Polarbear
Member
O happy day...my Spires arrived from the US two weeks ago and are settling in just fine...handling everything from Billie Holliday to Mozart to Green Day!
I first fell in love with ML upon hearing my old friend's Mac-driven Aerii in his converted barn in Normandy some years back, but was smitten irredeemably by the Spires at the Bristol Show this year; the hairs on the back of my neck literally stood up and I had to be dragged still drooling from the demo room, transfixed to the spot, when they closed for the day. Y'all understand!
My main two-channel system features a pair of Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista kW Monoblocks and the kW Pre [http://www.stereophile.com/tubepreamps/104mf/] driving a set of Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus 800's.
As an honorary Canuck (BC of course - is there any other Province?! - sorry all you Ottawans and Torontans - but I just won a big brownie point from the ML Lord of Lake Kalamalka himself...) and a keen radio listener, I had to have a Magnum Dynalab MD109 Tuner to go with it. Plus a Sonos ZP80. If only Radio Scotland was accessible via Sonos...but I digress. I intend to convert to occasional 5 channel usage in three weeks' time with a new Pioneer 6090 and the pair of PMC TB2i's (that the Spires replaced) and a new centre speaker. Won't need a S/W with the N800's, I hope...
My HT set-up (also used as two-channel) is the bubinga Spires and...
Denon AVP-A1HDA, Denon POA-A1HD; Denon DVD-2500BT; B&W PV1;
PMC DB1i x 2; PMC TB2M-Ci; Pioneer PDP-5000EX; Denon TU-1800DAB; Sonos ZP100; Panasonic DVR-940HX-S & NV-VHS930B; Humax Freesat PVR; Toshiba Qosmio G30-163 laptop with HD-DVD drive (Doh! Sold almost all my HD-DVD discs via Amazon Marketplace)
Cabling is Chord Anthem 2 XLR interconnects and Chord Epic Twin for speakers, and the rear stands are a pair of Stands Unique Reflections.
It is in a long rectangular bedroom, not a custom HT, so is a bit cramped but it works!
I have been highly impressed with the Denon duo, having auditioned them against the two-boxes-in-one Pioneer Susano SC-LX90, which was also very fine indeed and worth seeking out for an audition.
I set up the auto-room EQ upon receipt as the room is relatively small (I currently rent whilst in exile from my native Highlands) and so I was happily listening until one day my neighbours went on holiday and I decided to turn it off. Woo-hoo! I have never turned EQ on again since (even if I have to keep the volume down a lot of the time out of consideration...) I use in bridged 5 x 500W mode.
It is very easy to operate if not to move around as the POA is one serious lump of metal...60Kg...and the AVP just under half that weight. The controls and remotes are a delight after the initial panic - it is deceptively complex at first.
The Denon Bluray is an excellent CD player as well. If I buy the new Denon multi-disc player to match the amps then I will move the existing 2500BT to pair with the Pioneer 6090.
I am unsure how popular the PMC ('Professional Monitor Company') speakers are in the States but they are fine little boxes, and the PV1 delivers the goods with aplomb (and style!) with a small footprint too.
I also covet Finite Elemente Pagode supports for all my amps, esp. the 20th Anniv MF kW 5-box ltd. edn. set but I will need to save up for those as they are rarely available second-hand.
In the UK we have relatively few really good dealerships but those that are in my experience truly exceptional in that they offer superb old-fashioned customer service irrespective of budget include: Doug Brady at Doug Brady Hi-Fi in Warrington, Branko Bozic at Audiofreaks in Richmond and Tony Scott at Acoustic Arts, near Luton (my friendly ML specialist!).
Prices have really soared here of late for both N. American and Japanese imports e.g. this Denon pair have just risen by 40% (which mercifully I narrowly avoided) so ex-demo pairs are now being keenly sought out by Denon fans
I should be in Oxford as it is 'the city of dreaming Spires', but Cambridge is a cracking little city...it can't help being flat!
