Tony Bombera

Tempo Electric Loesch phono stage with Genrad 1201B power supplies

'Le Pacific' style JFET phono with battery supply (own design).

Ensemble, Magnet wires, Kimber 8TC, Goertz MI-2.

Four dedicated 10AWG AC lines

Balanced power with two 1500VA torroidal transformers (not used)

Flexy type rack with 1.25" threaded rods and laminated plywood shelves.

Custom basement listening room with 2 built-in 30Hz bass horns. 2 x 6 stud construction with all walls and ceiling floating. Walls are laminated concrete boards with drywall. Side walls are non-parallel to eliminate flutter echo. Audio is powered by dedicated AC lines. Light dimming is performed by remotely controlled 1500VA variac not to create RFI due to light dimmers. Room has built-in conduits for possible surround cabling and digital cabling. Walls and ceiling are heavily insulated. Audio equipment is in a room adjacent to the listening room. Through the wall infrared remote control re-transmission is installed.

My audio journey started in Grade 9 on my way to high school admission exams when I picked up a ham/DIY audio magazine. I was hooked ever since and as a result I started building audio gear and went into electrical engineering. The first amplifier I built was a germanium 2 x 6W integrated. That was followed by speakers, tuner, more powerful quadraphonic amplifier, ... After coming to Canada I did not have time to build gear in early 1980's and bought commercial gear: H&K receiver, DUAL turntables, Nakamichi cassette deck and others. I was not too happy with the sound so in late 1980's building of audio equipment started again: JFET and OP AMP preamplifiers, solid state amplifiers, modifications of tuners, amplifiers, ... Then around 1990 I "discovered" triode tubes and high efficiency speakers and was hooked again. This was in pre-Internet days when it was very difficult to find any information about the emerging SET (single ended triode) movement. Sound Practices magazine was the main source of information in those days. I started building SET amplifiers, preamplifiers, highly efficient speakers and modifying tube equipment. I am slowly getting where I want to be with my equipment. One big project remains: a big 4 way horn speaker system. One day - maybe when I am retired?

More work is required on the phono set up to get it where I would like it to be. In the future, I want to set up my Garrard 301 on a new plinth. I am curious about its sound. I also want to get into the Tape Project to properly use my reel-to-reels. A very

long term plan is to implement the speaker system I wanted for the last 15 years: a 4 way all horn speaker system.

	System Components:

	Amplifier:	Serious Stereo 2A3
		417A - 45 - Tango NC-14 - 45/2A3/300B - Tango OPT (own SET design)

	Preamplifiers/Volume Control:	Passive with 10 Turn pots, Passive S&B 102 MK II Copper TVC
		Passive Dave Slagle Autotransformer
		Tempo Electric Loesch Phono Preamp with Genrad 1201B and passive LC Power Supply
		"Le Pacific" style JFET phono with battery supply (own design).

	Speaker:	GPA 604-8H Coaxial drivers in 9.5 cu ft custom enclosure
		Altec 604E Coaxial drivers in 9.5 cu ft custom enclosure and custom crossover
		30Hz built in horns (upcoming), with Altec 515B drivers, horns, compression drivers, BSS-366 speaker crossover/equalizer/delay unit

	Sources:	CEC TL-51 TX Transport with Meitner BiDat DAC, Rotel 955 CD Player, Philips 760 CD Burner

	Tuner:	McIntosh MR-67 with Modafferi Mods

	Tape Decks:	Nakamichi BX-100 tape deck, Studer 807 MK II reel to reel, Nagra T Audio reel to reel

	Turntable/Phono Stage:	J.C Verdier La Platine Verdier with Battery Power and modified speed control
		SME 3012 II arm, Nagaoka headshell, Denon DL 103 Catrtridge, one piece Cardas wiring to preamp; Fidelity Research FR-64S with Ortofon SPU Reference Gold, Nordost Frey phono interconnect; RS-A1 arm with Audio Note Soara or Shelter 901, Furutech AG12 Phono cable

	Vintage Turntable:	Garrard 301 with grease bearing

	Stepup:	Jensen JT-346 AX MC, Dave Slagle MC Stepup, Peerless 4665 MC, Ortofon Stepup

	Phono Stage:	Tempo Electric Loesch phono stage with Genrad 1201B power supplies 'Le Pacific' style JFET phono with battery supply (own design).

	Speaker Cables:	Ensemble, Magnet wires, Kimber 8TC, Goertz MI-2.

	Intercomments:	Many of own design (copper and silver), Luminous Audio Silver Reference and Reference (without jackets), Audio Note AN Vx, Ensemble DYNAflux fsf, Chimera Laboratories Advantage II, Siltech SQ-110 MK II.

	Power:	Four dedicated 10AWG AC lines Balanced power with two 1500VA torroidal transformers (not used) Flexy type rack with 1.25" threaded rods and laminated plywood shelves.

	Room Treatment	Custom basement listening room with 2 built-in 30Hz bass horns. 2 x 6 stud construction with all walls and ceiling floating. Walls are laminated concrete boards with drywall. Side walls are non-parallel to eliminate flutter echo. Audio is powered by dedicated AC lines. Light dimming is performed by remotely controlled 1500VA variac not to create RFI due to light dimmers. Room has built-in conduits for possible surround cabling and digital cabling. Walls and ceiling are heavily insulated. Audio equipment is in a room adjacent to the listening room. Through the wall infrared remote control re-transmission is installed.