My system has evolved over the last decade or so, to the point where I’m very happy with the results. This is a mixed use system (music and movies) in a living room, as I don’t have the space for a dedicated listening room. Despite the relative lack of room treatments (due to placement of windows, furnishings, etc.) it’s actually pretty good sounding.
My current setup consists of:
- MSB Discrete DAC, 2 power supplies, ProISL and I2S input modules.
- Benchmark LA4 Preamp
- McIntosh MC462 amp
- Wilson Audio Sasha 2 speakers
- PS Audio PerfectWave SACD transport (I2S interface to the Discrete)
- Wiim Ultra streamer - USB interface to the Discrete ProUSB/ProISL
- Marantz Stereo 70s (movies and video only pre-out for left and right channels to the LA4)
- Cambridge Audio CXUHD 4K blue ray player
- Paradigm MilleniaOne sub (from the Marantz Stereo 70s - used only for video)
- Transparent Gen6 Reference speaker cables
- Transparent Gen5 Ultra balanced from the Discrete to the LA4
- Transparent Gen5 Ultra RCA from the LA4 to the MC462
- Transparent PowerWave for power distribution
I had a McIntosh C2700 preamp when I acquired the Discrete, but it sapped all the emotion from the Discrete. I tried the Discrete directly to the amp, but after reading other comments about the transparency of the Benchmark and it’s analog volume control I decided to try it, especially since it also allowed me to run the right and left channels for video through the same speakers rather than completely separating music and movies and getting dedicated speakers for video. I’ve had the LA4 for a little over a week, and I’m quite pleased with it.
