apr 27, 2016
876
850
230
Central Florida
So here's the latest rendition of my 2-ch system. It's gone through many stages of refinement, and it's a never ending process. It's much smaller and higher quality than any of my other systems over the years. And to top it off, this is all in your average apartment complex.

It all starts with a pair of PS Audio Power Ports I put in the wall.






In the adjoining room (which is on the same circuit, which is also our son's bedroom), I have a Blue Circle Audio Yalo Bulala surge protector. In this same room, on the top shelf of the closet I have a tweaked laptop, a 6TB Synology NAS, and two 2TB HP backup drives which hold all of my ripped CDs as FLAC files, as well as downloaded FLAC files. The laptop runs JRiver 19, however it is no longer used.






The nerve center of the system is the preamp, a Parasound Halo P5, which gets its power from the APC H15 power conditioner via a Wireworld Aurora 7. The H15 is plugged into the wall via another Aurora 7. Resting on top of the P5 is an AURALiC Aries LE with the AURALiC linear power supply and another Aurora 7. Connecting the Aries to the built-in DAC of the P5 is a Wyred 4 Sound Recovery USB Reclocker and a Wireworld Ultraviolet 7 USB. It's powered by an iFi iPower linear power supply.

To the right, the Oppo BDP-105D with a little Roku plugged into the front HDMI input. After trying the Oppo as a DAC, I surprisingly prefer the DAC in the Halo P5, so the Oppo is only for video. It uses Wireworld Oasis 7's to the preamp and a single Ultraviolet HDMI to the TV and one from the cable box.

On top of the rack is the analog section, the wonderful Lounge Audio LCR MkIII phono preamp and Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB DC. Mounted to the tonearm is a brand new Ortofon 2M Bronze, an excellent upgrade over the stock 2M Red. More Oasis 7's connect the turntable to the phono pre, which in turn is more Oasis 7's connecting that to the Halo P5.

On the bottom right, below the cable box, the Wyred 4 Sound ST-250 amplifier, connected to the Halo P5 via a pair of balanced Oasis 7's, and plugged directly into the wall via another Aurora 7. From the amp is a pair of Oasis 7 bi-wire cables which plug into the back of a pair of Sonus Faber Venere 1.5's. These are perched atop a pair of custom 1.5" thick white quartz slabs.

Lastly, a pair of Polk Audio PSW505 subs that are also plugged directly into the wall via Mojo Audio 9awg power cables. These subs never sounded good in previous systems and sat for 4 years in the closet, unused. However, with quality gear ahead of them, they sound amazingly good, so much so I have held off on pulling the trigger on a pair of REL subs. Maybe one day I'll upgrade to the REL's, but see no reason to at the moment. These are connected to the Halo P5 via a pair of DH Labs cables.















 

cjf

Well-Known Member
Nov 19, 2012
452
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948
Very cool Album presentation via the shelving you have in place. Being able to tailor the mood of the listening session by altering the album cover layout is very cool. im sure it's a real conversation piece. :cool:
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
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Wonderful...great attention to all the details. enjoy!
 

Chops

Well-Known Member
Apr 27, 2016
876
850
230
Central Florida
Very cool Album presentation via the shelving you have in place. Being able to tailor the mood of the listening session by altering the album cover layout is very cool. im sure it's a real conversation piece. :cool:

Thanks! That shelving unit was just purchased two weeks ago. Before that, I just had a couple of random cruddy shelves and a single Ikea "cube" to hold all of the albums. Certainly not the best. This new unit however is great, and it's NOT an Ikea unit either. It's from (almost can't say it, yuck) Walmart! Supposedly made by "Better Homes & Gardens", but it's identical to the Ikea units. It's exactly the same as the single cube I have from Ikea. Trust me when I say I'd gladly pay extra and get it from Ikea, but the closest one is 50 miles away and Walmart is only a couple miles away. I didn't even know they carried these shelves until one of my brothers told me about it. It's literally been at least 5 years since the last time I stepped foot in a Walmart. However, with the way my record collection is growing, I'll probably be going back there soon to buy another one of these units. Oh, the Ikea cube is right next to it, holding my Spin Clean MkII, two gallons of distilled water and 91% alcohol.



Wonderful...great attention to all the details. enjoy!

