System #220 (CLX/Descent i)

1. Jeff Dorgay (tonepub)
2. Portland, Oregon, USA
3. CLX and Descent i sub (soon to be pair of Descents...)
4. Purchased late Oct 2008
5. No mods to speakers or sub
6. Associated Electronics:

Preamplifier: Conrad-Johnson ACT2/series 2
Power Amp: Conrad-Johnson Premier 350
CD Player: Naim CD555 w/PS555
SACD Player: Wadia 781i SE
DVD-a Player: Luxman L-7
Music Server: McIntosh MS 300 through Wadia 781i SE
Turntables: TW Acustic Raven TWO with SME iV.Vi tonearm/Dynavector XV-1s cart
second tonearm is SME 309 with Clearaudio Maestro Wood (mm)
Spiral Groove SG-2 with Tri-Planar arm and Lyra Skala cart
Phono Pre: Nagra VPS and Rega Ios
Tape Deck: Teac 4300SX, Akai 8-Track
Interconnects: Cardas Golden Reference, Furutech
Speaker Cable: Shunyata Orion
Subwoofer Cable: Audioquest SUB-3
Power Cords: Running Springs Mongoose, Running Springs HZ, Shunyata Anaconda VX Helix
Power Conditioner: Running Springs Jaco, Running Springs Dmitri
Room Treatment: GIK giant bass traps, GIK 242 panels, sonex classic
Racks: Finite Elemente Pagode signature, Ikea for tape dk
misc: Finite Cerapucs and Ceraballs, Furutech Disc Demagnetizer and Disc Flattner

7. Been a ML fan for many years and an electrostatic/panel fan for almost 30. Past speakers have included Magnepans, Acoustats, Quads, Apogees and other ML's (Aerius and CLSII). Have also spent a fair amount of time with Final and the Eminent Technology speakers. Very happy to be back with the Summits and now the CLX!

Listening room is 16 x 24 and still a mess! Too busy working on the magazine to clean up...
Couple of close ups attached of turntables, etc.

Jeff, Nice to have your system finally displayed ! I like the Wide angle approach, but would also like to see a close up of your TT, you know ....."analog eye candy" !!

Also I got a kick out of reading your line about your previous M/L's that you owned......"CLXII's" ???? Forward thinking !! I love it !! Now we know which pair of Summitt's will be up for sale as soon as the CLX's do come out !

Woops, sorry about that, typing with my reading glasses off again!

Definitely a couple more shots to come after this issue is out and
a little more clean up!

Jeff,

Nice to see your system finally up for all of us to see and appreciate! I notice you completely and aggressively toe-in the Summits as well.... great minds think alike.

(Beating on drum - leading the chant)
More Pictures...More Pictures...More Pictures...

Seriously, good to see your system here Jeff, looking forward to seeing more details as time allows (I understand that whole time thing, trust me). This system represents what we would call in technical terms a "whole $hitload of friggin' amazing gear".

You have to be the only guy here who has an 8 track player in his system. I just flashed on listening to my first 8 track in my '69 AMX - Neil Youngs "After the Goldrush".

Stunning - would love to hear it someday.

MiTT said:

(Beating on drum - leading the chant)
More Pictures...More Pictures...More Pictures...

Seriously, good to see your system here Jeff, looking forward to seeing more details as time allows (I understand that whole time thing, trust me). This system represents what we would call in technical terms a "whole $hitload of friggin' amazing gear".

You have to be the only guy here who has an 8 track player in his system. I just flashed on listening to my first 8 track in my '69 AMX - Neil Youngs "After the Goldrush".

Stunning - would love to hear it someday.

Click to expand...

Here's the best part... I can't even decipher which of Jeff's components is the 8-track player! Is it that box on the right side, top of the rack, that looks like it plays reels?

It's seriously not my fault I was born on the wrong decade or two!

Jeff, great pic. Nice to see the whole 'sweep' of the front of the room.

Nice gear, and the rooms acoustic treatments are slick as well.

How do you feel about the concrete floor? Was that an acoustics issue for you?

Thanks for the comments...

Here's a couple of closeups. The 8 track player was actually off to the side, so Joey wasn't missing anything. It started as a lark, but I've ended up becoming the king of lost formats lately! So now I have a collection of about 150 8-tracks. It's sick I know.

