In my house, music is played after 11pm. Everyone's usually asleep but I'm busy choosing a bunch of vinyl for the night's listening. Usually, in my underwear.

My companion is an Acoustic Research XA Turntable I restored (my late father's, purchased back in 1968. He passed his doctorate and bought himself a killer stereo [AR XA, Fisher Tuner, and a pair of AR 2Ax speakers which still exist, have the original tweeter and midrange drivers and sound amazing]); a Denon DL-103r cart; a Rothwell MCL step-up transformer; an Oppo BDP-103 (for when I need reminding why I listen to vinyl); all going to a Plinius 8150 and out to a pair of Shahinian Obelisks (not seen).

I built the shelving out of solid blocks of sapele and macassar ebony bored out and wall suspended on steel rods welded to a steel plate bolted to the studs. Zero floor vibration. I weigh 260 pounds and I can stomp around the house without even the hint of a skip (from the album, not me).

This setup yields a clear, natural sound that is neither arrogant nor shy. The DL-103r just keeps getting better and better with age. I may (may!) add a subwoofer to support the Obelisks as my home was designed to be the place where bass goes to die.

With jazz, orchestral music and voice the system locks in and disappears into the ether. As you listen, you no longer acknowledge that there is a mechanical process happening. Musical and satisfying. However, with rock or hip hop, the Obelisks sound confused and doing their damnedest to figure "what all this crazy rock n' roll" is all about. Not to worry, my tastes have slowly shifted from Motorhead to Miles.

In all, I'm very happy with this set up and even happier to say it was all bought for under $3k.

Off to listen now.

Cheers!