Showing (off) your Roon setup - description and photos [2021 .. 2022]

Don’t they switch from class D to AB or something like that? Depending on signal level. IIRC.

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Thanks for the nice comments, Peter! I like to think of my Vivid speakers as elegant furniture that plays music. Glad to know that a product manager has a pair and that you have used them in Munich to showcase the Lumin product line.

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Are you doing demos for fun (friends) or for money (customers)? I ended up with a Cambridge Audio Edge Streamer and Power Amp combo based on a few things, but among them the fact that it sounds good at normal listening levels. :slight_smile:

Just for me and my family. We have several rigs around the house and outbuildings. Gear comes and goes.

Currently on the hunt for a reel-to-reel for the living room.

BMW M3 and then refusing to pay for premium gasoline

I had an M3. It was the tires that got me.

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Nice. We have a couple of rigs too, but only one that I’d show off. :sunglasses::sunglasses::sunglasses: Reel to reel is a showcase the same way the recent phonographs were shown. Cool.

Rick

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Main rig from the listening chair. I prefer, for myself, a “Minimalist” set up. Cambridge Audio Edge NQ and Edge W, Focal Sopras, Torus Power conditioner.

Music stored on a QNAP server in basement (also location of Roon computer).

Sound stage is brilliant and music is fairly omnidirectional. We can sit in the front room and it still sounds great. It just sounds like the band is playing in the other room. :sunglasses: Indeed, we have ceiling speakers in that room powered by Sonos from the basement control room, and almost never use them because they just can’t compare.

And despite where I’m usually sitting the couch shown also provides a decent listening spot. It sounds like your in the middle of the music. Obviously not the same soundstage, but it does sound like you’re surrounded by instruments. I’m not actually sure why the speakers seem to perform this way.





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Some of the guts of the system in the control room. Also showing Sonos amps that send music to the bedroom and the aforementioned front room. Power conditioner in cupboard under the stereo. And the much lower end movie theatre with 7.1 sound (I think…in either case there’s overhead and rear firing speakers not shown).

Ah. Focal tweeter from the first set of pictures.




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Me too, £700 for a set…

That’s all?

When I had my 2016 Nissan 370Z, 285/35-19’s on the front cost me $550 each. The 325/30-19’s on the rear, nearly $800 each! Those were on the stock Nismo wheels and without any fender pulling/rolling.

Beefy meats aren’t cheap!

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They’re much larger than my “little 20” x 195 run flats”….

Well, I thought I’d share the latest upgrades to the main listening rig setup. So, still basically Schiit stack, but with some slight changes:

Main Rig:
NUC5i Roon Core
RoPieee Raspberry Pi
Schiit Yggdrasil w/ Unison USB DAC
New Dark Horse - Schiit Loki Max Equalizer
Schiit Freya + PreAmp
Schiit Ragnarok 2 Power Amp
Doge 10 Tube Integrated Amp
Klipsch 10" Sub
Q Acoustics Concept 20 speakers
KLH Model 5 speakers
Not shown - Elac Carina BS243.4 speakers
Not Shown - Klipsch Reference speakers
Furman Linear Power Conditioner

So, the Dark Horse, literally and figuratively, is the new Schiit Loki Max. They only had it available in black, and since EQ is taboo with some, I thought it was fitting, even though I would have preferred to get a silver version.

The Loki Max is crazy to some, taboo to others, but for me, having the ability to tweak the sound when swapping components and speakers makes the music that much more enjoyable. Plus I can always just bypass.

The other great addition this holiday season was the KLH Model 5 speakers. They live up to all the accolades that have been put out there. I am really enjoying them.

So, although I love my Schiit stack, I couldn’t resist having an option to tweak things even more. Having the Freya + switchable between solid state and tube has always been awesome. Now, adding in the Doge 10 tube Integrated Amp is an option to have another totally different experience.

The Ragnarok is an awesome amp, and I certainly have no complaints. Adding the Doge 10 was an interesting venture into Class A and Class A/B tube amplification to see how it synergized with various speakers. It is an integrated, so I can use it that way, or just use it as a power amp with the Freya +, in either tube or solid state mode.

So, I know some have a very rigid preference for a specific sound profile. Nothing wrong with that. I happen to like variety, and now I can listen to the same albums and get almost unlimited versions of sound from the options that all the equipment provide. I know that would drive some people crazy…but I enjoy it. Of course, I have my preferences too, so the system will stay configured in just a few ways for the majority of the time. Oh, and the remote for the Loki Max has three PreSet buttons, along with the bypass, so I can easily switch to four standards, which works great for swapping between Metallica, Fleetwood Mac, Norah Jones and Classical (for the different acoustic characteristics).

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Roon ROCK on an intel NUC :slight_smile:

Here’s my FrankenAmp.
:zombie:
Two Hypex NC400 amp modules, temporarily screwed to the fitting 1200W SMPS with ready made connection kit.
:saxophone: :guitar: :trumpet: :musical_keyboard: :drum:
Having my DIY casing currently in the works, but just listen more than work on it… will post when done.


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Good use of air cooling, :wink:

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Don’t mix this with the Whisky Thread…shocking! :open_mouth:

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No kids and cats and other vulnerable elements in the house any more…

Nice DIY project.

(Though not sure if connecting the heat sinks of the SMPS and the amps is really a good idea - in fact you are reducing surface area and heating one with the other …) :fearful:

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No need to panic…

All parts contain only switching elements ensuring high efficiency at around 93%, translating to < 40°C mounted like that during all use cases so far…

Excerpt from the manual:

• Normal: Design for 50W continuous output, translating to Ploss = 4.5 + 0.06 * 50 = 7.5W.
Required heatsinking is = 45K / 7.5W = 6 K/W.
• Intensive use: Design for 133W, translating to Ploss = 4.5 + 0.06 * 133 = 12.5W.
Required heatsinking is = 45K / 12.5W = 3.6 K/W.
• Minimal: Design for a few Watts, making the Pidle predominant and therefore: Ploss ≈ Pidle
Required heatsinking is = 45K / 4,5W = 10 K/W.

As it happens, the NC400 without additional cooling has a thermal resistance of around 6K/W. This indicates that
free-air cooling is an option in most cases, at least provided that a power supply with VDR output is used. It also
indicates that any normal metal enclosure will provide enough additional cooling for even very heavy use.

Remember the monster’s ending
" He was soon borne away by the waves, and lost in darkness and distance."

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