New Pictures of Charles System
 

Here are the pictures


https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...8&d=1558311310

Here are the rest
 

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Charles Updated System
Most recent update: AQ Diamond USB replaces AQ Coffee
Amps: McIntosh 1.25KW’s (3) set on floor on custom made cultured marble slabs
Preamp and DAC: McIntosh D1100
Sources: McIntosh MCD1100 SACD player, MVP881 BR player, MVP851 DVD player, MR87 tuner, Marantz 510LV Laser Disc player, ASUS laptop USB (JRiver Media Center 23)
Speakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexx
Sub-woofer: Wilson Audio Specialties Thor’s Hammer (1) horizontal lie and Wilson Watch Controller (abbr: WC)
Cables main system: Audioquest Wel Signature speaker cables and balanced IC (preamp to amps); Wel Signature AES/EBU balanced digital IC for CD playback; Audioquest Diamond optical (1) for tuner, (1) for BR player, and (1) for LD player for total of (3); Diamond USB cable; McIntosh MCT cable for SACD playback; Dragon power cords (5 HC cords and 3 source cords for total of 8); Thunder HC power cord for tuner; cables for DVD player not listed
Cables subwoofer system: Audioquest Redwood speaker cable (1); Wolf balanced subwoofer IC from WC to amp; Wind balanced IC from preamp to WC; Hurricane HC (2) and Dragon HC (1) power cords
Power conditioners: Audioquest Niagara 7000 (1) and Niagara 5000 (3); (4) dedicated 20-amp lines with no. 10 wire straight out of fuse box
Cabinet: Double Custom Woodwork & Design (CWD) solid walnut cabinet on large casters; holds all sources and preamp; also, Niagara 7000; 11 feet minimum distance from speakers
Acoustic Treatments: Room and Echo Tunes enough to turn the room into a virtual anechoic chamber if desired; however, at present my room is significantly reflective giving me a bright, vibrant, dynamic, highly resolving, smooth sound free of harshness and grain and perfect for my taste; zero slap echo; gorgeous midrange
AC: Dedicated to this room only, an ultra-high efficiency and quiet Trane split system 2.5-ton heat pump with 4 returns; active electrostatic filter and top-grade digital thermostat
Room (mancave): 40’L x 15.5’W A-frame; max ceiling height 8’ min 5’; wall within wall construction built of 2 x 6’s; built over garage with custom hardwood floor with gym seal with over 40 Lowes stiffened wooden I-beams supporting floor; complete isolation from rest of house

Wow!! That is a beautiful system!!

Thank you so much. Although it can't be seen from the inside I recently added a solid aluminium motorized hurricane shutter to the window. It has a remote control but so far I haven't seen the need to raise it. The room is incredibly solid being built with 2x6's and wall within wall construction. Floor: stiffened wooden I-beams 3/4" plywood then custom hardwood. The weakness was the window. Now it would take a very heavy wind indeed to damage the equipment. This room is a hundred feet and upstairs from where the rest of the folks reside, especially at night. Total isolation.

I also recently had the ground to the FM antenna completely re-done by a qualified electrician and had him insert a surge protection junction box into my 75 ohm tuner cable.

Charles... very nicely done, lots of effort, planning, and finances. :ok:

Thank you, Ivan. Coming from you, it means a lot.:yes:

Big Rigs, such as yours takes an enormous commitment; in every sense of the word. :o

What outlets are you using? They can make a huge difference.

https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...0&d=1558311335

https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...9&d=1558311325

I use hospital grade. I had the wiring done by a good friend who is also an electrician. He has since moved. It was done probably 12-13 years ago. He ran the no.10 wire 20 amp lines and installed very high quality hospital grade outlets: 4 of them. They have excellent grip but not too much. When you plug the cord in it has no tendency to move. It is tight.

Breathtaking, beautiful system,....congratulations!!!

