Second Space

System Description

I’m using a $200 Pangea Audio Vulcan TTX Turntable stand. the top shelf supports 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. On the second shelf of the Monolith stand is my $995 Channel Islands Audio PEQ-1 MKII Phono Stage that I reviewed for TAS, along with its $299 outboard Channel Islands Audio AC-15 MKII linear power supply. The phono stage connects to my line stage via a $349 set of four-meter vintage Esoteric Audio Artus Hyperbalanced single-ended interconnects.

Resting on my fireplace hearth are the rest of my components, which include the $1095 Channel Islands Audio PLC•1 MKII passive line stage, powered by its $159 outboard Channel Islands Audio VAC-1 linear power supply. I’m using the $229 WiiM Pro Plus for digital streaming from my NAS and Roon, connected to my line stage via a $229 one-meter set of vintage Esoteric Audio Technology 1 Emerald Air Litz single-ended interconnects. The line stage drives a pair of $999 Channel Islands Audio VMB•1 monoblocks using a one-meter set of $299 MIT Mi-330+ single-ended interconnects.

I have a set of $999 Von Schweikert Audio VR-1 monitors, which I bought for $600, that saw some rather severe crossover damage in shipping. Fortunately, VSA was able to repair them, and because of my history with VSA, they got a serious rebuild, including point-to-point wiring with Masterbuilt Signature hookup wire, ClarityCap bypass capacitors, Mundorf Resistors, and Erse Perfect Lay Inductors. They sit atop a pair of $139 vintage Plateau St-24, a 24” tall stand with three square support legs which are each filled with a mixture of lead shot and playground sand. The amplifiers are connected to my speakers using a $395 set of meter-and-a-half-long Audience OHNO 1.5M 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 single-ended signal cables connecting the subs from the second output on the linestage are just generic patch cords I had lying around.

The entire system would have cost under $7500 when each product would have been purchased new at retail. 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 colleage, Maurice Jeffries, who writes for both Positive Feedback and Enjoy the Music. He was really taken by just how much performance I’ve wrung from this hodge-podge of gear I had lying around dormant.