My studio / sound system consists of;

* Toshiba laptop, Quadcore with 8Gb RAM, 2x 500Gb HD
* M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8R sound card

via Balanced 1/4” jacks—->

* Behringer EP4000, 4000W Power Amp

via Speakons into——>

* 2 x 2000W Speakers (P-Audio, about 10 years old ex-club system) - yes they are old, but man they pump (12” Horn, 15” Mid and 15” Sub)

Generally i have to wheel (they weigh over 100Kg each) them outside as inside the house they collect too much bass in the corners of the studio.

To hear the full potential, unfortunately i usually have to wait to put on a small outdoor doof.

No, i don;t have anything smaller. :(

BUT…. (and its a big but)... there is NOTHING like hearing Shpongle or any music for that matter on a big system… that;s what they were made for and on a system like mine, the only way to let the music open up is to actually play it at the speakers rated power level. Not boasting, just luck to have gotten the chance to buy these speakers.

Hi all,
I wanted to update this topic so here are the latest pictures of my system. It took me years to complete it because I wanted some stuff that you can only find rarely on the web. Finally the last piece came from England, the CD player: Bow Technologies ZZ-8. Very hard to find, when you do find it, generally, you never sell it, expect when you need money, and the guy who sold it needed some so here I have it! It goes with the beautiful amp, a Bow ZZ-1, pure piece of conception, the designer wanted something different and that could last over the decades, but, the sound engineer was not happy to try to fit the components inside the casing. On the side is the cooling system ,the transistor are directly in contact. It’s always warm, sometimes in summer it burns, I could cook some eggs on it hehe.
I’d like to share what I really enjoy: listening to music, from all genres, I’m quite open, even to rock. A good example is the last album of YB or the last album of Archive, they have their won style. It sounds great! And when you play them on my system you better fasten your seat belt for an amazing journey… If your near Paris, don’t hesitate to PM me for a demo with red wine and stuff
OK enough talking, here are the pics:

This is the Bow ZZ-8 CD player, second hand, but, sounds nice, great bass:

Below are the connections to the amplifier, even tough I’m not sure to make a difference between a normal cable and let’s say an expensive one, I like to have them all nice. Like watches, I like hi-fi, so I got to terminate the loop. I’m not debating about cables though, and I don’t push anyone to get some. It’s up to anybody…

That’s the amp, very simple, switch on/off, source and that’s it… It’s a pure dual mono. Only one regret, no remote…

Now a global view of the system, small speakers for a small room. My Dynaudio sound great but only because the association with the amp is good. My previous amp association was crap even though it was high end. So better try first as I did to make sure Magazines and seller in most cases sell first for money… But there’s exceptions.

The speaker is beautiful, with some good recordings it’s awesome, I can push the volume so high that it would be hard to hear you talking beside me even if your shouting and you keep all the dynamic, all the clarity, it’s freaky I do it time to time and Vaccine CD wow you can feel the work of YB, thanks to them!

Another view…

From top we can really see the design, some like it, some don’t, normal we have different feelings…

Dynaudio S1.4 and their Stand4 legs, good choice for sure… I can make some music on software a little bit with them but the amp has a too strong signature to mix well… And I’m just an amateur.

Interconnection with the amp, Cardas Cross, I better not put the price hehe…

The CD player buttons, I love it, nice design. I like hi-fi, but to me, design is important, they could make a crap design and sell that twice cheaper for sure, well, it is nice to use and girls like it too

Last picture with a CD inside, it turns fast so it’s better no try to put a finger while playing…

Thanks for reading and don’t hesitate to post your pictures here

raphy, I’m so jealous, you have no idea. . .

This whole sound system looks amazing, and I assume that it also sounds amazing

I see you are also an Aleph Zero fan, me too, one of my favorite record labels.

Don’t know if you are also an Ultimae fan ( one of my favorite record labels as well ), but man, it will probably be a real pleasure to listen to some Ultimae stuff through that system.

The Shpongle mask is a nice touch, really fits the room ( are you a really good bank robber or something ? ) . Really like what you did with the room.

Anyway, can I come over with a couple of beers and a bunch of CDs ?

CHeers !

Thank you man, yeah I can’t hide it, I’m very happy with my stereo Sounds great and looks nice. Haha I’m not really a bank rubber let’s say I don’t how I manage to switch to the right side of my work I work on seismic boats… I’ll be in Paris end of September if your around?
I think I have almost the entire Ultimae collection, Solar Fields and CBL are two great artists! And I can’t wait for a new Shulman album if ever their gonna do it?

raphy - 22 July 2011 03:57 AM

Thank you man, yeah I can’t hide it, I’m very happy with my stereo Sounds great and looks nice. Haha I’m not really a bank rubber let’s say I don’t how I manage to switch to the right side of my work I work on seismic boats… I’ll be in Paris end of September if your around?
I think I have almost the entire Ultimae collection, Solar Fields and CBL are two great artists! And I can’t wait for a new Shulman album if ever their gonna do it?

I had a feeling that you’re an Ultimae fan

I own almost the entire Ultimae catalogue too. Can’t wait to get the new CBL ( pure spacey, drone ambient this time ). Regarding a new Shulman, the news from Aleph Zero is that the live album should be out later this year. I have the entire AZ catalogue as well ( except for one title ).

Anyway, I’m actually from Israel, and have no idea when I’ll be in Paris again
I was there once when I was little. Hope to visit again.

