Hi folks,
I'm looking to draw upon the knowledge of the Whatsbestforum posters in order to improve the sound of my system. I would be grateful if any weak links could be pointed out, and any potential areas to improve suggested. My current setup:
Music: FLAC, high-res FLAC and DSD
Storage: Synology DS1812+ 8-bay NAS; 30TB of Western Digital Red in hybrid RAID
Router: Apple Airport Extreme (connected to NAS via short bog-standard ethernet cable)
The above is in a separate room; the router is connected to the audio PC in the listening room via;
Cable: Meicord Opal 20m ethernet cable
Audio PC: home-made with Intel i7-4770T CPU, Asus Gryphon Z97 mobo, Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD, 8GB Crucial DDR3 RAM, Streacom FC5WS Evo case, passive cooling, SOTM in-line power filter for SSD, SOTM TX-USBEXP USB card
Audio PC power: HDPLEX fanless linear DC PSU 100W (with separate rails to the mobo, SSD and USB card)
USB Cable: Lampizator Silver Shadow 1.5m
DAC: Lampizator Atlantic Plus (balanced version with volume control and superclock upgrade)
DAC power cable: Nordost Wyrewizard Magus 1m
XLR cable: Nordost Red Dawn MKII 1m
Amplification: Classe CAP-2100 integrated amp
Amp power cable: Nordost Shiva 1m
Speaker cable: Atlas Ascent 2.0 MKII 3m
Speakers: Vivid Audio B1
Speaker orientation: Firing down the longer part of the room, about 1m from rear and side walls, significant toe in
Speaker support: spikes with spike feet, sitting on quartz speaker plinths
Power distribution block for the above: Isotek Gemini 4-way; connected to mains via Isotek Elite power cable
Equipment stand: Custom Design Tuscan 4 (glass, 4 shelves)
Room: 5.3m x 3.5m, window to the left; carpeted; no room treatments
Not sure where to go next regarding upgrades. Was wondering about the following: moving the PC out of the listening room and connecting via ethernet to streamer (which connects to DAC via USB), upgrading the rack, adding a subwoofer, adding a super tweeter, upgrading the power supply, upgrading the equipment itself, grounding solutions, room treatments.
Thanks!
I'm looking to draw upon the knowledge of the Whatsbestforum posters in order to improve the sound of my system. I would be grateful if any weak links could be pointed out, and any potential areas to improve suggested. My current setup:
Music: FLAC, high-res FLAC and DSD
Storage: Synology DS1812+ 8-bay NAS; 30TB of Western Digital Red in hybrid RAID
Router: Apple Airport Extreme (connected to NAS via short bog-standard ethernet cable)
The above is in a separate room; the router is connected to the audio PC in the listening room via;
Cable: Meicord Opal 20m ethernet cable
Audio PC: home-made with Intel i7-4770T CPU, Asus Gryphon Z97 mobo, Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD, 8GB Crucial DDR3 RAM, Streacom FC5WS Evo case, passive cooling, SOTM in-line power filter for SSD, SOTM TX-USBEXP USB card
Audio PC power: HDPLEX fanless linear DC PSU 100W (with separate rails to the mobo, SSD and USB card)
USB Cable: Lampizator Silver Shadow 1.5m
DAC: Lampizator Atlantic Plus (balanced version with volume control and superclock upgrade)
DAC power cable: Nordost Wyrewizard Magus 1m
XLR cable: Nordost Red Dawn MKII 1m
Amplification: Classe CAP-2100 integrated amp
Amp power cable: Nordost Shiva 1m
Speaker cable: Atlas Ascent 2.0 MKII 3m
Speakers: Vivid Audio B1
Speaker orientation: Firing down the longer part of the room, about 1m from rear and side walls, significant toe in
Speaker support: spikes with spike feet, sitting on quartz speaker plinths
Power distribution block for the above: Isotek Gemini 4-way; connected to mains via Isotek Elite power cable
Equipment stand: Custom Design Tuscan 4 (glass, 4 shelves)
Room: 5.3m x 3.5m, window to the left; carpeted; no room treatments
Not sure where to go next regarding upgrades. Was wondering about the following: moving the PC out of the listening room and connecting via ethernet to streamer (which connects to DAC via USB), upgrading the rack, adding a subwoofer, adding a super tweeter, upgrading the power supply, upgrading the equipment itself, grounding solutions, room treatments.
Thanks!