Looks great, now you need a nice rack or built in, expensive electronics on the floor is a dust magnet

Thank you so much. Although it is expensive, I have really worked on it to make it as cost effective as possible. Other than the wonderful sound and possibly the looks, I get more pleasure from this than anything else. I am fortunate. Hopefully, I can maintain this setup for many years. If I could make just one comment, look at the diameter/size of those WEL solid silver balanced IC's. That's 24' of solid silver per channel. "Beast" is the only word I have to describe those WEL IC's. They are almost like speaker cables and quite stiff. They are the most extravagant exotic gear in my system.

Appreciate the compliment so much. If you look at the pic showing what's behind the Hammer, you notice dust. I need to get this up with my large feather duster or hand held vac. The room is heavily filtered and has its own dedicated AC. If you look at the rest of the floor, there is zero dust and I keep it this way with minimum effort. I think it unwise to elevate the amps because they are in front of the speakers. My gear has a natural feel to it. It just seems right to me. Including my walnut cabinet which is far removed from the immediate sound field, the gear feels right, if that makes sense.

New Pictures of Charles System
 

Wow, your system must sound spectacular...congratulations and enjoy [emoji106]

Thank you so very much. Mac source gear and preamps are usually between 25-30 lbs per piece . Not particularly heavy. I have always been a Mac aficionado. This will never change. My CWD walnut cabinet would never work with heavier gear but it looks (IMO) like it was "made" for Mac gear. Reminds me of the vintage Panloc System of old with each piece encased in its individual wood cabinet. The cabinet itself is quite heavy and solid but 40 lbs is the upper limit on the shelving. Also it is large enough to easily accommodate my dedicated laptop. The actual internet is probably over 125' away at the other end of the house. I had some special wiring done to hard wire the internet from the study where the router is to the laptop with its own dedicated modem in the CWD. The blue cable on the floor is an extension of the hard wire to the other laptop on the sofa. The house has a comprehensive very secure network installed by my son who is an IT specialist. We have the AT&T 1000 Mega Bit fiber optic internet. Downloads of 192/24 and DSD take only a few seconds per track, extremely rapid. An entire album probably 20 seconds.

I’ll bet it sounds fabulous, enjoy :music:

Charles, that's quite the man cave!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Thank you for sharing, and thus letting us lurk into your holy space. :tresbon:

Wowza. Just amazing (and don’t let my wife see these photos until after my room is done).

Wow! Many nice things over there. Wilson Alexx is one of the
best speakers I'v heard. :banana:

OH WOW is right, very good rig Charles, congrats and thank you for sharing :)

Just an FYI, Hospital grade outlets are very poor for Audio gear/reproduction. They are also quite inexpensive by comparison $30 vs Furutech GTX-D NCF @ $550 each (universally regarded as the best)

I’m only mentioning this because you have left no other stone unturned. ;)

Incredible system Charles, I love that you even addressed the floor support system.

Many many thanks everyone! At some point in the near future I will take Ivan's suggestion and upgrade my outlets. It would be quite easy to do.

Ivan, thank you so much for the advice. I have an electrician coming to wire some attic ventilators this Friday. I will probably go with the AQ NGR Edison Wall Duplex Outlet by AQ. I'm going to see if I can get AQ to overnight to my dealer tomorrow and save a service charge. As you know I don't debate that the Shunyata USB sounds better than the AQ USB's. Likewise, I am sure the Furutech superior to the Edison. However, I desire all AQ and not to mix. I appreciate your advice and interest in my system so very very much. This website is very much like a fraternity of which I was a member in college. We all shared a special bond and certainly, you are the president of this one and a very benign and wise leader.:yes:

I will post pics. My son posts them so it may be a little while between installation and the post.

Ivan, I spoke to my friend at AQ. I was going to ask him to overnight me the Edison outlets so they would arrive before Friday. We had a 20 minute discussion. He is aware of all my Audioquest and was the one who recommended all my upgrades. He saved me a lot of money because I would have done some things that were expensive that did not need be done and other things that I would not have done that needed done. Bottom line without going into a lot of detail as to why, he said enjoy my system. He said that although the Edison outlets were technically superior, he felt I should leave well enough alone. Hum and hiss are strange. I have no hum or hiss at full volume all inputs with ear next to speaker tuner excepted, period. So I'm going to stop. Sometimes the best can turn out to be the enemy of the better.