Tier Lo · Characterful (listening philosophy, open architecture)

Costs appear only as signed percentages against each tier’s (unpublished) baseline; absolute prices are not shown.

Forward (source-first)

SlotComponent
CartridgeKoetsu Black Goldline MC
TonearmRoksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm
TurntableRoksan Attessa Turntable
Phono stageRega Aria Mk3 MM/MC
PreamplifierIcon Audio LA-4 MkIII (Standard)
Power amplifierAudiolab 9000P
LoudspeakersWharfedale Diamond 12.1
SubwooferBK Electronics XLS200-DF MK2
Chain cost vs tier baseline−1.5%
65.8
node quality
6.35
edge synergy (raw 6.35, 6 edges)
0.00
drive delta (drive 4.65x)
power
architecture

Feasible; no blockers.

Architecture competition

ArchitectureQualitySynergyCost vs baselineFeasibleWon
integrated67.34.13+0.4%yes
power65.86.35−1.5%yes
mono66.34.27−1.5%yes

Costs appear only as signed percentages against each tier’s (unpublished) baseline; absolute prices are not shown.

Aft (speaker-first)

SlotComponent
LoudspeakersEpos ES-7N
Power amplifierRoksan Caspian 4G Power Amplifier
PreamplifierNVA P50SA MKII
Phono stageRega Aria Mk3 MM/MC
CartridgeSumiko Songbird Low MC
TonearmProJect Tonearm 8.6 Carbon (Debut PRO)
TurntablePro-Ject Debut Pro (with cart)
SubwooferBK Electronics XLS200-DF MK2
Chain cost vs tier baseline+0.4%
66.2
node quality
6.32
edge synergy (raw 6.32, 6 edges)
0.00
drive delta (drive 3.84x)
power
architecture

Feasible; no blockers.

Architecture competition

ArchitectureQualitySynergyCost vs baselineFeasibleWon
integrated67.63.21+0.5%yes
power66.26.32+0.4%yes
mono67.56.28+0.6%yes