What is the "strongest" component of your system ?

[OzzieAudiophile]

Hello peeps.

Now that we have established what kind of system(s) we have set up at home, and an
estimate on how much our systems are worth.

Now it's time to get to the nitty gritty, I'd like to know what is your pride and joy ?
What is the strongest link in your system, the strongest component.

If you have more than 1 system, please vote twice. I will not reveal results as to "who"
voted for what.

It will be interesting to find out just what people have felt has been the most important
and have (in more cases than not) making such an investment (time/money and/or
research/auditioning), to get that strongest component.

If two or more components are of equal value to you, and you cannot separate, then
choose one you paid the most for, the last you of the 2 or 3 that you would acually
upgrade.

Feel very free to tell me about your choice, what you had to do in order to obtain that
pride and joy. I.e. did you have to e-bay your mother in law ? lol.

It may provide great insight to our viewers, in considering a component of that type.
Please no negative feedback about people, or specific components, I intend to keep
this post as positive to our new hifi members as possible. I can't see why
negative feedback would exist in your pride and joy component, unless you really
have to drive in a specific point.

In your reply, add, why does it enrich your life, why it feels like new life has been
injected into your veins when you turn that component on (or use it).

Many thanks.

[blackraven]

My Magnepan QR1.6's have to be the strongest part of my system. I first heard the Magnepan sound in the 1970s and several years ago bought the MMG's to see if I still liked the sound. Then I went on to buy the 1.6's. I still love the planar sound. They are the most expensive part of my system, although my Receiver lists for more that the speakers.

My receiver and then CDP are 2 & 3. My receiver does double duty as a 2ch and HT unit and provides the 265wpcx5 power that the Maggies need to sound good.

[elapsed]

Without hesitation, my CD Player! Currently have a Naim CD5x with FlatCap2x power supply. Most expensive item I've ever purchased outside of my car, and worth every penny. Upgrading my CD Player had a bigger impact on my system than upgrading my amp. This is the first time I've felt that my CD Player is on par with my turntable..

I'm upgrading to Naim 122/150 separates next month, just put down a deposit on Wednesday. Next year I plan on upgrading to a Naim 202 pre-amp, at which point the pre-amp will be the strongest component in my system

Current system:

Speakers: Fidelity Acoustics RFM-2
CD Player: Naim CD5x
Integrated Amp: Naim Nait 5i
Power Supply: Naim FlatCap 2x
Phono Stage: Naim Stageline N
Turntable: Rega Planar 3 w/ motor upgrade
Phono Cartridge: Dynavector 10x5
Phono Plugs: Eichmann Bullets
LP Brush: Goldring Super Exstatic
Network Music Player: Squeezebox 3
Interconnects: Naim DIN Cables, QED Qunex 1
Speaker Cabling: Naim NACA5
Shelving: Quadraspire Q4 maple
TV: Sharp Aquos LC-37D62U 37" LCD
DVD Player: none
Remote: Logitech Harmony 880, Naim Narcom 4
Power Strip: Wiremold L10320

[Florian]

My Apogee Grands!

*Start playing the Theme music from THE ROCK" ......

7.8 foot tall
1300 lbs per side
8 amplifiers with over 3.4 KW of total power
7.8 Hz to over 45KHz
Limited to 17 pair in the world

It took me 26hrs and a 3.5 ton truck to move it from italy to germany. Its a monster, the biggest and most powerfull ribbon speaker ever made. It can be soft and quiet or it can crush your bones with 120db+ of heavy metal music.

in my opinion the best speaker ever made!

Ends Theme music......

[Feanor]

It was difficult for me to decide but in the end I have to go with my stereo speakers, Magneplanar MG 1.6QR.

I really love my pre/power combo, Sonic Frontiers LINE 1 preamp and a pair of Monarchy SM-70 Pros, especially the latter. Together they list for more than twice the price of Maggies although I paid about the same. But I had to give the nod to the Magneplanars because they are so good that they justify much better amplification than most speakers in their price range.

[Feanor]

My Apogee Grands!

*Start playing the Theme music from THE ROCK" ......

7.8 foot tall
1300 lbs per side
8 amplifiers with over 3.4 KW of total power
7.8 Hz to over 45KHz
Limited to 17 pair in the world

It took me 26hrs and a 3.5 ton truck to move it from italy to germany. Its a monster, the biggest and most powerfull ribbon speaker ever made. It can be soft and quiet or it can crush your bones with 120db+ of heavy metal music.

in my opinion the best speaker ever made!

