Closing in on done
 

I decided in Feb 2020 to build the best system I could, and get off the incremental upgrade merry go round. That iterative process was fun and instructive, but every time I’d make an improvement I’d start wondering about what was next. Not the best use of time or money.

I had great support from dCS, D’Agostino, and the Kennedy Brothers at JSA Audio along the way, and I’m done, component-wise.

I have a Shunyata Omega XC on the way for the Denali, and a Sigma V2 NR inbound for one of the digital components. Thru a bunch of horse trading, I wound up with a Stealth Dream V10 (pre) on the upsampler - this’ll be replaced by the Sigma.

The 2000T in the photos will be out of the rack soon (right now it runs the amps), and I’ll run the preamp, Vivaldi stack and amp thru the Denali. That’ll fill all six outlets.

I’ll probably have another dedicated 20 amp circuit run to the stereo and experiment with the amps and the preamp fed directly from the wall, and the digital front end by itself on the Denali. Lots of good listening and critical analysis in the future for me!

It’s has all come together as I’d hoped; with the exception of maybe another power cable upgrade (something better for the amps), I’m done. Time to enjoy...

Here is the full inventory, with a couple photos. I made the rack myself BTW...I’ll post more on that later. It was easy, and cost me around $1,500 vs estimates well over $5,000 plus shipping for something similar.

Slainte,

Mitch

COMPONENTS
D’Agostino Momentum HD preamp
D’Agostino Momentum 300 mono amps (x2)
dCS Vivaldi DAC
dCS Vivaldi Upsampler
dCS Vivaldi clock
Shunyata 6000V2 power conditioner
Wilson Sasha DAW speakers
JL Audio Fathom 113 subwoofers (x2)
QNAP TS-251 NAS (10 TB storage, 8 gb RAM)
Netgear GS308 eight port unmanaged Ethernet switch
MacMini

INTERCONNECTS
Preamp to amps. Stealth Indra V7 XLR
Preamp to subs. Stealth Swift XLR
Preamp to DAC. Stealth Sakra XLR
Upsampler to DAC. Nordost Valhalla 2 AES/EBU
Clock to DAC. Stealth Octava BNC (44.1 hz) and Nordost Valhalla 1 BNC (48 hz)
Clock to Upsampler. Stealth Octava BNC (44.1 hz) and Nordost Valhalla 1 BNC (48 hz)
Macmini to DAC. Stealth USB
Wall to Ethernet switch. Audioquest Diamond
Ethernet switch to DAC. Audioquest Diamond
Ethernet switch to Macmini. Blue Jeans Cable
Modem to Ethernet female connector. Audioquest Diamond
NAS to modem. Audioquest Vodka

POWER
Wall to Shunyata 6000V2. Shunyata Omega XC
Shunyata 6000V2 to preamp. Stealth Dream V18 (preamp)
Shunyata 6000V2 to DAC. Stealth Dream V12 (digital)
Shunyata 6000V2 to Clock. Stealth Dream V18 (digital)
Shunyata 6000V2 to Upsampler. Shunyata Sigma V2 NR
Shunyata 6000V2 to mono amps. Stealth Dream V10 (power) x2

Wall to Macmini. Shunyata Venom 14 (digital)

Wall to Subwoofers. Stealth Cloude 99 (full) (x2)

SPEAKER WIRE
Amps to Sasha DAWs. Stealth Dream Petite V16, biwire

Sweeeet!
Do please tell us more about how you made the rack.

Wow, very nice system.......Although audiophiles are technically never "done", you'd have to go ballistic to get better. Gotta love the D'agostino stuff. Awesome! :thumbsup:

- Buck

It's not about the destination, it's about the journey. Killer system, congratulations and enjoy!

Nicely done.

Very very nice! Thanks for sharing it with us.

My system had been geographically challenged for a long time with the front end on the other side of the room from the amps and speakers. I had a long XLR and some generic speaker wire under the floor to run the signals to the amps and subs.

My original amps were Krell Evo 600s, and speakers were Revel Salon 1s. A ton of weight to try to move around. So I drew up (I’m a retired engineer) a 3 shelf rack that would fit between the speakers and hold the amps on the bottom shelf.

Estimates I got were north of $5k, with a bunch more for shipping and a long wait.

I bought custom sized hard rock maple countertops from an Amish firm in Ohio, unfinished. I sized the top one so it would have a 1 inch overlap on the front and both sides. I also bought 3 foot hard rock maple turning blanks from Amazon - the stock used in lathes to turn posts etc.

A friend of mine here has a fully equipped workshop; after I finished the shelves and posts with Tung oil, we made 2 rabbet cuts in each leg for the shelves, glued the hell out of the joints and with cargo straps it sat cinched down as tight as I could manage for a few days. I checked it daily, and retightned the straps as I could. Once that was set, we placed the top and glued it down as well.

Each leg has a full coverage felt furniture protection pad on the bottom, as do several extra short support legs under the bottom shelf to help distribute the weight and stabilize it.

The only metal in the stand are some extra brackets I used to attach the top shelf.

This thing weighs in a well over 100 pounds, is perfectly level, and rock solid. The commercial ones I was considering would have been pricey to ship and woulda been full of metal components for assembly.

If I had it to do over again, I’d probably woulda splurged and gotten a more exotic wood (mahogany or the like), but it came out really well.

I also had the Amish firm make the wooden stands on which the amps, and their amp stands rest. That cost me all of around $400.

Slainte,

Mitch

These are the amp stands, 2 inches thick sized to provide a 1 inch reveal under the amps and their stands. Source was Custom Mouldings in Ohio; you can pick from many different woods, and size the countertops down to 1/4 inch tolerance. They will also finish them, but I found fun in doing that myself...

I talked with them about countersinking some screw shafts in the bottom for screw in feet, but in the end just used some Mapleshade brass footers I had on hand. Perfectly level, rock solid and complementary to the rack.

Extremely well thought out and beautiful system. You have the classic Wilson/Dag/dCS/Shunyata/JL/Stealth gear that would make anyone envious. I know your sound must be superb.

Best

Charles

____________________
Charles Updated System: Wilson McIntosh Audioquest
Most recent updates: AQ Diamond USB replaces AQ Coffee; Wilson Audio Specialties Alexx replaced by Wilson Audio Specialties XVX Chronosonic; new subwoofer crossover; new Galaxy Grey Thors Hammer; Wilson Pedestals
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 XVX Chronosonic
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
Isolation: Wilson Pedestals
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
AC: Dedicated to this room only, an ultra-high efficiency and quiet recently installed Ruud split system 3-ton heat pump.
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.

Congratulations, that is a serious system indeed! Enjoy and welcome to AA!