Forums - What's your Solid State System?

stone_of_tone

Seasoned Member

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Posts: 3217

What's your Solid State System?
07/13/18 at 22:47:19

My ZMA is King in my Listening Room. I realize some of you have an all in one System in your Great Room.....
However, those of you that have SS Rigs, separate from your Decware Listening Room....what do you love about your SS Rig?

....for me, I run Polk SDA SRS 1.2's. I would almost, run into my house on fire to save these incredible Speakers!

What's your scene?

I am rocking my 1.2's at concert level....no fatigue.....right now! Well, you can get to odd order fatigue eventually.... But it takes some mind blowing SPL with these exquisite Speakers to get there.

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Room Treats-M.Green & mine
Sony TPort
Illuminati D60
Shunyata Z-Alpha DigPcord
Decware ZDSD DAC
Kimber Select KS1030
XLOProPcord
Decware ZMA/25th Mods
Kimber Select KS6063
Acoustic Zen Adagio/Modified
Kimber PK10 Palladian from wall
to PS Audio P3

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Archie Seasoned Member Posts: 2731	Re: What's your Solid State System? Reply #1 - 07/13/18 at 23:33:20 Quote: I would almost, run into my house on fire to save these incredible Speakers! Or you could sit and listen while the house burned!
Back to top	ZLC Technics 1200G TT w/ Ortofon Jubilee MC cart ZMC1 ZP3 (25th A Mods) ZR2 (25th A Mods) CSP3 (25th A mods) ZMA (25th A mods) Homemade Big Betsy Speakers (F15s) Silver Cabling DIY Isolation platforms under amps & TT. IP Logged

stone_of_tone Seasoned Member Listen Often/Listen Deep Posts: 3217	Re: What's your Solid State System? Reply #2 - 07/14/18 at 00:22:15 Yes! I would need to turn them way up, then run out! ;D
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Havtorn

Verified Member

Posts: 15

Re: What's your Solid State System?
Reply #3 - 07/14/18 at 08:03:30

My second system (in quite a small listening room) consists of a small customized Audio Zone AMP-1 SS amp (Canadian-made gain clone) coupled with a pair of Swedish vintage Rauna Leira II speakers in concrete and an equally vintage Accuphase CD-player (DP75V).

This combo, although being quite minimalistic, is rather pleasant for the ear, in particular for late night listening sessions. Works best with classical music and jazz though and at low to medium listening level.

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stone_of_tone

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Posts: 3217

Re: What's your Solid State System?
Reply #4 - 07/14/18 at 12:46:28

Very nice, very nice indeed Havtorn. I enjoy looking the gear up and learning what people have and enjoy for reference as compared to their Decware.

Speaking of low volume, ....enjoying my ZMA this morning as I write ...The Best of Ramsey Lewis and a cup of Pikes Place. Beautiful morning as I hear the Birds sing in between song takes......

Quad of 7581A's, continuing to season in.....T-Sol's.
Biased at 50mA this morning...then back up to 56 by 9 or 10 am.
Most likely, these will end up at 48 to 50 mA for best musicality.

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Room Treats-M.Green & mine
Sony TPort
Illuminati D60
Shunyata Z-Alpha DigPcord
Decware ZDSD DAC
Kimber Select KS1030
XLOProPcord
Decware ZMA/25th Mods
Kimber Select KS6063
Acoustic Zen Adagio/Modified
Kimber PK10 Palladian from wall
to PS Audio P3

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stone_of_tone

Seasoned Member

Listen Often/Listen
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Posts: 3217

Re: What's your Solid State System?
Reply #5 - 07/14/18 at 13:48:37

6:20 am has turned into 7:40 am.....Sue is up and down on the big Rig....Lars has now went to 56mA and the SPL is up.... With the JOHN MAYER TRIO ~ TRY!

.....adrenaline and goose bumps are flowing .... Let's get this weekend ROLLING!

Just a smidge above 50mA is perfect for these 7581A's! The bass line and tone in VULTURES right now should be criminal!

