simple setup…two MGIIIa horizontal biamp through Bryston 3Bs, Bryston 10b and Parasound Halo P5. Cocktail Audio streamer…I like it better than the Bluesound I had previously.
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Love them Maggies! Used to have a pair of Tympani 1-d’s. Love what they do for a female voice!
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Some nice vintage gear there! Looks like a Nakamichi BX-125 and Denon DP-51F on the analog side of things.
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forgot I also had a G61 for a while, with a Primary 30.3 three channel amp for Trifield.
Can’t go wrong with Maggie’s.
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Gorgeous setup!
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I love showing off my Roon setup. It’s taken a couple of years to get it running smoothly but now I can play Roon in 3 rooms in my house and if I ever get around to installing some Roon software in my husband’s computer I can have Roon playing in four of the five rooms in my house.
I’m thrilled to have Roon, though to be perfectly honest, it does have quirks for me from time to time and I often wish I had a little more techie expertise. Luckily, most of the time it’s good.
- Here is my main living room system centered around my Quad ESL-63 electrostatic speakers and French made Audiomat Prelude Reference MKII tube integrated amp. The combo makes really good music! The Roon music chain looks like this: Roon Nucleus > Ethernet cat6 > Uptone Ether Regen > Teddy Pardo LPS > Audio Alchemy DMP-1 > Berkeley Audio DAC Reference Series 2 > Audiomat Prelude Reference MKII tube integrated amplifier > Quad ESL-63 electrostatic speakers.
It’s not a great photo exposure but apologies because I find photos difficult to do when my system is located with windows behind letting in bright light! Also, keen eyes might notice my Prelude tube amp is sitting on top outside its usual place in the stereo console. That’s because I’ve had to change tubes and I need a buddy to help me move it back to its usual compartment. I’ve turned into the proverbial “little old lady”. I weigh about 103 lbs and the Prelude weighs about 51 lbs which I could actually manage for a few moments but it has three very sharp spikey feet which would badly scratch the travertine stone tiles underneath, so I await a visitor I can persuade to help me.
I do have other nice gear, a Triode CD Player that includes an optional tube that can be turned on or off, a Rega RP4 Anniversary turntable with an Audio Note Zero II phono stage, and a vintage Nakamichi DR-1 cassette deck. Also included is the Naim Uniti Core, my first acquisition and introduction to streaming, but alas, didn’t give me access to Roon. But when Roon misbehaves, which it does occasionally, I can turn to Naim to stream its library. I also still use it to rip new CDs.
- My secondary system is in my TV room. Here the Roon music chain looks like this: Roon Nucleus > Ethernet cat6 > Audio Alchemy DMP-1 > Pioneer SX-1050 > Spendor FL-6 speakers.
I do have to have the TV on for Roon to play and it helpfully displays the album cover which is nice.
For the curious I use DISH for my TV service and have for way more than 20 years. I recently upgraded to the DISH Hopper and I wish I hadn’t as my old DVR was much easier to use. I also have an Oppo UDP-205, an Ultra Roku (a great gadget), a Pioneer CLD-99 laser disc player and a Panasonic combo VHS/DVD player. I’m not sure I can remember how to play the Panasonic it’s been so long since I used it.
- My third Roon system is sadly a neglected one. I would have used it constantly in the years prior to my iPad acquisition, but iPads have become so powerful I rarely have occasion to sit at my desktop computer anymore and that means it seldom has occasion to play music. Which is a shame because the combination of my Audiomat Arpege tube amp and the attached Spendor S3/5 speakers is a particularly sweet one. Here is my little system:
Windows 10 desktop, Audiomat Arpege tube integrated amp, Berkeley Alpha USB, Audio Alchemy DDP-1, Oppo BDP-83 SE and Spendor S3/5 speakers. It would make a splendid stereo system in a smaller room like a bedroom. The master bedroom is the only room in my house without a sound system and I wish I had the room for this lovely in there. It would be far more useful and much appreciated.
- Lastly, a fourth potential Roon system at the 2nd Windows 10 desktop. This system sits in the kitchen/dining room with a Meridian 551 integrated amp, a Schiit Modius DAC and Spendor S3/5 speakers. Now not playing since my husband’s recent death but sounds quite nice!
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I owned a 551 for a while; great little amp, and so sexy looking.
I can’t find a digital example, but at the time (mid-90s?) Meridian ran an ad in Stereo Review and the like for the 551 (which had very prominent heat sinks on the sides): Ribbed For Your Pleasure.
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I owned a Meridian CD player, the 508.24, which turned me on to Meridian. I paid what for me was a small fortune for it, but once I heard it nothing else I listened to compared! Unfortunately, the transport eventually failed and there were no replacement t parts for it. That was a very sad day for me. It is of the same era as my 551, which I bought used. It came with a badly abused remote, but the remote for my CD player is identical, so no big loss.
But turning to the 551, it is a sexy little beast, I agree! It is also the perfect smaller size for a computer audio system and I think it sounds great. The Schiit Modius makes another perfect smaller sized mate for it and together they make a great pair for a little computer audio system. The Spendor speakers are very nice too.
It is very heavy for its size!
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Nice DAC!
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Hi. Love all your stereo setups. The mix of old tech and new tech in particular. That Pioneer receiver is such a classic. It’s great to have music in different areas of the house, isn’t it?!
am I correct that the 551 has a headphone jack, on the back?
Impressive…….even your most basic set up would probably out perform mine……
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Thank you for the nice compliment! I’ve been an audio junkie for most of my life. When I get new stuff the old seems to find its way into the creation of a new system. The Pioneer was my first serious audio purchase, new in 1978. It was paired with my home made Bose 901s for quite a few years, until I bought my Quad speakers and electronics. Then it spent decades in my closet sleeping like the proverbial Rip Van Winkle. It got put back into duty a few years ago when I became so disenchanted with the audio quality of the expensive AVR I bought, a two channel Arcam SR-250. The Pioneer sounded way better.
And yes!!, I love being able to hear music throughout the house.
Hi. Could you please tell me what the Marantz unit is at the bottom? It looks like an AV processor with an attached screen?
I am wondering why you gave up your 500 series. I absolutely LOVED my Meridian 508.24 CD player and always wanted more in that series. I nearly wept when I couldn’t find a replacement transport for the CD player. I still have it in a closet somewhere because I can’t bear to junk it.
I’m wondering too! it seemed to make sense at the time, but now I wish I still had it.
it wasn’t all at once, but gradually as my listening habits changed. I may still have the 561 tucked away in the basement, and I probably have a 500 series remote somewhere.
I seem to have a problem letting really good things go! I don’t think I would have been able to part with any of those 580 components. They would probably be part of one of my secondary systems. One of these days I’ll be faced with downsizing and I won’t have the luxury of keeping old “pets” around,
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Never been a problem for me. I like getting rid of things I don’ t need and use everyday.
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