After living with my setup for over 10 years with hardly any changes, I decided the time was right to bring in a few new components.

I found a good home for Sonus Faber's and the mono blocks, cashed up and enthusiastic off I started anew.

Thank you's go out to the following people for sage advice:

Al (bettyboop).

Jason Addicted to Audio.

Geoff Hey Now HiFi.

So the new recruits are:

Focal Sopra 2.

HiFi Rose RS150B.

Mark Levinson ML5805.

Iso Acoustics Gaia 1.

Various Tellurium Q cables.

 

Wow some nice gear there Sam ! 

I'll need to appraise it, with a glass of course.  😉

Look forward to it Evil, once the set in stone mandatory SNA regulations of 200 hours run in have been observed of course.

Very nice well thought out system @illusion! Did you find a noticeable difference using the Gaias over spikes?  I'm tossing to get a set for my speakers.

1 hour ago, MrBurns84 said:

Very nice well thought out system @illusion! Did you find a noticeable difference using the Gaias over spikes?  I'm tossing to get a set for my speakers.

Thank you Montgomery👍 Having the hardwood floor I never really thought about using the Focal spikes and the puny lil silver disks they sit on.

I saw the Gaias on @evil c speakers and knew they would be best. The way those Gaias stick to the floor is incredible, takes 2 people to prise the  speakers up.

2 hours ago, illusion said:

Thank you Montgomery👍 Having the hardwood floor I never really thought about using the Focal spikes and the puny lil silver disks they sit on.

I saw the Gaias on @evil c speakers and knew they would be best. The way those Gaias stick to the floor is incredible, takes 2 people to prise the  speakers up.

Hah!...i knew @evil c had to be involved there somewhere.. lol 

Mine's carpeted, which now has me 🤔 if spikes are the way to go.  Thanks

1 hour ago, MrBurns84 said:

Hah!...i knew @evil c had to be involved there somewhere.. lol 

Mine's carpeted, which now has me 🤔 if spikes are the way to go.  Thanks

You can still get the Gaia's as you can get these carpet discs that are spiked for carpets/rugs for the IsoAcoustic Gaia's.

 

Edited December 19, 20232 yr by illusion

missed this thread somehow 🙂 

 

lovely system @illusion great way to restart things 🙂 

 

the focals have settled in nicely by looks and some lovely gear to match up as well ! 

Edited December 19, 20232 yr by betty boop

Thank you  Al, the Sopra 2's are really beginning to loosen up, it's almost time to start tinkering with toe in and positioning.

Also starting to wonder 🤔about those 10+ year old Transparant Wave Music link speaker cables.

31 minutes ago, illusion said:

Thank you  Al, the Sopra 2's are really beginning to loosen up, it's almost time to start tinkering with toe in and positioning.

my 3s took well to some toe in 🙂 pretty much pointing at me 🙂 no harm experimenting

 

33 minutes ago, illusion said:

Also starting to wonder 🤔about those 10+ year old Transparant Wave Music link speaker cables.

ha sounds like ready to head down the slippery slope

Made an addition to the room. The wonderful people at Hawthorn Furniture that made my cabinet some years back, made a record stand to match.

Tasmanian Blackwood never fails to impress, lovely stuff.

A few recent additions:

.Denon DP-3000NE Direct Drive Turntable.

.Van den Hul MC10 Special Cartridge.

.Acrylic Turntable Slipmat.

.Nordost Qb4 mk1 Power Filter.

.HiFi ROSE RSA720 Optical Hub.

.HiFi ROSE RSA780 CD Ripper & Player.

 

The Denon has proved to be deadly quiet and super impressive.

Still evaluating the mc 10 cartridge but so far very happy indeed.

The 2 HiFi rose components have further enhanced the already mighty powerful and capable HiFi Rose RS150B music server.

That's a mighty lot of updates Sam, good way to confuse yourself! 

Enjoy!, 😉

1 hour ago, evil c said:

That's a mighty lot of updates Sam, good way to confuse yourself! 

Enjoy!, 😉

Clive I think that's about it, except for a few cables I have on order.

Time to sit back get a couple experienced vinyl enthusiasts like yourself, to advise whether a Phone Pre-amp is neeeded or if the in built phono in the Mark Levinson is adequate.

Did you have an old thread with your old set up?

Hi Russell,

 

Yes buried somewhere here in Stereonet.  This vid about captures it as it was. The Rega P3-24 hiding under the dust cover.

 

 

Finally got the phono cables that James from Tivoli HiFi ordered in for me.

Will be interesting to see their impact on my setup.

 

All quiet in the house here .. no doubt at peace with your system and just enjoying which is always a good thing :D

Seasons greetings Sam, and very remise of me not to thank you here for the wonderful opportunity to experience what is a very lovely system. You are the most gracious host too with such a lovely spread of both food and drink and was a very enjoyable afternoon with the company. Great to experience a proper lamb on spit gyros too which was most delicious !

Great to hear another pair of Sopras ! beautifully setup with your system, Integrated very well with the room and subs not an easy task have pulled off. As with the very lovely denon TT which was just gorgeous in your setup.

I took much inspiration myself from your setup... was particularly taken by the hifi rose.. very accomplished setup that not only sounds fantastic for 2ch but also was really excellent how opened up a world of youtube concerts and music and there is so much there to experience and enjoy :)

Great to see your efforts with power as well, which only encouraged me in my efforts to explore :D and will continue to do so ..as with iso acoustics for isolation.. on that topic ... i believe iso acoustics make some sopra caps (just cosmetic) .. not sure if your were using .. or if even available on our shores :D anyways something more for me to explore ...

Very nice of you Al, we Focalites have to stick together.

Having you guys around and with 2 of my mates was such an enjoyable day, I wondered why I waited so long.

Will be doing another get together for sure.

Hope Xmas went well for you and the family and you all have a great New Years😁

@betty boop Al those caps are available locally.

Sight + Sound in Camberwell and Audio Trends in Ringwood carry them.

11 minutes ago, illusion said:

Very nice of you Al, we Focalites have to stick together.

Having you guys around and with 2 of my mates was such an enjoyable day, I wondered why I waited so long.

Will be doing another get together for sure.

Hope Xmas went well for you and the family and you all have a great New Years😁

Good on you Sam, look forward to things in the future. yes a good chance to catch up with family, hope things went well for you and wishing all the best for new year to come !

@betty boop Al those caps are available locally.

4 minutes ago, illusion said:

Sight + Sound in Camberwell and Audio Trends in Ringwood carry them.

Good to hear ! will be a nice finishing touch... have been contemplating the iso acoustics on my sopras for 2 years have had them :D will have to climb that everest ! :D

8 hours ago, illusion said:

Very nice of you Al, we Focalites have to stick together.

Having you guys around and with 2 of my mates was such an enjoyable day, I wondered why I waited so long.

Will be doing another get together for sure.

Hope Xmas went well for you and the family and you all have a great New Years😁

It was a magic day indeed Sam, and your system did sound very fine indeed!

Like al mentioned, lot of fun watching video clips to music.

Might have to pull out a few music videos, at my next gtg for something different. 😉