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Room Treats-M.Green & mine
Sony TPort
Illuminati D60
Shunyata Z-Alpha DigPcord
Decware ZDSD DAC
Kimber Select KS1030
XLOProPcord
Decware ZMA/25th Mods
Kimber Select KS6063
Acoustic Zen Adagio/Modified
Kimber PK10 Palladian from wall
to PS Audio P3

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Havtorn Verified Member Posts: 15	Re: What's your Solid State System? Reply #6 - 07/14/18 at 16:51:33 Thanks, Stone_of_tone. A small rectification, the player in the second system should be the DP70V. The DP75V is in my main system.... Just enjoying J.S. Bach, "6 Motetten" (BWV 225-230) with the Tölzer Knabenchor....
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Showme

Seasoned Member

Posts: 302

Re: What's your Solid State System?
Reply #7 - 07/15/18 at 17:28:14

My second system is a Marantz 2325 receiver, with a Dual 1229 turntable driving B&W speakers. I can't turn this receiver past 9:00 in a pretty fair sized room but it sounds great. In fact I forget how good in sounds because my dedicated listening room has a Zen UFO amp driving a pair of Betsy's. Waiting for my UFO25 to be built.

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Lon

Seasoned Member

"Love without
guts is
worthless!"
Philip K. Dick

Posts: 23525

Re: What's your Solid State System?
Reply #8 - 07/15/18 at 18:02:00

I don't have a solid state system. I did briefly recently have a non-tube amp in my second system, bought a greatly priced Peachtree Audio Grand Integrated X-1 which is quite an impressive 400 wpc amp. . . (not really solid state but a digital amp) and it is a great amplifier with a really nice DAC and headphone amp and even a tube buffer stage switchable on or off. . . but after a few months I just missed my Decware amplification. I need the tubes. I wish I didn't as I could replace a Decware amp, preamp and headphone amp with that one unit and use the DAC. . . but. . . I needed the tubes, just didn't settle in without them, and the tube buffer was not enough--also I don't have speakers that need big power. I'm just going to be a tube amp person for life I believe.

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HR-1,ZBIT,ZROCK2,SEWE300B,CSP3-25mod; Rega RP3 all GrooveTracer mods;PSAudio:PST+DSD, DAC Mk II, P15,NPC,PowerBases,AC-12 pwr cbls, Reference spkrcbls; Mapleshade SamsonV3; VooDoo:Cremona+Amati interconnects, IsoPods; headphones: Sennheiser HD800S,ZMF Ori,Oppo PM1

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Melvin Ex Member	Re: What's your Solid State System? Reply #9 - 07/16/18 at 17:34:47 My headphone system is all solid state and consists of: Schiit Bifrost MB Schiit Loki Schiit Asgard 2 Audio-Technica ATH-R70x I'm too happy with it to change a thing.
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Doug

Seasoned Member

Posts: 274

Re: What's your Solid State System?
Reply #10 - 07/27/18 at 07:11:15

My wife and I, as relatively new empty nesters, haven taken on the challenge of installing hardwood floors throughout our entire home. We are 7 weeks into this project that has forced me to completely abandon my dedicated listening room. Being unable to live a day without music, a make-do system was assembled in our family room. It's made up of my old Oppo 103 that I bought new for $499 many years ago, a pair of 20 year old Soliloquy 5.3 speakers that I picked up on eBay a few years back for $400, a bunch of very inexpensive cables, and my $7,000 solid state LFD NCSE integrated amp (the LFD is actually a power amp with a passive volume control). This solid state system has proven to be quite satifsying, with the LFD amp being capable of delivering some of the most real sounding vocals and instruments I've heard in my 47 years of audio hobbying. The system sounded really good until I inserted my brand new CSP3 25th Anniversary edition preamp between the Oppo 103 and the LFD amp--and that's when everything changed! This unlikely combination of components now sounds incredible! I am blown away by the fantastic effects the CSP3-25 has had! I can't wait to hear the improvements in my main rig when I reassemble it and slide the CSP3-25 in front of my Torii Jr. which will drive either my Zu Definition mkiii's, or the big open baffles currently under construction, with the Torii Jr driving a pair of FRX2 drivers and the LFD driving a bunch of 15 inch woofers designed to be used on open baffles.

I have been dedicated tube user for almost 30 years, having owned and enjoyed a wide variety of tube power amps, tube preamps, and tube CD players. I bought the SS LFD at a weak moment after the power supply in my little SE84CKC (my first Decware product) blew up--tube gear sometimes drives one crazy! Oh, and if you ever wondered about the Decware lifetime warranty, you need not; I sent the amp back to Steve, and he returned it to me a few days later in like new condition. So, I really love my SS LFD NCSE, but I am struggling to understand the enormous positive impact the CSP3-25 has had sitting in front of it. It's bordering on incredible! Detail, tone, density, speed, way cleaner sound but also warmer (is that even possible?)......all of the things that make reproduced music sound closer to live music have greatly increased. Decware tube gear does scary, out of this world, good things for music reproduction--even when combined with solid state gear!

