By the looks of it, your cat enjoys the turntable duvet (custom made?) as much if not more than you enjoy your vinyl collection. Looks quite at home there- must be his/her favorite spot. No worries if the records don’t get spun, as your Roon setup is quite robust.
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Thanks, she does. I actually got it custom sized from www.digitaldeckcovers.com. This way she doesn’t mess up the dustcover.
They are the best, they hold a ton of albums and are super sturdy.
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Love the old Macintosh!
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Thanks. It actually belonged to my great-grandfather. It was his first computer.
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Latest addition to the living room. New to me Magico S3 Mk2s along with Anticables 4.2 Flex. I went with the Anticables as they can paired in different lengths and were sorta reasonably priced. DW bless her heart- while readily acknowledging the improved sound is adjusting to the speaker’s size. Notes that at least these have little danger of toppling over (happened to prior speakers- banana cable ends were damaged, thus the new cables and speaker had a cosmetic ding but no adverse consequences to sound quality). That’s due to each weighing 177 lbs.
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While prepping for the holidays I managed to squeeze in enough time to get the NAD M28 7 channel amplifier added in the rack/cabinet and connected using the Pre-Outs of the Denon 8500H. We had a lot of company over the weekend, 18 total (not all at one time), and the sound system got a good workout with continuous music, movies and football.
I have yet to figure out how to turn off the 7 amps in the Denon for Front L/R, Side L/R, back L/R and Center channels while still using the receiver amps for the 4 height channels. So the receiver amps are still adding heat in the cabinet in addition to what is generated by the NAD. Not a big deal heat wise with the active cooling in the cabinet and Media closet keeping things in check. The receiver, without a fan system directly on top, gets to 115 - 120 degrees with 13 internal class AB amps. The NAD M28 with 7 class D amps just gets warm.
The addition of the external MC amp is NOT a night and day difference to the overall sound produced by the Denon amps which I guess indicates the receiver was doing a pretty good job by itself.
There are noticeable differences detected after spending some time listening:
In surround mode, with the receiver at low volume, I would have to get very close to the side/rear speakers to verify they were adding sound to the room. It was difficult to distinguish the speaker output from the side/back wall reflections unless I put my ear right next to them. Now with the receiver/amp combination at low volume I can hear the speakers from 4 feet away.
The sound is clean and clear with additional definition not noticed or heard previously. I.E In a movie the sound of ice and liquid being added to a glass where previously I could see that happening on the screen but not hear it. It’s one small example but they add up. With music the individual instruments are more noticeable, voices have more of something I can’t explain. It just sounds good with a lot more power.
We were lucky the amp was purchased before the holidays.
Our 14 year old AC compressor had quit on us and we noticed it wasn’t cooling on Thanksgiving morning with all the additional heat in the kitchen. Had to open doors and windows to keep it comfortable and sleep that night. The HVAC repair technician came out Friday morning to work on the unit. After adding coolant he turned the compressor back on and immediately things went to crap. Loud noise followed by a partial power outage in the house. None of the breakers in the house were tripped but the power was out in several areas. That was really weird. Folks inside said the house started vibrating then the partial outage occurred. The HVAC Tech and I went out to the meter box at the utility drop and could see smoke and we could smell it. That AC compressor problem (drawing way to many amps) had somehow bypassed the breakers in the house and blown a 200 amp fuse in the meter box. We shut the power off and placed an emergency call for service. The electrician replaced 2 - 200 amp fuses and turned the power back on. Everything was fine, nothing in the house was damaged, but one of the USP systems had immediately shut down. It did come back online and seems to be working as it should. No way were we going to touch the AC unit again.
The reason I mentioned all that was to say the HVAC company will be out Monday morning to replace the entire system inside and out. 21K out the door, and there goes any chance of updating the sound system for a long time. If I hadn’t already purchased and installed the new amp it would not happen for a few years at least.
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Ouch. We had an HVAC loss a few years ago due to flooding. But hopefully, you won’t have to deal with HVAC for a long while. Presently our TV has a KEF FiveTwo speaker set that hooks up like a 5 channel system. Thanks to the Magico purchase, we have two Dynaudios that I’m thinking about using for a 3.1 system (add a good center speaker). But like you, looking for a receiver that can downsize easily from 7.1 to 3.1.
Shed update, got a Linn LK140 to replace the previous Rega iO which lacked a little grunt. The Linn had been all re capped and sounds great. Node2i acts as pre-amp and Beresford switch is used for switch to Sony AV for surround / games via projector. Roon Core on repurposed Mac Mini running Unbuntu.
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Thank you for sharing your system with us. I really like your T+A equipment and I would like to know how the high voltage T+A works with the high sensitivity Fyne speakers. Do you have enough volume flexibility?
You have a wonderful system, enjoy, and Happy Holidays.
John
@Koen_Vingerhoets I have the PA3000HV the previous model to yours along with the PDP3000HV SACD/CD/DAC player. Top drawer build quality.
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little black boxes …
original rego io vs my very limited edition “mk II” which features enhanced volume knob visibility 
the diy streamer is a nanopi r4s with audioquest dragonfly
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Never thought that stealth volume controls were a thing 
Thank you for your reaction @John_Kaster .
Wrt your question: it made me think.
I usually play music when my wife & the kids are elsewhere. Either away, or asleep.
At night, the volume is of course moderate. Then it sounds good, but not amazing. Usually at 25/30% of the volume. When they’re gone on other moments: happy days. At 45/50% of the volume of the amp, music is simply impressive. I’m not a die hard dance fan, but I simply love to open my session with the first two songs of Zillion.xxx - The Final Rave (2017, CD) - Discogs
That makes me truly happy
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The build quality is indeed excellent, @RodS . And at the same time, not crazy expensive. For a few hundred euro’s, they repainted my unit (it had a few visible scratches at the front). I’m lucky enough to be a 5-6 hours drive away from the factory (one of the reasons I finally opted for T+A rather than McIntosh).
You made an excellent choice with the PDP3000HV, I think. I’m a bit struggling with the DAC part at the moment, after obtaining a few DSD albums. Their current line-up forces me to either go into the “Reference” HV line (which is beyond my reach), or to have two streamers / ditch the cd player.
Is there any other DAC you would recommend?
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@Koen_Vingerhoets I think the PDP I have is much better than the replacement range. They should have kept this as an option. What is the problem you have with DSD?
My PDP is going into my amp by xlr in two Separate pairs of connections, one input for PCM and the other for DSD . Totally separate dac sections for the two formats. Is yours the same or are you using one set of connectors for both PCM and DSD.
My speakers are MBL which are pretty insensitive, I think 83db @ 1 meter so I run at about 50 or so on volume. For times when I want to kick ass then I have had it up to 65/70 depending on the levels of the recording. Mine are both mint , unmarked.
When I have ever part exchanged anything they just know that what I have will look like it is new.
Do they still use two pairs of 20amp IEC power cables on the new stuff?
How do you find the M33 drives the 803s?
I have the M33 and 703s2 and thinking of adding the new M23 power amp and will in a year or so have 804D4 running off it.
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Ew 
Although it’s the perfect time to clean components, connectors and re-dress cabling properly. Good luck!
What’s the new one?