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The "main" stereo system is in the listening room. It includes:

Smaller stereos are scattered around where they fit the usage and the decor. I think having a nice, unobtrusive-yet-sophisticated stereo in the kitchen and dining area is important. This one here has the distinction of being made up of all slightly odd-shaped pieces.

Okay, you caught me. A couple of jumpers made from gauge 00 welding wire isn't a true audiophile speaker cable. Still, you have to admit, it does have a certain style.

These Acoustic Energy AE-1 speakers are another pair that had a few adventures before winding up here. My brother Isak--from whom I've bought a lot of stereo hand-me-downs over the years--bought them new, complete with these unusual white column stands that were shipped, complete with lead filling, straight from England. They were a good pair of small speakers, but eventually he ended up selling them through an ad in the paper.

Years later, for no particular reason, I was doing a bit of redecorating and I just happened to think of how nice Isak's old pair of Rosewood AE-1s would look right there with their while columns. I took a look in the classified ads and, lo and behold, there was a pair of AE1's being offered for sale. As fate (there's that word again) would have it, they did happen to be the same pair my brother had owned years ago.

Down in the weight room, you obviously want something bigger and heavier, and that's where the Snell Type A speakers lurk. In between them is the rock-solid stereo "rack" that I made from solid rock: slabs of shale supported by sandstone blocks.

The tape deck is the Optimus CDT-2000 DCC deck which I've never actually used to record or play DCC tapes. I got it because I thought it would be nice to have a tape deck with a remote control and, offhand, I can't think of any just plain cassette tape decks that have remotes.

The bad news is that it turned out that the remote was missing and, at least back when I'd tried to replace it, no universal remotes--not even the ones sold under the Radio Shack/Optimus brand name--supported it. I haven't listened to a tape down there in years anyway, so I stopped worrying about it.

The IRS Beta panels are set up at the moment in "Edit Room A" upstairs, which has the computers I use for graphics, video editing, and DVD authoring and duplication.

Speaking of the Infinity IRS Betas, here's how they look down in the theater.

The Beta subs are powered by a Bryston 4B amp; the rest of the speakers down here are Genesis (Arnie Nudell's company after Infinity) 8300s, powered by a couple of Aragon 4004mkII amps.

Since the picture above was taken, I've switched preamp/processors (again); this month it's now a Fosgate Audionics FAP-T1+

This little Bang and Olufsen system may be little, but it takes the prize for "largest remote control" with a remote that's nearly as big as one of the components. While it's very nice and high-tech looking, it's not intended for hand-held use so much as something you could put on a lap desk.

The Proceed PAV and Philips CDV-488 Laserdisk player are both trying to catch up, with remotes the size of a small hardcover book. On the lighter side, Enlightened Audio Designs gets the prize for the classiest remote for their Theatermaster preamp. This remote feels like it's been carved and polished from a solid metal ingot. Jeff Rowland and Audio Alchemy have both eschewed plastic remotes for their Consummate and Digital Line Controller preamps; theirs are made from machined steel plates screwed together for an industrial flavor.

No stereo system would be complete without interconnects and speaker cables, so I have an assortment of them. Unfortunately, much like computre cables, it's tough to keep them neat and tidy looking, but I try. None of the stereos are entirely consistent as far as brand, model, or color, which I'm sure would horrify plenty of people. You can see here that the big stereo has a mixture of Straightwire Maestro, XLO balanced cables, MIT "Music Hose" cable, and cables from Wireworld and Audio Magic. I even have Cardas "audiophile" power cords. I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to estimate how much difference it makes to put a meter of "audiophile" power cord in series with a few hundred feet of Romex cable, an assortment of junctions made with wire nuts, and the local power company's distribution wiring.

But I have them anyway, just 'cause. Call it art.

Some accessories are just *too* glamorous to put behind a couple of pieces of stereo equipment, like this pair of Kimber Kable "KCAG" Pure silver balanced interconnect. But it's too big to wear and, even though the colors would certainly be right to wear with a black tux, regretfully, I think it would still look too silly to do so.