System upgrade! (with pics)...have now gone over officially!

[audioguy3107]

Well, I finally put this project to bed a couple of days ago when my dealer finally delivered and setup my new VPI Classic 2!!!!! It's quite a long story, but basically it was sent to my dealer the week before Christmas but apparently there was something wrong with the tonearm. After much research and discussion with VPI on the telephone, no one could figure out why there was only one channel working. They finally ruled out the tonearm and discovered there was a problem with the phono cartridge, which originally was the Dynavector Karat17D3.

Once we figured out it was the cartridge, I said the heck with it and told them to put a Dynavector XX2 mkII on there! My rack now looks like this with the table set up next to the Manley Chinook phono preamp!







This setup sounds awesome...here's some more:



with Audioquest King Cobra interconnects:





Since this was my first foray into vinyl, I figured that I might as well get better than entry level so I wouldn't necessarily be on the upgrade train a year from now, but so far it sounds spectacular. I found a U.S. first press of Pink Floyd's The Wall in almost mint condition and had a listen last night, it was stunning (and the new Guthrie CDs are pretty darn good).

I also have a small closet in the corner of my room which is pretty much empty, so that was perfect for the VPI 16.5 on a small $39 Target end table which makes cleaning a snap. So far been very impressed, especially with the VTA on the fly. Anyone have any feedback, ideas, suggestions?

[Still-One]

Congratulations. Nice looking table and set-up.

[prepress]

I like that you can plug in the interconnects for the Classic the same way as any other component. I have two pair of King Cobra sitting idle (they used to be my preamp to power amp connection, back when I had two pairs of monoblocks). You have me thinking about pulling them out again and finding something for them to do.

[cmalak]

audioguy3107...congrats on the new VPI Classic 2 plus Dyna XX2mk2 and the 16.5 RCM!

Everything is looking really good. Enjoy the new vinyl ride.

[Alberto]

Very nice setup. I still have such a sweet spot for the McIntosh C220 - the subject of my first (and most popular) video review on YouTube. I wish I hadn't sold it!

Congratulations on a well thought out system.

Alberto

[jdandy]

Buck.......Great photos. It's official, you have gone over to the dark side.

[audioguy3107]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Buck.......Great photos. It's official, you have gone over to the dark side.

Thanks....I know! It's been a lot of fun so far, unfortunately it doesn't help my somewhat obsessive personality.....I've spent way too much time over on the Hoffman forums trying to figure out which pressings to look for etc. But, when you sit down to take it all in it really captures the music. What's amazing to me is not only how lifelike music sounds, but as opposed to CD, the best description I can give is how "continuous" the sound is......sure, you still hear individual instruments etc., but now the music fills in the entire space from about a foot and a half outside the loudspeakers as well as in between. It's amazing how much more of a 3 dimensional experience it is.

It's especially rewarding when you find a great pressing of an album like I did with The Wall the other day. It wasn't too expensive, so I was a little worried about surface noise, pops, and all that. I got lucky b/c it sounds amazing....some of the drum thwacks even made me jump. Anyway, I've spent the majority of time cleaning LPs and experimenting, haven't had too much time to just sit and listen, but we're getting there. The only disc based media that has lived up to expectations so far was a comparison I did between the self titled Dire Straits original press and my SHM SACD. I was really curious to see what I would find. The SHM SACD beats it out by a hair, so I may be able to avoid buying the Dire Straits vinyl box, but if you didn't already have any of those hideously expensive SHM SACDs then a $6.00 good condition LP is right there!

I still haven't experimented with the loading on the Manley Chinook......I'll try and dial that in this weekend, right now I have it set on the 100 ohm setting as Dynavector says >30.

I'll post some pics of the furniture that's going to complete the setup as soon as we get it. Maybe then my wife will actually join me during the evening.

Buck

[Yamaki]

Wow! That looks great! Congratulations on a nice, nice upgrade.

[George Prentice]

Congratulations on your system. I was reading about your difficult startup. Glad you got there. I am lucky enough to have a collection of about 2,000 vinyl albums and 2,000 CDs. Most of my CDs are newer stuff and vinyl older stuff. I used to have a really big used vinyl store near me. For years I would peruse the store expanding my collection. After a while you can read the vinyl to know what they will sound like. Most of my albums have not a pop or crackle on them. You have to watch out for reissues... Like in the '80s and '90s, some of them can be real stinkers. The other day I pulled out a reissue of Blind Faith... Absolutely terrible, MP3 would have sounded much better. So, I replaced it with a new audiophile pressing. I have a real good CD player / DAC, so new stuff I buy on CD. Anyway, the historical stuff on vinyl and contemporary or cd works well for me.

[NOLG4EVR]

Very nice setup. I have the Dynavector xx2mkii as well. The sweet spot in Dynavector lineup IMO. Give it about 200 hours for break in and you are in for a real treat. Enjoy the new tt.