The little Nagra CD player underneath the P9 is not mine, only in for review. Nice little player though! I have one of the PSA pyramid amps and it is pretty cool. The little portable DVD player is the remote screen for the McIntosh music server... Can see it easily from the couch.

The concrete floor was actually a lucky accident. Once we put some area rugs down it took care of the reflection issues and you get really solid bass from that slab! Also, walls are glued and screwed, so not having any probs there.

It's definitely a work in progress. If I ever get the time to straighten up a bit, I'll show you guys the other half of the room where system two is!

nice collection of toys!

i guess your act2 can drive long interconnects then? (some reviews indicated that might be an issue)

but where's the closeup pic of the sme?

nice racks btw; i notice at shows lots of folks use the finite elements.

Jeff,

That is some beautiful gear. I love the CJ stuff. I bet it all sounds so sweet. Thanks for sharing.

jfm said:

nice collection of toys!

i guess your act2 can drive long interconnects then? (some reviews indicated that might be an issue)

but where's the closeup pic of the sme?

nice racks btw; i notice at shows lots of folks use the finite elements.

Click to expand...

Yep, no problem with long interconnects and the ACT2 at all.

Interesting story about the SME... I was going to buy a good friends' SME 20, and he said "dude, I can't float you till you sell yours, I need the money!"

So, I sold mine right away and then when I got him back on the phone, he said: "dude, my wife won't let me buy the 30, I'm screwed..."

Arrgh.

So I'm going to hang in there till tax time to buy a 20...
For now, the Oracle, Rega P9 and my new SOTA will have to do.

I'm even reevaluating the 20 purchase. As awesome of a table as it is,
I actually have five tables right now (yes, I have a problem). My Oracle is set up for records that are perfectly recorded, the P9 is set up for records that are kind of stinkers, The SOTA is very lush sounding, My Rega P3 has a fairly inexpensive cart for beater records and My Technics SL1200 is for Mono records and 78's...

I should be committed. But its all good...

Nice system, Jeff. I like your selection of turntables. Without doubt if you are really serious about getting the best out of vinyl, one size definitely doesn't fit all. A dedicated turntable setup to get the best from pristine vinyl is the only way to go.

Regarding your room treatment - did you employ any trick equalisation programs - or was it done by ear?

Is your other system multichannel capable vis a vis movies, SACD etc...? Or are you a strict 2 channel guy?

It looks like you have a Wadia piece under your ASR phono pre. What is it?

The Wadia box is their new 521 DAC. I use that with the McIntosh Music server and if I am testing any other music server products.

As for the room treatments, there are also two pairs of GIK big bass traps
in three of the room corners. When I set the sub up, it was by ear first and then my local ML rep came out and we got serious with measuring to dial it
in the rest of the way.

As for mulitichannel, I'm still a two channel guy in the main room, but am planning on doing multichannel built around a Meridian 800 and some Meridian active speakers this summer (as funds permit!)

tonepub said:

The Wadia box is their new 521 DAC. I use that with the McIntosh Music server and if I am testing any other music server products.

Click to expand...

Oops...Sorry I missed that in your original post.

Great collection!

What a sweet setup! I have always loved the CJ gear and once owned an MV-50 back in "the day". Life is different now and 5.1 is a priority so I must compromise.

BTW I really enjoy your magazine! The latest issue cost me $$$$ in new Cd's but some great stuff that I would never have discovered. Thanks!

Thanks for reading...

I too had an MV50 and a PV-1...

I've owned a lot of CJ stuff over the years (and a lot of others too!) but the new CJ stuff is not as romantic as the old. Still very musical but a lot more weight and definition.

We'll have a lot more music this issue!

Wow, nice system Jeff. I used to have a Teac 4300SX reel to reel. I traded it and some other stereo gear for Norton 850, way back in '70's! Do you still listen to it?

Sure do! I have a few hundred tapes. My 4300 was given to me by my pal Steve Hoffman. He bought two brand new NOS units and swapped me one for a cheap turntable. The other one I bought locally and is excellent shape.

I also have a pair of 2300's that have just been overhauled. (guess I got a little wacky on the tape deck thing...)

If you would like one or know anyone that would like to get back into vintage rtr sound, let me know, I'll let the 2300's go cheap! They have been aligned, lubed, etc and are in great shape!