Second Space

 

 

 

 

 

Second Space
System configuration

Support: Equipment Rack Rolanstar TVS-130 TV Stand & a Monoprice Monolith 4 Tier Shelf	Turntable Micro-Seiki DD-30 (vintage 1977) In CLOSET	Cartridge Monster Cable Sigma Genesis 2000 (vintage 1989)
Loudspeakers Acora Acoustic MRB-1 or B&W Matrix 1 (1984 with vdH cable upgrades) OR Von Schweikert Audio VR-1 with rebuilt upgraded X-Overs	Line Stage Channel Islands Audio PLC•1 Mk II with VAC 1 Supply	Interconnects Audience OHNO RCA
Subwoofers/Stereo Pair L – Mirage FRx-S10 R – Monoprice SUB-122BL Yes, different models	Phono Stage MoFi MasterPhono OR Channel Islands Audio PEQ•1 Mk II with AC-15 MKII Supply	Power Amplifiers Fosi Audio V3 Monos With Sparkos SS3602 Discret Op-Amp upgrades
Support: Speaker stands Plateau ST-24	Streamer WiiM Pro Plus Using Roon or My DLNA Server  DACs LampizatOr Baltic 4 OR S.M.S.L SU-1	Loudspeaker Cables Audience OHNO (1.5M)

System Description

While the original goal with this space, set up in my 22-foot, 2-inch long by 13-foot, 7-inch wide, and 8-foot tall living room, was to populate it with much more affordable, real world products, while still creating engaging sound, it has grown to include better, and better still, products that I have accumulated, or that have come in for my audition.

I had originally configured this system at the other end of my living room, integrating it with the fireplace hearth. But as fall and the cooler weather approached, I wanted to reclaim the fireplace, so my mischievous Great Dane (Stella) and I could enjoy its benefits. So, this is where I landed…

I’m using a surprisingly affordable (~$140) Rolanstar TVS-020-V2-BK130 LED-lit TV-Audio combo-stand. Because the Rolanstar stand is built to support a large flat screen, after installing a Samsung sixty-inch HDTV, there just wasn’t the space available to install the turntable system.

So, my Monoprice Monopole 4-shelf rack was placed INSIDE my coat closet, just to the left of the main system location (see slider photos at bottom of this page). This was SUCH a perfect solution that it is almost funny…but the isolation and convenience this option provides is just perfect. 

The analog front end for this system includes a vintage Micro-Seiki DD-30 I recently purchased for $250. It is fitted with a vintage Monster Cable Sigma Genesis 2000 MC cartridge I bought on closeout in the late 1980s for $650. This amazing cartridge features A Boron cantilever and microline stylus and was designed for Monster by Hisayoshi Nakatsuka, now the president and designer at ZYX!

Centered on the top shelf of the stand is my vintage  $1095 Channel Islands Audio PLC•1 MKII passive line stage, powered by its $159 outboard Channel Islands Audio VAC-1, A Samsung Tablet sits on them, and provides a monitor for my security video system.

To the left on that shelf is the overachieving $5,995 MoFi MasterPhono Phonosage, which took the place of my $995 Channel Islands Audio PEQ-1 MKII Phono Stage that I originally reviewed for TAS, along with its $299 outboard Channel Islands Audio AC-15 MKII linear power supply. To the right side of the top shelf rests the superb $6,850 LampizatOr Baltic 4 DAC. 

In the middle of the second shelf rests a pair of the ridiculously small and light Fosi Audio V3 monoblock amplifiers, based on a Texas Instruments Class-D amplifier chip, the TPA3255. This pair has been updated with a pair of the simple unbelievable SparkoS Labs SS3602 Discreet Op-Amps. They replace the factory Signetics (now Texas Instruments) NE5532 op-amps, and WHAT A DIFFERENCE… Between the two V2 monos, is a DirecTV Genie receiver to drive the 60″  HD Samsung TV.

resting to the right on that middle shelf, I have the the $229 WiiM Pro Plus for digital streaming from my NAS and Roon, as well as the STOOPID affordable, surprisingly capably performing, $80 S.M.S.L SU-1 DAC. They are connected to my line stage via one of the many $350 sets of one-meter Audience Ohno single-ended interconnects. 

Finally, on the bottom of the central section of the stand we find my $980 Audience forte V8 Isolating/Conditioning AC distribution system. And all AC cords are mostly the $225 meter and three-quarter Audience forte F3 powerChords.

I just received the exceptional $7,990/pr. Acora Acoustics MRB-1 monitors, More as that develops. But I can tell you that my first listen to this monitor left me in stunned silence. We were in the Potomac Room at Capital Audio Fest 2024. When my after-hours LP session finished, Val dropped them into play in place of the $218,000 VRCs (add $100,000 for the stunning Sunset Fire finish), and we listened to two sides of Val’s promo copy of Pink Floyd’s 1979 masterpiec, “The Wall.” I have this pressing, and have heard it more times than I could accurately count… But, for possibly the first time listening to it on a set of two-way monitors, I was EXERIENCING it! I was completely drawn into the performance and sound.

I also have two secondary sets of monitors that routinely rotate through this system. The first pair are my 1984 vintage B&W Matrix 1s, from the mind of Laurence Dickie, now designing the remarkable Vivid Audio loudspeakers. They originally sold for $999, and this set has been wired internally with van den Hul cable. Everyone who has heard them immediately understands WHY I can’t part with them! They are STILL amazing performers.

The other set of speakers is a Vintage pair of Von Schweikert Audio VR-1 monitors that also sold for $999 when new in 2006. Unfortunately, they saw some rather severe crossover damage in shipping. VSA was able to repair them, and because of my history with VSA of over some three decades now, the VR-1s enjoyed a serious rebuild, including point-to-point wiring with Masterbuilt Signature hookup wire, ClarityCap bypass capacitors, Mundorf Resistors, and Erse Perfect Lay Inductors.

Whichever pair is in play sits atop a pair of $139 vintage Plateau St-24, a 24” tall stand with three rectangular support legs, each filled with a mixture of lead shot and playground sand. The speakers are connected to my Fosi V3 mono amps with a $395 set of meter-and-a-half-long Audience OHNO speaker cables with banana plugs on both ends.

I have pressed into service my vintage $399 Mirage FRx-S10 subwoofer for my right sub, and the $125 MonoPrice MSUB-122BL subwoofer I had used in my IT office before my retirement for my left sub. The cables connecting each of the subwoofer’s line inputs from the second outputs on the linestage are vintage Esoteric Audio single-ended signal Artus cables.

The entire system would have cost under $7500 when each product would have been purchased new at retail – save for the addition of the $6,850 LampizatOr Baltic 4… Now, most of them can be picked up at substantial savings. But you simply would not believe how engaging and fun this system is to listen to. I recently had a visit from my friend and colleague, Maurice Jeffries, who writes for both Positive Feedback and Enjoy the Music. He was suitably impressed by just how much performance I’ve wrung from this hodge-podge of gear that I had lying around dormant.

Here is a link to the ORIGINAL Second Space treatment