Hello, everyone. My name is Mike. I live in the vicinity of Austin, TX, USA. Audio has been an interest of mine for a long time, but I had gone without a home audio system I really enjoyed for over a decade after selling my old system when moving to another state. Since then, I had been making do with headphones, a tabletop radio, and a pair of bookshelf speakers driven by the audio amplifier integrated in my TV. That is, until I started finding some time to focus on this here and there about three years ago. I was thrilled to start the process of piecing together a system again.
Early in that process, I was fortunate to come across a pair of Meadowlark Swifts. They were a little bit of a project. One issue was that the drivers had been replaced with something I did not feel was a good substitute for the originals. In the course of looking into my replacement driver options, I found this forum. I was very grateful to learn that Pat McGinty hangs out here and was happy to help me with valuable information and a full set of NOS replacement drivers.
Around that time, I also acquired a Dynaco SCA-35 in working order and good condition to drive the speakers. Their initial role was a simple stereo system in my crowded office (repurposed bedroom). That was temporary until I could later migrate the system to my living room (had some dusty work going on that included drywall repair, tile repair, etc).
Fast forward to today - the system has found its way into my living room, has been through some variations, and seems to be approaching a relatively stable configuration that I am really enjoying. My living room is far from an ideal listening environment, but it is the best option I have in my home at present.
There is a closet to the left of this photo which has been repurposed as an AV closet. My sources (all digital) and a Marantz AV receiver live there. The Marantz is configured in pure direct mode to turn off some unused features (analog video circuitry, front display, etc) and bypass some audio processing (tone controls, EQ, etc). And its HDMI pass through feature allows listening to HDMI sources with the receiver in standby (it passes through the most recently selected HDMI source).
In my primary listening mode, the Marantz HDMI output feeds the TV, which currently also serves as the HDMI audio disembedder (also have a standalone disembedder which I plan to experiment with in the future). Then the audio is fed to a Schiit Bitfrost DAC, a Schiit Freya S preamp, the Dynaco ST-70 driving the Meadowlark Swift speakers and an Altec Lansing PSW-10 powered subwoofer. Still experimenting with the speaker positioning and orientation.
The Dynaco ST-70 is new to this system. It was introduced a few days ago, right after I finished putting it back together. The previously mentioned Dynaco SCA-35 and a FIrst Watt J2 have also spent time in that role.
The subwoofer helps reinforce the lower end of the Meadowlarks in this listening environment which is larger than you might guess from the image (open floor plan where the ‘living room’ is really just a designated subset of a much larger room).
The speakers in the console are ADC 404s. They allow for a secondary listening configuration when I want a little sound in the living area without waking up the preamp / DAC / stereo amp (save some burn time on the tubes, etc). They can be driven by the Marantz AV receiver L/R amplifier outputs or the TV’s stereo amplifier. I started with the former and currently trialing the latter. The former sounds a little better and allows significantly louder sound levels. The latter significantly shortens the analog audio signal path, allows the option of listening to HDMI sources with the receiver in standby, and allows for easier mode switching (just mute/unmute the TV vs going down two menu levels to change a setting in the Marantz). The DAC, preamp, and stereo amp are on their own switched power strip whose switch is easily accessible while standing in front of the console.
For about a year, the system had a 5.1 speaker configuration where the stereo amp handled the primary L/R channels and the Marantz receiver handled the center and surround channels. The Schiit preamp allowed switching the stereo amp source between the Marantz analog L/R preamp outputs (multichannel listening) and the stereo DAC output (stereo listing). It worked and sounded good, but in practice I found myself usually preferring the stereo listening mode, regardless of content channel configuration. And so I ended up simplifying things down to this dual stereo current configuration.
Those unused outlets above the TV allow the option of wall mounting the TV. A typical modern large screen TV sitting on the console would hide them. However, that TV in the image is near the maximum height that can be accommodated in my current configuration because that TV is mounted on a motorized lift that retracts down into that console. I am happy with that comprise as I feel it is sufficiently large for the viewing distances and I love that it can be out of sight when not in use. I plan to eventually hang a large canvas print on that wall. That will be the normal focal point of that wall (with the outlets hidden behind it).
