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  #11  
Old 11-02-2017, 09:34 PM
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ylee ylee is offline
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Originally Posted by difficultrun View Post
Hello all,

I've been lurking around the site for a month or so and have been very impressed. I'm a real newbie at this so I'll do a lot of listening/reading and not a lot of posting ... except for asking for advice and help!
Welcome to a fellow Virginian! You have come to the right place for knowledgeable and passionate discourse on all things audio.
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Primary System (Always in flux):
Analog Source: Rega RP10
Phono Preamp: Bryston BP2/PS3
Digital Software: Roon, Tidal Streaming
Digital Music Server: Melco N1A/2
Digital Sources: Totaldac d1-twelve SE MkII (factory upgraded from MKI) with "live power" 4 output power supply, Oppo UDP-205
Preamplifier: Rogue Audio RP-9 (factory upgraded from RP-7)
Amplifier: Vandersteen M5-HPA
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Cabling: WW Platinum Starlight 7 digital wires, Totaldac Gigafilter USB filter, AQ Sky XLR, AQ Fire RCA
Speaker Cables: AudioQuest Oak spades ---> bi-wire spades
Power Cables: Esprit PC (for DAC), 2 WW Platinum Electra PC (Preamp/Phono Preamp), AQ NRG10 (Melco N1A/2), AQ Blizzard (Quatro Wood CT built-in subs)
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  #12  
Old 11-02-2017, 10:36 PM
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For The Love of Music For The Love of Music is offline
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Hi Virginia from Seattle USA
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  #13  
Old 11-04-2017, 11:09 AM
difficultrun difficultrun is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PHC1 View Post
Welcome to AA, the friendliest audio forum on the planet. Don't hesitate to post your questions, we have experienced and friendly members who are always willing to help.
I hope I'm putting this in the right place ...

Thank you all for your kind welcomes … I’m ready to start my journey to audio nirvana and I need your wise counsel and advice. Currently, the only audio setup I have is a whole house audio system that uses an HTD-1275 12 channel amp and HTD music controller. We stream music from iTunes and Tidal (which we’re just getting into) via an airport express connected to the music controller. I would like to begin to build a high quality 2 channel system. First, I would like to start with digital only, since all of my current source material is on CDs and we stream a lot of music, and maybe at some point in the future add a turntable. Since I will be starting with digital, I was thinking of starting with either the Aurender A10 or N10. As I understand it, if I got the A10, I would not need an external DAC. If I went with the N10, I would need to add an external DAC. If that’s the case, I was thinking of the Esoteric K-01X, which seems to get glowing reviews and only lacks MQA (which may not even be a shortcoming). Please provide feedback on these and whether I need to demo these before making a decision on one or the other or if it makes sense to consider something else.

My next consideration is where to put the new system. We have two choices here: My wife would like to keep it in a smaller room (dimensions are 16’ L x 15.5’ W x 11’ H). We currently use this room as a bar with one wall having cabinets with glass doors. The other walls are plaster. Seating would be about 10’ from the speakers. While I’m not against that, I see another possibility in a much larger room (dimensions are 37’ L x 17’ W x 10’ H). This room is one big room that has our kitchen, family kitchen table and family room. The walls are dry wall and windows/doors to the outside. At the far end of the room in the kitchen area, there is a tile wall with cabinets and a 48” Wolf oven and vent. I don’t know if that will have any adverse impact on the sound. I estimate that seating would be about 10-11’ from the speakers.

After deciding where to put the system, I guess the next step would be to select candidate amps and speakers for audition. I’m wide open for suggestions, although I tend to like McIntosh amps and Sonus Faber speakers — but again, I don’t have any basis for leaning in that direction and have never done an amp and speaker audition.

Please let me know if I’m way off the mark or if I’m going about this all wrong — I’m looking for your input and guidance.

Thank you all and I look forward to reading your input!

Gene
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  #14  
Old 11-04-2017, 01:57 PM
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chessman chessman is offline
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Welcome aboard, Gene! The small room plus is dedicated room. The negative is nearly square dimensions, which will require acoustic treatment and/or EQ to tame the bass. The big room will have better acoustics, but may have serious WAF limitations, like no acoustic treatment. Tough choice.

