Showing (off) your Roon setup - description and photos [2015-04 .. 2021-03]

Well, after 2 years of Roon enjoyment over french speakers and italian amplifier, I heard an old vintage HW setup and was blown away by the musicality, and a bonus is that these darlings are actually cheap now (in Sweden at least).
So I went on a treasure hunt and was lucky here in Sweden :slight_smile:

Source equipment:
Computer: Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (i5)
SW: Win 10 + Roon + Tidal

Conversion:
Mytek Liberty DAC
Mytek Brooklyn for half the price! Installed a 45Ah Northstar 12V battery (900A current capacity!!!) to the 12V DC input on the Liberty…can confirm huge step up on bass depth/tightness and room/instrument/voice information/space… highly recommended upgrade!

Amplifier:
Audio Research CA-50
ARC’s 1st integrated tube amplifier (1999-2001) and is hard to find, a true classic…this beauty sounds sweet

Loudspeakers:
JBL 240 Ti
well, this was one of Altec Lansing/JBL’s designer Greg Timbers favorites and I understand why…also hard to find but a bargain if you do…together with Audio Research’s CA-50 the only word to describe it is MUSIC!

That’s it, gone from 3-4 hours of music listening per week on my old (great) equipment…with these babies I spend 20-30 hours and have a hard time to stop…yesterday I plowed through all Verdi Requiem recordings available on Tidal, just for the enjoyment to travel between the different concert surroundings…yeah the equipment is that good :slight_smile:

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Love vintage Sansui.
Long ago, I had an AU-717.
They don’t make ‘em like that anymore.

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There’s still a healthy used market here in Oz too, so I assume the same globally. Especially units that have been re-capped/repaired by trusted techs. They get snapped up quickly.

Yeah, they’re always on EBay and at reasonable prices.
Maybe someday, but first things first.

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What’s top of the shopping list (HiFi gear)?

very nice Ken- i remember the CA50 will, and it is indeed a lovely sounding amp.

which recording of the Verdi did you prefer?

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Now, that I’ve got one room straightened out, with the Vidars/Freya and Tritons, it’s time for the living room.

Klipsch Heresy and either PrimaLuna or BottleHead amp for the living room.

Of course, there’s always the iFi Pro iDSD beckoning.

:joy:

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Hey Michael, I forgot to follow-up. How did the Sprout100 go with the LS50’s, compared with your 220se?

A post was split to a new topic: Verdi Requiem records I’ll consider as favorites

Ted Jordan designed or, at the very least (depending on who you listen to), was very involved in the development of the Axiom 80s was a brilliant speaker designer.

I have the last speaker - Jordan Aurora 800 - that Ted designed (he died in 2016). Like most of Ted’s designs it uses a drive unit that covers the full range (Jordan Eikona 2). Typically it doesn’t follow conventional design principles - but it works. Wonderful sound and, whilst not cheap, somewhat more obtainable than the Axiom 80s!

http://www.ejjordan.co.uk/products/aurora/

Outstanding look, well integrated electronics. I am with the prior poster though and wondering about speakers. So if the big Maggies are always used, and I count the rear speakers, what do the two speakers on either side of the TV do? I think I also was assuming the big speakers were only for 2.1 as well. So at some point it seems you are not unilaterally placed between the speakers for 2.1 vs 7.1? I totally understand the compromises one has to make in spaces that double as listening/living/family spaces.

Sorry, the Magnepan tri-center does involve some explanation. In my case both the speaker above the television AND the speakers on the immediate right and left of it (which swing open when the system is powered up) together make up the center-channel. As Magnepan was developing their center-channel speaker to go with the higher end models, they always felt as though the center channel voices were “coming from a hole in the wall.” What they discovered was that by combining the center channel with the two “wings” they could create a much more lifelike center-channel that gave real front-to-back presence to voices. It requires a surround processor that allows you to fine tune the delay between the individual speakers. See further discussion here: Magnepan: Better Than Stereo.

Hope that explains it. :grinning:

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I’m hoping to have a listen tomorrow, if I get a spare moment.

I wait for your impressions.
Are the firmware problems straightened out, then?

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Not sure. I’ll find out soon enough though, if I see/hear any bugs. From what I’ve seen, iFi Support has been first class with the few people that had an issue (replacement units or quick repairs). Can’t ask for more than that.

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Explains it perfectly! Now I get it. Thanks for the link and enjoy your system. I really like the nice clean look of it all.

I still owe you an answer. I’ve been letting my son use it until he heads back to Purdue. That happens in two days and I get it back. I’ll let you know in a week or so. Lol.

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Had a really nice listen Slim, with my Aeon Closed headphones.

I liked it. I couldn’t break it (and I tried) so it seemed reliable for the hour or so I played with it. Dealer said there are some known MQA issues but I couldn’t care less, Roon’s 1st unfold is enough for me.

I was hoping for/expecting the micro iDSD Black Label sound but better in every way and it delivered.

I tried the Pro iCAN separate amp briefly (on top in the pic) but didn’t feel the need with my cans.

A few people on CA Forum have asked for RAAT support over it’s ethernet interface and they haven’t flat out ruled it out, but have said it’s not currently on their roadmap.

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Great, thanks for the info.

I think I’ll wait awhile to make double sure all the bugs are straightened out.

Too bad about RAAT, maybe sooner rather than later. TEAC has stated that for the NT-505, which has yet to show up in Amerika, Roon Readiness is simply a matter of a firmware update. Since the iPro has an Ethernet jack, maybe that’s also true for them. Puts me more on the fence about any imminent purchase.

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Started the Hi-Fi hobby about 4 years ago and it has taken hold quite vigorously. In those 4 years I have pretty much upgraded all my components already, except for the speakers. Latest component purchase being the Primaluna which I simply adore.
After seeing some of your sets I still have a long way to go, nevertheless I am really happy with my setup so I thought let’s share like the rest of you did. :blush:

Let’s start with the source:

I am running Roon ROCK on a NUC7i5BNK installed in an Akasa Newton S7 passive case with an internal SSD that stores my music. Backups are made on my Synology DS1517+ NAS. The whole bunch is wired with Audioquest carbon ethernet cables to a TP-Link C5400 router.

I use an Auralic Aries Femto network player that gets its music fed wirelessly. It then gets transported to a Chord 2Qute through a Tellurium Q Black USB cable. Both the Aries as the 2Qute are powered by a LPS from Sbooster (absolute must buy!). The DAC feeds a Primaluna Dialogue Premium equipped with KT120 tubes by means of a Tellurium Q Ultra Black interlink. This amp is pure magic, it truly is a magnificent piece of audio equipment. The amp feeds a pair of PMC Twenty.23’s. I use Tellurium Q black speaker cables.

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