Great to see so many Stenheim users here! I’ve has my 5s for a few years now and love them. Never heard the 5SE but very curious what sonic changes they bring. Did any of you A/B test?
Agree the design is great for non-dedicated or smaller rooms. They have a lot more internal volume than most speakers their size (aluminum allows for very thin walls vs other materials) and the front ports make them forgiving to placement closer to the rear wall.
A true monster amp! Couldn’t belive the size when I saw one in person. You getting the Commander next?
I like and have used silver cables throughout my system (Acoustic Zen Absolute silver) however I recently discovered Stealth Indra and Sakra ICs which took my system to another level.
I had one already and that was the main reason to do the upgrade. Wonderful machines.
Nice system. I’m very curious to compare that speakers with the Wilson Alexia 2
That might prove tricky to organise
455lbs of amplifier wow
Gorgeous system Gregg!
Thank you Richard!
I guess at this point, after spending almost one year building out my new system (after 20+ years with a Naim 500 system) it is time to fully update the photos. Below is the room, the view from the listeners chair, and a closeup of the electronics. The last pieces of the puzzle have more or less arrived. Siltech Silver speaker cables were installed this week and the matching Siltech interconnect will be here in September. Furutech power cables are slowly drifting in. The Naim Fraim will be the last to go and will most likely be replaced by a double width HRS Silver rack as found at Chez @struts001
As always thanks to @all2ofme who laid the groundwork for this massive system overhaul. Another thanks to @Dunc who showed us Naimees there was indeed life outside of Salisbury Green.
Best
Gregg
DarTZeel NHB-108 model two
DarTZeel NHB-18NS mk2
Rossini APEX + Clock
Linn Klimax LP12
Stenheim Alumine 5SE
Ohhhh Stenheims 
I’ve only read reviews. None of the dealers around here have them. I really want to hear them. They’re supposed to rock with those 2 tens. My one dealer said they have no bass. I can’t believe that. He might have only heard the smaller ones. Or just weren’t set up right at a show. Any insights would be appreciated.
He definitely must have heard the stand mounts.
Just have a look at the two bottom drivers - there definitely is bass
Agree with Gregg — the systems I’ve heard the 5SE in haven’t been lacking bass. (In fact, had they been, Gregg wouldn’t have bought a pair. QED 
)
Very nice Gregg – lovely setup.
Best Sir,
Bob
What is it that you don’t miss the most? I migrated from a much more modest Naim system (just to get off of the ‘Naim Train’), and, for me, I really don’t miss the high-gain his, or the entirely random earthing ‘hum’. But mainly it’s the cables!
I second your comments about the bass - more than enough to keep a smile on my face!
The Dartzeel look good…
I think you did a good job listing these three😆
As for DarTZeel just two cables required between amplifier and preamplifier. And…no cable maintenance (Burndy de stressing, cleaning of contacts etc.)
VAC Statement Preamp arrived (20 week wait!!! - Dam), racks rearranged and now waiting on Wilson to replace one lower module on the Alexia V speakers (Oct 4th ship date I’m told). Dealer will then come up and WASP the suckers into place. No sense doing it with the speaker that is being replaced; Wasp it, place spikes (Acoustic Diodes as Wilson calls 'em) and then remove, replace with newer module & repeat. Waste of effort.
Since the VAC Renaissance phono preamp has its power supply in the rear of the rack on the floor, decided to place the main box on top of the dCS Vivaldi APEX DAC (won’t use both at same time - so, no fear of emissions percolating & causing issues).
Anyways – sounds superb as one would expect, but will sound much, much better once the speakers are WASP’d and on spikes.
You can tell I own a Vivaldi 3 box (and Rossini CD/SACD) because # of cables ( 
)
As of 08/26/2024
VAC 450iQ Mono Amps
VAC Statement Preamplifier
VAC Renaissance Special Edition Phono Preamplifier w/6 Gold Lion 12AX7 Gold Pins & XLR Outputs
SME 20/2 Turntable w/SME Series V Tone Arm & Sumiko Palo Santos Presentation Cartridge
Akai GX-400D Reel-to-Reel w/relapped heads by JFR Magnetic Sciences, Akai RC-17 cabled remote (Original Owner since 1974)
dCS Rossini CD/SACD Transport
dCS Vivaldi APEX DAC
dCS Vivaldi Upsampler Plus (+)
dCS Vivaldi Clock
Wilson Alexia V speakers (awaiting dealer WASP protocols and placement of Wilson Acoustic Diodes). In meantime, putting hours on these marvels.
2 Furutech GTX-D NCF ® 20A Duplex Outlets/plate/cover on 2 Dedicated 20A runs on same phase in power panel.
Ansuz Mainz C3 Power Distributor
Ansuz Mainz C2 1M power cable to the Furutech wall outlet
2 HRS M3X2-1921 Isolation shelves with G7 Footers/G-Links & Sound Anchors Conecoasters
1 HRS M3X2-1921 Isolation Shelf (for TT)
1 HRS DPX-14545 Damping Plates
3 Ansuz Mainz T2 Footers
1 Ansuz Mainz T2 Adjustable Footer
Nordost Odin 2 Supreme Reference 2M speaker cables resting on 4 Sort Lifts
1 Nordost Odin 2 Power Cable 1.25M feeding Statement Preamp
7 Nordost Odin 1 Supreme Reference Power Cables, 1.25M
1 Nordost Tyr 2 Power Cable, 1.25M
1 Nordost Heimdall 2 Power Cable, 1.25M
2 Nordost Odin 2 XLR/XLR, 1.25M
2 Nordost Odin 1 XLR/XLR, 2M
5 Nordost Valhalla 1 Digital BNC/BNC 75-ohm Clock Cables, 1.25M
2 Nordost Odin 2 digital AES/EBU Cables, 110 ohm 1.25M
1 Nordost Odin 2 Tone Arm Cable 1.25M
1 WireWorld Platinum Starlight 8 Ethernet Cable, 2M
Audio Desk PRO Record Cleaning Machine
ENM hour Meter (hand built & records hours & tenths of audio play time - runs off VAC Statement Preamplifier 12v trigger)
Tube Test sets: Maximatcher 2 Power Tube tester, Maximatcher Preamp 2 tester, HealthKit TT-1A, Space-Tech Labs ATT-3.02 tube tester.
Best to all,
Bob
Hardly anything to show off (visually) but I did introduce some new cables and fuses in my system.
I upgraded my interlinks to Stealth Audio Sakra and Indra.
Also put some Synergistic Research purple fuses in the amplification, I think I like the outcome. I probably need one in my DAC as well.
Although I am late to the club but maybe it’s never too late. I could have had my vivaldi stack after listening to the 2.0 version at KJ years ago but things not always go exactly as planned.
Also I was deep into my other passion with acoustic guitars and totally ignored hifi for years before coming back in late 2022, after extending my house and build my dream room for a completely new system that both the amps and speakers were custom made for me.
I bought my vivaldi transport (mk1) and apex dac in January this year before adding the upsampler and clock shortly after. Now I’m trying to find my ultimate cables and maybe that’s it before I can think of varese. But honestly, for me, the vivaldi boxes are the most beautiful things among all other digital systems.
My modest setup in a moderate room is here 
Cool room!
