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

[Chops]

Now that I have the entire house all to myself (kicked the ex and her dumb son out a few months back), I pulled out my old faithful AV123 (GR-Research) X-Statik's with their fully upgraded crossovers and No-Rez, the Cambridge Audio CXN (V2) that I only used for a couple months before upgrading to the Auralic Altair G1 in the main system, the old faithful APC H15 that I've had for years, and a little S.M.S.L AO200 integrated amp (50w x 2 @ 8 ohms).

I got this little setup running in the master bedroom. Man, I forgot how good these X-Statik's sound tonality wise and how they image with a deep and wide sound stage. Will definitely be doing some tweaking as time goes on.

 

[Chops]

I've had David Gilmour's Live at Pompeii playing since yesterday morning, and I have to say, things are sounding better. Treble is still airy, but smoother than a few days ago, midrange and mid-bass is fuller and more present, and the bass has opened up with a bit more "oomph" while still being tight and punchy. The sound stage has also opened up more with great depth and width. Quite surprising considering the X-Statik's are being powered by this little SMSL amp (no tone controls used either).

Part of this might also be due to the electronics burning in as well. I know the Cambridge streamer has been sitting for well over a year, the little integrated for more than that I think, and all of those Maze cables for a couple of years. Can't forget the old Mojo Audio 8AWG cross helix vintage Western Electric power cord that's powering the entire system through the APC.

 

[Chops]

Here's a major switch-up to my normal system... Chinese knock-off clone stuff!

A BRZ Hifi Mark Levinson JC-2 preamp clone, Tara Labs locking RCA ISM Onboard interconnect clones, Tara Labs The One power cable clones, and even a single Kharma power cable clone. Clone stuff one of my brothers likes playing around with just for fun in one of his systems.

The only REAL piece of kit here other than the streamer, conditioner and speakers is the NuPrime STA-9 amp. This is one of the two that I sold years ago to one of my other brothers. I now have both of them back (borrowing them) for a bit so I can play around with gear and such in this room/system.

Surprisingly, the preamp is rather solid and heavy, gets rather warm considering it's supposed to be running in Class A. It's a stout unit. And shockingly, all of the cables are quite decent and of actual quality. They sure do have all the details done down to a "T", that's for sure.

The important thing here is, the sound has vastly improved over the little SMSL AO200 integrated amp. An even deeper and wider sound stage, a lot more focused imaging, deeper, tighter, harder hitting, a lot better controlled bass, a fuller midrange, and a smoother yet still extended top end.

Of course, I'm sure 90% is due to the NuPrime amp alone. Though I do remember my brother swapping out a Rotel RC-1572 MkII preamp for this BRZ JC-2 clone and this little preamp sounding considerably better. Just an overall more refined sound throughout. And that's what I'm hearing now, so who knows.

Anywho, some pics...

 

[Chops]

Now running a full loom of Chinese clone cables of Tara Labs power cables and interconnects, a couple of Kharma power cables, all very well built and do power cable things very well. The only "REAL" power cable in the mix is the Pangea AC-9 MkII that uses actual Cardas Grade One copper. That's like a $300 cable. I'm still using the Maze Audio 9awg Ref 4 braided speaker cables which are just fine.

Also running both NuPrime STA-9 amps in bridge mono mode. And I also have another Pangea Volcan audio rack that I need to get over to the house so I can get that darn dresser out of here and put it in the spare bedroom. The rack is actually made from leftover parts from the four Volcan racks I purchased 7 years ago when Hurricane Irma was headed our way.

Over time, I'll start getting back into designing and building some large format open baffle loudspeakers and subwoofers.

 

[Chops]

Changed things up a bit...

Back to using a single NuPrime STA-9, a pair of Magnat Signature 503's, and a single HSU STF-2 subwoofer, getting its high-level signal from the amp. Oh, and of course, my 3rd Pangea Vulcan rack that I bought years back. Everything else remains the same.

 

[Chops]

Drove 150 miles round trip yesterday to pick up something I've always wanted...

Finally found a near mint pair at a extremely good price. Bose 901 Series V with Series VI EQ and tulip stands.

I've heard the 901's several times before, a few times in Circuit City, and once or twice at the PX at MacDill Airforce Base. I have to say, they sound much better in my room. A lot more natural than in the showrooms. In the showrooms, they probably had the EQ jacked all the way up as well as the tone controls on the gear used with them.

I have all of the controls on the EQ set to "flat", and I really see no need to adjust them as the 901's sound pretty darn good in this room, the master bedroom. This room is roughly 13' x 16' x 8', and I'm powering them with one of my NuPrime STA-9 amps which puts out 120 watts @ 8 ohms... More than enough power for this room and these speakers. I have the 901's center part of the rear "V" about 31" out from the front wall. This distance also helps in the fact that I'm getting a much more balanced overall response out of them than what I remember in the showrooms.

The bass is quite punchy, detailed and extends a lot deeper than I expected, easily down to the low 30's, possibly a little lower from listening to a few of my very familiar pipe organ recordings. Midrange seems to sound good, though not quite as full as my Maggies in my main rig. And the treble seems fine to me as well. Obviously, not super airy, but open and extended enough for a pleasant, smooth sound that's non-fatiguing. They're definitely not lacking in either extremes like all of those clowns claim (no highs, no lows, must be blah, blah, blah). I really have no complaints with them honestly. However I do wish those tulip stands were a bit taller.

I have always been attracted to the 901's unique looks and design, and even more so, their use of multiple 4.5" drivers producing that kind of sound. I mean, I wasn't even playing them loud last night, and not only were both windows in this room rattling, but so were the sliding closet doors and the main door!

The above was when I was playing Boz Scaggs' Thanks to You. Boz's voice came through loud and clear, and all of those deep bass notes came through effortlessly and with authority.

This system is by no means a replacement for my mine rig, but it's just about as enjoyable to listen to. I'm glad I finally got my hands on a pair of these little suckers!

 

[Chops]

Just threw in a JungSon JA-1 preamp. Quite the solid unit.

 

[Chops]

Not that anyone on here cares (I have literally been the ONLY one posting in this thread for exactly the past year)...

Just replaced the stock Bose Series VI EQ for the 901s with my dbx DriveRack Venu360. Dialed in a quick and dirty rough version of the stock Series V EQ curve, and wow! What a drastic improvement over the stock Bose EQ with this literal 10 minute tuning via PEQ. I have barely scratched the surface with this obviously. When I get more time, I'll do more tweaking in the 8 band PEQ as well as the 31 band GEQ. I'll also try out the AutoEQ (basically room correction) via the included RTA mic. More to come!