Because my racks are full of other stuff I installed a cheap shelf for my TT. It's nicely isolated from the floor and the pounding of paws. Is that a possibility for your rig?

probably not. the tt would go next to the cdp.

i have a 1/2" x 14" x 17" piece of black polyurethane that i currently use under the tt as an isolation platform. generous amounts of blu-tac to fix the board to the surface and very small amounts to fix the tt feet to the board. i dont know how it compares to a more professional iso-platform, but it works great as far as i can tell.

I bought a piece of birch from Home Depot and 2 cheap brackets. It does the trick, yours sounds better though.

i dunno, a wall mounted rack can do wonders. my method is still sitting on the floor.

At the time I installed the rack I had a Thorens TD145 MKII and with the large dogs running around it HAD to be isolated. Not so much now with the Denon but I like it off the floor. Your system looks really good though, I'd love to hear it.

Your system looks great Scott! Simple is better, IMO.

It was already sounding mighty sweet when I visited back in May.

I am still working on my new setup. I got the new table today, and I've just ordered a matching preamp for the VS110. Will post pics as soon as it starts taking shape.

I am sure "Rocket Man" with that awesome guitar work sounds fantastic with your new configuration!

Nestor,
i havent worked my way up to Honkey Chateau yet. getting there, Tumbleweed Connection made its first appearance with the new setup today.

since returning from the Affordable$$Audio meet, outside of Portland this past March, the Yamaha CR-2020 was displaced from my system and i've been running Todd's Sansui 1000a reciever to drive the highs on the AR9's. the sound in this configuration has been great, the best my system has ever sounded. recently, because the Sui is fed the signal via the tape input - making for two seperate volume controls - and minor issues with the tone controls, i've been wanting to find a suitable replacement for it.

thanks to a visit from Mark B. today, i have aquired said replacement, a Yamaha B-2x. the Sansui was pulled from service, the Luxman R-117 was switched to driving the highs and the B-2x setup driving the lows. we spent the afternoon listening to a variety of music (ABBA even made an appearance), at times to volumes that i had never visited before with the AR9's (i thought i was at Kelly's again) and with great results.

the difference the B-2x makes in the low end is huge. i only thought i was experiencing authoritive bass before. what i am hearing now is much better defined and articulate. the B-2x not only delivers stronger, more prominent bass, it is able to do so without overpowering the room, a characteristic that came all too easy with the Luxman R-117 or the Yamaha CR-2020 on the lows. we briefly changed the Luxman back to the lows and put the B-2x on the highs, which quickly confirmed that the B-2x belongs on the low end.

as for the Luxman -vs- the Sansui 1000a on the highs, the Sansui sounds wonderful, but the Luxman does sound very good, so good that i wont be missing the Sansui for long, if at all. this also marks my first step towards seperates, i have yet to aquire a preamp for this system but i am actively looking for the right unit at the right price (read: cheap bastard). i'll also be looking for another dedicated amp to replace the Luxman, ideally another B-2x, but i wont be holding my breath for that. i am also strongly considering a beefy tube amp. i'm in no rush though, the Luxman does a fine job driving the highs and acting as preamp for the B-2x, so i am content to wait for the right deal (did i mention i was a cheap bastard?).

finally, thanks to Mark B for giving me a great deal on the B-2x (what he paid for it), and here's a shot of the beast.

Nice work, fellas.

Believe it or not, I think Dingus' one-post thread
is what it took to finally get the point of bi-amping into my skull.

Once I get organized, I'll be axing y'all for some guidance on
how best to take advantage of what I already have,
and what additions would likely achieve the best sound.

thanks,
dennis

Scott,

Any chance of you telling me the power rating (both a@8 ohms and @ 4 ohms) for the-

1) Yamaha CR-2020

2) Sansui 1000a

3) Yamaha B-2x

4) Luxman R-117

A general idea is fine- specifics aren't needed, I'm looking for a general idea.

the CR-2020 manual only list's a rating at 8 ohm of 105wpc.

i have no idea what any of the ratings on the Sansui or B-2x are.

the Luxman R-117 is 160wpc @ 8ohm. Dynamic Power Output is 440wpc @ 8ohm, 600wpc @ 4ohm and 700wpc @ 2ohm.

Congratulations!
The B-2X is a very nice amp.

The Sansui 1000A, BTW, is rated at 30 to 35 watts per channel RMS. This unit was made before the 1970's FTC rules, so they tended to inflate the power specs a bit back then. The figures I am giving are much more conservative and I believe accurate for a unit in good operating condition.

It's important to remember that these are "tube watts" in the sense that clipping behavior is somewhat different from the typical Class B transistor output stage. Therefore, it would tend to sound more powerful than a solid-state unit of the same wattage.

The reason for this is that tube equipment tends to clip more gracefully instead of the steep sudden clipping of solid-state. Also, the harmonic distortion components are mostly second and third which are relatively benign to the ear.

i just remembered that i do have an idea on the B-2x. Mark mentioned that it was a "solid 170wpc or better", i'm assuming thats at 8ohm's.

thanks Nestor. i didnt have to warm up to the sound of this amp, i'm already smitten by it.

Here's some interesting info on the B-2X. Google can do a translation on it since it's japanese!

Yammie B-2X page in Japanese

The power specs:

２００Ｗ＋２００Ｗ（６Ω・２０Ｈｚ～２０ｋＨｚ・@ ０．００２％）
２４０Ｗ＋２４０Ｗ（４Ω・２０Ｈｚ～２０ｋＨｚ・@０．００３％）
１７０Ｗ＋１７０Ｗ（６Ω・２０Ｈｚ～２０ｋＨｚ・@０．００２％）

Build quality is amazing so expect these figures to be conservative.