Personally, I would put monitors in the small room and use art print acoustic panels. BUT, if you listen at concert level volume, I would go with big room.
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  #15  
Old 11-05-2017, 09:51 AM
difficultrun difficultrun is offline
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Thanks Chessman. We listen to classical about 99% of the time, mostly chamber music and symphony with a very rare opera. Volume-wise, we don't blow the windows out so it sounds like the smaller room would work. Any thoughts on how I should go about acquiring components?

Thanks again,
Gene
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  #16  
Old 11-07-2017, 10:07 PM
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docmd2010 docmd2010 is offline
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Welcome to AA Gene! I would def. start with speakers (not that you have your dac and streamer). Take your time with this, you should spend the longest time auditioning lots and lots of speakers. Pick a budget and stick with it. Keep in mind that you can get pre-owned speakers at killer prices. You may not be able to get a particular speaker brand new, but pre-owned, may easily fit in your price range. Check the marketplace here, audiogon. Call around to dealers, especially when you know what speakers you want and see if they have used product. One tip, if you want to buy them used, call the manufacturer, sometimes they can give you a tip as to what dealer in the country has a used model; most dealers are more than happy to ship stuff out to you, as long as you pay shipping.

I would then select your pre-amp and amplifiers. Last is cables.

People on this forum are extremely friendly. If you see that someone on here has something that you want to own, send them a PM; see what their experience has been, they will, most likely, be glad to help you.
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Magico M3
Mcintosh 601 monos
Boulder 2110 Pre
Nordost Odin 2 cabling
Clearaudio Master Innovation with Goldfinger cartridge
Esoteric E03 phono
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Incoming: Magico Q15 subs (2)
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  #17  
Old 11-08-2017, 12:16 PM
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Antonmb Antonmb is offline
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Hi Gene, welcome to AA.
Regarding your room choice, consider also how you like to listen to music. If it’s a family affair and you and your wife both enjoy listening together, and like playing music while you’re doing other things like cooking, go for the big room. If, on the other hand, you want to be able to spend more time in dedicated listening without distraction, you’ll want to be able to close out the noise of not just other family members, but things like a refrigerator humming in the background. Neither room will be perfect, but then few of us have perfect rooms, and with the right equipment and some discreet treatment either could produce very enjoyable sound.

Here are a couple of threads discussing listening rooms that might interest you:

http://www.audioaficionado.org/showthread.php?t=40978
http://www.audioaficionado.org/showt...Dedicated+room
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D'Agostino Momentum S250 MxV & HD pre; Linn Klimax Organik DSM, SonicTransporter, EtherRegen; Acoustic Signature Typhoon Neo, Koetsu RSP, Boulder 1108; Sf Il Cremonese; Shunyata Everest, Altaira, Sigma & Alpha v2
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  #18  
Old 11-08-2017, 01:55 PM
difficultrun difficultrun is offline
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Thanks Aditya and Tony. My wife and I are going to do some speaker demos and see what we like. I'm sure she'll focus on aesthetics and I'll focus on the sound. We're also looking at the pros/cons of each room. One question ... would there be any problem with running speaker cables over a distance of 10-15 feet through a crawl space? One scenario we're investigating is putting the components on some built in shelves and putting the speakers on an opposite wall.

Thanks again.

Gene
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  #19  
Old 11-08-2017, 02:01 PM
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docmd2010 docmd2010 is offline
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Nope. Just invest in good quality cables. Speakers carry amplifier signal.

General cables that carry a small, delicate signal such as a tonearm cables are much more susceptible to signal loss and degradation as the length of cables increases.
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Magico M3
Mcintosh 601 monos
Boulder 2110 Pre
Nordost Odin 2 cabling
Clearaudio Master Innovation with Goldfinger cartridge
Esoteric E03 phono
Esoteric D02X
Esoteric P02X
Aurender W20
HRS SXR-Signature 4V X 2 rack
Incoming: Magico Q15 subs (2)
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  #20  
Old 11-08-2017, 02:02 PM
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docmd2010 docmd2010 is offline
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By the way, it’s awesome that your wife likes to do this with you. My wife wants nothing to do with Audio hobby!

It is good in a way, as she doesn’t see how much all of this stuff costs!
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Magico M3
Mcintosh 601 monos
Boulder 2110 Pre
Nordost Odin 2 cabling
Clearaudio Master Innovation with Goldfinger cartridge
Esoteric E03 phono
Esoteric D02X
Esoteric P02X
Aurender W20
HRS SXR-Signature 4V X 2 rack
Incoming: Magico Q15 subs (2)
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