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Any "Deadhead" audiophiles out there to help

Looking to fine tune my system for mostly music and then home theater. As apparent I am a deadhead since the early 80s and love the music and grew up on the sound. I have not really swayed much from that genre but do have an ear for classical too. I play a lot of SACD, DVD Audio and blu-ray DVDs. Currently I have a mix bag system and was wondering if I could tighten it up or move some things around. Unfortunately my room is awkward with 8 foot ceilings and 25 by 13 with an extended room open from the length to add about another 12 feet from the front speakers. This creates an "L" shape room, it was a remodel job from the prior owner converting the single car garage into another sitting room with a woodstove. I have been slowly building my system and would like any and all input on changes that could make it sound even better. This is a living area so I must keep it wife approved, as she has embraced this change as well. Now you know most "deadheads" aint got major loot, but I do save and will spend for the right gear. Here is my setup..

Pioneer Elite VSX 94TXH
B&K Reference 200.7
B&W CDM 7NT fronts (Bi-amped)
B&W CC6 center (looking to improve to CDM CNT version)
B&W 602 S1 (Bi-wired) rears along with 2 Athena bookshelfs near the ceiling
Martin Logan Motion 4's and 2-Mirage Nanosats for Side surrounds
Paradigm PDR-10 sub
Oppo BDP 93 player
Panasonic 50 inch plasma

I also have a few other mirage nanosats in other rooms to provide music in those locations and split that with a niles speaker selector
shakedown
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
Nice gear...the obvious weak spot imho is the sub...many upgrades...including paradigm themselves...the pw 2200(?) is a significant improvement...and b&w as well...good luck...u got any shows from Europe 72 box? ....highly recommended
lapierre
547 posts
 
Well done!

I would focus on smaller details for refinement:

Dedicated AC lines
Audiophile Grade Outlets
Room Treatments that are (WA of course) and visually kool
Upgraded power cord for plasma and Oppo
Upgraded speaker wires and IC for source
Add another sub so you have two
maineiac
649 posts
 
FWIW, my recommendation, in order of importance, would be to find either separates or an integrated that is designed for 2 channel first and foremost but offers a home theater by-pass so you can use your receiver and HT amp to drive your HT while you have a very high quality 2 channel rig making music.

In looking for the pre/amp integrated I would be thinking ahead to the type of overall sound you want long-term and consider synergistic amplification and speaker combos so you can come up with a system strategy. There are a lot of different flavors to sample.

I am not sure exactly what you mean by the deadhead sound but it makes me think of box of rain on vinyl. Vinyl to me is a very important part of my audiophile enjoyment and as a matter of fact, I think I might go spin some dead right now. That's me and there is plenty of reading here about the virtues and challenges of vinyl.
shakedown OP
135 posts
 
Many thanks for the responses..I have been considering an upgrade or additional sub to be added..looking towards REL or SVS..any suggestions there??
dserota17
16 posts
 
Nice system, shakedown street. I used to have the B&K 200.5, the 5 channel version of your amp. B&K is a solid underrated company IMHO. I just bought the newly released Grateful Dead blu-ray movie yesterday. I'll let you know my thoughts after I give it a listen. As far as SACDs, I'm a big fan of the Jerry Garcia and Meryl Saunders disc.

Regarding your system, I think maniac is giving good advice. Going from a pre-pro to a dedicated 2 channel pre-amp with HT bypass was a strong step in the right direction for me, as I prefer to do most of my listening in 2 channel, even for multi-channel recordings. Happy listening!
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