Current Rig - Reloaded

At  last, some truly fatigue-free listening.

System:
Phono Cartridge: Audio Technica AT440mla
Turntable: Technics SL-23
Phono Preamp: Bellari VP130 ( Sovtek 12AX7LPS/ 15vdc-1A power supply)
Integrated Amplifier: Jolida 502BRC (4 x Tungsol 6550 reissues/2 x 12AX7 & 2 x JAN 12AT7WC)
Loudspeakers: Snell EII

CD Player: Marantz CD5004
Tape Deck: Nakamichi CR1A

Secondary:
Receiver: Pioneer SX-1280
Tape Deck: Pioneer CTF-9191

Interconnects: Tara Labs/Monster (various)

Snell EII

Another Craigslist purchase. These were all original but the Vifa woofer surrounds were totally rotted~dust. I happened to have a pair of replacement woofers for my Snell JIV's, which didn't sound good at all in them. After speaking with a tech at Snell (yup still servicing) I was told that I should have received new inductors with the JIV replacement woofers... Oh. Anyway they were sitting in the closet and were very similar to the EII Vifa's so I popped them into the EII's and had me a listen.

To my surprise they sounded surprisingly good! It makes me wonder if this replacement Seas is mostly based off the "E" design as it was a pretty popular speaker for Snell. Who knows, but they sound great. Worst part is they could still be wrong, as the Bass is a bit "boomy". But even then, an overall pleasure, and I can't really find any major issues going on at the crosspoint. Smooth and the most "listenable" speaker I've owned. Great for everything especially Jazz. A bit confusing on classical but that could be a source of mismatching amongst other things.

Bellari VP130 Phono Preamp

This thing sounds really nice after you put in a great tube, like the Sovtek 12AX7LPS and upgrade the power supply. I'm using a Radio Shack 15vDC 1A supply which helps more than you could imagine both performance wise and eliminating noise. I got the Bellari from Larry at the Phoenix Audio Tape Co.. Nice guy and a pleasure to do business with!