Click pics to enlarge. Starting from Leftmost Rack. Rega Planet Mk.1, Denon DP-1250, Quicksilver Mini-Mites, Eric Yam DACT passive, iFi Zen Blue, Lite Audio DAC-AH DAC; Rack to its right, custom 2A3 SE, Darkvoice, CJ PV-1, Bellari passive, JLH 1969, Sugden A21, Theta DS Pro DAC, Applause Audio 300B SE (tugged into the corner, amp filaments on), iFi Zen Phono, Zhili Audio 834 phono. Of course, the legendary Spica Angelus. Custom 6V6 seen on the floor. And in the upper right corner, you can catch a glimpse of a sliver of the Proac Super Tablette. That Angelus has me drooling!
Editor: I take the greatest pleasure to introduce Ray, who shall be joining our ranks. Ray is a veteran, both in terms of his experience and internet presence. As he mentioned below, he was a participant in the early years of the venerable Audio Asylum (moniker triodont). While I didn't go there often, many times I did to ask for help, and the inmates have always been very helpful. Ray left a comment on the bargain Chinese APPLause 300B amp after I posted a snippet. I asked him to email me, and he did, and a few emails later I knew I had to invite him onboard. What he sent for his first article here is pretty condensed. What I really appreciate is that it succinctly contains much wisdom gained over time, much like what M. Surdi sent to us from Italy. I had to resist very hard to add many footnotes to the article, as I probably had owned half of his stuff. But, not having been based in the US for long periods at a time, I had missed much of his loudspeaker experience. I, for one, would love to have him write articles on Spica and Snell. Welcome!
Music was a veritable minefield back in the late 60’s and the 70’s, when I was growing up. I had a very impressionable mind, with lots of fertile space to cultivate and grow. Somehow that little seed of music heard on the airwaves implanted itself in me - helping me find some solace, refuge, comfort, and imagination during my less-than-ideal upbringing – all of this being delivered by a funky brown little transistor radio that was playing all sorts of tunes, Amplitude Modulation-style, baby. Remember that sound…warm, whooshy, spacious, severely bandwidth-limited, yet strangely free sounding enough, and ethereal? It was a likely consequence of the available technology then: ribbon mics, magnetic tape, idler-driven turntables, big oscillator-type tubes or some such used in the recordings or the broadcast itself; or maybe it’s really just acquired knowledge today making me romanticize how I came to love that sound? And also, there I was…without ever hearing of Paul Klipsch, I would prop up that transistor radio on the top of the naugahyde-upholstered couch where it met the wall corner so the sound could go fuller and louder. Necessity, as always, was the mother of invention. Or was it imagination, I forget. But hours of listening to that little thing, I do remember!
As a grown-up, the need to “chase the dragon” of good music wrapped in that cozy, warm sound led me to sample all kinds of speaker types and amp topologies, either through somehow finding a way to afford them or forcing my way (nicely) into other fellow audio nerds’ more exotic and ambitious systems. Why is it always Speaker and Amp, Amp and Speaker? Because to me, like a real love affair, that’s where the magic lies - that happy confluence of matching, alchemy, and a bit of fairy dust. You just know it when you hear it. I have had SETs, Class A SS, OTLs, gainclones (that name btw, I comically coined unintentionally when a friend helped me build the “first known” DIY one and I posted it on Audio Asylum. Shoulda copywritten, right?) Naim, Pass, Krell, etc. I’ve had vintage tubes, high-power pentodes, hybrids, etc. And I’ve had electrostatics (Quads, CLSs), cones, time-aligned, higher-order, crossover-less, full-rangers, DIY ribbons (but no horns at home, sadly).
This is my conclusion, above all: A great design is a great design, no matter the topology, no matter the radiating surface! A great design transcends whatever methodology or technology used. And so, to that end, I ended up with audio items that to me celebrate what is great design; coincidentally, most of them are considered as “classics” in some parts, but perhaps deigned as just plain old by others. These old and maybe obsolete pieces do allow me to catch up from time to time to that elusive “dragon” I’ve been chasing ever since that funky brown transistor radio fell from its perch on the wall corner and spilled its guts and wires on the tiled floor.
My systems are all incorporated into normal day-to-day living, so I don’t get too crazy with speaker set-ups being halfway into the room. Sure, I may forego some depth in the presentation, but even then, with the speakers I use and the sound level I require (which very rarely get even into the low 90’s), I don’t feel that it’s a hard compromise at all. I like Spica’s, I have all the models, TC-50, TC-60, SC-30, SC-50, and the Angelus. The latter, probably on balance, my favorite speakers that I’ve had in my home. I have driven them with everything from a Naim Nait 1 to a Bedini 25/25 to Quicksilvers to 300B’s or even 2A3’s. Sound equally good with any of them. People say their appearance is “ugly”, I say they are “form follows function”, even Bauhaus like in looks, completely unseen before or since. John Bau to me was a genius designer. Peter Walker, as we all know, was another genius designer. I had Quads for a number of years, as well; both 57’s and 63’s. They were happy years, too, but I have no patience for the upkeep anymore. Peter Snell’s designs have been a staple for me, too. I still have Type K’s and Type AII’s, and I’ve owned the JII’s before. They are so easy to live with. Vandersteen 1b’s I like for change in pace, they are also efficient (90dB) for a Vandersteen. I also love mini-monitors / bookshelf speakers, and they are distributed all around the house, and switched in and out from several spots every now and then: LS50’s, LS3/5A’s, SF Concertino’s, Reference 3A de Capo’s, Proac Super Tablettes. I still have a pair of old but sweet and kickin’ SMGa’s.
List of amplifiers I have owned will be too long and boring to read, but I will share some random impressions I’ve had over the years. The one consistent quality in the amplifiers I have kept around is their being of low power. These have been the ones that have made me want to endlessly listen to music. I firmly believe they are just better at handling low-level signal and have a more benign distortion profile than high-powered amps. Some classic combo’s for me (in my room) have been: PP 6L6’s and LS3/5A’s, 2A3SET and Snell Type K’s, PP KT88/8417’s or Quad 303 and TC-50s, 300BSET and Ref3A de Capo or the Angelus, Nait1 or Bedini 25/25 and ESL57’s. NAD 3020A and KEF LS50’s, surprisingly!
I don’t know what the future holds for me. Doctorjohn has suggested that maybe I should try horns. I like horns. The best of its kind I’ve heard are the JBL Hartsfields with some assist from JBL horn tweeters (075s, I believe). My space is limited and I do cohabit with other creatures who mean more to me than my pieces of equipment, no matter how attached I am to some of them. If the horns do come, my wall corners will be ready for them. I might even find some naugahyde-covered couch to go with them.
Same as top photo, but the AR ES-1 replaces the Denon TT
CAL Delta, Quad 303, Arylic BT, FM155 clone, Border Patrol SE-I DAC, Schiit Modi MM,
Apple TV Gen.2 for Internet Radio, Icepower amp, Naim Nait 1, Spica TC-50
same as photo above but speakers are Reference 3A de Capo-I’s
KEF LS50, LS3/5As (backs), Sugden A51, Snell Type A2, Denon DP-1250,
Robertson 4010, Monarchy M22, B&K ST-140
A Close Up
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