Best wishes to the supremely eclectic membership of the MLC around the world and I hope to make the RMAF one day...
I first fell in love with ML upon hearing my old friend's Mac-driven Aerii in his converted barn in Normandy some years back, but was smitten irredeemably by the Spires at the Bristol Show this year; the hairs on the back of my neck literally stood up and I had to be dragged still drooling from the demo room, transfixed to the spot, when they closed for the day. Y'all understand!
My main two-channel system features a pair of Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista kW Monoblocks and the kW Pre [http://www.stereophile.com/tubepreamps/104mf/] driving a set of Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus 800's.
As an honorary Canuck (BC of course - is there any other Province?! - sorry all you Ottawans and Torontans - but I just won a big brownie point from the ML Lord of Lake Kalamalka himself...) and a keen radio listener, I had to have a Magnum Dynalab MD109 Tuner to go with it. Plus a Sonos ZP80. If only Radio Scotland was accessible via Sonos...but I digress. I intend to convert to occasional 5 channel usage in three weeks' time with a new Pioneer 6090 and the pair of PMC TB2i's (that the Spires replaced) and a new centre speaker. Won't need a S/W with the N800's, I hope...
My HT set-up (also used as two-channel) is the bubinga Spires and...
Denon AVP-A1HDA, Denon POA-A1HD; Denon DVD-2500BT; B&W PV1;
PMC DB1i x 2; PMC TB2M-Ci; Pioneer PDP-5000EX; Denon TU-1800DAB; Sonos ZP100; Panasonic DVR-940HX-S & NV-VHS930B; Humax Freesat PVR; Toshiba Qosmio G30-163 laptop with HD-DVD drive (Doh! Sold almost all my HD-DVD discs via Amazon Marketplace)
Cabling is Chord Anthem 2 XLR interconnects and Chord Epic Twin for speakers, and the rear stands are a pair of Stands Unique Reflections.
It is in a long rectangular bedroom, not a custom HT, so is a bit cramped but it works!
I have been highly impressed with the Denon duo, having auditioned them against the two-boxes-in-one Pioneer Susano SC-LX90, which was also very fine indeed and worth seeking out for an audition.
I set up the auto-room EQ upon receipt as the room is relatively small (I currently rent whilst in exile from my native Highlands) and so I was happily listening until one day my neighbours went on holiday and I decided to turn it off. Woo-hoo! I have never turned EQ on again since (even if I have to keep the volume down a lot of the time out of consideration...) I use in bridged 5 x 500W mode.
It is very easy to operate if not to move around as the POA is one serious lump of metal...60Kg...and the AVP just under half that weight. The controls and remotes are a delight after the initial panic - it is deceptively complex at first.
The Denon Bluray is an excellent CD player as well. If I buy the new Denon multi-disc player to match the amps then I will move the existing 2500BT to pair with the Pioneer 6090.
I am unsure how popular the PMC ('Professional Monitor Company') speakers are in the States but they are fine little boxes, and the PV1 delivers the goods with aplomb (and style!) with a small footprint too.
I also covet Finite Elemente Pagode supports for all my amps, esp. the 20th Anniv MF kW 5-box ltd. edn. set but I will need to save up for those as they are rarely available second-hand.
In the UK we have relatively few really good dealerships but those that are in my experience truly exceptional in that they offer superb old-fashioned customer service irrespective of budget include: Doug Brady at Doug Brady Hi-Fi in Warrington, Branko Bozic at Audiofreaks in Richmond and Tony Scott at Acoustic Arts, near Luton (my friendly ML specialist!).
Prices have really soared here of late for both N. American and Japanese imports e.g. this Denon pair have just risen by 40% (which mercifully I narrowly avoided) so ex-demo pairs are now being keenly sought out by Denon fans
I should be in Oxford as it is 'the city of dreaming Spires', but Cambridge is a cracking little city...it can't help being flat!
Best wishes to the supremely eclectic membership of the MLC around the world and I hope to make the RMAF one day...
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