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Jay’s CD2T-Mk3
Denafrips Pontus II
ZROCK2 25th Mods
CSP3 25th & Custom Mods
PAP Quintets with Voxativ 1.6
First Watt J2 or Cary 300SEI
driving Voxativs—no crossover
LFD NCSE driving 15” Woofers

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Doug Seasoned Member Posts: 274	Re: What's your Solid State System? Reply #11 - 07/27/18 at 07:36:43 Stone, I recall visiting our local Polk dealer numerous times back in the SDA days. Those monstrosities were a site to behold! Very cool!
Back to top	Jay’s CD2T-Mk3 Denafrips Pontus II ZROCK2 25th Mods CSP3 25th & Custom Mods PAP Quintets with Voxativ 1.6 First Watt J2 or Cary 300SEI driving Voxativs—no crossover LFD NCSE driving 15” Woofers IP Logged

deucekazoo Seasoned Member Posts: 461	Re: What's your Solid State System? Reply #12 - 07/27/18 at 14:12:06 I like my tubes but also like making things and sometimes you just need a few more watts for certain speakers but it needs to be class A. This was a winter project a few years back. This is the Aleph J clone designed by Nelson Pass.
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deucekazoo Seasoned Member Posts: 461	Re: What's your Solid State System? Reply #13 - 07/27/18 at 14:13:10 Back side.
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deucekazoo Seasoned Member Posts: 461	Re: What's your Solid State System? Reply #14 - 07/27/18 at 14:14:57 The inside glow.
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Lon Seasoned Member "Love without guts is worthless!" Philip K. Dick Posts: 23525	Re: What's your Solid State System? Reply #15 - 07/27/18 at 14:18:25 Nice work amigo!
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ScottNC Seasoned Member Posts: 335	Re: What's your Solid State System? Reply #16 - 07/28/18 at 01:55:43 Great Photos...Sweet! Best, Scott
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stone_of_tone

Seasoned Member

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Posts: 3217

Re: What's your Solid State System?
Reply #17 - 07/28/18 at 18:32:22

2a3smith, nice story.....interesting SS amp too. I bet your CSP3-25th is remarkable. I had a CSP3 with Jupiter caps....never should have sold it.

YES! The Polk SDA SRS 1.2's are special. A lot of fun!
http://forum.polkaudio.com/categories/vintage-speakers
I'm not part of their cult...over there/Forum....but I check it out from time to time.
The SDA Playlist is fun:
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/22736/sda-playlist

deuce! ....Pass Labs clone/very nice....SWEET Class A. I want a Pass for my 1.2's!
I always keep tabs on/over at Reno Hi-Fi.

But, as fun as the Polk's are....my Listening Room Rig rules.

Listening Room:

Room Treatments from Michael Green & my Home Brew

Sony as Transport (DVP-NS57P)
Illuminati D-60 Digital Coax IC ~.5 meter

Shunyata Research Zitron Alpha Digital Power Cord to ZDSD {Significant}

Decware ZDSD DAC / Recorder
***************************************************************
W/Steve's Output Transformer's/kicking to the Curb quite a few superb DAC'S
***************************************************************
(@ -20 Ref Level, @ 16/192)
.....0.0, -0.5 or -1.0dB/Input Volume

WBT-0102Ag RCA Kimber Select KS1030 ~.75 meter

Decware Zen Mystery Amplifier
~BIASED at *56* mA~
NOS/Platinum/Mullard E188CC/7308's in my A12 an B12 Input positions Cryogenic~NOS/Platinum/Telefunken E88CC for Inverter Tubes~NOS RCA 0A3's & matched Quad/Tung-Sol Cryo'd 7581A's, Reflector Cryo'd 6P's or Gold Lion KT88's Cryo'd

***************************************************
Kimber Select KS6063 Speaker Cable 8ft WBT-0681-Ag Spades
***************************************************

Acoustic Zen Adagio - Black Pearl (Modified)
.....enjoying from 8 ohm ZMA Taps

Caintuck Audio Eminence Alpha 15" OB BASS Unit
Auralex Subdude

Acoustic Zen Adagio's x-over's Modified/Full Range with Mundorf MCap Supremes-single Cap to each Tweeter/4.5k cross
(Gutted: 3kHz/18dB/Octave, Linkwitz/Riley Crossovers....with all crappy parts = gone)

XLO Pro Power Cord to ZMA
PS Audio P3 Power Plant / Pangea AC-9SE from wall to P3
(Transport & ZDSD, Regenerated/*120*~ Multiwave off...ZMA on High Current Output)
System configured/on floor/Townshend CD Seismic Sink deployed & other isolation devices.

