Octothorpe's AV System, Currently Stable

The 803Ds before being moved to their final location

Terrible photo of the current setup

Description

This is my ongoing AV build. The room is very small, and the components are entirely oversized for the room, but I don't care. Eventually, I'll have a different space, and more room to spread out. I'd much rather get components I'll have for decades than outfit for a small room, then go through another round of upgrades later.

New Components Added!

Anthem AVM-60
Oppo UDP-203
Clearaudio Performance DC
AQVOX phono stage
LG OLED 65E6P

I'm stepping up from a full 5.0 set of B&W CDM SE series (7SEs for main, 1SEs for the surround, and a CSE for the centre channel), and the venerable B&K AVR202

Most of these "new to me" components were sourced via Audiogon. Thank you to all in the community!

Room Details

Dimensions: 15’ × 12’ Medium
Ceiling: 8’

Components Toggle details

- Bowers and Wilkins 803D
1st generation Diamond series in the seemingly elusive Cherrywood. These are my main R&L speakers, also used for stereo listening.
- Bowers and Wilkins HTM2 Diamond
The flagship 2nd generation Diamond series centre channel from B&W. This thing, like the 803Ds, are WAAAAY too big for this small space, but I am not complaining.
- Parasound Halo A51
Giant speakers need giant power. This one is in black. My only real gripe about the amp is the placement of the binding posts. If you're bi-wiring, things are going to get really messy back there, and the posts seem to be thicker than normal, making it difficult for spades to make a good connection. Big thumbs up for balanced inputs though!
- Anthem AVM-60
This finally shipped, and I'll be hooking it up soon. I can't wait to replace the Outlaw.
- Anti Cables Level 2
My current cable situation was a giant mess. My old system was in a vastly larger room, and the coiling of the existing cables in the new room is causing all sorts of buzz, so I picked up a set of appropriate length Level 2 cables. I'm hoping these, and the XLR interconnects nuke that issue.
- Outlaw Audio Model 975
Update: this component has been rotated out of my system.

I got a very cheap pre/pro to tide me over until the new Anthem AVM60 comes out. Supposedly January, but I'm not seeing it on their homepage, so perhaps it's been delayed.

The 975 has possibly the worst UI I've ever encountered, both the physical UI (remote and on-device buttons) and the on-screen UI. I also get horrible buzzing in my speakers from the HDMI out connection when I attempt to plug that into my TV. It's OK doing optical S/PDIF PCM from my old DVD player, and from my computer, but it's unusable for video. It's also nearly impossible to set the thing up without using the onscreen controls, so that took WAAAAY longer than it should have. Avoid this pre/pro. If it wasn't the only thing I have at the moment, I'd defenestrate it.
- Clearaudio Performance DC Wood
Performance DC wood, with Satisfy Carbon tonearm and Hana SL MC cart. The cart punches *way* above its weight class. I'm very happy with it. The turntable is solid, totally silent, and sounds great.
- Aqvox Phono 2ci mkII
I'm using the XLR inputs, which are current amplified, not voltage amplified. The sound it good, and clean. I don't have much to compare it to, but it works well with the fairly low output Hana SL cart.
- OPPO UDP-203
I use this for all my transport needs. 4k Blu Ray, Blu Ray PureAudio, SACD. I have it set to do all the upscaling to the TV, as well as the SACD to PCM conversion (my preamp doesn't do DSD natively).

Bummer about Oppo going away. They made really solid kit.

Comments 3

Owner

@mjcmt Not at this time. I'm kinda redoing the room, so it's a total mess. Pics once I get the new cabinet squared away though (next month or so)!

octothorpe January 28, 2016 04:37

nice selection of equipment
do you have other photos in addition to one speaker?

mjcmt January 20, 2016 00:13

Nice start so far but I don't know if I would call the 803D giant.

oddio January 12, 2016 05:39

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