Snakeoil Salesman 2 channel setup

[agent_kith]

I really need to update this thread more regularly on the changes and tweaks made. In the interests of explaining how "house sound" of Snakeoil OS is derived.

So here's the latest additions made - Two interconnects have been replaced.

1. A Oyaide Continental 5S USB cable replacing a Furutech GT
   
2. Lenehan RTek XLRs replaced some DIY monstrosity ones I've made 5 years ago.
   

Here's the close up of the Oyaide. Kindly on loan from TP1.
   
And briefly here's the difference this cable made when compared to teh Furutech:

• Improved clarity - allowing me to listen more into the micro details, include some minor distortions on tracks that are probably mastered way too loud than they need to be.
  
• Highs are extend longer and sounds smoother (e.g. triangles)
  
• Better left right speaker integration - the speakers disappear even more now
  
• More body and weight to the music (not sure how to describe this
  
• Depth perception is improved, and it's easier for me to picture sounds from the background and foreground. Sounds that appear in front of the speaker now appears more apparent whereas it was a bit fuzzy when using the Furutech.
  

The differences between the two cables may appear to be slight. But over time the differences really does stand out, and this is a worthy upgrade over the Furutech. Especially so if you listen to a lot of music that features guitars and piano prominently. This cable is also excellent if you listen to a lot of tracks that has vocals accompanined by a small emsemble (No more than 4 instruments).

The second upgrade of course are the RibbonTeks. Lenenen is a genius bookshelf speaker maker and he also made some interconnects. Been meaning to get this cable for a while now and finally landed a pair for a good price.

   

So these cables are replacing the cables for my old SACD player. The SACD player is not used much, it's mainly used as a reference point when I am evaluating Snakeoil OS. Think of this as calibrating myself so I do not stray too far when it comes to Snakeoil OS development.

So overall this is the current system I am using now. Doesn't offer the type of bling you tend to see in the magazines, but for now it gets the job done.

   

Here's the equipment of my system as of 10 August 2018:

Electronics

• Marantz SC-11 S1 (Pre Amplifer)
  
• Marantz SM-11 S1 (Power Amplifier)
  
• Marantz SA-11 S2 (CD/SACD Player)
  
• Accuphase DC-37
  

Speakers

• Lenehan Audio ML-1 Ultras (Speakers)
  
• TuneStands (Speaker stands)
  

Power Supply/Regeneration

• Modified Uptone JS-2 (Powering Computer mainboard and Paul PangUSB)
  
• HDPlex Linear Power Supply (Powering AR R-77 and Ethernet Switch)
  
• PSAudio P5 Power Plant
  

Snakeoil Tweaks

• Acoustic Revive r-77 (Schumann Resonance thingamajingy)
  
• VALab Isolation Feets
  
• MSAudio Isolation Feets
  
• 'Earthquake Gel' from Daiso
  
• IKEA chopping boards (Isolation)
  
• AMG Toppers (Sits on top of ML-1 Ultras)
  

Computer

• Jetway 2600 NF9C
  
• Lexar CFast card
  
• PPA USB card
  
• Intel E1000 NIC
  
• PCI riser
  
• mPCI-E to 1x PCI-e riser
  

Interconnects

• Kimber SilverStreak XLR (From pre to power amp)
  
• Achtung XLR (From DC-37 to pre)
  
• Lenehan RTek XLR (From SACD Player to pre)
  
• Lenehan RTek spades (From power amp to speakers)
  
• Oyaide Continental 5S (from PPA to DC-37)
  
• Hospital rated network cables (From wall to switch, and from switch to PC)
  

Other Accessories

• 2x Bass traps (2 front corners)
  
• 3x Panel traps (2 front 1 back)
  
• ClearAudio Diamond power cables
  

Networking and NAS

• HP Microserver N54L (5x 4TB Hitachis), running FreeNAS 11.1 U5
  
• HP Procurve Layer 2 switches (1x 24 port and 1x 8 port)