The desk is where I spend a lot of time, working on my websites, checking audiosites, mailing with fellow audiophiles or playing/sorting music. I use Harman Kardon GLA-55 active speakers for my everyday non-critical PC stuff. These speakers use DSP and digital amplification to overcome some of the housing's inherent limitations. They have incredible bass and don't need a subwoofer. The sound is much, much better than you'd expect. Quite open and detailed and especially spacious, with deep, uncolored bass.
Now for some inside information, for the more technically minded...
The incomparable Jeff Rowland Coherence II battery-powered preamp. This is one gorgeous piece of styling. And it doesn't only look good - it sounds immaculately smooth, fluid and organic. But it is utterly detailed at the same time. A very luxurious experience. This preamp is so good that it even betters the Synergy 1 and 2.
Okay, so you have to change batteries every 5 years and the 2 components weigh 20 kilograms. Each! But the sound is all worth it.
Magnepan MG3.6R magnetostatic speaker up close. The stand is not standard. It is an optional extra from specialist Soundanchor. The round spike bases are Harmonix RF-909x. They make a tremendous difference to the sound. Compared to regular spike bases, they make a much bigger difference than I had anticipated.
Rear of the Magnepan MG3.6R magnetostatic speaker: visible is the ribbon tweeter; a long, thin aluminum strip that is both conductor and tweeter at the same time. To the left of the tweeter are two more panels that are covered by cloth: one for the bass and one for the mids.
The listening end of the room with a painting above the sofa that I haven't displayed thus far. It is made by George Boonstra, his work can be viewed here: www.georgeboonstra.nl.
The Levinson 360s DA converter inside: perfect symmetry: left and right outputstage are to the respective outsides, in the middle is the processing and power supply. The powercable plugs in immediately below the power transformer which is very puristic but unhandy for aftermarket highend powercords: they just don't fit.
But that's a minor quibble, apart from that this is a beautifully and thoughtfully crafted dac and it is one of the best sounding converters I've heard.
Inside the Coherence preamp everything is modular. Input transformer, output transformer and gain circuitry. The control software and associated hardware are located inside the frontpanel, connected via the multi-colored flatcable in the middle.
The powersupply and batteries are in the other unit under it. Like with most Jeff Rowland equipment, the units are machined out of a solid block of aluminum.
Each unit weighs 20 kilograms! If you want to lift both units together it is 40 kilograms, so you better have a strong back!
See the reference setup for photos of the system at its most expanded incarnation, before I decided everything had to be simpler. Or check Audio History for photos and information on how my system evolved through the years.
The Levinson no.390S CD processor: a CD transport and dac in one housing. Normally you'd call that a CD player:-) The little box top left is the analog output stage which has has its top removed for the photo. This critical circuit board is made from Arlon whereas the power supply and digital part have more regular glass epoxy circuitboards.
Super-sturdy CDM-pro transport part inside the Levinson no.390S CD processor. The drawer is something to behold: flat, smooth, quick and very precise: no wobbling or mechanical noises here.
Solid, Curvy, Smooth and... I know it sounds nerdy but I think you have to agree: this thing is sexy: the amazing Jeff Rowland Coherence II preamplifier.
The Jeff Rowland model 6 amps, BPS 6 battery power supplies and one of the two REL Strata III subs. Photo taken before the arrival of the extra "Spider" racks.
The beautiful Mark Levinson no.360S DA converter. It sounds as refined as it looks. Fluid and well-rounded: no clinical sound here. But I do prefer the no.390S CD player using its built-in dacs as opposed to using it as a transport into the 360S. The Dac is strictly speaking more highend and it offers more low level detail but combined with the 390S as a transport it is also slightly less musical. It synergises very well with the computer via the HiFace EVO interface though.
The interface I currently use when listening to the PC directly (when not streaming): M2Tech HiFace EVO. This is a USB-SPdif interface between the computer and Levinson DAC. Between the HiFace and the DAC are two differen cables: a Belden RG59 coaxial cable (connected at the rear) and an optical ST glass (not Toslink!) cable. On the DAC I can choose between the two, according to the mood I'm in. I've compared the EVO to may other interfaces but thus far, it comes out best. Nevertheless, my quest for finding better solutions never ends, the PWD being a point in case.
