System #125 (Ascent, Theater)

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audioraptured

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1. Member Name: Audioraptured
2.Location: Virginia, USA
3.ML Models: Ascent and Theater
4.Year Purchased: 2005
5.Mods:waiting for the 10" Aluminum woofers
6.Associated Electronics: Ascents are matched with the Theater. Pre/power are Aragon Stage One and duel mono 8008mkII. The Acurus 200x3 is for rear and center channels. Satellite is Dish 811. DVD is a Pioneer DV45A. VHS is Panasonic Super PVS-4670. The CD is Sony Carousel C79ES. The cassette player is a Teac W990RX. The headphone amp is a Corda Aria. Tuner is an updated Carver TX-11. The headphones are Sennheiser HD650 and Beyerdynamic DT990, with others. The monitor is a Sony KF-50WE610. FM antenna a Channel Master 1228. Sub is Velodyne 15. Interconnects are either Singal Cable, Kimber, Apature, Audioquest with the speaker wire a Python 10 guage, (biamped) on dedicated 20 amp circuits. Room about 19x26 with 13 ft ceiling. 7. I need more money...
 

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What does the wife say about the non-existent fireplace? Hehehe....

I see you have a stellar system... not to mention I see a pair of Sennheiser HD650s, some Beyers, and a pair of Sony MDR-V300 perhaps?

:)
 
Member Systems System #125

Joey_V: Good evening. You are most kind and very observant. I recommend both the Sennheiser HD650's and Beyerdynamics DT990. They are played through the Corda Aria amp from the great Meier Audio designers of Germany. The headphone stand is my design for full support. The 15' extension is a Sennheiser custom deal. Joey_V: Forget the Sony MDR300's, (terrible sound), and get yourself an AKG K81DJ if you are on planes or trains. For the iPod, or pcdp's and mp3's get a Pioneer PX-100. For the price, they are both hard to beat. Then try the Sony V6 (7506).
The rear speakers were a custom job of a titanium tweeter between two Kevlar mids and a nice 10' woofer. Traps are next since my wife, (I really do have the best girl in the whole world), made the ceiling curtains which made a big difference in the skylite area. By the way, my wife is from Finland, and our place there has the sauna and fireplace and the whole ski bit winter paradise thing; in the summer Finns all go to their summer cottages and such. Really peaceful. I have allergies here in Virginia and can't stand the grass and oaks and particles, of the seasons. Below, (if it came out), is my old living room system which I built. With 9 woofers, can you imagine the bass? That was a real party room !! All the best to you and yours Joey_v
 

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I was very into headphones a year or so ago... I had the Sony SA5000, the Sennheiser HD650 in my arsenal. I also had them powered by a HeadAmp Gilmore GS-1 Class A headphone amplifier - total rig cost was close to $2000 for headphones. I sold them all and bought into ML.. hehehe...

BTW, how do you like the ascents vs the Quests?
 
System #125

Joey_V: You "Da Man", that Gilmore is great! I love the HD650's as I had the 600's, and sold them to get the 650's.
My wife and I like the Ascents, (soon with the new 10's), more, (she like's the design and smaller girth); I like the sound as I think it's more defined and detailed. However, my rooms equipment has totally changed as well as the ceiling, interconnects and speaker wires. If you remember the old Aragon power amps,(they were class "B" in Stereophile), this one is a duel mono with what I believe is 400 watts at 4 ohms, and S/N at 110. (I was told the Krell team had a hand in the new design, but I haven't checked this out yet, as I don't think so). The pre/pro amp "Stage One" has been very well received.
By the way, my wife says not to eat the chocolate cake and cookies at night.
Save it after a good diner for dessert. Have some warm milk. If not she will call your mother!
Additionally, I had the Rotel 1066 power amp pre/amp pro system which I liked. May I recommend a good acoustic guitar disc? Windam Hill; "Sounds of Wood & Steel". If you want, email your address privately and I'll send out a copy. Your Summits will love you for it. All the best to you and yours......
 
