My Audiophile Desktop System

I have had the Desktop Amp/Dac with Home modules and Desktop PSU for years, and fell hard for the rest of Tyll's Audiophile Desktop brainchild after hearing it at two meets. Tyll even quoted me lusting after the Harbeth rig in a recent Stereophile ad. I truly believe Tyll and HeadRoom have a serious winner on their hands with this setup.

After agonizing over it for a few months, I ultimately realized that I listen to music at my desk for 7-10 hours a day during the week and do not come close to those kind of hours anywhere else I listen. That realization put me over the top and I ordered it up about 10 days ago.

I bought a pair of the Bi-Amp Monoblock Desktop Power Amps, the HeadRoom Desktop Speaker Stands, and a pair of gorgeous cherry wood Harbeth HL-P3ES-2 30th Anniversary Edition mini-monitors. HeadRoom gives a 10% discount for purchasing a setup like this even though it is not their full package with Desktop Amp, cables, etc. All of the new gear arrived on Wednesday of this week, and I believe I ordered it last Wednesday or Thursday. Fast work HeadRoom.

I still have some proper cables to obtain for bi-wiring the Harbeths, but I expect those soon. I am using three brand new Stefan Audio Art Endorphin power cords that are on loan. Even without the ultimate amplification, and with amps, PCs, and speakers fresh out of the box, it already sounds stunning and will only improve with a little playing time. I will try to post up some listening notes along the way, but the improvement from my prior self-powered M-Audio Bx5a speakers is readily apparent. More bottom end and more top end sparkle, the beautiful Harbeth mid-range, better instrument separation, and better imaging were all there already.

I am considering a Squeezebox or an Airport Express to improve the digital transmission and cut down on the impact of my crappy work Dell laptop but for now it is very sweet. Good stuff HeadRoom. I hope you are selling tons of these because it is just as dreamy as I expected.

So, here are some pics to show you a real life system in action.

Thanks guys. No, Miguel, the power amps have a built-in power supply so the Desktop PSU does not power them. I had hoped that was the case, but my understanding is that the amp units incorporate the PS and it would be more effort to change them than made sense to HR.

Not sure what you are asking specifically, but it sounds better than it looks.

Hey Al. CanJam was when I became fixated on the Harbeth system and ultimately I just had to buy it. Now, are you saying you want some even bigger speakers than those on your desktop or do you want to just hook the HeadRoom gear up to something like these:

Hey Tyll, what's wrong with saying good stuff about your products in your own forum! I thought that was what it was for [in part anyway]!

I have been loving this rig, and it just got better in many ways because I received and installed the custom bi-wire cables Nate made for me. The speakers and cables will need more time before either are at their best, but the improvement in separation, definition, extension and even imaging appeared right away.

I totally agree with you on the closer placement of the speakers. When I had my old powered speakers, I put them in the corners of my 6 foot long desk. The image was pretty good, actually, but at HeadFest and CanJam you had the speakers in close on either side of the iMac you were using. I thought that would be too tight, but I like it better this way and the image is very focused, right in the center. I dislike pin-point sound emanating from speakers and love the way these speakers disappear in favor of a musical image in front of me. Hard to do in a small space but it really works so well.

One question: what gain setting do you think is best on the Desktop Amp with the bi-amp monoblocks and Harbeths? I have been on Medium mostly, but I am curious if you have spent time on that question (and could not find it in your literature).

Cheers Tyll!