Howdy folks.

I know there's a sticky on this but it just ain't the same.

I feel like I've come such a long way since I first reared my ugly head here back in '02. Then, I had a cheapo Sony HT in a box and thought Bose was good lol!

And it's mostly due to the good folks here. My heart (and ear ) felt thanks to you all.

Current system:

Hafler 110 pre
Marchand XM1 active crossover, set at 45hz
Marantz 1152dc, amp section for mains
HK 630, amp section for subs
Dahlquist DQ-10's (mains)(slightly modified)
Hsu SW12's (subs)
Phillips DVD 951 dvd/cd
Sansui TU-217 tuner
Dual 604 TT w/ inexpensive AudioTechnica cart.
And, sacrilege , homemade CAT5 wires (10 ga)

Strengths:

Rocks on rock & classical alike.
Can be airy and open.
Lows, as you can imagine!
Price/value

Weaknesses:

My room rings at 80 hz. I've made some progress but it's still present.
The Phillips dvd/cd, middling at best.
I'm still not entirely happy about the upper mid to highs. It lacks..... something. Maybe the maggies I briefly owned spoiled me!
The HK is barely adequate. I have a feeling the lows will only improve with the amplification.
XM1. It's OK, but somehow the word "brittle" comes to mind, it's not BAD but, you know.
My experience with the Hafler leads me to believe that an even better pre would make a big difference. Of course this applies to EVERY SINGLE COMPONENT! I'd better get cracking!!

In short, in 2 years I've developed a case of this particular disease, a bad case. I've always tinkered with electronics and stuff but jeez, this is insane! The SO absolutely agrees!!!

So, what's your story?

Pete

PS Maybe a change of philosophy is in order. Lowthers with tubes??