Here you go. The towers were my first attempt - the kit was Overnight Sensations Towers MTM. MDF cabinets laminated with the cheapest laminate I could find. My first attempt at laminating.
The center speaker was my second effort - along with the stand I had to make to sit it on. Kit is a Statements II center. Cabinet is MDF with leftover laminate from the first project. The front a 1 1/2" figured walnut. It’s hard to see in my photo but it is a truly beautiful piece of walnut.
I have just started a set of stand mounts - GR Research X-LS Encores to use in my office at home. I plan to use walnut fronts again with walnut laminate for the rest of the cabinet… I really like figured walnut although I am allergic to the sawdust.
It makes it so much harder to stop when you build it yourself because that is half the fun! When I had the garage space I was always tweaking drum shell designs and how using different wood ply and different metal types for the drum rim would affect the sound. Of course you have all different kinds of drum heads to play with too but I didn’t make those. I would find something I loved, like a maple ply covered in leather and think “this is it. I don’t need anything better.” but then like 6 months later I would find a reason to build something with a maple and birch ply, lol.
Thanks to Roon I can have music in four of the five rooms in my house, living room, family room, TV bedroom and computer bedroom, missing only the Master Bedroom.
It all starts in the computer bedroom
Windows 10 Core i7 cpu connects to Roon Nucleus and it to Berkeley Alpha USB, AudioAlchemy DDP-1 DAC, Audiomat Arpege integrated amp, Spendor S3/5 Speakers.
The major components are Quad ESL-63 Speakers, Audiomat Prelude Reference MKII integrated tube amp, Berkeley Audio DAC Reference Series 2, Audio Alchemy DMP-1 media server.
Centered around the 65” Sony TV, the Arcam SR-250 a full-fledged two-channel AVR is limited to video switching responsibilities while audio duties are delegated to a recently refurbished Pioneer SX-1050 and Spendor FL-6 speakers. Roon is served via the Oppo UDP-205 DVD and Roon endpoint.
The final room in the Roon chain is in the kitchen/family room
TV bedroom = the room, where the TV ist sleeping
Computer bedroom = the room, where the computer ist sleeping
Master bedroom = the room, where the … who the hell is Master?
I use Airplay. I guess I was an early adopter of the Airport Express as a streaming device way back when the Apple TV (Gen 1) was hardware based. No one seems to remember, but it used to allow multiroom functionality back then, but Apple took it away for a long time. Fast forward 10+ years, and the Expresses still work just fine. This time with Roon and an Eero router setup. The miracle of Roon is that it allows for all these devices to just work seamlessly. I use the mini-pin output to drive the B&O gear. Just make sure you have the B&O mini-pin to either 5 pin or 7 pin cable (not at all expensive). I know Rasberry Pi would offer better DAC, but for secondary listening, I find Airport adequate. The Airport Expresses are available cheaply on Ebay, if needed. If you have a Beovision and Beo4 remote enabled for Apple TV, Airplay will display whatever is playing on the Beovision, and you can play and pause with the Beo4;)
I got VITA (+WAVE + PULSE) hooked up, when it WAS STILL certified Roon Ready. Now (after loosing certification with Roon 1.7; and with no one at NATIV responding since Feb/2020) I have to be really careful not to delete VITA from my Roon Core on Nucleus, as it cannot be (re)installed … such a pitty! And a warning, how quickly equipment can „retire“ and be useless in this software-driven times …
Nice!
I heared the BetonArt Syno in Bonn once. These are the only non-resonating cabinet speakers I know so far; besides my planar magnetostatics (Apogee, Analysis Audio).
