Just curious as to the people who like myself have many thousands "invested" in their main system with all the latest tweaks, cables etc and also have a second or even third system.
Did you assemble that with the same love and care and dedication and costly tweaks?
Or did you throw something together from bargain bins or indeed your old leftovers and then sat back and thought...Wow this sounds really good!
And if so did that get you thinking on the main system...lol.
My second system cost way less than the speaker cables on my main system but I am constantly shocked at just how nice it sounds for such a no frills setup.
Linn Classic all in one Tannoy 2 ellipse small floorstanders 20 year old (at least) Jensen 50w 8 inch sub. Monster Cable 12/2 speaker cable bare wire ends. Home brewed power cord just cos I had it laying around.
The Linn just sits on top of a chest of drawers with the Tannoys flanking the chest either side and the lil sub sitting behind the chest.
I have a secundary system in my study at home: Harbeth P3ESR as desktop speakers refurbished Quad 405/2 amplifier Emotiva Control Freak plus some additional inline attenuators as volume control. ODAC usb DAC Computer as source for streamed music. I have the speakers on IsoAcoustics desktop stands to get the tweeter up to ear height, and to reduce bass reinforcement from the desk surface. Even so, there still was a bit of a bass boom from the desk and I cured that with a REW equalization curve for the Equalizer Apo installed on the computer. There is one definite upgrade in the not too far away future and that is a quieter (preferably fanless) computer. The other would perhaps be a little subwoofer. Before I do that, however, I first want to experiment with the subwoofer from my main system, to see if my study is large enough to handle deep bass. In any case, the sound is already very good indeed for a smallish room.
I recently made a complete changeout of my office system.
Before:
Musical Fidelity X-A1 Integrated
Kef Q15.2 bookshelf speakers
Rotel 971 CD Player
After:
Kef LS50 Wireless Speakers
Sonos Connect
'Very impressed with the upgrade in sound and smaller footprint. The WAF has increased considerably.
I'm almost a bit sad about how much better it sounds, and the thought of giving the original system to my nephew feels like giving away a family pet. :-) Anyone else ever have those feelings?
I upgraded my TT, preamp and monoblocs to better versions of the same items. Those replaced items make up the second rig (with the addition of digital.)
Forgot to list it! Garrard 401 with 12" Jelco 750 and Ortofon MC3, Croft 25 phono/pre, EICO HF 35 monos. Sony CD. Laptop. Clear Day cables. Spendor SP2/2 speakers.
I particularly like the Salk SongTower for bedroom, as it is a tall speaker, with drivers at the top. Connected to Belles Soloist 1, Simaudio 260D. My search for desktop speakers ended with Quad 12L2
PC via USB and Yamaha CDR 651 via optical to Emotiva XDA 2 DAC to Emotiva Basx 300 Amp to KEF Q100 speakers
Sony BDP S6700 via HDMI to Onkyo TX SR 373 AV receiver for SACD playing through Polk RTi6 speakers and to XDA DAC via coaxial to the BASX 300 to the KEF 100s
Project Debut III with Ortofon OM 10 cartridge through Cambridge 640P phono Pre amp to the Onkyo av receiver
to the Polk RTi6 speakers
I switch the speakers between the set ups and listen to the different format combinations Small 10 x 12 music and home office room.
My second system is in my master bedroom. It consists of a Peachtree Nova 300 integrated driving Salk Song 3 speakers with Transparent cables. It’s a great system.
My main system is Devialet 400, Goldenear Triton One, Arcam FMJ CD37, Project Carbon TT.
Conrad Johnson MF2550 SE amp Conrad Johnson ET3SE preamp with upgraded EAT tube Musical Fidelity M6CD Onkyo 7070 CD PSB XB speakers (soon to be upgraded) / Sub Cub subwoofer $5,400 total cost or about 35 cents on the dollar by buying used. Better sound on female vocals, too.
I truly wish I had the means to have kept some early pieces. But it is what it is and for the money spent on my second system I am very happy. One advantage to it, is its location in a vastly superior acoustic setting than my main system. This is a position that hopefully I will reverse next year with move to a new house and can actually have a choice of a dedicated listening room.
As with most others, components that were displaced from the primary system (Ayre AX-7, ProAc Response 2.5), or newer pieces that failed to displace the existing component (Cambridge transport, Schiit Gungnir).
Old Quad ESLs (restored), Quad II amps (restored, with GEC KT 66s), McI MX110z preamp/tuner and SP10 Technics, restored. All of the equipment, save for the McI, has been with me for decades, the ESLs back to 1973.
Marantz NR1402 integrated with Apple TV, Comcast cable box and Sony TV & Sacd player as sources driving a pair of ADS 520s in the master bedroom. A little boomy and definatley not hi-rez but good for late night listening to recordings of Austin City Limits, etc.
In my home office I have a pair of Adam F7 Active Monitors driven by my laptop via an upgraded 3.5-RCA Cable made by Take Five Audio. My intent was to use them to play music softly while working, but they sound so darned good I’ll also use them for fun listening sessions when I don’t feel like powering up my main rig.
Technics 1200 MK2 stock with AT140 original cartridge Pioneer V41 CD changer McIntosh Mac 1900 receiver JBL 4311 pair of monitors Monster and Acoustic Research wiring and cabling
My second system consist of a Yamamoto HA-03 headphone amp a pair of Audeze LCD 2 headphones W/ Cable Pro cables, PS Audio power wedge, Silnote Reference power cords, Audioquest Colorado interconnects and for source a redbook only Theta dac, Acoustic Zen MC2 digital cable and Cabridge CDX transport. This system is very revealing and satisfying, only bad thing is you lose track of time.
some really nice sounding second systems here that a lot of people would be proud to call their main system. I really like the idea of hanging onto older well loved equipment and using to piece together another system.
Unfortunately most times I have upgraded the only way I have been able to afford to upgrade was to sell off the older pieces to make funds available to offset the costs.
This is a regret in some areas for sure as I know there are speakers and amps I really really should have liked to have kept!
When I have a component that I really like and can't bear to sell it I pass it on to my second system. I've also added a few new components to my second system over the years.
Second System Allnic T-1500 300B Integrated Amp Conrad Johnson Classic SE Preamp Conrad Johnson Classic Sixty SE Amp Class D Audio SDS-470C Amp Sonic Frontiers SFT-1 Transport Yamamoto Dac Montana EPX Speakers Townsend Super Tweeters Magnum Dynalab MD-106T Analog FM Tuner
My second system is my PC/bedroom system. Consists of a Logitech Squeezebox Touch, NAD D 3020 integrated and my own custom speakers.
Also added a 5 GHz extender/converter because normal Wifi in this apartment is terrible, and the Touch does not do 5 GHz. In a very serious way, this involved a lot of hacking and tweaking to make it work right.
@stereo5 That's a pretty neat second system I must say! I often find myself listening to my second system and wondering why I spent all the money on the main one. Until I sit down for some serious listening with some really good recordings Then I just smile, close my eyes and let the music take me
Just Grado headphones and computer. It sounds terrible but it's okay for youtube listening. Oh yeah, I put $14 shielded power cord on the computer, big difference, both audio and video. Thinking about adding $300 Oppo dac/headphone amp and Audioquest usb cable. I've been thinking about it for two years and keep thinking.
I purchased all 3 McIntosh used from Audio Classics. The rest of the items were purchased new. To be honest, I get much more pleasure from this system than my main system which cost me 2 1/2 times as much as this system..
I upgraded my TT, preamp and monoblocs to better versions of the same items. Those replaced items make up the second rig (with the addition of digital.)
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