Cheers !

nice setting raphy.

So what are the black and yellow things on the bottom part of the Stand^4?

And did you fill the coloumns (one of each speaker or both) with sand?

Lunitari - 22 July 2011 06:30 AM

I had a feeling that you’re an Ultimae fan

I own almost the entire Ultimae catalogue too. Can’t wait to get the new CBL ( pure spacey, drone ambient this time ). Regarding a new Shulman, the news from Aleph Zero is that the live album should be out later this year. I have the entire AZ catalogue as well ( except for one title ).

Anyway, I’m actually from Israel, and have no idea when I’ll be in Paris again
I was there once when I was little. Hope to visit again.

Cheers !

Yeah Ultimae do some really nice music, thanks for the info I’m now waiting for the new CBL as well as the live Shulman album.
Ha your very far Don’t hesitate to contact me if either you’ll get back to France one day Maybe I’ll have bigger speakers in a bigger place hehe.

vyomkesha - 22 July 2011 01:57 PM

nice setting raphy.

So what are the black and yellow things on the bottom part of the Stand^4?

And did you fill the coloumns (one of each speaker or both) with sand?

Thanks man
Nope I haven’t put anything yet inside the Stand4. I was thinking to do so but finally I prefer not too I’m too scared to damage even just a little bit…
The black and yellow things are some old school roller skating wheels, the brand is Kryptos Kryptos, very hard to find. Well I found a guy on eBay USA and he was selling only 4 of them, after a little chat I bought his entire stock: 16 wheels. They are legend!

raphy - 23 July 2011 08:41 AM

Thanks man
Nope I haven’t put anything yet inside the Stand4. I was thinking to do so but finally I prefer not too I’m too scared to damage even just a little bit…
The black and yellow things are some old school roller skating wheels, the brand is Kryptos Kryptos, very hard to find. Well I found a guy on eBay USA and he was selling only 4 of them, after a little chat I bought his entire stock: 16 wheels. They are legend!

lol, I was expecting these things to be weights to improve the speaker’s stability. :D

You should consider filling up those coloumns. Try tapping them with your fingernail and you’ll hear a nice and warm sound which fades out slowly. You don’t want that in your system. Dynaudio gives some kind of a plastic-bag to put into the coloumns. You should have gotten two when you bought the stands. So there’s no risk in not getting the sand out. If you dislike it you can just remove it and the coloumns stay pristine.

Yes i know i should put some weight inside the legs. I will try to check inside the Stand4 box to see if i can get the bag. I can hear the echo when i tap on them hehe not good i will try to take your in advise in consideration the next time i go to france.
Btw to you wilson audio speakers?

What do you mean with ‘Btw to you wilson audio speakers?’?

So you’re living separated from your hifi-system? That must be tough. :D

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My main system (Fully and properly balanced):

Speakers: Paradigm S8v1
DAC: Balanced Havana (Tube rolled with the JW 2C51 nos tubes from the 60’s)
Transport: Cambridge Audio 840C
Pre amp: Bel Canto Pre3
Amps: Bel Canto Ref 1000mk2 monoblocks
Cables: Lenehan custom cables and JIB. Custom shielded power cables for the amps.
Power conditioning for transport, DAC and Preamp
Subs: 2 x SVS SB13’s
Room treatment

Bedroom:

Paradigm S2v2
Transport: Oppo 83(modified)
DAC: Lite 83
Amp: Cambridge Audio 840A
Subs: 2 x REL R205
Cables: Zu, JIB and Lenehan custom. Custom shielded power cables for DAC.

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atnt-sf - 17 August 2011 09:56 PM

hey vitruvian - i just had a look for an image of a paradigms8v whatever it was and found…

i have no idea what’s going on in the photo - anything you recognise?

hifi porn is some of my favourite type - if i’m idling in a magazine shop then i pick up a audiophile magazine probably second after some sort of mountain biking / triathlon thing

i’ve never owned a nice stereo - the closest i’ve been was a second hand b&w sub from a cinema system, a pair of solid wood celestion 10” regular speakers with a pair of bookshelf mordant shorts that had a lovely metallic tweeter - just cobbled together with a nad turntable and amp.  it was set up just basically stereo but the frequency responses of the speakers was a bit different so it used to do a little bit of surround swoosh

the nicest set up i’ve heard was some sort of unusual same brand cd/amp (looked like both had been cnc’d out of raw aluminium) through a pair of martin logan summits

great to see that you play decent music through yr kit!  it seems like there’s mostly this really odd inverse correlation between turntablist dj’s skills and what they put on & a similar phenomenon for audiophiles

Thanks for your positive comments.

If you want to check out my speakers: http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/paradigm_signature_s8.htm

I am a full time student and have built my system over several years. I have bought some second hand gear off audiophile forums - generally they love their equipment and are happy to see it go to a good home. In America Audiogon is one such forum and in Australia it is Stereonet. Many times I have been able to pay off gear via installments, which has made the difference between me getting the gear I am after or not.

Certainly reproducing music well is its own blend of art and science and, when done right, allows one to be immersed in the music. It has also been cool to introduce many audiophiles to good electronica, something most audiophiles did not believe existed. Interestingly, Slackbaba’s first album, all things Ott and Third Ear Audio are albums that audiophiles have embraced.

Building a quality musical system and space is something that I hope more people here attempt. It changes the levels revealed in the music itself and also is a rabbit hole of understanding, experimentation and personal growth.

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