Yamaki's System

Yamaki

Member
Nov 2, 2018
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Many of us here have seen our system evolve and change over the years. From hardware, cabling, accessories and media it has all changed at one point or another.

Mine has seen it's fair share of changes over the years. On two occasions the system was totally replaced. And, as we all know, media types have evolved over time and I've gone from vinyl to tape to CDs and now to digital audio. Each of those media changes resulted in system hardware upgrades as well.

So, with all those evolutions over the years, here is my system as it is configured today:

- McIntosh MX151 pre-amp/processor
- McIntosh MC501 monoblock amplifiers (2) - Front R/L speakers
- Emotiva UPA-1 monoblock amplifier - Center channel speaker
- Emotiva UPA-200 two channel amplifier - Rear speakers
- Aerial Acoustic Model 8 front speakers
- Tannoy Mercury V - Center channel speaker
- Vienna Acoustic Waltz Grand - Rear speakers
- McIntosh D100 digital pre-amp/headphone amp/DAC (used as an external DAC)
- Schiit Freya + tube pre-amp (used as a tube source)
- Oppo BDP-93 disc player
- Panamax M5400-PM power centers (2)
- Synology DS415+ NAS with 4 Samsung SSD installed
- Wyred 4 Sound Remedy reclocker
- Raspberry PI 4 Model B (used as a Roon Endpoint & digital bridge between the NAS & D100)
- Samsung QN75Q80R 75" monitor
- Roku Ultra
- About a mile of Wireworld cabling ;)

53.jpg AA 8B 01 (2).jpg AA 8B 04 (2).jpg
 

Holli82

Well-Known Member
Jun 6, 2010
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329
1,620
Thanks for sharing! Hope you have many hours of musical enjoyment.
 
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Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
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Beverly Hills, CA
Thank you, Yamaki, for this detailed listing about your system!

At the stage in which you went "from vinyl to tape" did you sell your vinyl playback system and replace it with a tape playback system, or did you add tape as a source?

What inspired you to switch from all analog at one point to all digital today?
 

Yamaki

Member
Nov 2, 2018
6
23
10
69
Thank you, Yamaki, for this detailed listing about your system!

At the stage in which you went "from vinyl to tape" did you sell your vinyl playback system and replace it with a tape playback system, or did you add tape as a source?

What inspired you to switch from all analog at one point to all digital today?

I added the tape gear to my system and kept the vinyl gear. It wasn't long before I found myself doing needle drops to cassette tape with the results being a mix tape containing vinyl tracks plus selections from a local FM station that played continuous music in 1/2 hour blocks on Saturday evenings. The tapes contained random tracks with an eclectic mix of artists and genres. I've always enjoyed a mixed playlist.

Keep in mind that at the time the analog system pre-dated the availability of the digital gear and tools we enjoy today. My digital journey started some years after the analog gear was purchased and it did so with small steps, simple gear and lossless digital files while still having that analog gear in the system.

I wasn't so much inspired as I was curious about the use and application of digital music. Employing a backup laptop and iTunes I downloaded songs and began using an iPod. That allowed me to listen to music on my daily commute via light rail. Having the convenience and portability of digital music without the fuss of messing with physical media was an epiphany. I found a way to use that basic digital setup as a source in my main system and that was the beginning of digital media replacing placing my analog media and gear.

I had added a CD player and found I was replacing my album collection with CD equivalents. I upgraded the single CD player with one of those Sony CD jukeboxes and programmed it to play randomly. Then I found out about ripping CDs and downloading higher resolution lossless music files. The digital evolution continued.

All of my physical media and gear is gone at this point. I still buy CDs but I no longer play them. Rather they are ripped and the tracks are added to my digital library which allows me to continue the old mix tape process.

And so, in a nutshell, that's how it went. Today I can honestly say I'm glad I made the journey!
 
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Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
16,017
13,346
2,665
Beverly Hills, CA
I added the tape gear to my system and kept the vinyl gear. It wasn't long before I found myself doing needle drops to cassette tape with the results being a mix tape containing vinyl tracks plus selections from a local FM station that played continuous music in 1/2 hour blocks on Saturday evenings. The tapes contained random tracks with an eclectic mix of artists and genres. I've always enjoyed a mixed playlist.

Keep in mind that at the time the analog system pre-dated the availability of the digital gear and tools we enjoy today. My digital journey started some years after the analog gear was purchased and it did so with small steps, simple gear and lossless digital files while still having that analog gear in the system.

I wasn't so much inspired as I was curious about the use and application of digital music. Employing a backup laptop and iTunes I downloaded songs and began using an iPod. That allowed me to listen to music on my daily commute via light rail. Having the convenience and portability of digital music without the fuss of messing with physical media was an epiphany. I found a way to use that basic digital setup as a source in my main system and that was the beginning of digital media replacing placing my analog media and gear.

I had added a CD player and found I was replacing my album collection with CD equivalents. I upgraded the single CD player with one of those Sony CD jukeboxes and programmed it to play randomly. Then I found out about ripping CDs and downloading higher resolution lossless music files. The digital evolution continued.

All of my physical media and gear is gone at this point. I still buy CDs but I no longer play them. Rather they are ripped and the tracks are added to my digital library which allows me to continue the old mix tape process.

And so, in a nutshell, that's how it went. Today I can honestly say I'm glad I made the journey!

Thank you very much for chronicling for us your evolution from analog to digital! It all makes sense. I think many people have traversed the same journey.
 
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Addicted to hifi

VIP/Donor
Sep 8, 2020
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I added the tape gear to my system and kept the vinyl gear. It wasn't long before I found myself doing needle drops to cassette tape with the results being a mix tape containing vinyl tracks plus selections from a local FM station that played continuous music in 1/2 hour blocks on Saturday evenings. The tapes contained random tracks with an eclectic mix of artists and genres. I've always enjoyed a mixed playlist.

Keep in mind that at the time the analog system pre-dated the availability of the digital gear and tools we enjoy today. My digital journey started some years after the analog gear was purchased and it did so with small steps, simple gear and lossless digital files while still having that analog gear in the system.

I wasn't so much inspired as I was curious about the use and application of digital music. Employing a backup laptop and iTunes I downloaded songs and began using an iPod. That allowed me to listen to music on my daily commute via light rail. Having the convenience and portability of digital music without the fuss of messing with physical media was an epiphany. I found a way to use that basic digital setup as a source in my main system and that was the beginning of digital media replacing placing my analog media and gear.

I had added a CD player and found I was replacing my album collection with CD equivalents. I upgraded the single CD player with one of those Sony CD jukeboxes and programmed it to play randomly. Then I found out about ripping CDs and downloading higher resolution lossless music files. The digital evolution continued.

All of my physical media and gear is gone at this point. I still buy CDs but I no longer play them. Rather they are ripped and the tracks are added to my digital library which allows me to continue the old mix tape process.

And so, in a nutshell, that's how it went. Today I can honestly say I'm glad I made the journey!
Great stuff.
 

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