Sunbeam's Rig

[sunbeamgls]

It's taken me about 9 months to work my way to my latest config. Will be sticking with this for a while now.

















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Thorens TD280 MkII / Goldring Elite
Linn Akurate DS/0 Dynamik
Linn Akurate Kontrol/0 Dynamik
Denon TU660
Logitech Squeezebox Touch
Pure i20 iPod dock
Sony S-480 Blu-ray
Humax HDR-T2FOX Freeview DVR
Pure DRX-701 ES DAB
Linn Akurate 2200 Dynamik power amp
Linn Majik 5100 Dynamik power amp
Linn C5100 power amp
Chakra Active cards
Linn Keilidh tri-active main speakers
Linn Centrik Mk1 tri-active centre speaker
Linn AV5125 rear amp
Linn M109 bi-amped rear speakers on Atacama SE24 stands
REL Stadium sub (strictly for movies only)
Cyrus Isoplats
Quadraspire racks
Linn silver and black interconnects
Linn K600 speaker cable
Chord Prodac Pro Gold digital interconnects
Clearer Audio Copper Alpha mains cables
Cat 6 shielded ethernet cables
TP Link AV ethernet over mains
QNAP TS209II NAS
Twonky media server software
Acer Iconia Tab A100 / BubbleDS CP

Feeback / thoughts etc. very welcome.

More information on my blog: http://audiophilemusings.blogspot.co.uk/

Also more pictures on my blog: http://audiophilemusings.blogspot.co.uk/p/images.html

[Charlie1]

Wow, you have some kit there. Very neat too.

And welcome to the forum by the way.

[Tony Tune-age]

Nice looking system and great pictures too! Have fun listening!

[sunbeamgls]

I didn't manage to stick with the resulting set up for very long! Keilidhs have gone and Majik 140s now in place. Will provide better pictures soon when the 112 centre speaker is in place, but here's a point and shoot to be going on with...

[usjaz]

I didn't manage to stick with the resulting set up for very long! Keilidhs have gone and Majik 140s now in place. Will provide better pictures soon when the 112 centre speaker is in place, but here's a point and shoot to be going on with...

Have you tune dem your speaker position? How far do you have M140 out from the back wall?

[sunbeamgls]

I comment on positioning in this thread:

http://www.lejonklou.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=939

[sunbeamgls]

Having lived with the M140s for 6 months now, they lost some of their tunefulness and became a little boomy as they ran in.

After messing about for another 2 hours or so with positioning, I've ended up with them another 40mm out from the back wall, toe-in significantly more and have turned down the bass drivers by one click on the bass power amp. So now:

Room 6m x 4m
From back wall (nearest point) = 430mm
Toe-in = 27mm
Bass driver active power amp -1 click

Now better than they've ever been - really musical and carry the tune very well.

[sunbeamgls]

Had the pleasure of exhibiting the stereo elements of my system for others to listen to at the 2013 Hifi Wigwam Show at Scalford Hall recently.



You can read about the experience here:

http://audiophilemusings.blogspot.com/

And about the show here:

http://thehifishow.com/

[sunbeamgls]

And here is the latest 5.1 at home, with Majik speakers all round now, and ADS/0/D upgraded to ADS/0/1/D.

[sunbeamgls]

Changes since I put the last set of pictures up:

Akurate DS/0/1 out and KDS/1 in
Kudos & Pure DAB out and Akurate FM/DAB tuner in
Pure i20 iPod dock out (never used it)
Majik 2100 amp out (it wasn't doing anything any more)









And because someone will always want to know:



More images here: http://audiophilemusings.blogspot.co.uk/p/images.html
(scroll down the page)

Current list:

Thorens TD280 MkII / Goldring Elite
Linn KDS/1 Dynamik front switch
Linn Akurate Kontrol/0 Dynamik
Linn Akurate FM/DAB Tuner
Logitech Squeezebox Touch
Sony S-480 Blu-ray
Humax HDR-T2FOX Freeview DVR
Linn Majik 5100 Dynamik power amp
Linn C6100 Dynamik power amp
Chakra Active cards
Linn Majik 140 quad-active main speakers
Linn Majik 112 tri-active centre speaker
Linn C6100 Dynamik rear amp
Linn Majik 109 tri-active rear speakers on Atacama SE24 stands
REL Stadium sub (strictly for movies only)
Cyrus Isoplats
Quadraspire racks
Linn silver and black interconnects
Linn K600 & K200 speaker cable
Chord Prodac Pro Gold digital interconnects
Clearer Audio Copper Alpha mains cables
Cat 6 shielded ethernet cables
TP Link AV ethernet over mains
QNAP TS209II NAS
Twonky media server software
Acer Iconia Tab A100 / BubbleDS control point
Acer Iconia Tab A100 display point

[sunbeamgls]

So here's the latest of the main rack (amps, speakers, TV etc have not changed). New are the KK/1/D, turntable and PS Audio







Lots more images, musings etc at the blog: http://www.audiophilemusings.co.uk

[sunbeamgls]

I've been through a migration back to passive with a Klimax Twin with the M140s and then onto PMC Twenty.26 since the above post. Now a significant update with all Akurate Exakt and PMC Twenty.26

[Charlie1]

Looking very neat as usual, and black of course. Glad you got the filters now and are enjoying your system even more.

[Ozzzy189]

Very nice Neil, bet it sounds fabulous.

