I completely agree - grounding boxes only work on my digital components, too.  I tried and removed analogue grounding some time ago.

One can't help but think that a larger box might have been a good idea!

A very tidy looking set up / s

Artistic licence

And I'm convinced they're in league with pencils and coat hangers!

Apparently Erwin Schrödinger only ever wore one sock: once he'd opened the drawer and taken one out, the other could never been found!

Thanks for the listen and coffee earlier, Pete. I'm playing the Ani Difranco and Cowboy Junkies tracks you played me earlier. Both excellent, but sounding very different on my system

I like the effortless soundstage and disappearing speaker trick your system plays.

It'll be interesting comparing the Aqvox Blaze USB cable with both my current and new Mad Scientist cables.

I should probably have mentioned that the AQVox cable was completely new and would have changed a bit over time. It was bought to go with the AQVox CD burner, but for now it will become the input of an Innuos PhoenixUSB re-clocker I bought to try in the UK system. I'm hoping not to be impressed as otherwise I'll need a second one for here! They also make an ethernet re-clocker too, but one step at a time!

Anyway, the reason for this post is that I have spent today fiddling with the German system. As I have mentioned previously, although I use the Royd Apex speakers most of the time I do have a pair of Shihanian Arcs as well. Today I decided it was time for a swap over.

They have many similarities in presentation to the Royd / Rega speakers, but also some differences. The most noticeable difference is that the soundstage presented slightly more forward than occurs with the Apex speakers. I also think the Apex (and Elas) deliver a slightly tighter position. However, they do a superb job with well recorded drum, especially bush-work and their rendition of vocals is very natural, but again without the razor sharp focus that the Royds deliver. However, this might be because I am using the Townshend Supertweeters and they are position slight off access at present compared with where they sit on the Royd / Ela speakers due to the lack of flat surface on the Arcs. I have ordered two stands designed for the Sonos One units which are the right height and will position them better. They should arrive on Monday so I will soon know if that helps.

The other thing that surprised me was the changes to the sub settings that were needed, and I also had to increase the Supertweeter setting from 2 to 3. The sub had been set with a crossover point at about 60 Hz for the Royds (and this is similar to what I use in the UK for the Elas), but I needed to increase it to about 100 Hz for the Arcs and increase the output. I was expecting them to have more bass extension than the Roayds not less I used Musicscope and a calibrated Earthworks M30 and some test tones to check out what was going on and then made (and am still making) fine adjustments while listening to some 'test' tracks. I have also tweaked its position a tad too.

As I have observed in the past, the Shihanians are superb for acoustic and orchestral performances and are very good on vocals, but are more fussy with rock and don't handle electric bass as well. Still it makes a nice change although I suspect the Royds will return soon - mind they are doing a stunning job with the drum and vocals on "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette on the acoustic version of Jagged Little Pill at the moment.




I will route the cables from behind if I decide to leave them in for a longer period.

I'm wrong as it seems SR do produce a 3.16A fast blow fuse.