my humble rig.
new entry rookie here









*cables by bro wotiyo 

Wharfedale Diamond 10.1



This is the best i have managed to achieve with the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 speakers prior to selling it & upgraded to a floor stander, a few weeks ago. My previous setup for sharing purposes. You may click on the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 lettering in red for the actual sound posted to You Tube. Cheers

Source: Audio Research CD2
Amplifier: AVI Lab Series Integrated Amplifier Type S21 M1 (175 watts per channel)
Speakers: Wharfedale Diamond 10.1
Interconnects: Van Den Hul The Second
Speaker Cables: Audioquest Midnight 3
Power Conditioner / Stabilizer: Soundstage SAVR3000
Power Cables: XLO Reference 2
Cable Lifters: DIY
Acoustics Treatments: Vicoustic Flexi Pol & RPG Room Diffuser
Racks: Generic + DIY
Isolators: DIY

DAC: Antelope Zodiac; Audio-GD NFB-3
Amplifier: Violectric V200; Marantz PM-6004; Little Dot 1+
Phonostage: Heed questar
Turntable: Rega P7 with Ortofon Rondo Red
Speakers: Linn Majik 109
Headphones: Sennheiser HD800; Grado RS-1i; Grado GS-1000i
Cables: Audioquest King Cobra
Pardon the mess, it's in transition

Indeed, it was an entry level speaker. The sound of diamond 10.1 was shrill, bright & boomy when i 1st brought it home. My intention was to max out the performance of this speaker and find out whether the Stereophile people have overrated it. Well, the money spent in the setup can actually buy me many pairs of Diamond 10.1 but i am proud to admit that after many months of parts matching, amp hunting, tweaking and back breaking exercise in moving the speakers & stands around - the diamond can really sing (when properly set up, the speaker can be very transparent with an airy high and an impressive low, the mid is almost a match to some 'monitor range' speakers.) Having completed the quest, i have since move on, sold off the speakers and upgraded to a floor stander. The sound is now fuller but the quest continues ...

The Audio-GD is more entry level. It cost me around £220= RM1100

The Antelope is a far superior DAC. Cost £1895= RM9200.

Bear in mind the antelope also can function as a pre-amp and has headphone jacks so it negates the need to have a headphone amplifier BUT it's not fantastic. The v200 is leagues ahead of this.

Not in the picture but I did audition it with the system I have for 2 weeks is the Wyred4Sound DAC-2. I had both the Antelope and the W4S sent to me to audition side by side. I bought the Antelope. The W4S is £1350= RM6600.

The W4S was really good but I did not go for it because I found it a bit pretentious. It tried to make things sound forward, a bit like your itunes equaliser. The Antelope had a more natural analogue sound to it. The sound was more fluid, more musical and pleasing.

I forgot to mention that my cabling also consist of Transparent Audio Musiclink Ultra Balanced cables.

PM me if you want to.

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Added on April 6, 2012, 8:18 am
You replaced these with the Mission 782? Floorstanders provide a greater presence but it's very dependent on the room's acoustics. I had to have bookshelves due to the small room volume I have.

With that said, I think you have your priorities right; room acoustics are a pain to refine. Imagine moving the more massive Wilson Audio Alexandria XLF.

Also, the Diamond 10.1 is a good setup for the price. Nice entry level.

RM2.7K For a pair for current market price.

p/s: Can get ~Rm2k sometimes.

My Audio Rig