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This is my (almost) finished Hi-Fi, that has been 22 years in it’s evolution!

I am now at the point when I cannot find fault with my system at all………….

My dream is realised i.e. When I sit and listen to music – which is most evenings - I can no longer hear my system at all!

It does sonically appear to be completely “transparent”

My system seems to add nor take away ANYTHING!

Which is what I was always wanting to attain……hence the considerable outlay…………although admittedly a fairly large percentage of my FINISHED system seems to have come from E-Bay…( E-Bay bargains ;) )

The main motivation behind this system was the fact that in my younger years I was a drummer (& still am although I no longer play with any bands…..although I’m always open to offers J).……and hence was always “looking” for a system that could reproduce a drum kit as they sound in the studio.

There are a lot to the acoustics of drums…resonance, undertones & overtones……..The complexity of the sound from cymbals and Hi-Hats etc etc

Hence my search for Hi-Fi Nirvana!

To catalogue my Hi-Fi:

The CD player is a Gryphon Mikado……an astounding piece of kit, with a remarkable ability to Show you the ins, out and whereabouts of all Red book Cd’s!

The Amp is obviously a Musical Fidelity kW500 with it’s separate PSU.

The speakers are Infinity Prelude MTS (which includes the RABOS system – a method for configuring the bass output to the frequency response of your listening room - & it works incredibly well!)…And are without doubt the most neutral, revealing & dynamic speakers I have ever encountered.

I rate them well above the “class leaders” the 802’

My turntable is a Roksan Xerxes, Tabriz arm and Corus Black cartridge going through the onboard phono stage of the kW - Although it doesn’t get used as much as it deserves nowadays….

The DAB tuner set-up came about purely because at the time I couldn’t find a TAG…so both the Sony D777ES and the Chord DAC64 (Connected by MoonGlo) were purchased (off E-bay…and the sound is actually “Superior” to the TAG…..I have comparatively listened! J

The Supertweeters are Tannoy ST100’s ( and if you have a purely phono set-up, I recommend you get a pair of Supertweeters!!). Although the difference to CD’s isn’t “minimal”

All the power is supplied via Shunyata Research….(except for a Nordost El Dorado..)

This includes:

Hydra-8, Anaconda Alpha, Python Vx (courtesy of Thomas. Thanks very much!!), 3 Taipan Alphas – One feeding the kW PSU and the other two feeding the active sub section of the preludes!

All signal cabling is courtesy of Nordost including Valhalla, Valkyra, SPM & Moonglo.

The stands are BASE……One stand being a standard Base…and the other Being StarBASE…

Various tweaks (all of which I can recommend - it’s been tweaked to “Buggery”);

Shakti stones and onlines.

Golden sound Hyper tweeters…working above 1GHz!!

Golden Sound Magic Rings

Walker SST - if you haven’t tried it – Best you do.

Russ Andrews “Shorties” & Giant Oak cone feet

And there is a Quantum Symphony Pro on the same ring….

Few little interesting facts;

The frequency response of my system is 20Hz upto 54KHz…(almost 100KHz infact) & that isn’t including the Hyper tweeters reproducing frequencies in excess of 1GHz

The Systems PEAK output is some where in the region of 5Kw!!

The Prelude subs are designed to be able to output 800watts continuous each & peak at 2 Kw each….with the Kw500 being able to drive the towers in excess of 750 watts per channel

But for continuous listening 2.5Kw TOTAL is more realistic…lol! (& no I haven’t ever tried it……it would probably MELT!)

Normal listening levels are with the volume at “8:30-9 O’clock” and at that level conversation is impossible. Take the volume up to 10 o’clock and it’s time to get your “Disco boots” on!

Musical tastes = pretty much everything bar none!

But mainly Psychadelic trance – HARD dance, Billy Nasty, 70’s rock (Zeppelin – Moon! Free, Hendrix, Hawkwind, Hillage, Amon Duul 2 & MotorHead)

90’s rock – Linkin’ Park, Pantera, & the GREAT Limp Bizkit!

Trojan Reggae, Peter Tosh UB40’s 1st album “Signing off”

A fondness for female vocals (which my system handles superbly) i.e. Suzanne Vega, Tracey Chapman, Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac, Sinead O’Connor…..Kate Bush.

80’s Indie – Stone Roses. Happy Mondays The Chameleons..

Tchaikovsky, Bach, Vivaldi, Barber!

The list is literally endless & that is just a couple of Genres!!

Happy listening & thanks to Tom for a superb service – If I had “met” him before I bought the Shunyata equipment I would have saved a fortune – at least a couple of grand! :-(

Andy