We were somewhat shy and unprepared but thankful to this owner to allow us to put up some pictures of his system here. You see, Shuttle Bug is an avid photographer/camera enthusiast. Given this circumstance, the caveat was that these pictures were taken with some pressure and I blame it on my entry-level camera. ;-)
Shuttle Bug has a picture perfect, quiet and good-size dedicated music room although still to be treated The room overlooks some lush green when the curtains are opened - green with envy. He is also one smart hi-fi shopper who knows what he wants. After getting the hang with fiddling of an old, used Thorens turntable, he wanted a mid high-end analogue front-end that would keep him happy for a long time.
We learnt that Shuttle Bug’s music room and equipment placement are still work in progress. It also makes good sense to run-in his analogue source, phonostage and new speakers all at the same time.
Clearaudio Performance Magnum in pearl white. Pearl white finishing is selected for a reason to match the Macbook which would be placed right next to the turntable eventually. The temporary Ikea shelf would go soon and you know what colour Shuttle Bug would pick for the eventual equipment rack right?
Shuttle Bug took full advantage of the Clearaudio Performance bundle and went all the way and picked the Satisfy Ebony wood arm with Clearaudio Stradivari MC cartridge. Even out of the box, the ultra background silence, soundstage stability, tasty texture and musicality oozes through his music room. Shuttle Bug is already happy and we jolly know he’ll be even happier after run-in.
Locked in at 500 Ohms to match the high output Clearaudio Stradivari MC cartridge, the Audio Research PH5 portrays the vivid tube texture and harmonics while being equally competent when speed and detail is called for.
Power is distributed from this sleek, affordable, multi-award winning Furutech e-TP60.
The pair of Red Wine Audio pre and power amplifiers feeds the Dynaudio Excite floor-standing speakers. Not in the picture is the Usher CDP which sits to the left of the MacBook. Shuttle Bug demonstrated to us the convenience and power of the MacBook doubling as a music server with countless titles to choose from on the fly. There is no doubt where the future of digital music is heading.
Keeping Norah Jones and several other female vocals LPs happy in a dry-cabinet may be the ultimate choice of an LP cabinet albeit a small one. Shuttle Bug has a bigger dry-cabinet to the right of this box (not in picture) for his other hobby.
