Well hello fellow music mates.

I have finally finished it, and am at a state of peace of mind. I really like the finished work and this audio system has been 5 years in the building now. Yesterday i installed my new moveable wall and made some new cables, adjusted the EQ settings and sorted my music.

I am proud of my system and would like to take a moment to show some pictures of the finished results and how I designed it, what I did on the room acoustics, power filtering and setup side.

The cornerstone and the pride of this system is the beautiful and fully restored and tuned Apogee DIVA Reference,

seen here.



The big power amplifier in the middle is a Usher Audio Technology 1.5 Reference (to be replaced with the 2.5 when the next paycheck comes). The power required by the DIVA is massive and the more the better. Currently it is throwing about 400 wpc in the DIVA which is ok, but to get the full enjoyment and dynamics it needs more. The Usher 1.5 is very musical and very high in resolution. It has no character but can sometimes be a bit on the dry side, which is taken care with power filters.

Here is a shot of the power filter and power amp



The Preamp is a RM Eng. RM40 Preamp which was custom designed for a Audiophile in Holland. When he sadly past away, I became the new lucky owner. It is a 3 piece Preamp. It has a tube power supply, tube phono stage and the preamp itself is also tube based. The sound is very neutral, lightning fast and sometimes too detailed. But this is wonderfull, since the DIVA is only limited by the equipment and I am a detail lover.

Here is a shot of the preamp.



The CD Transport is a trusty TEAC VRDS T-1 with the VRDS disc clamping system and Philips CDM9 Laser, which is used inside the big Wadias and Krells but for a lot less money. The DAC is a Wadia 12, which is one of the smaller versions from Wadia, but a very musical one.

Here is a pic of the pair.



The rest of the system is comprised of a modified Rega Planar 3 with Sub Chassy, Goldring 1055 System and Acrylic Platter. I also use a Pro Ject 1.2e Turntable with a basic ELAC 790HGS System. Along others are the Behringer 8024, 2496 and a Marantz DVD Player.

The wall I put up yesterday is incredibly good looking, and slightly dampens the rear wall. I sit 11ft away from the DIVA’s with first reflection point absorbers. I also have stacked absorbers about 6ft tall and 4ft wide in the center behind the wall to break up the back wave.

Here is a shot of the absorbers




I am really happy to have completed my beginning journey and only spin tunes and relax now. Thanks for looking J