The prepress system - Page 2

I'm not sure they were designed with that type of access in mind, anyway. I'm sure I could find something else if need be (i.e., Definitive Technology), but I hope that's not for a while yet.

In case anyone was wondering about the reconfiguring and rearranging, it's simple. The monsters are coming. THE MONSTERS ARE COMING.

Tomorrow.

 

1773_MC501.pdf 147.6298828125k . file

Thanks, Bunga. By the way, I just asked a question over in your thread about the SubMersives.

Fortunately, no. But there were two tornadoes and a macroburst confirmed by the National Weather Service. It got plenty dark, and the telltale greenish cloud color told me a tornado was happening somewhere. Staten Island and Queens were hit also. Some houses had roofs taken off, lots of trees blown over, uprooted. I'm supremely grateful there wasn't an Oklahoma City-level tornado.

EDIT—Having gotten additional information, I must correct myself on this one. Actually, I was in the tornado and didn't realize it. I thought that it was a strong wind gust, when it was the tornado passing through my neighborhood on its way east, where it took off some roofs and knocked over trees. It was an EF0, the weakest on the Fujita scale. Winds were 80mph. The other tornado, in Queens, was stronger; an EF1, with 100mph winds.

But no damage to anything of mine or in the neighborhood other than some tree branches down. And again, very thankful no Oklahoma City-level storm came through.

Back to the audio—I'm using one pair of the B&Ks now, and the sound is a bit thinner without the other pair, less dynamic. I'm trusting the "monsters" will fill in the gap.

I forgot. Here's the VPI SDS in its new location.



I wish I could keep it as dust-free as it looks right now. I used to take my system apart once a month and dust everything down (it took about 2 hours to disassemble, dust and reassemble). Now, with a more elaborate system, it's too much time and work. And the 501s won't be moving once they're in place so dusting under them may not be an option. But we'll see. Things need to stay presentable, as I hope to have company now and then.

And, here's a look at the other Tripplite, the HT1210ISOCTR. I have the two Tripplites chained, actually. The LCR2400 (a voltage regulator/line conditioner) has everything but the SDS plugged into it; then, the LCR is plugged into the HT1210.



I like the readout of how much power is being consumed and the line voltage on the HT1210. But once I have a read on how much power the full setup with the Macs takes, I may put the LCR into the wall. I'll need an extension cord, as the LCR's cord (non-detachable) doesn't reach the plug; Shunyata has an extension cord (Venom 3, which is 2m) I may consider.

Gentlemen:







And about 10 minutes after the install guys left, FedEx showed up:



I'm going to use the stock cords for a couple of days to get used to them, before swapping out for the Pangeas. If I don't hear an appreciable difference I'll send the Pangeas back and just get a longer cable to replace the one that's too short. Or just run it through the heavy-duty strip as I'm doing now, to get it to the LCR2400. More later.

 

Thus, the initial equipment list changes. The McIntosh MC501s replace the B&K M-200 Sonatas, and the Pangea power cords will replace the stock cords on the 501s.

Edited by prepress - 11/17/12 at 3:23am

Thanks, Bunga. I've managed to spend about 90 minutes with the Macs using the stock cords and I'd say the main difference over the B&Ks is the Macs sound more livethat is, like a live performance. And perhaps a bit more transparent.

As for my back, I gave in and had the store's installers do the job. The weight per se wasn't beyond me, but the amps were in boxes, and that made them too awkward for one person (this is a second-floor walk-up). When it's time to dust, I'll get a workout for sure.

But the real workout will be straightening up after all this. I have boxes and cabinets and stereo equipment to get rid of. That's not a one-weekend deal, I can see.

There's one casualty in this, though. The Pangeas are going back, as they're too inflexible and heavy for my setup. As good as things sound with the stock cables, I don't need (nor can I afford) to get anything expensive. I have ideas in mind and am waiting for responses to some e-mails.

I've been using the tuner primarily. Now and then something pops out and I think, "that sounds like it's in the room." There are 7 hours put in total on the amps now, and I'm going to have to get into LPs, CDs, LDs, DVDs and BDs as things go on, but I'll need to have time to sit and enjoy them, as I have the "aftermath" to deal with...



