Dreamer System Starts From Scratch...

[Dreamer]

2-channel rig is pretty much set up and dialed in. (I'll post a complete, updated "System Profile" sometime later today.) Here are the long-awaited pics!!!

Here are the Sequels and the Silver 7t's, from floor-level, in front of the "sweet spot":




Here is the main part of the room, from behind the "sweet spot":




Here is a close-up of my equipment rack:

[engtaz]

Dreamer,
The ML's are gorgeous. What are the green and yellow circle items?
Thanks,
engtaz

[BillD]

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain....

[TNRabbit]

Richard, I remember those red balls under your TT from when we had a mini-fest at your place here in MD a couple years ago (me, you, Rodney)! I thought they were funny & inventive~

[Dreamer]

Rabbit, you can chuckle all you want--that turntable platform is rock-solid and vibration-free. You can do jumping jacks in that room, and it won't even register on the TT, and this room has a sprung-wood floor. The platform is a 32" square slate paver, and it weighs about 40 or 50lbs. The pink balls are lacrosse practice balls. They sit inside 1.5" iron pipe flanges so they don't roll around. It might look odd, but the whole thing cost me under $30, and it's as vibe-free as you could want...

"engtaz", those green discs are 5lb weights. I'm using them ass mass-dampers, to tame vibrations. I have them on the two monoblocks, and both preamps. I also have 2x10lb weights on the woofer cabinets of each Sequel. I can't say that I actually hear a difference with them on the electronics, but they made a HUGE difference on the Sequels--tightened up the bass, smoothed out the mids, and just snapped everything into much sharper focus.

Tweeks don't have to cost an arm and a leg. Sometimes, you gotta think outside the box...

[engtaz]

I can understand them on speakers and TT's, Cool. I think wabbit was laughing at your pink balls

I do like your setup.

[Dreamer]

Moving back to MD for a few months--I'm taking a semester off Grad School. Most of my rig is going into storage for the fall, much to my chagrin. No Carver, no Martin Logan, and no vinyl for several months...

[elgrau]

Sorry Dreamer.....

"Someday you'll find everything you're looking for..." ("Greendale", N. Young)

[Dreamer]

I'm breaking down the house and packing stuff up this week--but I can't be without proper tunes for the packing!

Even though we took down the big entertainment center last night, I had to have SOMETHING to put my temporary system on, so I got some Ikea shelves from another room and moved them into the living room.

The little TV is NOT the TV I usually have in my HT setup--I already took the 42" Toshiba up north last week--this little Sylvania is just tor watching the news and weather reports...

For the first time since I've had this setup in the living room (about 2 years), the Sequels are FINALLY out from the wall about 4 feet. And HOLY COW, they sound good. My sweetie insistes that they be flush with the big entertainment center in the previous setup, which put the Sequels almost touching the wall in the back--and as anyone who has Electrostats or panels knows, these speakers need a LOT of breathing room...

It just sounds SOOOOO much better.

And I get to enjoy the hell out of it for one week, because I'm putting them in storage for the fall.

I'll have a little pair of Celestion 5's up in MD already, and I'll probably be taking my M-500t to drive them. No 'Stats" up there--there's no room, and we have a new cat with all his claws who is a "climber"...

Pray for me, brothers and sisters--I'm going into temporary exile on many fronts--no good stereo, no Second Amendment rights, and almost none of my books at hand.

But at least I'll me with my family again after a year of grad school and only getting to see them every month or two.

Hopefully we can get a Carver Meet worked out for October or November. I'm working on that, but my schedule is still sort of up in the air now...

[TNRabbit]

Richard, while you're up here, we should arrange a trip to to Vintage HiFi in Pittsburgh (Tom) for a listen. You REALLY need to hear the new Carver tube amps & see the incredible modded C-1 that Tom has.

[Dreamer]

Richard, while you're up here, we should arrange a trip to to Vintage HiFi in Pittsburgh

I might be able to make that happen. My sister lives in Wheeling WV, and I could drive out to see her some Friday evening, make the hop up to Pittsburgh as a day trip on Saturday, and then come back the next day (Sunday). It's definitely a thought! I've been wanting to see that shop for a while, (I REALLY dig the vintage stuff), and the fact that he is a "New Carver Tubes" dealer makes it even more enticing.

But I'll let you know up front, Rabbit, that my funds are MUCH more limited now than they were 4 or 5 years ago--I'm on a "graduate student" budget these days. The most expensive addition I've made to my rig in the last 3 years has been the occasional new CD...

[engtaz]

Tom (beamer) is a OK guy. If you give him a heads up maybe the other Tom will show up also.

[Dreamer]

Sad day in the Dreamer Listening Room...

I boxed up the Sequels on Thursday and put them on the first Pod.

I boxed up the Scenarios today, and will be putting them on the second Pod tomorrow evening...

I'll be boxing up most of th erest of the rig tomorrow evening, but for now, I'm listening to a pair of Carver Silver7ts driving (wait for it..... WAIT for it.....) a pair of vintage, aluminum cabinet Minimus 7s, augmented on the low end with my Velodyne FS-1200 sub... Doesn't sound bad, actually, but it sure as hell ain't electrostatics...

I'll be taking my M-500t up north to drive my Celestion 5s for the fall. It's like being banished to Purgatory for 3 months--no Martin Logans, no vinyl, and NONE of my concealed carry permits are valid in MD either (I have permits issued by THREE states...)

Pray for me brothers and sisters--there but for the grace of god go thou...

[mbskeam]

that's why its called concealed.....

[treitz3]

Richard, just stay focused. You know when the end of this will come and you also know that you are doing this for the benefit of greater good. After all is said and done, you will be able to have your rig set up the way you want and with more money to spend on said rig. Good things come to those who wait!

Hang in there, buddy.