~NOS Platinum Tubes from Upscale Audio/Kevin:

(Great Britain) Mullard 7308/E188CC ~ 2 pair (both pair Cryogenic)
(Germany) Telefunken 6922/E88CC ~ 1 pair (painfully expensive/worth it)
(US/Great Britain) Ediswan CV2492/6922 ~ 2 pair (one pair Cryogenic)
(Hungary) Tungsram 6922/E88CC ~ 1 pair
(Hungary) Tungsram PCC88/7DJ8 ~ 1 pair.

(Russia) 6N23P's ~ 2 pair/came with ZMA.

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Room Treats-M.Green & mine
Sony TPort
Illuminati D60
Shunyata Z-Alpha DigPcord
Decware ZDSD DAC
Kimber Select KS1030
XLOProPcord
Decware ZMA/25th Mods
Kimber Select KS6063
Acoustic Zen Adagio/Modified
Kimber PK10 Palladian from wall
to PS Audio P3

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stone_of_tone

Seasoned Member

Listen Often/Listen
Deep

Posts: 3217

Re: What's your Solid State System?
Reply #18 - 07/29/18 at 13:53:43

I of course joke, calling them a cult-over at the Polk Forum. They are some very passionate guys about the whole SDA Series...providing an comprehensive replacement and enhancement upgrades for the SDA's.

So, I know I can fix my 1.2's to the spec's they should be and not make them Franken(stein) Polk's. I respect the hell out of that and enjoying mine right now........30+ year old Legends.....living on strong!

.....Some Zeppelin at the 02 Arena this morning! ....with Bonham's son Robert loves dearly.

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Room Treats-M.Green & mine
Sony TPort
Illuminati D60
Shunyata Z-Alpha DigPcord
Decware ZDSD DAC
Kimber Select KS1030
XLOProPcord
Decware ZMA/25th Mods
Kimber Select KS6063
Acoustic Zen Adagio/Modified
Kimber PK10 Palladian from wall
to PS Audio P3

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whoopycat

Verified Member

Posts: 39

Re: What's your Solid State System?
Reply #19 - 07/29/18 at 14:46:05

I have two SS amps: a 1971 vintage Sansui AU-666 integrated, and a class D SPEC RSA-717EX integrated from Japan. The SPEC amp is made by vintage tube amp lovers. It doesn't sound like a tube amp per se but has the sweetest grain-free tone of any amp I've owned.

They both pair nicely with the ZROCK2. Funny thing is that they each prefer different toggle settings on the ZROCK.

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deucekazoo

Seasoned Member

Posts: 461

Re: What's your Solid State System?
Reply #20 - 07/31/18 at 14:52:56

Thanks guys.
Hey Stone just build one! They are fun to build and the instructions provided on DIYAudio make it easy. I think your Polks would thank you for it. I always wanted to hear a pair of the SDAs but if I would have a chance to buy any of them it would have to be the compacts. My room is too small for any of the other models to let them shine or fit.

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stone_of_tone Seasoned Member Listen Often/Listen Deep Posts: 3217	Re: What's your Solid State System? Reply #21 - 08/03/18 at 22:23:05 I build Inverter's/work. I certainly admire your build deuce.....however, I'm saving my sheckel's and working a deal with Mark/Reno.................. . Yes, .....if you find a local pair for sale (SDA/SRS).....some great buys on them out there!
Back to top	Room Treats-M.Green & mine Sony TPort Illuminati D60 Shunyata Z-Alpha DigPcord Decware ZDSD DAC Kimber Select KS1030 XLOProPcord Decware ZMA/25th Mods Kimber Select KS6063 Acoustic Zen Adagio/Modified Kimber PK10 Palladian from wall to PS Audio P3 IP Logged

markv

Senior Member

Posts: 55

Re: What's your Solid State System?
Reply #22 - 08/04/18 at 00:48:39

Hello -

I have a 1987 Adcom GFA555 amp and GFP555 pre amp. I'm the original owner, so last year I had both units refurbished and also had the GFA555 converted into dual mono. They sound great with my Omega Super 3 XRS speakers. Maybe one day I'll get me a Decware setup. Only been lurking on this site for 15 years or so! Here's a blog on my amp from the fellow who performed the refurb:

https://hoppesbrain.com/2017/02/15/a-custom-super-high-current-gfa-555-dual-mono...

Mark

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