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Reference System

Home of the worlds greatest Marantz SA-11S2! – possibly the greatest Marantz too!

 
Here are details of Brent’s system that is sometimes used to assess possible upgrades and comprises of the following:

2 Channel section
 


AV Section
 

System Overview

Marantz SA-11S2

 

The Marantz SA-11S2 was chosen for it’s ability to respond well to upgrades. It may be the little brother to the SA-7S1 but shares all of its internals (apart from transformer which is slightly smaller). With the upgrades applied to this player we have yet to hear anything below £20K better it!

View list of modifications

ATC CA2 MK2 Signature Pre Amplifier (L/R)

 

This Pre Amplifier holds nothing back and is capable of driving long cable runs, perfect for the ATC SCM50ASLT. The upgraded version with bespoke psu, buffer stage and improved internal rewiring lifts this pre amp many levels higher. Fitted with custom hybrid 24 wire mains cable.

atc scm-50aslt​​​​​​​

ATC SCM50 ASLT Active Tower loudspeakers

 

These terrific speakers were chosen for their ability to reveal changes upstream as their sound is very transparent, dynamic, revealing and analogue. Synergistic Research Purple fuses and Kimber Signature mains cables lift the performance.
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ATC C1 SUB - 2 Channel

Adding the C1 SUB allows for a semless integration with the SCM50ASLT. You don't even know as sub is on but the music is capable of going as low as 20Hz. Fitted with Furutech green fuse and custom mains cable
 

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ATC SCM25A PRO used as centre speaker.​​​​​​​

Drivers: HF 25mm soft dome, Mid 75mm soft dome, LF 6.5″/164mm short-coil carbon paper cone
Amplitude Linearity (±2dB): 74Hz-17kHz
Cut-off Frequencies (-6dB, free-standing): 47Hz-22kHz
Dispersion: ±80° Coherent Horizontal, ±10° Coherent Vertical
Max. Continuous SPL (1 metre): 109dB
Audio Input: Rear panel mounted female xlr (pin 2 +)
Input Sensitivity: 1V rms (ref. full output)
Input Sensitivity Trim: 0dB to -6dB/1V – 2V (continuously variable via rear panel trimmer)
Input Impedance: Balanced > 10kΩ
Amplifier Output Power: Bass 150W rms, Mid 60W rms, High 25W rms
Crossover Frequencies: 380Hz & 3.5Khz
Crossover Filters: 4th order critically damped with phase compensations
Low Frequency Boost: 0dB to +3dB at 40Hz (continuously variable via rear panel trimmer)
Overload Protection: Active FET momentary gain reduction
Dimensions (HxWxD): 264 x 430 x 369mm (10.4˝ x 16.9˝ x 14.5˝).  Handles add an 39mm/1.5″ to depth.
Weight: 24.45kg / 53.79lbs

Lexicon MC10 Pre Amp (11.2 channel Processor)

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 AV Surround sound processing is performed by the Lexicon MC10 feeding the 2 ATC and 2 modded Marantz MA-500 mono blocks. The MC10 sound stage is explicit, large and three-dimensional, a sense of effortlessness and system resolution is ever-present. Also the MC10 is dynamically impeccable and capable of agile subtlety. Fed by Kimber Reference mains lead.​​​​​

ATC SCM40AT Active Tower loudspeakers (rear)

These terrific speakers were chosen for their ability to reveal changes upstream as their sound is very transparent, dynamic, revealing and analogue. Fitted with Furutech green fuse and custom mains cable.
 

Fidelity Audio NNU X Reference Mains Purifier

Fidelity Audio mains filters (NNU X REF & NNU X PRO) used to reject mains born noise and spikes, you hear a more three dimensional and rich sound with a really low noise floor. Good quality mains leads (Russ Andrews Reference cord – with fuses shorted using copper rods) added to lower the mains impedance and reject air born noise. The mains block is the Fidelity Audio NEXUS mains block made from oak and fitted with a No Noise Ultra mains filter for added space and dimensionality. Fitted with Kimber Reference mains cable.


 


Fidelity Audio NNU HF SE High Frequency Mains Purifier

The Fidelity Audio NNU X HF SE Mains Filter is designed with 64 filter points (2x 32) along with 3000 Amp spike protection all housed in a EMI /RFI shielded case. This is achieved by adding an extra HF circuit in the case. Fitted with Kimber Reference mains cable.

Cable and Accessories

 

The CD to amp interconnect is a top quality custom made Russ Andrews Kimber 8Ag silver interconnect with silver WBT nextgen plugs and Cryo treatment. The centre channel uses a Russ Andrews Crystal-Ag on bullets with a Kimber Hero on the rear channel all providing optimum signal coupling for a fully detailed and balanced sound.The custom oak and Torlyte rack helps to minimise time-smear caused by acoustic feedback and reveals every tiny detail on the recording. The sense of precise, musical timing is aided by using a light and stiff rack such as this.
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