With the big rig down, I just needed my fix. I won't be bringing the large items into the bedroom even if the wife said I could bring up the TechDAS AF1 but for the life of me I can't imagine going three flights of stairs to get the LPs. Besides, I'll need that in its box to be the carrot for which I will move quickly. So, it is all digital for now. I can't see installing the Light Harmonic Da Vinci either since it would require a full sized PXK rack. That will go to the showrooms off site. So "mini" sources for now.
The back end is a first generation Von Schweikert Unifield 3 on custom Solid Tech stands. Quite a diminutive speaker that images like a mutha and plays bigger than its Munchkin size suggests. Alternating duties for amplification are Valvet A3.5r Mk2s, KR Audio Kronzilla DXs, and Baby Kronzilla VA 910 KT120 Monos. The preamp is an older flat knob Lamm L2 Reference. Sources are a middle of the line EERA Essentiel and a TechDAS D7 DSD DAC fed off a MBP running PureMusic. Cables are literally a hodge podge the only constant being the Master Built Signatures like those I ran downstairs. Old Pythons feed the amps and K-S Emotion PCs feed the pre and sources. K-S Emotion ICs from EERA to Pre and Master Built Signature from DAC to pre. From Pre to Power running in conduits under the floor are trusty old Analysis Plus Blue Oval XLRs. Amps are on Critical Mass Sapphire platforms on CMS MXK 'toes.
The rack is a simple acrylic affair from China but components are on CMS RiZE footers of which I need a few more sets.
One of these minis is the D7. It looks simple enough but it is my portable reference. I put it in a Pelican and bring it with me to our vacation house. I won't bore you with any reviews suffice it to say it is very easy to use and has lots of utility. It has a built in headphone amp and both fixed and variable outputs and performs Digital to Digital conversion. It is very detailed but always natural sounding. Sound is in the same organic vein as all my usual digital choices, Accuphase, Light Harmonic and EERA as well as those others I like like Zanden.
The big little surprise is the VA 910s. They are small 160wpc KT120 monos that sport new OPTs from Lundhal that even driving the VR-9s alone would not saturate even while banging Daft Punk. I first spotted these on passive display in Singapore and later caught pics of them in glowing show reports driving King Sound stats. I'd played a lot with the 4x more expensive Godzilla tubed DXs by the time I got them and I will say that they are definitely voiced similarly. I'm in an adjacent room now and the system is energetically playing a K2 CD (Diablo) and dang it sounds almost as good while I was in the room.
So there's a silver lining to the misfortunes after all. The wait won't be so terrible. Like I said before, have music, will smile.
I'm smiling
The back end is a first generation Von Schweikert Unifield 3 on custom Solid Tech stands. Quite a diminutive speaker that images like a mutha and plays bigger than its Munchkin size suggests. Alternating duties for amplification are Valvet A3.5r Mk2s, KR Audio Kronzilla DXs, and Baby Kronzilla VA 910 KT120 Monos. The preamp is an older flat knob Lamm L2 Reference. Sources are a middle of the line EERA Essentiel and a TechDAS D7 DSD DAC fed off a MBP running PureMusic. Cables are literally a hodge podge the only constant being the Master Built Signatures like those I ran downstairs. Old Pythons feed the amps and K-S Emotion PCs feed the pre and sources. K-S Emotion ICs from EERA to Pre and Master Built Signature from DAC to pre. From Pre to Power running in conduits under the floor are trusty old Analysis Plus Blue Oval XLRs. Amps are on Critical Mass Sapphire platforms on CMS MXK 'toes.
The rack is a simple acrylic affair from China but components are on CMS RiZE footers of which I need a few more sets.
One of these minis is the D7. It looks simple enough but it is my portable reference. I put it in a Pelican and bring it with me to our vacation house. I won't bore you with any reviews suffice it to say it is very easy to use and has lots of utility. It has a built in headphone amp and both fixed and variable outputs and performs Digital to Digital conversion. It is very detailed but always natural sounding. Sound is in the same organic vein as all my usual digital choices, Accuphase, Light Harmonic and EERA as well as those others I like like Zanden.
The big little surprise is the VA 910s. They are small 160wpc KT120 monos that sport new OPTs from Lundhal that even driving the VR-9s alone would not saturate even while banging Daft Punk. I first spotted these on passive display in Singapore and later caught pics of them in glowing show reports driving King Sound stats. I'd played a lot with the 4x more expensive Godzilla tubed DXs by the time I got them and I will say that they are definitely voiced similarly. I'm in an adjacent room now and the system is energetically playing a K2 CD (Diablo) and dang it sounds almost as good while I was in the room.
So there's a silver lining to the misfortunes after all. The wait won't be so terrible. Like I said before, have music, will smile.
I'm smiling
