KennyM's System

[KennyM]

Firstly, HI to everyone!

I am a retired Chartered Surveyor and live near Glasgow in the West of Scotland. Being retired I have plenty of time to enjoy my music collection and my system is well used.

I have had music systems of one kind or another for the past 40 years or so. The first system I can remember comprised a Rotel stereo receiver with a Fons CQ30 turntable with an SME 3009 arm and unknown cartridge. I still have the T/T and several hundred LPs, although they are now packed away in the attic.

The roots of my present system were more A/V orientated starting about 12 years or so ago when I got Sky and acquired a used Denon A/V receiver and a set of Tannoy speakers. A Panasonic DVD player and a Philips CD player completed the set up. This was upgraded bit by bit. The speakers were replaced with Monitor Audio RX8s, RXcentre and RXFX surrounds.

Then everything went wrong! The convenience of streaming my music rather than playing CDs appealed and after much research and I bought a Cyrus Stream XP2qx. Then I bought an Oppo 105. Next I bought a Marantz AV7701 7.2 pre-amp/processor and Cyrus X200 and X300sig power amps. Next a pair of "ex-display" MA GX300s and a used GX150 were obtained. They replaced the RX8s (which became my surround speakers), and the RX Centre. The XP2qx was replaced with a Cyrus Stream Xsig and a Chord Hugo dac which was later changed for the Hugo TT.

I was very happy with this system until one day in early September, 2015 when I spotted an ad for a Linn Renew KDS/1 at a very tempting price. I had long dreamt of owning a Linn system and this seemed like an ideal opportunity to sample Linn HiFi without having to take out a second mortgage! I purchased the Renew. It was a major step-up from my Cyrus streamer and I instantly loved it.

Since then I have exchanged the Linn Renew KDS/1 for a KDS/2 which has since been upgraded to KDS/3 spec, replaced the power amps, changed the pre/processor for the current AV8802a, and replaced the speakers with Monitor Audio PL IIs

My system now comprises -

Sources

1 - Linn Klimax DS/3 (Katalyst Klimax DS)
Linked to Pre-Amp with Ecosse La Prima Donna Balanced cables.
Linked to Network with Cat 7 cable.

2 - Oppo BDP105EUmz
Linked to Pre-Amp with Ecosse La Prima Donna RCA cables (CD analogue) & AQ HDMI.
Linked to Network with Cat 6 cable.

3 - Sky Q Silver Box
Linked to Pre-Amp with AQ HDMI cable.
Linked to Network with Cat 7 cable.

Pre-Amp/Processor - Marantz AV8802a Pre-Amp & Video Processor.

Output - Amps & Speakers

1 - Linn Klimax Twin 500
Linked to Pre-Amp with Ecosse La Prima Donna Balanced cables.
Drives main stereo pair of Monitor Audio PL200 II speakers with Ecosse SMS 2.4 cables.

2 - Linn AK 4200/1
Linked to Pre-Amp with Linn Silver Balanced cables (only 3 channels in use).
Drives Centre channel MA PL150 II speaker with Ecosse SMS 2.4 cable.
Drives front L&R Atmos KEF R50 speakers with Ecosse MS 2.3 cables.

3 - Linn AK 4200/1
Linked to Pre-Amp with Van den Hul The Wave RCA cables.
Drives rear L&R MA PL100 II speakers & rear L&R KEF R50 Atmos speakers
with AQ FLX-SLiP 14/4 cables.

4 - Velodyne CHT-12QR Subwoofer
Linked to Pre-Amp with Oehlbach NF 1Y-Sub, Subwoofer Cable.


Display - Panasonic 4K TV
Linked to Pre-Amp with AQ HDMI cable & QED Reference Optical Quartz cables.
Linked to network with Cat 6 cable.

Media Server - QNAP 251+ NAS with 2x 4Tb WD Red drives, running Minim Server.
Linked to Network with Cat 7 cable.

Mains Power - PurePower+ 1500 AC regenerator

It has taken me a long time to get to this stage and I have enjoyed both the journey and the result !!