Personal speaker evolution

My first speaker (singular!) back in the days of monophonic sound was a JBL D130 in a home made corner cabinet, driven by a Bozak 20 watt tube amp. Many more after that and finally a better quality sound when I got a pair of AR 2AX's. After that, a pair of Paradigm Reference Studio 100's v.3 which I hated, then a pair of Dynaudio Contour T2.5's which I found to be rather thin sounding. Then, finally, a pair of Von Schweikert VR 2's and wonderful sound was again to be had at my house. I recently upgraded to a pair of VS VR-33's driven by Anthem Statement Amp and Pre-amp. I'm now in heaven.

Review- SVSound Ultra centers, being used as fronts:

Original system…. Adcom GTP-600, Audiosource Amp-100, Klipsch Heresy II’s. By all accounts, a respectable 2-channel system.

Replaced Heresy’s with MBS-02’s. HUGE improvement.

Replaced my MBS-02’s with these Ultra centers. At first I thought they were only a little better. With advice from SVS, I replaced my Audiosource amp with a better one. I chose an Emotiva XPA-200. WOW, what a difference.

First sound through the system was from an old VH1 CD from the 90’s (lots of acoustics and vocals), then a couple of episodes of “Live from Darryl’s House”, Cee Lo Green and Rob Thomas. I did not think SVS could improve on the MBS-02’s THAT much. I was wrong.

Next, a movie, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. Phenomenal. Again, just 2 channels, but what a pair of channels these are. Even at higher volumes, my Beautiful, significant other does not complain. She NEVER liked watching movies through my Klipsch. She would actually put in ear plugs because some of the sound would, according to her “spike”. She enjoyed the MBS’s more, but these…. I can play these louder and she doesn’t notice it is louder. No high-high’s or drop offs in midrange. The db level across the freq range is the flattest I have EVER heard.

Beautiful sound. Transparent. Musical, but still great for theater. I was always going to have two systems. One theater; one music. I don’t think that is necessary any more. In the long run I am going to save significantly. So I have convinced her that I can just add on to this one instead of having two systems. I also threatened to buy another pair of Klipsch.

Next step: One more Ultra center (It will be used in it’s intended position) and two of the Ultra surrounds. Emotiva’s 7.2 channel preamp(when it becomes available) and the appropriate power amps.

Final step will be two SVS subs. Gotta make that (.2) useful. I am not sure which two subs. I will burn that bridge when I get there.

Hope this helps you make that leap. Once you have true HI-FI in your home, your life is changed.

James O.
Pittsburgh, PA

Sylvania bookshelf speakers- four for $100 (1972)
ESS AMT-1- $660 / pair (1976)
Magnepan Tympani- $900/ pair used (1979)
Magnepan 3.3 $1,800 used (1998)
Magnepan 3.7 $5,500 new (2012)

Since my last post, things have changed. Here was my last post:

11-20-03: Thesaint519
Okay. Here is a list of the speakers that I have owned starting with the current set:

- Revel Salons
- Legacy Audio Focus
- Legacy Audio Studio Monitors
- Polk M5's & M3's

Over the last two years my system has completely changed four times.

With the Salons:

- Levinson 390S
- Levinson 33H's

With the Legacy Audio Focus:

- Meridian 561 pre/pro
- Meridian 596 dvd/cd player

With the Legacy Audio Studio Monitors:

- Meridian 502
- Meridian 506.24

With the Polk Audio Speakers:

- Yahama DSPA-3090 pre/pro & 7 channel amp

And I am still evolving. However, the speakers are forever remaining. I would ultimately like to end up with a dual purpose system where both music and movies are enjoyed. That'd bring me full circle.

**Since then, the Salons were replaced with Wilson Watt/Puppy 8's, which were subsequently replaced with Wilson Sashas. The Front end is a DCS Purcell/Delius stack, which doubles as my preamp. The front end runs direct to my Lamm M1.2 Reference mono amps. Richard Gray Power Company 1200S feeds the system, while a ReQuest Media server supplies all the music and movies. Transparent Audio Reference cabling strings everything together. The sound is pure bliss. Future upgrades:

- Replace the Grand Prix Audio Monaco Rack with an HRS/SXR rack
- Lamm L2 Refernce preamp
- Upgrade all cabling to XLMM2.

RADIO SHACK 2 WAYS,PARENTHIAN{ KEITH JOHNSON] 2 WAYS, INFINITY Q A1, MAGNEPAN MG1, MAGNEPAN MG2, TYMPANI 1B,MG3A,VERTEK THEATER SPEAKERS-UNIQUE, TYMPANI 4,MG3.3,[OVER FORTY YEARS]