Final Musical Discoveries Listening Studio Update.

The headphone line was upgraded to include the QUAD PA-One amplifier and a Cardas Clear headphone cable in our last update. Since then, the team's planned upgrade to the source interconnect uncovered the QUAD PA-One is not a balanced amplifier. Since there is no technical value of XLR connections to a single-ended circuit, the amplifier interconnect was upgraded to Cardas Clear RCA.

The speaker line saw the most significant upgrade in our history. We replaced the Marantz SR-7007 AVR with a range of Classe components that include the Sigma SSP preamp, Sigma AMP5 and two Sigma MONOs. All analog interconnects from our source to the SSP are Cardas Clear and are Cardas Clear XLR and Clear Light RCA to the amplifiers. Digital and power cables are by AudioQuest, whose Niagara 7000 power conditioner was also added to our studio.

We again turned to Vu Phan at Hi-End Audio (Plano, TX) for advice and as our source. Click "view entry separately" for further details.

Musical Discoveries Listening Studio

• Media Source: Marantz UD-7007 Universal Player. Synology DS415play NAS w/Western Digital Red 3TB (x2) 4TB (x2) HDD. AudioQuest Vodka (LAN).
• Speaker Line:
  • Source->Classe Sigma SSP: Cardas Clear XLR (Analog), AudioQuest Coffee (HDMI), AudioQuest Vodka (LAN).
  • Cardas Clear XLR->Classe Sigma MONO (x2)->Cardas Clear Light->Ohm Walsh 200 MK II.
  • AudioQuest Boxer->Ohm 12" microSubwoofer.
• Surround from Classe Sigma SSP:
  • Cardas Clear Light RCA->Classe Sigma AMP5->Cardas Clear Light->Ohm Walsh 1000 Center.
  • Cardas Clear Light RCA->Classe Sigma AMP5->Cardas TwinLink->Ohm C2 Rear, Ohm D2 Front.
• Headphone Line: Source->Cardas Clear RCA->QUAD PA-One->Cardas Clear->Audeze LCD-3.
• Portable Headphone Line: iPod Nano->VorzKabel->Vorzuge VorzAMP Pure II+->Audeze 1/4" to 1/8" Adapter->Cardas Clear->Audeze LCD-3.
• System Power: AudioQuest NRG-Edison->Cardas Reference Power->AudioQuest Niagara 7000->AudioQuest NRG-4 (x5).
  
  Primary Source: Hi-End Audio.

Musical Discoveries Favorite Brands

• AudioQuest (digital interconnect, power)
• Cardas Audio (analog interconnect, speaker and headphone cables)
• Classe Sigma (surround components)
• Ohm (speakers)
(06 December 2015)

Posted by Russ Elliot