Pics of my systems... you know you want to look...

[ImcLoud]

I wanted to shorten up my sig and figured I could just put a link to this thread and have some pictures of my budget audio systems, hope you enjoy…

OK, so most of you guys know I am really “cheap” and while I don’t usually buy used gear I wait for sales and buy demo’s when available, so here’s a few of my cost effective systems as they are now, I will update as I change things, feel free to comment... I will do a post for each system below and add them as I change or add more...

First system in my living room, this is one of the only ones with a TV in it, I like music as a form of entertainment over television any day…
5.2 surround sound- Speakers are Ascend 340se’s with matching stands {sand filled}, center is hung with a custom machined flat rail hanger, surrounds are Ascend 200se’s hanging from Omni mounts and the subs are a pair of HSU research VTF2’s… I have a umc200 pre/pro and XPA5 amplifier with a ps3 for streaming and a pair of umc200 amps for my built in whole house audio, which is 6 inside and 6 outside zones, so a total of 24 speakers and 2 subs, room by room volume controls and outside subs only… Pretty simple design with a pair of speaker selectors and a pair of 2 ch amps {the second upa200 is in my sons room, he is borrowing it until his amp is fixed, we don’t use the outside zones this time of year}… Enjoy the pics, nothing real special in here, just a family room...

 

[ImcLoud]

Next is my formal parlor, on the same floor of the house as the above system, just in the front of the house, this is MY room, no kids or cat allowed…
The speakers are all Wharfedale, sw300 subs {12” 300w sealed} and EVO2-40 towers. The towers are powered by an XPA2 amplifier {I used to have a pair of them in here, but it was just overkill, this one never goes past 4 dots on the front led scale running the pair of speakers, so I put the other amp back in its box}… The Parasound CD player and I20/ipad feed into the XDA2 dac, the dac rca outs go to the subs and the xlr outs go to a pair of custom made cross overs and feed the xpa2 amp… This system just sounds perfect in this room, I could use some bass traps in the rear corners and I bought them but my wife hates how they look so I have them in the storage room now, they didn’t change the sound as much as you would think, but it was a positive change… This is a tough room to fill with sound and this does it with ease, its over 400sq ft and the ceilings are around 24’ tall… My dream system for this room is a pair of ascend sierra towers with a uls15 dual drive and a pair of jc1 mono blocks fed by a p5 preamp, someday I may pull the trigger but until the wife lets me treat the room it’s a moot point…

The stand for the components has a 1/2" thick piece of glass to go on the top, BUT a friend of mine is tinting it for me and I haven't picked it up yet...

 

[ImcLoud]

This is my guest suite, its 2 bedrooms a bathroom, and this living room, around 1200 sq ft total and almost all open to this room, but I do a lot of listening in here, since its away from the main living area and I don’t disturb anyone but better than that don’t get disturbed…
The bookshelfs are Carnegie CSB1’s in piano black, the subs are SVS SB12NSD’s, the preamp is a Parsound 2100, Amps are a pair of Outlaw 2200 mono blocks, and the turntable is a RM1.3 with grado cartridge… I love the sound of this system, its powerful, small, and clean. Once and a while you get something right and this combo is rock solid… The center stand is a vti glass amp stand, the bookshelf stands are wharfedale glass models, and the subs are sitting on an old pair of Osiris cast iron stands, I am going to glass bead and paint them someday when I get up the energy to move them around that much , they weigh around 90lbs a piece, I had a set for a long time, then one day I was looking into stands for the subs, and figured I would measure them to see if they would fit and they ended up being absolutely perfect width and length !!!!

 

[ImcLoud]

OK, this system is in my bedroom, this is for ambiance mostly but sounds really good considering… The turntable is a Music Hall 2.2le, one of the best values in turntables, for $500 they give you a lot, my RM 1.3 is was the same price BUT I honestly think out of the box this one sounded better, I added a $200 cartridge to the rm and it sounds really good but this table is something special for the money… I have 2 amps that I alternated in this system trying to decide which to keep, one was a carver tube unit and the other is this Jolida 202, I like the jolida better, for $1200 these amps are really nice and just don’t break down… For speakers I wanted something different and obviously since it was going to be tube powered and I like dynamic headroom they had to be efficient.. I went with these Tekton Lores {with grills, lol} and they sound great.. You can’t turn that amp up much before you get to night club levels… I use a bellari tube preamp with this system...