Right now, I have nowhere to put any of this. The boxes are available, but that won't help much. It's a long-term project for sure.

Hello Wabo, and thanks,

I'm waiting to get over the distraction of the "new" pieces for sure. Saturday I was cooking and had the system on, and I kept coming into the living room every so often to look at them.

Well, the meters are cool.

I have decided to look at aftermarket cords for the 501s. There are budget constraints, so my choices are limited to the following:

PS Audio Jewel AC
Wireworld Stratus 5
Shunyata Venom 3 (plus Venom extension cord)

Anyone who has experience with any of these feel free to chime in.

Volume-wise, not quite. I'll need to see how loud I can get things without overdriving my speakers and while not making it too loud for me (it's not that big a room, after all); I'm very mindful of the fact that my speakers are rated up to 300 watts whereas the 501s can do 500. But I have begun to go beyond using the tuner, and have played the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Santana, Yes, Heart, and Anthony Newman. With the ASO the meters jumped from 5w to 50w output during Fanfare for the Common Man.

I have another project to consider. I chain my two power conditioners; the LCR2400, with a 12AWG cord, is plugged into the HT1210 with its 14AWG cord (both are non-detachable). I've decided to remove the LCR and put it into the wall directly, thinking the heavier gauge will be a benefit that way. All the gear except my SDS is plugged into it. I'm wondering if there's any benefit to getting a Shunyata extension cord for the LCR, which will need an extension anyway as its cord doesn't make it to the wall outlet. My thinking is that the Shunyata will take up at least some of the filtering slack lost with the HT1210.

I also want to go to a bi-wire pair of speaker cable to reduce wire clutter. I like Kimber 8TC, so I'd stay with that. As for aftermarket power cords for the 501s, I will either stay with the current stock cords (which don't sound bad at all), at least until I can afford some of what the Cable Company recommended, get regular 12-gauge cords, or compromise with some low-cost PS Audio Jewel or Wireworld Stratus 5. More as this develops, but money is a powerful factor at this point.

I ordered one of these.



It's an extension cord version of Shunyata's Venom III power cord. I'm going to use it to connect my main Tripplite to the wall. Twelve-gauge all the way! I decided it made no sense to chain a component with a 12-gauge cord to one with a 14-gauge cord, so that other Tripplite will handle the computer equipment instead.

Interestingly, I've had difficulty finding 12 AWG "regular" cables. One company which does offer them doesn't have any in stock, and the company they referred me to doesn't have any on their website I could find (they do offer 14 AWG shielded cables though, and at ridiculously low prices). A hardware store website offers a 12AWG extension cord, but the shipping would be as much or more than the cord, I think.

Still not sure how I want to approach this other than not spending a great deal of money, but Venom cords wouldn't be a bad idea. If my system configuration ever changed so that the 1.5m was too short there could be an issue, but another extension cord would cover that.

While waiting on my Venom extension cord, and what to do about power cords for the 501s, I've realized I have another issue. I'd planned to get rid of the Leslie Dame CD/DVD cabinet just replaced with the TO-1260. But I can't because my CD rack is pretty much full.



That means my 16.5 will have to be relocated, also.



Yet more drama. This is going to take up a lot of time and figuring out the configuration of my room. The bottom line is, of course, I have too much stuff. Fortunately, I have some days off scheduled next week.

The Venom extension cord came today, along with a goodie for my turntable...



I'll connect it at some point soon and see if there's any difference, though I think it would need to be upstream for that (according to Music Direct, it should make some difference even chaining my LCR to the wall). If I'm able to find a regular 12-gauge extension cord (none so far) then this Venom will extend another power cord to the LCR from my right-side 501.

I notice the Venom's color isn't as bright as it appears in online photos and in ads; it's more a slate blue, and a fairly dark one at that.

Okay, I mean too much stuff for my space. There may be some hard decisions upcoming. The system sounds good even with all the stuff in the room. That's why I like bipolar speakers, they're more room-independent than more conventional designs. Still, all the clutter probably has some effect.

I may be "waiting for the weekend," as they say, but yes. I want to be able to sit down with the LP and go!

I still wish the regular Venom came in something longer than 5 feet. I believe you can get custom lengths, but that will take a month at least.