Wardsweb

Yes, it is a Clearaudio Champion II with an SME 309 arm holding a Benz Micro Glider. I first showed a picture of it in the "any vinyl guys here" thread : http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/3/675370/ShowPost.aspx#675370 Since that thread I got the acrylic dust cover from JMK Displays that I also showed in another thread. The entire thing is sitting on a diy isolation sandbox. That is 3/4" mdf filled with 25 pounds of #10 glass beads used in bead blasting. This stuff is finer than sand and feels amost silky to the touch. The Champion II (80 pounds) sits on a 1/2" piece of glass and the whole thing sits on 9 Daruma isolation bearings. As if that wasn't enough, the break front has a single piece top of marble that weights in at 210 pounds. So you could say there is a bit of mass there.

Just set these up this evening. Never thought I would think Cornwalls were little speakers. [] By the way, the grills are leaning up against the chair.

There is a 3/16 gap between the edge of the glass and the inside of the box. I didn't want the glass to couple to the box, so the glass is totally isolated. The glass adds mass and evenly distributes the weight over the entire surface.

Many roads to nirvana. Those are some cool covers too. I think the difference in the price stems from CNC cut handles in place of glued on and on mine the front, top and back are one continuous piece of form molded acrylic. So there are no glue seams on the top front and back edges, it's actually rolled. Besides the obvious job of keeping dust off the table, it protects mine from our 3 year old grandson and his flying toys.[]

Here is a link for the isolation table.

It was $155 delivered using 1/4 acrylic with cutouts on the sides for hand pickup and on the back for the cables. Ginko wanted over $300. The "granit block" is a DIY sand box isolation table I did a few years back. It is made from 3/4 mdf , spayed with Valspar weathered stone finish and filled with 25 pounds of sand blasting media (glass beads, finer than sand). The Champion II sits on a 1/2" piece of glass and the whole thing sits on 9 Daruma isolation bearings.

Check out this custom dust cover I had JMK Displays make for my Clearaudio Champion II table. I checked around and got several quotes before going with them. They were almost a third of what gingko audio wanted and they used thicker acrylic. I faxed one drawing and they called to make sure they understood what I wanted. It took a few weeks but it came packed very well and fits perfect.

I would say they are Kelly speakers using a Wharfedale driver. While the cabinet design is similiar to Wharedales Airedale line, all the Airdales had drivers that also fires upwards out of the top. This looks more like the Tannoy corner horn cabinets converted to a two-way design.

I find the Carver amps to be a very good bang for your buck. I've owned m1.5t pushing JBL L-40, TFM-15 pushing Infinity WTLC, TFM-35 pushing Polk SDA-1, A-500x pushing twin 18" McCauley in Bassmaxx B1 bass horns, and I'm still running a A-760x pushing my Martin Logan CLS electrostats. Any of these amps will handle 4 ohms all day long. The A-500x can do 2 ohms and the A-760x is current limited at 1 ohm. I like Carver a lot and will be picking up some Carver Silver 7t mono blocks next week.

FYI: Forward Air is excellent for shipping anything large and/or heavy. I just had a pair of custom speaker cabinets shipped from California to Texas on a pallet (425 pounds) for $225. Another option is BAX Global. I used them when I shipped some vintage JBL's to Korea and they were less than half of UPS , FedEx and DHL at just over $300. By the way if I may, looks like I will be driving up to Austin TX to pick up some Cornwalls in about a week. It would be sooner but I have to schedule time to get up there.

System is: Shanling T100 CDP Mirror Audio PP1 phono pre/linestage Clearaudio Champion II with SME 309 and Benz Micro Glider turntable on DIY isolation sandbox Shanling SP-80 push pull amplifiers running ElectroHarmonix 6CA7EH (fat bottle EL34) Altec A7 Voice of the Theatre custom walnut veneered speakers

Here is my latest setup for 2-channel only audio; take your pic - analog or digital.

Steamer that has got to sound wicked. Gee let me guess, you like horns? []

They are very open, great soundstage and fantastic depth of field. The closest thing to live I've ever heard from speakers. My Martin Logan CLS electrostats come close but can't equal the sound from the big 511B horn in the A7's. There is just something about tube driven horns that is pure sweetness to my ears.

Clearaudio Champion 2 w/SME309 arm and Benz Micro Glider cartridge Audio Mirror PP1 tube phono pre/linestage Custom Bottlehead 6DN7 amplifier (whole whopping 2 watts) Altec A7 Voice of the Theaters veneered in Walnut, Solid Walnut pedestals, and grills

There are plenty in the secondary market. Check out Audiogon under the analog section. My Rega is still a fine turntable and can hold it's own with higher priced models. It took a quantum leap in performance to warrant my upgrade. Depending on your taste, tables like speakers can add their own sound signature. Denon direct drives are nice, the older Rega Planar 3 with a RB300 is sweet, and there are many that are tweaking old Thorens and Duals. You should check out the turntable & tapes section of Audiokarma.org .

Paul no need to appologize for your table. The hobby is a love of music. There are many roads to audio nirvana. The destination is not the object. The journey is what is important. We live, we learn, we work and best of all, we have some fun along the way. I've got a B&O 8000 with a MMC 20CL in the back room. It's all good.

Retail : ClearAudio Cahmpion II table $3500 SME 309 arm $1800 Benz Micro H2 Glider $800 Be patient and keep a watch on Ebay and Audiogon. These all come up from time to time and can be had for a lot less than retail. Guys at this level are obessive about their gear, so it will be like buying new without the price tag. I bought mine from a dealer on the west coast. It was a demo table he was moving to make room for a newer table.

The Bottlehead Single Ended eXperimenters 6DN7 amp is quite remarkable. Kind of a little giant killer, even when built totally stock, as I did. It comes in at whole whopping two watts, but that isn't a problem with me running Altec A7's that are 104dB efficient. The sound is warm with crisp highs and nice bass. A lot of thought went into this design and as a result this amp is dead quiet. My speakers can be very unforegiving and reveal any hum in an amp. Bottom line is: it is now in my living room and my Paramours are on their way to Georgia.

Here is a pic showing the Audio Mirror PP1 phono pre / line stage and my Bottlehead 6DN7 amp during some testing before placing the ClearAudio table. All this pushes some Altec A7 Voice of the Theatre speakers that I veneered in walnut.

I am one happy camper. ClearAudio Champion 2 with an SME 309 arm and Benz Micro Glider.

That's one of the many things I'm into. My hobby turned obsession is now off into unjustifiable lunacy. []

Thanks - I'm looking forward to playing with my new toy. While I was at it, I picked up a Pro-Ject cartridge alignment tool. Looks like it will make setup a lot easier.

I spent about 15 years away from vinyl and got back in about two years ago. I tweaked a Rega Planar 3 with RB-250 and AudioNote IQ-2 and it's served me well, but wanted more. So my new rig shipped today FedEx from the west coast. My weekend will be spent setting it all up and taking my vinly listening to the next level. ClearAudio Champion II SME 309 Benz Micro Glider I find vinyl guys are becoming a niche group as the world moves to digital. Don't get me wrong, I have a Shanling T100 for CD's and an iPOD for hiking but my 2-channel rig in the living room is dedicated vinyl, tubes and horns. Thanks for sharing guys. I love to see all the different roads to audio nirvana.

I know there is a lot of talk about speakers and the amps to drive them, but was wondering about sources and in particular, turntables. So, are there many vinyl guys here? If so, what table, arm and cart are you running. While we're at it, what are your personal favorites for spinning when you want to just relax and listen to some tunes.