Lon,

Thanks for that and yes, I did receive the photo. They are very impressive speakers!

I'm off to order the ERR's!  ;)

nsj

Hello Everyone,

Okay I'll give those settings a shot.

Basically you're saying. Knobs on ZCD set pretty low, like 1-3 clicks. Little trim pots on CSP2 full blast. Volume on Tori relative to how loud I can take it in my room.

NSJ basically what we're talking about is playing around with the output voltages of the different sources and pre amps to see how it affects sound.

Here is something interesting in regards to the ZCD and CSP2 with headphones (no speakers). I'm running a pair of Senn HD650's in case you're curious and my cds are all originals and good examples of imaging and sonics.

When I hoooked up the ZCD tube output and factory output both to the CSP2 (note it has two inputs) and tried to level match them, I found that it was very hard to hear the difference between the two. At this point my ZCD had about 50 hours on it and my CSP2 is from 2006 so it has plenty of time on it (but I did switch to new tubes about 200 hours ago).

I mention this because when you do this with a pair of speakers (in this case I'm just talking about going ZCD>Tori>Speakers and you switch the inputs on the Tori from the Tube ZCD to the Factory ZCD it sounds remarkably different.

Of course the tube output sounds way cleaner. I really don't know how to put it other than it sounds better in every way.

So when I was on the phone with Steve a while ago I mentioned this and he wasn't surprised. Basically he was saying that the CSP2 helps so much with a source that what I was hearing with the headphones make sense.

Lon, I'll try those settings and let you know. I'm all for making things sound better and my CSP2 is just sitting around now doing nothing so why not give it a go.

Have a good night everyone,

Parker,

Thanks for trying that out.

Two things:

One, I think that the ZCD and CSP2 in the chain are generating that hum. I found that when I had the Monoblocks (Steve called these his noisiest amp), the ZCD and the CSP2 in the system the hum had overwhelmed me, which was why I went for the Integrated (and then had that great offer for the Torii from Bob).  Even with these amps the ZCD and the CSP2 combo gave me noticeable hum that was just enough to ignore.

My solution was to get better sound and no hum altogether with a different cd player, the Sony SCD-XA5400ES.  When the CSP2 is all the way up there is a bit of hum (not listenable from the listening seat).

In the last few weeks I've changed my CSP2 settings again to just less than halfway on the gain pots.  I had moved my speakers and changed my listening seat from a couch to a recliner and as is the case with my system this changed the sound.  Also I had begun to feel that with the pots all the way open I was losing some dynamics in favor of that fat rich tonal balance that seemed right.  Experimenting with speaker placement and CSP2 gain I found that the pots at just under halfway work well for me now.

Experimenting is something I'm always tempted to do with this system as it is so revealing and responsive.  I confess it never really stays in the same configuration for more than a few months, as my living space changes a bit whether Anadina and I are spending a lot of time together there, which instruments and amps are living in the room for a spell, etc.

I hope you can find a nice zone for the CSP2 and Torii together, they do work very well together in my experience.  If not, you have been getting excellent sound without it so returning to that configuration is no crime!

Bill,

Thanks for your info. Everyone has been incredibly helpful on this forum and made a newbie feel welcome.

I have ordered the Decware interconnects, but, I am still shopping around for the speaker wires. Clear Day Cables were also suggested earlier.

Again,

Thanks!