So I know solid state with a digital source will sound better, BUT this was for the bedroom and when the record starts spinning with the tubes glowing I have to admit it’s awesome and makes up for what I lose in sq… I am going to have a friend of mine pinstrip the towers and turntable some day when he is over here with his kit...

My wife actually listens to this system a lot, at first she didn't want speakers in the bedroom but she plays this one a lot, the bedroom is around 390sq ft not including the master bath so it only take up a tiny corner on the side of one of the master closets.. You would hardly notice it if it wasnt bright red, lol..

 

[ImcLoud]

This is my home office pc system, I have another system at my work office with no sub, that is a luxman 505u amp and a pair of wharfedale denton bookshelfs {new retro}, this is a pair of Wharfedale evo2-08’s with a wharfedale 12” sub. The mains are powered by an Emotiva mini X, there is an audioengine d1 dac behind the pc tower, and a mini dsp controls the crossing… It sounds fantastic for nearfield, and this office is small so really easy to over power…

This system I don’t use, it’s a pair of wharfedale Jades with matching subs, carver amps, one of the ones I built and wasn’t crazy about but didn’t want to put in storage…
its not hooked up in this pic, its in another room, I didn't feel like walking over there to take a new pic...

heres a pic of one of my jukes...

So that's the tour, I have a couple other systems like my bedroom has a pair of PSB imagine Mini’s with the matching center powered by a Marantz slimline, no sub just the 3.0 because the tv speakers are terrible, I had a sound bar in there but it broke twice so I gave up on it and went with the real system, it sounds good but never gets played loud, its 6ft from the bed, I also have a pair of cbm170se’s in my gym powered by a Carver ma202 amp, and I think that’s it, I could have forgotten one, lol..
The systems may change in the future but for rite now I am really happy with everything, I would not change much, I wish my ascends had a better finish and someday may have someone veneer them all for me, but for now they are fine and sound great…
My wish list.. Salk sound scape 8’s powered by some really fancy mono blocks, Seirra towers with ULS15 dual drive or a pair of custom made 18” funk audio subs with external 1000w mono blocks. More realistically a pair of Philharmonitors and a pair of sierra 2 bookshelfs, maybe a new set of sb2000 subs in piano….

 

[rojo]

You must have a very patient and tolerant wife. You should put her in your sig.

 

[ImcLoud]

You must have a very patient and tolerant wife. You should put her in your sig.

I do have a great wife, she enjoys the systems too... She gives me some limits but I push them as much as I can get away with...
For EXAMPLE-If it were completely up to me I would have a sub in each room for the whole house audio system, instead of 2.2 music systems they would all be 2.4 {add 2 more subs to each}, my bedroom would have a full 5.4 system, my formal parlor would have a pair of sierra towers, with a pair of maggie 3.7's, a pair and a couple more pairs of bookshelfs on stands with a switching system so I could listen to any pair I felt like and 4 uls 15's, a built in rack for the electronics and a pair of JC1 mono blocks out in front, a single recliner {maybe one of them massaging ones} and gold records and my guitar collection all over the room.... 2 more juke boxes and a pinball machine... the room would be professionally treated and sound perfect... I couldn't imagine what i would have for speakers..... I would probably have 30 sets with 40 subwoofers...

 

[walter duque]

Them Tektron Lores do look very interesting. I like things that look a little different then just your regular norm. You've got a lot of nice equipment there. The wrapping might be a little loose with you, but than again if I would have that kind of space I might do something crazy like you too.

 

[ImcLoud]

Them Tektron Lores do look very interesting. I like things that look a little different then just your regular norm. You've got a lot of nice equipment there. The wrapping might be a little loose with you, but than again if I would have that kind of space I might do something crazy like you too.

Thanks, The tektons are decent speakers, not the end all to high efficiency towers by any means, but a nice speaker, well made cabinet, grills took a few years to get but besides that they are decent units...
PS my wrapping is so loose, sometimes I trip over it, but the good news is there is always a speaker around to catch myself on...