Is that a Schedule 40 headphone stand? Your wife must be understanding, those tend to have low W.A.F. :)

Your system is layed out pretty much like mine (#99), with the Ascents flanking the video, which is in front of the fireplace. Your room appears to be much larger and much less cluttered than mine though. :)
 
System #125

SteveinNC: Good afternoon. There can no longer be any doubt, you guys are sharp Eagle-Eyed observers. I got that done because she did not want me to nail anything to the wall so to speak. I have the best wife in the world; and we discuss many times the fact that although I want something to be funtional, she wants it to look pretty. So with tongue firmly planted in cheek, (yes, usually it's foot in mouth), I put this together and used that decorative spray paint. Then covered it with the clear acrylic gloss. It holds the phones and there is room for more. Seems it's better than the elk horns I wanted!
I drove down to Raleigh from the Norfolk area and got my center channel from a store near you. Almost worked there a few years ago. A very nice, comfortable city, ( my wife has a friend there), except for that loop morning traffic. Wanted to see Cary products, but never got time to be there, (or could afford them). Triangle is one of the most advanced areas in the world with almost everyone with a doctorate or some specialty. Really would like to afford to move there, (Cary, Apex, etc), away from the beach area...but...
Thanks for your kind post. If your ever up this way...email first, bring a few discs. All the best to you and yours.
 
System #125

P.S. Sorry I was wrong. I spoke to an Aragon rep and YES Dan D'Augustino of Krell did work on the 4004, (explains the bass), and the 8008BB was the next series. The 8008BB which is the foundation for the new systems, (I have the MKII which is the update of the BB with the new faceplate), is the duel mono amp with the specs I gave; 400 watts at 4 ohms. Naturally there is more to it. But, I have heard many systems and you have to go a long way to meet and beat this sound and power and bass. It really sounds great with the ML Ascents. And since it fits my bill, in my room, and I trust my ears, I guess that's all that really matters. Review....http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_4_4/aragon8008bb.html
 
Ascent Soon To Be Ascent i - Fantastic System...

Danny,

Excellent Ascent system... :D I am glad you posted, your HT room is great. Very well appointed. You have a good size CD collection. What kind of music do you listen to with your wife? Do you dance while you listen? The reason why I ask is that you room looks very spaceous, also if you really are 95 years young, you must dance very carefully as well... :D

Marvelous Ascent system. :D
 
System #125

Robin: Good afternoon. Thank you for your most gracious post. The cd collection goes into another room and is approaching 1500, the dvd collection is approaching 500. Amazing how these things add up with time. I make many compilations from about 15,000 songs to fit the occasion or the mood. I fluctuate, (as most of us probably do), between type and styles. Mostly rock, blues, classical, gospel, but with a dash of new age and movie soundtracks thrown in. For instance: I could start with U2, move to BB King, slide into Arkenstone, and end with Andrae Crouch. Or vise versa. Or just put on Chris Isaak's "Baja Sessions" or Alan Hovhaness "Sym #2", and follow up with anything from a great group called "Iona". Zepplin is out for my wife. She likes gospel, and we add Linda Rondstat and Mannheim Steamroller, (#7), or she selects something from Windham Hill or Sibelius. Dancing is usually done at social gatherings now. My real age is in the "Polls" Jump up and show your age. The change was because of the unfortunate types who glean info from great sites like this one and use it incorrectly. An unfortunate by-product of the state the world is in now. All the best to you and yours Robin.
 
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System #125

Forgot to add the Velodyne sub
 

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Hi Audioraptured

Thanks for sharing your system with us. It is a very nice set up and I can see you have a very big room too. I bet the carpet in front of the speakers makes the speakers sound much better.

I love my Fostex T40 headphone and may get a DT770 later on.

Regards, Transpa.
 
System #125

Transparent: Good afternoon. Thank you for your compliment and yes the hardwood floors/ carpet works out pretty good. I still will need some traps, but the skylite problem seems to be fixed for the reflected sound anyway. I have not had the pleasure of hearing thr Fostex40's. Can you explain what type of sound they have in relation to maybe Sennheiser or AKG? I believe you may benefit from the DT770-250 model if you are comparing different Beyerdynamics. Also, if you get a chance, try the Senn 595's and see if it is to your taste. All the best to you and yours.
 
Hi Audioraptured.