Thank you for the kind words! This is the first system (of many that I've had) that I've used all the same brand cables throughout, upgraded wall outlets, heavily researched all of the gear including the speakers, looking specifically for gear and speakers that are known for performing well beyond their price points. Case in point, the Lounge phono preamp... It only costs $300 factory direct, yet compares extremely well with phono preamps up around the $3k mark. It's said you'd have to spend upwards of $1500 to gain any improvements over it.

Even these old Polk subs were known for sounding better than their price point suggested. I never believed it for the time that I used them before in other systems. Then again, they were being fed signals from "decent" home theater receivers with average cables going to them, and them being plugged into a power conditioner with the rest of the equipment. I never thought about the power conditioners being current limiting, and thought that the $1500-1800 receivers I was using should provide good results. They didn't. Now having them plugged directly into the wall and being fed with good electronics, they sound extremely good. Very fast, musical and detailed with great dynamics, and with bass that extends much deeper than ever.
 

treitz3

Super Moderator
Staff member
Dec 25, 2011
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The tube lair in beautiful Rock Hill, SC
Hello chops and welcome to the WBF. I didn't recognize the Polk subs. What model are they? Nice looking, clean setup BTW.

Tom
 

Chops

Well-Known Member
Apr 27, 2016
876
850
230
Central Florida
Hello chops and welcome to the WBF. I didn't recognize the Polk subs. What model are they? Nice looking, clean setup BTW.

Tom

Hi Tom and thanks for the warm welcome! The Polk subs are the PSW505. An old model, but...

Something happened to my system a couple hours ago!

 
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Chops

Well-Known Member
Apr 27, 2016
876
850
230
Central Florida
And now, nearly two years later...





 
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Chops

Well-Known Member
Apr 27, 2016
876
850
230
Central Florida
Obviously too snobby of a crowd for a mint (updated and modified) vintage system. Oh well, your loss.
 

RogerD

VIP/Donor
May 23, 2010
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BiggestLittleCity
What speakers are you using? Nice system vintage or otherwise,as I use older components I purchased years ago.
 

GMKF

VIP/Donor
Aug 15, 2017
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Munich
Obviously too snobby of a crowd for a mint (updated and modified) vintage system. Oh well, your loss.

just missed the thread :)

Very nice system ;)

Whats your opinion on the Oppo ?
 

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
8,570
51
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Calgary, AB
Vintage all they way here,see signature below

All my vintage gear is gone and I kind of miss it. I had a good complement of Pioneer gear (SA-9500II / SG-9500 / PL-514 / RT-909) that I enjoyed for years. My dream back then was obtaining those SPEC amps in your sig, but I never got there. I also had the Xonar Essence STX card in my old PC.
 

Chops

Well-Known Member
Apr 27, 2016
876
850
230
Central Florida
What speakers are you using? Nice system vintage or otherwise,as I use older components I purchased years ago.

The answer is in my sig... Genesis Physics II's with custom crossovers.
 

Chops

Well-Known Member
Apr 27, 2016
876
850
230
Central Florida
Whats your opinion on the Oppo ?

In what way? I only use it to stream Tidal and as a DAC. Sound-wise, it does alright. Really no better or worse than the full loaded Schiit Bifrost I had.
 

Chops

Well-Known Member
Apr 27, 2016
876
850
230
Central Florida
Now running Monitor Audio Bronze BX6 towers on my custom quartz slabs...

 

Chops

Well-Known Member
Apr 27, 2016
876
850
230
Central Florida






 

Chops

Well-Known Member
Apr 27, 2016
876
850
230
Central Florida
I want to know more about these monitors.....

Genesis Physics II. They are a 2-way design with a 1" inverted dome tweeter, 8" mid-woofer and 10" passive radiator.

Highly modified and upgraded crossovers with TOTL Jantzen Superior caps and wax/foil inductors. I omitted both the resistors and "tweeter level" switch. Also replaced the original terminal plate and cheesy terminals with a solid aluminum plate and silver plated binding posts. All wiring upgraded to 14 awg Monster Cable. Oh, and solid brass screws all around.

The crossover are ONLY for the tweeters as the 8" mid-bass drivers play full range. They don't look like much, but they perform every bit as good if not better than my Martin Logan SL3's (which are also modded, crossovers bypassed, actively crossed over and bi-amped), and my all original NHT 2.9's.











 
Last edited:

prerich

Well-Known Member
May 21, 2012
246
10
923
Excellent!
 

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