This is the PS Audio Perfect Wave Dac. It really offers outstanding hard disk based audio, and although it does outclass many computer audio solutions I have heard thus far, I still prefer CD's played on a reference player such as the Levinson no.390S or using the Marantz CD12 transport into the Levinson dac. The Linn Klimax DS, freshly in, might change the game though.
Rear of the Magnepan speaker. It is a full range design so it has no conventional woofer. The shiny box on the bottom is the crossover filter. I've replaced the ordinairy-metal connectors with Cardas ones and also tried Cardas jumper cables. It turned out that they do much good for the bass but make the treble too dry so I opted for using the jumpers only on the bass panels. The fuses are another tweak with the normals ones replaced by Hifi Tuning ones.
The current setup in its entirety. The huge speakers are Magnepan MG3.6R magnetostats with a true ribbon tweeter. The middle rack is the main Spider rack, a real Finite Elemente item, containing the most important components. The racks flanking it are actually fake Spider racks from China. And surprise surprise, they also sound different.
The left hand "Spider" rack houses the Marantz CD12LE transport on top which, when used into the Levinson dac, performs splendidly. Under that is the Marantz CD84 from around 1984, bought to compare with the CD74 in the right hand rack that I like so much, but doesn't have IR remote.
The right hand "Spider" rack houses 2 more classic Marantzes. On top the CD11LE and under that the CD74. Bought just for laughs, it is ridiculous how well the CD74 still performs. Having this many disc spinners is silly but I find it difficult to say goodbye to any of these classics.
There are three different extensionblocks behind the rack, each catering to different groups of components. They offer different sonic strengths and prevent too much dynamic restraint and added warmth due to so many components being connected at the same time. There is also a huge selection of powercords to choose from such as Echole, Furutech, Harmonic Technology, CP-audio and NBS, in addition to standard Lapp and Belden cables. The room is optimized with a double layer of curtains and some Harmonix magic in the shape of RFA-78 room tuning devices. The system is aided in the lowest bass (33hz and down) by two REL Strata III subwoofers.
The computer desk: 5 layers of MDF and now it is solid as a rock. Under the desk is my main PC which contains a large music archive and distributes sound throughout the house via USB interface, to the cinema and bedroom system. From there the music can be controlled via an iPhone app that controls iTunes or Winamp. I've done my best to get the PC to sound musical and thus far it sounds better than any other digital file playback system that I tried but still cannot entirely compete with a real dedicated highend cd player. The later addition of the PS Audio PWD streamer and a separate NAS improved matters in some respects but still I prefer a real highend cd player to computer audio replay. The quest continues and the Linn Klimax DS might shed a different light on the situation.
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Top of the middle rack has a PS Audio PWD streamer, under that is the Linn Klimax DS (freshly in). Under that is the Mark Levinson no.390S CD player, my current reference. Under that is the Mark Levinson no.360S DAC for high resolution 96khz computer audio and as dac to the various cd transports that I keep around. At the bottom is the beautiful Jeff Rowland Coherence II preamp. On the floor to the left and right are my long-loved Jeff Rowland model 6 poweramps and BPS 6 battery power supplies.
The Linn Klimax DS is viewed by many as the best there is in hard disk based replay. I finally have one now and can tell you that it is indeed something special. Look out for the extensive review that will appear on this site.
Marantz CD11LE cd player. This is a special one, with CDM4MD transport (the best CDM4 version), 2x TDA1547 DAC and dual differential, FET-buffered, transformer balanced XLR outputs. It sounds creamy and relaxed, but not at the cost of speed or attack. This may be the best classic Marantz I have heard yet, not counting the CD12LE which is even more lavish and colourful but can be a little slow. Under that is the Marantz CD74. The clock-like device on top of the amp is in fact the remote control sensor and volume display for the Coherence II preamp.
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