[sunbeamgls]

Thanks Chaps

[sunbeamgls]

The story of going Exakt with the PMCs in 2 parts, for those who are interested:

Converting the speakers (Linn have a kit available now, but this is how I did it, giving me 6 months more Exaktness than I would have had if I'd waited for the kit): http://audiophilemusings.blogspot.co.uk ... rst_9.html
Setup and listening: http://audiophilemusings.blogspot.co.uk ... ts-of.html

[ChrBea]

Did you have the aluminium stands on your M140 before? How do they compare to the new speakers?

[sunbeamgls]

Did you have the aluminium stands on your M140 before? How do they compare to the new speakers?

Yes, I had the M140s for nearly 5 years and they had the upgraded stands from new.

The Twenty.26 are a very different speaker to the 140. They do all the hifi things like detail, dynamics, imaging, bass control, subtle nuances etc. far better. In terms of musicality they have 2 outstanding qualities - subtlety, texture and expression in vocals is superb, bringing more feeling to the music and conveying the story much better. And the other major strength is their ability to boogie - they're a more relaxed and fun speaker, without losing control. Imagine a 5x times more refined Keilidh but with the fun factor retained.

Just a word of caution - I originally used them passive with KDS/2, KK/1/D and KCT/D and really enjoyed them for up to 2.5 hours or so, at which point they became tiring, even with -2dB treble shelf in SPACE. Now, with Exakt, they're absolutely stunning - Philbo's done a great job on balancing the filters. A bit of a shame for Linn as that's put me out of the market for Akubariks :) With Exakt they're in a different league compared to their price, particularly as they're now around used for under 3500gbp.

Have a look on audiophilemusings.co.uk between this time last year and this Summer, lots more detail there.
Linn now have an Exakt kit for the 26s available. But I'll wait to see if they discount them eventually as 600gbp for 2x passive circuit boards and a pair of stickers is a bit steep. I understand that they would like to recover the costs of developing the filters, but given that I've spent on AEDSM, AExaktbox 2
10 and 2x A4200/1 in order to go Exakt with the 26s, overcharging for the conversion seems a bit much. They do sound fantastic though :)

[Music Lover]

Linn now have an Exakt kit for the 26s available. But I'll wait to see if they discount them eventually as 600gbp for 2x passive circuit boards and a pair of stickers is a bit steep.

Already running them with Exakt, what do you need these for?

[sunbeamgls]

Linn now have an Exakt kit for the 26s available. But I'll wait to see if they discount them eventually as 600gbp for 2x passive circuit boards and a pair of stickers is a bit steep.

Already running them with Exakt, what do you need these for?

I don't because I did a DIY job. The filters were released 6 months before the conversion kit so I just did it myself. Others won't want to do this but I think Linn have missed the boat a bit - the Twenty series won't be around for much longer as a new speaker. However, used prices plus the kit make them very attractive as a more fun filled alternative to Akubarik.

I would buy them to fit to my speakers to support what Linn are doing, but not at that price.

[Music Lover]

Got it!
The "Exakt kit for the 26s (2x passive circuit boards) - is really just a speaker termination board,connecting the PCM internal speaker cables to bananas. This board replace the PCM passive filter.

"Passive circuit boards" is a slightly confusing name. :)

[Spannko]

I'm not sure what's worse - £600 for an "Inaktiv", passive crossover or £2.5 grand for a £500 (retail) power supply in a £100 tin box for the Renew conversion.

[Music Lover]

£2.5 grand for a £500 (retail) power supply in a £100 tin box for the Renew conversion.

It's a steal as you also get a power cord and LED in the package :)

[ThomasOK]

£2.5 grand for a £500 (retail) power supply in a £100 tin box for the Renew conversion.

It's a steal as you also get a power cord and LED in the package :)

Plus there's the £1800 labor for all the extensive work involved to put the board you already own into that box!

Sounds like there might be an opportunity for a third party Renew kit here somewhere?

[sunbeamgls]

Got it!
The "Exakt kit for the 26s (2x passive circuit boards) - is really just a speaker termination board,connecting the PCM internal speaker cables to bananas. This board replace the PCM passive filter.

"Passive circuit boards" is a slightly confusing name. :)

Apologies - I should perhaps have used better terminology in this context :)

It doesn't even do as much as you say. It connects the internal wiring to the back of the existing binding posts, not to the bananas themselves. One of the elements that made it easy to go Exakt with these speakers is that they already have 3 pairs of binding posts as standard.

Linn say that a proportion of the cost is to fund the filter development, which is a double edged sword - I think the cost of all the other Exakt products is enough to cover that.

As for Renew, I think the new price means that we are unlikely to see Renew versions of Exaktbox6 or 10 as the cost of Renew is going to be on a par with the used value of a complete Exaktbox 6. This is a shame as the idea of giving used circuit boards a second life is superb.

Competitor Renew? Well, only if Linn have created a firmware version for Renew, which is unlikely if no one buys the Linn Renew product. A good portion of the price of Renew will be going into the risk associated with the new 5 year warranty, in addition to the software change and the other bits already mentioned.

I would like to have seen a drop in price for Renew. The box really doesn't need to be built in Scotland and the technique for removing the display function from the software must be a repeatable process by now. 1250gbp would seem to be a fair price for power supply, low cost sourcing of the box, dealer labour and the guarantee.