Jacques and his wife arrived in Istanbul a year and a half ago and live in a flat which has an exquisite view of the Bophorus, Marmara sea, Princes' Islands and the old city (I wish my digital camera had a wider angle lens! But nevertheless I  took a picture which covers only a very small portion of their view and which,  at the background, shows part of Topkapi Palace, St. Sophie and Blue Mosques).

His system sits in the main living room (10 x 6 m) and blends perfectly with Jacques' rustic Mexican decoration. WAF was only an issue during the early years of their marriage but when she realized the degree of his incurability, she gave up. 

Jacques only very recently heard about Istanbul Hi-Fi Club and immediately became a member.  He listens to classical (70%), 60's rock (20%), world music (5%) and soundtracks (5%). The CD's he uses for evaluation purposes are the followings:

• Vivaldi / Recorder concertos / Holtslag, The Parley Instruments / Hyperion CDA 66328
• "Primal Fear" soundtrack / Milan 74321 35545-2
• Eagles / Hell Freezes Over / GED 24725

System's Components
 

Turntable:	Rega Planar 3
Arm:	Rega RB 300
Cartridge:	Grado ZF1
CD Player:	Krell DSP Mk.II
CD Recorder:	Pioneer PDR 04
Preamp:	Krell KRC
Power Amp:	Krell KSA 250
Speakers:	Snell Type B
Interconnects:	StraightWire Maestro
Speaker Cables:	StraightWire Maestro (bi-wired)

Jacques's comments about his System:

AA: "Jacques, how would you describe your system's sound?"
JF: "It is detailed and has deep, controlled bass."
AA: "Do you think there is room for improvement?"
JF: "Yes, I think I could improve on resolution and stage size."
AA: "Have you got plans for upgrading?"
JF: "Yes, power amplifiers first. I'm thinking of the Krell KBP 600's, and also the speakers at a later stage."