I listened to both DT770 Pro and DT990 Pro in the shop and I found that they were very much the same (in sound of course), but I also found that the DT990 was a little bit uncomfortable to wear and that was the main reason I wanted the DT770. The DT990 sounds better than the T40 in every aspect i.e. better image, better high, better lower etc… it makes everything sounds better and it can play very loud too. On the other hand, I found that T40’s build quality is better than the DT990. This is one of the reasons why T40s are very commonly used in the recording studios around the world (and they are cheaper than the DT990s). I am also using a set of Sennheiser 280 Pro, it has a very flat response, if you have a bad recording then you can’t listen to them for a long time but with a well recorded material, they sound great, very detail but the bass response is not as good as the T40 or the DT990. Of course sometimes we can’t directly compare the sealed headphones with the semi-open one (280Pro is a sealed can and the T40 is a semi-open can). I hope that I will pick up a set of DT770 soon.

Don’t forget to post new pictures when you finish the traps.

Regards, Transpa.
 
Marvelous CD and DVD Collections...

audioraptured said:
Robin: Good afternoon. Thank you for your most gracious post. The cd collection goes into another room and is approaching 1500, the dvd collection is approaching 500. Amazing how these things add up with time. I make many compilations from about 15,000 songs to fit the occasion or the mood. I fluctuate, (as most of us probably do), between type and styles. Mostly rock, blues, classical, gospel, but with a dash of new age and movie soundtracks thrown in. For instance: I could start with U2, move to BB King, slide into Arkenstone, and end with Andrae Crouch. Or vise versa. Or just put on Chris Isaak's "Baja Sessions" or Alan Hovhaness "Sym #2", and follow up with anything from a great group called "Iona". Zepplin is out for my wife. She likes gospel, and we add Linda Rondstat and Mannheim Steamroller, (#7), or she selects something from Windham Hill or Sibelius. Dancing is usually done at social gatherings now. My real age is in the "Polls" Jump up and show your age. The change was because of the unfortunate types who glean info from great sites like this one and use it incorrectly. An unfortunate by-product of the state the world is in now. All the best to you and yours Robin.
Danny,

Your wife and yourself have very similar music listening as mine. I may listen to a bit more Jazz though. ;) I am very glad you could share your beautiful system with me (us). Please tell your wife for me, that your home is beautifully decorated and she has great teaste as well... :)
 
System #125

Thanks Robin; (I just got back from a trip to Alaska hence the length of time for my reply), she works very hard and did the decorating herself. I am very blessed to have the best of everything.
Aside from the jazz area, is there any one disc you would recommend as one of your favorites that you think she might enjoy? Again, all the best to you and yours.
 
Eva Cassidy "Live at Blues Alley"

audioraptured said:
Thanks Robin; (I just got back from a trip to Alaska hence the length of time for my reply), she works very hard and did the decorating herself. I am very blessed to have the best of everything.
Aside from the jazz area, is there any one disc you would recommend as one of your favorites that you think she might enjoy? Again, all the best to you and yours.
audioraptured,

It's good to hear you had a good vacation. :) I go in a couple of weeks and I can hardly wait... :D

Eva Cassidy IMHO is one of a kind. She plays all kinds of music on this wonderful CD from gospel to folk, rock and blues. I have a feeling your wife will love it. It's one of my all time favorite CD's. :D

If you haven't seen my recommended review here it is:


http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1247


Enjoy.
 
System #125 (Ascent, Theater)

Thanks, David Prall, for your kind words. Where, ( I think), are you in N.C.? I have a Yamaha HTR 5750 I got last year for another room and really like it. All the best to you and yours.
 
System #125

Thanks Robin; I heard Eva Cassidy's "No Boundaries","American Tune","Time After Time", "Songbird", and "Imagine" over this weekend. (I should get the "Blues Alley" by this weekend.) I also got the book about her life with these five discs. To say that her story is heart wrenching is an understatement. But if you add the beautiful music she made it changes to a wonderful testament to her inner strength and creative gifts. To listen to the emotion she could create with each song made me realize what a truly treasured "songbird" she really was. I hope more audiophiles take the time to listen.
 

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