My modest, cost effective system. Got some great bang for the buck with some of the later acquisitions. Prices have skyrocketed on the table and the Vandys, glad to have grabbed them when I did. Heavy lifting done by state of the art pre and power amps, sound quality and fidelity are surprisingly great.
Great preamp, cutting edge performance. Only need the 2 inputs, 1 for table and 1 for DAC. Love running balanced XLRs.
March Audio P502
Great Hypex NC502MP power amp, 500 watts into 4 ohms. Love the power, great drive and attack on transients and bass. Nice balanced XLR inputs.
Vandersteen 2ce Signature
Have had these since 2002 and still love them. Nice warm sound, can be laid back but I cranked the tweeter level and bumped the midrange as well. Detailed and balanced. Have Nordost Blue Heaven biwire spades shotgun Z plug made for these.
Magnepan MMG
With Airborne Magna Risers speaker stands, a substantial upgrade in detail and clarity, really opens things up nicely. These duel with my Vandys for my attention and thankfully I don't have to choose just one.
Musical Surroundings Nova Phonomena
Battery powered phono pre with nice neutrality, the menacing green eye cyclops. Found it noisy at 60dB though, so added the SUT. Things are quiet in the background at 40dB, yet still dynamic and detailed.
Phasemation T-300
Nice little SUT, brings MC to MM level effortlessly and silently. This erased the hiss from my MC setup which now I'm completely satisfied with.
SMSL DO100
Sweet little DAC, my modest endgame. Currently taking 3 inputs: optical, USB and Bluetooth. All sound great through this little marvel, especially DSD.
East Sound CD-E5 Signature
Large and beefy CD player with a sound to match. Was once believed to be the best CD player made in China. Still works, now only on transport duty, optical out to the SMSL.
Dayton Audio Titanic 10" Sealed kit
Great little sub, round, warm and punchy. Keeps up with the Maggies.
Also using the ToppingPre90. Noticed the volume level set at -12. Same here, mine will be at -20 just to get 85 dB peaks. Long way from -99. I can't hear anything until about -50 or so...
Thanks! The Vandys are old 2ce Sigs that I bought new in 2002. I love them dearly, wonderful warm sound. Can be laid back, but can adjust midrange and tweeter levels accordingly.
