• Wadia 861SE CD player
• Wadia 170i transport
• Audio Research Reference 110 power amplifier
• Nola Viper Reference loudspeakers

• Using stock AC power cords significantly undermines system performance.
• There is no separate clean AC ground for the electronics.

• The use of relatively "massive" shelving in combination with the standard feet fitted to the equipment provides a poor, mechanically resonant support environment.
• In creating a fixed system installation, it is worth remembering that you may well want to add additional sources (computer audio or A/V) in the future.

The challenge is to at least equal but preferably to better the performance of the system in its conventional, open-rack installation.

Benefits: An immediate improvement in the shape, clarity and focus at low frequencies, which translated directly into greater drive and pace, dynamics and impact in the music. Definition of bass notes still left a lot to be desired, but musical shape, phrasing and flow were all significantly improved, with performances starting to fall into place. Connecting or disconnecting the ground wire produced readily audible improvements in transparency and tonal color, as well as a drop in the system's noise floor.

Benefits: A natural extension of the improvements delivered by the QB8, the improved power cords added significant shape, definition and texture to the sound right across the range, adding presence and purpose to the sense of musical flow established by the distribution block and grounding. Shifts in musical weight were more dramatic, and bass notes went much deeper.

Benefits: Integration, timing and rhythmic integrity improved, and the soundstage became far more coherent and better defined, with improved depth and a real sense of volume.

Benefits: There was a significant and immediately obvious improvement in the amount of detail, focus and transparency in the system, although at the expense of some tonal thinning. The music was quicker and rhythmically tighter, with more clearly defined space between the players. This was clearly a step in the right direction, but needed further refinement.

Benefits: This instantly restored substance and weight to the system but also created a noticeably more natural sense of pace and timing.

Benefits: Further gains in weight, body, color and dynamic range. The whole sound gained presence and energy, but the positioning of the Kones proved critical. Under the amp, we settled on one Kone (point up) under the mains transformer with the others under the output tubes (point down), while under the Wadia CD player the best positions were point up under the AC input and transport, point down under the DAC board. These variations were quite noticeable, and a little experimentation brought significant improvements in focus, dynamic range and clarity. This is to do with coupling the equipment to the lossy "ground" provided by the constrained-layer shelves, allowing spurious mechanical energy to escape -- a perfect example of Foundation Theory in practice.

Benefits: A significant drop in the noise floor and grain within the soundstage. Instrumental colors and textures became richer, but the real benefit was in terms of vocals, which became far more natural and believable.

Benefits: The Qx4 reduced the noise floor further, revealing greater detail and more space within recordings, but the real benefit was in the way it seemed to deliver a more natural, more believable and more "live" musical performance. The sound stepped away from the speakers, becoming more immediate and much more involving. Using the Frey 2 between the wall and the Qx4 might seem to make more sense, but experimentation showed that we achieved a greater sense of presence and musical purpose with it feeding the QB8. The Qx4 was placed on the shelf next to the 171i.

Benefits: The Qv2s delivered more color, more space and another increase in the sense of musical flow, bringing out the tube characteristics of the Reference 110, making it an even better foil for the digital precision and detail of the Wadia.

Benefits: This generated greater clarity, transparency and focus, with much crisper and more precise timing and placement of notes. The sense of greater musical organization that comes with each extra element of QRT was obviously apparent, but the Qx2 also seemed to deliver a touch of what can only be described as extra "sweetness" to the sound, a naturalness to both colors and dynamics, making the system far more intimate and expressive. The Qx2 was placed beside the QB8 on the lowest shelf, which made for easier vertical cable dressing.

Benefits: Cable dressing can be heard in further drops in the noise floor and a crisper, more "planted" feel of rhythmic security underpinning the music.

The system is currently working so well that upgrade-itis has been well and truly banished. But when that time does come, the obvious path would be as follows:

• Upgrade the power cords to Frey 2 throughout.
• Upgrade the interconnects and speaker cables to second-generation, mechanically tuned versions -- including the digital lead between the Wadia 171i and the 861SE.
• Add a multi-standard A/V source, so that the main system can provide sound for the TV.
• Look at even more sophisticated solutions for the shelves within the cabinet.

These steps might seem a long way off, but they will in turn deliver even more performance from the high-quality electronics on which the system is based.