As Bill Murry said, "Levinson and Krell living together!"

[Lefisc]

When did this all start for you? It all started for me in 1963. My parents bought me a $40 Emerson STEREO portable record player, my first one that was all my own. A few years later, I guess 1968, my brother bought a Lafayette receiver, Garrard (55?) Turntable and Criterion speakers. Gosh, I heard so much more on that system then I ever heard on the Emerson. My brother moved out in 1971 and I got a Sansui (350?), Dual Turntable with a Shure Cartridge. I also got the smaller Advent speakers. They system cost $400 at Harvey’s Electronics in Manhattan. It sounded great, but I noticed then how much better certain components were, I had never liked the Sansui, there was always a hiss! Surface to noise ratio was the term I learned.
In the early 1980s I decided to go to separates and got the Dynaco Preamp PAT5 and the Dynaco 150 power amp. I also bought ADS floor standing speakers for my studio apartment. When CDs came out I got a Revel B226 in the mid 1980s. But soon the amp went and the preamp’s buttons started falling off. There was no internet then and parts were hard to find. I bought a Crown Pre amp and a Tannberg 2006 amp at Leonard’s radio in New York.
I began to see at Tower records, magazines called Stereophile and the Absolute Sound. They had usual articles, actually comparing components, mostly of names I had never heard. When a dealer allowed me to take a Mark Levenson (23.5?) amp home and try it out, I was astonished how much better it was! I then got the preamp (26 and 25 phono) and was astonished again. Slowly I changed to balanced wires and even bi wired. Eventually I got Thiel speakers. It just got better and better as I went up levels. I was wonderful to hear great music.
My first Surround Sound unit was the Proceed PAV, in 1994. My preamp is now a decade old. I traded in my 17 year old Levinson 31.5 and 30.5 for the 512 and upgraded my 15 year old speakers. I find it almost impossible to go back.
And it all started with a $40 Emerson. What started you?

I will always be a two channel guy at heart! Perhaps a funny way to start a “home media room” guide, but my priorities were to get a good two channel system up and then work in the surround sound. One reason I have a projection TV is so that I would have nothing interfering with the two speakers soundstage.

The first picture is what I see when I sit down: The speakers are the Revel Ultima Salon 2 and the Center Channel Revel Ultima Voice 2 speakers. You also see a Grey Screen. This made the picture hard to shoot because the light kept reflecting back.

The Salon 2s are connected to a pair of Krell Evolution 600 amps and the Voice 2 to a Krell FPB 450Mcx by Transparent Reference MMXAudio Wires. The amps are “hidden” in the next room because they not only take up a great deal of space but give off an incredible amount of heat. (You can see the wires in the front going into a wall on the lower left.

To the left of my chair, halfway between me and the speakers are the components.

On the top Shelf is the Mark Levinson Media Center, No. 502.
In the center is the Mark Levinson CD/SACD Player, 512. Finally, There is the Turntable: VPI 19 Mark 4 with a Tonearm of the SME 309 and a Audioquest 401i cartridge.

Inside the cabinet, on the left, is the input section of the two part Levinson 32 Preamp.
Below it is the Polk XM Tuner. Then my oldest component, the Cassette Deck Harmon Kardon C90, which I never use anymore


In the middle is the Control section of the 32., Below that is my Cable Box
The Pioneer Elite Blu Ray player Bdp 09fd.I also have the Krell DVD Standard with HDMI which plays regular DVDs better, in terms of audio, than the Pioneer. Yes, I have a laser Disc player and a few discs I don’t want to get rid of. For example they have never released the incredible Godfather Saga, 10 hours, on a DVD. They only released the individual movies.

On the right side is the Day Sequerra FM reference. Below it will be the VPI 17 record cleaner when I get around to cleaning it up! The rear three speakers, two on the sides and one in the back, are Thiel Powerplanes and the are powered by a 3 channel Proceed HPA-3. These are wired with Straight Wire Maestro.

The Projector is the JVC DLA-RS2. I use the Universal Remote Control MX850. When I learn how to program a big screen remote, I will switch!

Some notes: I have Thiel rears and a subwoofer because I originally had Thiels for all my speakers. Since I only use the sub-woofer for movies, I won’t be replacing it. I probably will not be replacing the rears either, they sound great. Originally my front components were wired with Maestro. When I replaced the front wiring, I put them in the rear.

[IB-Dick]

Wow, man. Nice set-up!

[Sharp 1080]

Nice system. My first "real" stereo system was Dual TT with Shure cartridge and Pioneer Receiver. I was hooked after that!