Ends Theme music......

Your audio buddy, Brad Morrical from Positive Feedback, says so too. And 'morricab' is someone to whom I always pay attention. It was partly on his Monarchy recommendation that I bought my SM-70 Pros, and I'm not disappointed.

[E-Stat]

Main system - speakers. Ever since I heard Dayton-Wright XG-8s back in '76, I have always been seduced by the clarity and unmatched coherency of full range electrostats. Bought my first pair a year later and haven't found a better type for my listening preferences. The Sound LAB design extends the measured in room bass response down to 25 hz. Not for the 100 db crowd though.

Vintage system - DAC/line stage. The DAC is the heart and soul of a digital front end and the preamp is the heart of any system. With the Manley Sigma Delta, I have both in one in a simple design. It uses a pair of tubes to drive the amplifier directly. Gain is controlled by a pair of analog controls. Along with the Threshold Stasis, the resulting sound is exceptionally pure.

rw

[GMichael]

I voted for my front speakers. They are my pride & joy as you said. Planner tweeters and mids, cone mid bass, and 350wpc amps in each to drive the 8" woofers. They are the closest to full range speakers I've ever owned (27 htz to 35k).

I didn't notice that I could vote more than once until it was too late. Would have to say that my two projectors are also a pride of mine. They are the first things guests notice.

Still more to come though. I'm far from done with this journey.

Bye the way, I've enjoyed all of your polls. Glad you joined our little family.

[filecat13]

I had to think all of 30 seconds on this, but it's obvious because I've done this twice in two systems in my house: JBL Performance Series PT800/PS1400 full range stacks.

The PT800's unique enclosure holds three Ti drivers: 1" dome tweeter in a waveguide, 4" inverted dome midrange, and 8" inverted dome (Ti alloy) woofer. Both the 4" and 8" are pistonic drive units with neodymium magnets and rubber surrounds. These are not old school Ti drivers; they're quick, clear, clean, wonderfully smooth, and powerful. They're bright but not harsh or shrill. They're full but not fat. They're precise but not mechanical. The blend from driver to driver is uniformly amazing and consistent. The FR is a virtual plateau.

The PS1400's unique housing holds a 14" driver powered by a 400W digital amp. It's fast, agile, musical, and powerful, all things I like.

In all, it's a bit of an odd-looking duck for a JBL (or any other manufacturer), but it defines my current state of bliss in musical reproduction.

[filecat13]

It's not surprising to see speakers taking the lead in the poll. They are both the most visual and most auditory element of our sound systems. Heck, our friends and neighbors usually judge the quality of our systems by what the speakers look like before we even turn them on.

I've had several friends tell other friends what a great system we've got even though they may only have seen it and we never turned it on.

Poll-master OZ-A: how about a "weakest" poll? You know, what would we most like to replace if we could?

[OzzieAudiophile]

Hi folks. Yes I can't say I'm suprised with the results so far. Speakers is where
the sound comes out of in the end. If they are the best as they can be in our
world/budget, at least we know just how good the rest of our system is.
So imagine if we all made improvements elsewhere ? Just how much better
would our speakers sound then ?

I'll post a new one about weakest components. It is most likely that speakers
will not win that one. I just hope most of the voters on this poll will also vote
on the other one. So please if you voted here, vote on the other. If you haven't
voted yet, please do so, and tell me about your pride and joy on this one.

There has to be a good reason you put on that system to put on your
favourite music.

EG.

[aevans]

Best upgrade so far was the buying a second amp, I switched to monoblock setup and balanced connections, the bass is perfectly tight, it more like a baseball bat to the kneecaps instead of a pilow fight. perfect channel seperation (duel mono preamp). Tone was changed to be a little warmer and tube like. while there was an increase in output of the speakers, one amp was more than enough to drive them to ear bleeding levels without clipping. I will not promise anyone that the same can be had from such an upgrade.. I had heard this exact setup before and had to have it.

The second would be my speakers that I currently use, they were one of the first things I purchased, I designed them with Madisound's help doing the crossover.. turned out exactly how I wanted them although the lowend is a little weak (45-50hz roll off)

Third would be the speakers I'm building now.. selahaudio designed them, the owner Rick Craig is a really well respected crossover designer. I'd love to have the line arrays that he sells.