Hubba hubba!
Congrats!!
You use Vivaldi as pre-amp with Aurender (N20?) as only source?
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Aurender W20SE dual aes → Vivaldi apex → ARC ref. 160S → TAD e1tx
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Beautiful room
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Very nice!
I bet that your system sounds fantastic! 
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There has been some criticism of TAD on this forum before and I personally believe that should be revisited. The brand has great pedigree and history, and benefits from cost-no-object Japanese engineering. I personally am very interested in what TAD has to offer.
I know Jay’s Audio is not everyone’s cup of tea–he’s trying to build a YouTube channel, and therefore is marketing heavy–but he is also one of the only people in the world with regularly $1MM worth of audio gear in the room, and the time to listen and compare this level of equipment.
This recent review was very favorable about the TAD Reference monitor, a speaker I would very much like to hear:
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I have listened to many high-end systems, and I am convinced that TAD ranks right at the very top. They excel especially in smaller rooms, where their precision and coherence truly shine.
Just keep in mind that these speakers are extremely revealing, they will expose every shortcoming in both your system and your room.
Congratulations 
with this beautiful purchase. Enjoy them for many years to come!
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The TAD speakers are excellent.
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Went looking - wasn’t dissapointed - beautiful setup Gregg 
Seen the later pics too - the new rack is a stunner.
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I think we must have had the same conversation with the same Bedfordshire based dealer at the same time Dunc!
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dCS Vivaldi Apex Stack
Soulution 727 preamplifier
Innuos PhoenixNET network switch
TriPoint Emperor ground station
MBL 9008 A monoblock amplifiers
MBL 101 E MKII speakers
Shunyata Research Omega digital interconnects, clock and internet cables
Shunyata Research Everest power distributors
Wireworld Platinum Eclipse 10 analog interconnects and speaker cables
AudioQuest Dragon power cables
Dedicated audio room
Really sublime sound from this kit 
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Great looking system. Would you know what the current situation is with MBL? Hopefully, they’ve found a way to stay in business.
Actually I do not miss subs. My room has excellent bass response, perhaps due to cement block walls and cement slab floor (I live in the Tampa, FL area - hurricane construction to survive 150 mph winds). In fact I had to do a lot of sound treatment due the construction of the room. Untreated there was tremendous bass boom and midrange treble brightness.
I understand that MBL N.A. is not affected (so far).
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Ned, that’s a really nice set up, and the new fascia too, so a recent buy.
Have you tried using the Vivaldi Apex direct to the monos? I use my Halcro pre but the difference between using that and direct is quite small.
I too thought I didn’t need subs, but then visited a friend who owns 101 extremes with 4 x 9008a’s and realised what I was missing in the low bass, hence the twin REL Carbon Specials, which I’m really happy with. I spoke to MBL at the time and the option to get the bass towers was there but, the price 
Hopefully the MBL reorganisation will get sorted soon. Their unique technology really should stay available to the market. Happily, their amps and speakers are pretty bomb-proof so the chances of ever needing mods or repairs are very low.
PS.. I can recommend the Townsend Podiums for the speakers.
Agree, the best preamps do a very good job of getting out of the way, although I have yet to hear one that does it completely.
We used the Soulution 727 at the Varèse launch in Taiwan as the balanced interconnects in that system were incredibly stiff and made hot swapping really difficult. I have to say it is one of the most transparent I have ever heard. I still prefer going straight to power amps when there are no analog sources in play, but mileage varies a lot. With some preamps it makes a night-and-day difference, with others just another small incremental improvement.
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I have a slightly different view - or rather come at this from a slightly different angle.
My experience of preamps is they make a huge positive difference to the sound and my enjoyment of music. I remember going from a Naim 252 to a Naim 552 and it being a revelation. Same from (recently) going from an Accuphase 2300 to a 3900. Bigger sound stages, more depth of bass, more air - yes all that HiFi stuff - but on both occasion they just sounded more “right” - From digital sources connected via analogue XLR.
I use analogue - so not having a preamp isn’t an option - but still. Is it just that these devices were just better at getting out of the way than the one before it? …well - yes and no. I think they are. But I also think they bring something positive to the sound. A sonic character. Is that “pure” - no - is it “good” …well yes!
So I think there is a trade off as ever in high quality audio between what is true and what is enjoyable, and that’s a personal thing.
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I previously used the Vivaldi DAC to drive the amplifiers directly. I just found there was not the dynamic force a good preamplifier with a massive power supply can provide. I previously used the Soulution 725 preamplifier, but the new Soulution 727 is a leap forward in low noise floor, dynamics and frequency extension (much like the Apex upgrade to the original Vivaldi). The 727 is a great match with the MBL 9008 A amplifiers. I like the muscular drive that a preamplifier with a robust power supply provides. I auditioned the very low noise Benchmark LA4 previously, and found it added no advantage over direct DAC to amplifier, likely due the small internal power supply. There was simply no muscle to drive the amplifiers to my satisfaction. Hence the Soulution 727 with its massive power reserve providing explosive micro and macro dynamics. I will concede that the use of a very transparent preamplifier is a very expensive additional expenditure, but I find it worth it in my system.
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You said it better than me - I’m with you 100%
For me I’ve yet to a hear a source that isn’t improved by a good preamp.
To this end I find it a little odd that there isn’t a “fixed” output option for the Rossini (not sure about others) rather than just turning the volume to 0.0Db…happy for somebody to tell me I’m doing it wrong and there is, or indeed that it doesn’t actually matter; but my wife turns it down sometimes and it often takes me a while to realise…so I’d prefer to have that “fixed output” option!
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No question that what you hear and like is your preference, but:
Soulution 727 pre:
Output voltage max :
14Vpp balanced (XLR)
7Vpp unbalanced (RCA)
Benchmark LA4 pre:
Maximum Input and Output Voltage : 20 Vrms (+28 dBu)
Vpp = Peak-to-Peak Voltage
14 Vpp = 4.949747 Vrms
(For Peak Voltage (Vp): Vrms = Vp / √2)
So 20 Vrms = 56.568 Vpp