I fired up the new system earlier tonight and it's sounding fantastic. I am amazed that I appear to have done everything right the first time! Of course, the speakers (from my earlier system) were already properly positioned and it helped a lot.

I was a little afraid that the system rack would pose vibration problems for the Scout. This is not the case I am happy to report. I played my tried and true "Rickie Lee Jones" Japanese pressing and there she was right in my room. "Last Chance Texaco" never sounded so real!

I also played several of my reference recordings digitized via the Squeezebox and the ARC tube electronics revealed new detail on material I must have played a zillion times.

One particular thing I noticed is a less "electronic" sound to the music. At first, It appeared the system was dark sounding, but it was just the absence of electronically generated hash.

The new components are going to need some break-in, so the sound should get even better.

One thing I wanted from this system was complete remote control including volume. and the SP16L provides this convenience. Operation was flawless. I am a happy camper.

Here's a shot of the finished system:

Here's another shot of the side showing the cabling...

And a nudie of the SP16L preamp with a new set of ElectroHarmonix 12AX7s installed.

A closeup of the VPI making music...
I think the granite base is going to stay. Seems to match with the silver on the components.

Awesome system you got there.
That SP16L is simply...beautiful... Did you ever tried another interconnects besides Nordost ?

Thanks Clint!
I haven't tried other interconnects. I got the Nordost used on Audiogon. I am hoping I won't need to upgrade in a while!

Looks sweet beyond words crooner!

Miss that 1980 at all???

Scott

Man, sorry for the late reply. I had the email reply notification disabled for some reason...

Well, let me tell ya I was missing the 1980 at first, but this system is sounding better and better with further break-in.

Here's an updated pic of the system. The black component on top of the subwoofer on the right, is a Philips CDR770 CD recorder. I hook it up only when recording LPs. In this case I was burning a CD-R of Miles KOB in blue vinyl.

It's kind of a cumbersome process, but this CD-R is later ripped into the computer for encoding to FLAC and later streaming to my Squeezebox setup.

Sorry I'm way late to the party but WOW, that can't suc. Lots-o-Tubes and Vandersteens Yummy

hehehe no hay problema!

Yeah, I guess the system really revolves around the Vandersteens.

I already had the speaks and sub, and I wanted amplification that would mate well with them.

Turns out Mr. Vandersteen uses Audio Research electronics with his speakers...

Did you know this before getting the Audio Research stuff? If not, what luck was that!!!

Yeah, I read it somewhere. Also, I saw audio show photos, all with ARC gear.

yesterday i had the extreme pleasure of getting up close and personal with this system. very impressive across the board, Nestor has assembled several museum quality pieces with great care and with outstanding results. the Marantz 10b tuner is an amazing piece of engineering and performance. its ability to maintain signal separation and tune in distant signals without drift is almost unbelievable. the Marantz pre and amp are collector pieces as well, and all work outstandingly well with the digital Squeezebox and the VPI tt.

being familiar with Elroy's system and his Vandersteen 2c's i was eager to find out how much of a step up the 2c signatures are. the sigs have more extension on the highs, sweeter mids and are every bit as smooth as the 2c's. they also have better detail and clarity than the 2c's and do a better job of maintaining cohesion when being driven at high volume. Nestor augments his sig's with a Vandersteen sub that is dialed in for absolute seamless integration of the low end, so i cant compare this aspect directly to the 2c, but i thinks its safe to assume the difference is comparable to the differences in the mids and highs. in short the 2c sig's are in a different league than the 2c and worth every penny it takes to trade up.

Hi Scott!
Glad to know you are back home.

I am glad we were able to get together. I always wanted to seek your opinion on my system. I had a feeling I had the sound dialed up right, but trusting your ears, a confirmation of what I was hearing was going to be very useful.

The space is small so I had to create the best acoustic environment possible with what I had. It meant countless hours trying to alleviate standing waves that create one note or boomy bass. Subwoofer placement was critical in this regard.

I also checked Richard Vandersteen's Q&A section on his site for ideas regarding placement. Normally he does not recommend toeing in the speakers, but in my particular room setting it was required as to diminish room interaction from the side walls.

Tilting the speakers at the right height using the adjustable spikes proved to be essential to dial-in the soundstage just right. Vandersteen's recommendations are invaluable in this regard,

I am posting a picture of my current system which has changed quite a bit since this original thread was started nearly 3 years ago.

The Audio Research equipment is gone replaced by the Marantz Vacuum Tube electronics (only one Marantz 8B is being used. The amp sitting on the subwoofer is a mint condition unit I recently had the pleasure to restore).

The Squeezebox was upgraded with a new Medical Grade power supply, digital pulse transformers and BNC connectors. The appearance was also improved with a custom enclosure.

The DAC is now the EAD DSP7000 III modified with a digital pulse transformer for galvanic isolation & BNC terminations. Black Gate caps now used throughout.

The speakers have remained the same as well as the turntable. I am using a brand new Dynavector DV-20X cartridge with a K&K Lundhal based step-up transformer.

The 10B tuner is hooked up to an outdoor APS-9B yagi with rotor.

Fantastic system.