Early in that process, I was fortunate to come across a pair of Meadowlark Swifts. They were a little bit of a project. One issue was that the drivers had been replaced with something I did not feel was a good substitute for the originals. In the course of looking into my replacement driver options, I found this forum. I was very grateful to learn that Pat McGinty hangs out here and was happy to help me with valuable information and a full set of NOS replacement drivers.
Around that time, I also acquired a Dynaco SCA-35 in working order and good condition to drive the speakers. Their initial role was a simple stereo system in my crowded office (repurposed bedroom). That was temporary until I could later migrate the system to my living room (had some dusty work going on that included drywall repair, tile repair, etc).
Fast forward to today - the system has found its way into my living room, has been through some variations, and seems to be approaching a relatively stable configuration that I am really enjoying. My living room is far from an ideal listening environment, but it is the best option I have in my home at present.
There is a closet to the left of this photo which has been repurposed as an AV closet. My sources (all digital) and a Marantz AV receiver live there. The Marantz is configured in pure direct mode to turn off some unused features (analog video circuitry, front display, etc) and bypass some audio processing (tone controls, EQ, etc). And its HDMI pass through feature allows listening to HDMI sources with the receiver in standby (it passes through the most recently selected HDMI source).
In my primary listening mode, the Marantz HDMI output feeds the TV, which currently also serves as the HDMI audio disembedder (also have a standalone disembedder which I plan to experiment with in the future). Then the audio is fed to a Schiit Bitfrost DAC, a Schiit Freya S preamp, the Dynaco ST-70 driving the Meadowlark Swift speakers and an Altec Lansing PSW-10 powered subwoofer. Still experimenting with the speaker positioning and orientation.
The Dynaco ST-70 is new to this system. It was introduced a few days ago, right after I finished putting it back together. The previously mentioned Dynaco SCA-35 and a FIrst Watt J2 have also spent time in that role.
The subwoofer helps reinforce the lower end of the Meadowlarks in this listening environment which is larger than you might guess from the image (open floor plan where the ‘living room’ is really just a designated subset of a much larger room).
The speakers in the console are ADC 404s. They allow for a secondary listening configuration when I want a little sound in the living area without waking up the preamp / DAC / stereo amp (save some burn time on the tubes, etc). They can be driven by the Marantz AV receiver L/R amplifier outputs or the TV’s stereo amplifier. I started with the former and currently trialing the latter. The former sounds a little better and allows significantly louder sound levels. The latter significantly shortens the analog audio signal path, allows the option of listening to HDMI sources with the receiver in standby, and allows for easier mode switching (just mute/unmute the TV vs going down two menu levels to change a setting in the Marantz). The DAC, preamp, and stereo amp are on their own switched power strip whose switch is easily accessible while standing in front of the console.
For about a year, the system had a 5.1 speaker configuration where the stereo amp handled the primary L/R channels and the Marantz receiver handled the center and surround channels. The Schiit preamp allowed switching the stereo amp source between the Marantz analog L/R preamp outputs (multichannel listening) and the stereo DAC output (stereo listing). It worked and sounded good, but in practice I found myself usually preferring the stereo listening mode, regardless of content channel configuration. And so I ended up simplifying things down to this dual stereo current configuration.
Those unused outlets above the TV allow the option of wall mounting the TV. A typical modern large screen TV sitting on the console would hide them. However, that TV in the image is near the maximum height that can be accommodated in my current configuration because that TV is mounted on a motorized lift that retracts down into that console. I am happy with that comprise as I feel it is sufficiently large for the viewing distances and I love that it can be out of sight when not in use. I plan to eventually hang a large canvas print on that wall. That will be the normal focal point of that wall (with the outlets hidden behind it).
