Any audiophiles on this forum?

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
fogalog
Posts: 414
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 10:31 am

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by fogalog »

TomatoTomahto wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2019 9:48 am Enid. Enid Lumley! Are you there?

For a while, I bought into a lot of the cable/power conditioner stuff. Cost me an arm and a leg. Now, I just have my Martin Logans (w/sub) and Anthem Integrated Amp sourced via TIDAL. The sound is vastly improved because of room treatments and ARC (not Audio Return Channel; Anthem Room Correction). Hardware is sufficient for the job at hand.
Apologies in advance for hijacking the thread but would you care to say more about why you chose Anthem? I have a 10-year old Lyngdorf TDAI 2200 w/ RoomPerfect. I have this for providing music in a room with very bad acoustics (16' ceilings, a full 20x16 wall of glass, concrete floors). I cant do much by way of treatments and so hence room correction. The Lyngdorf TDAI 2200 does a great job - much better than I ever expected - but I am thinking of replacing it (for other reasons). Would you recommend the Anthem?

Thanks in advance...
User avatar
telemark
Posts: 3389
Joined: Sat Aug 11, 2012 6:35 am

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by telemark »

krafty81 wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2019 6:10 pm I am underwhelmed by my Sonos Play speakers. Is there a setting I could be missing or something?
On settings, there is an equalizer option, and if you have an iOS device you can use it to tune the speakers for the room they're in. But as I've noted previously in this thread, I got better sound for less money using a Sonos Connect with powered bookshelf speakers, even though the Connect is overpriced.
User avatar
TomatoTomahto
Posts: 17100
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:48 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

fogalog wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2019 11:07 am
TomatoTomahto wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2019 9:48 am Enid. Enid Lumley! Are you there?

For a while, I bought into a lot of the cable/power conditioner stuff. Cost me an arm and a leg. Now, I just have my Martin Logans (w/sub) and Anthem Integrated Amp sourced via TIDAL. The sound is vastly improved because of room treatments and ARC (not Audio Return Channel; Anthem Room Correction). Hardware is sufficient for the job at hand.
Apologies in advance for hijacking the thread but would you care to say more about why you chose Anthem? I have a 10-year old Lyngdorf TDAI 2200 w/ RoomPerfect. I have this for providing music in a room with very bad acoustics (16' ceilings, a full 20x16 wall of glass, concrete floors). I cant do much by way of treatments and so hence room correction. The Lyngdorf TDAI 2200 does a great job - much better than I ever expected - but I am thinking of replacing it (for other reasons). Would you recommend the Anthem?

Thanks in advance...
We bought the house and it had a media room with 5.1. We removed the projector and did some room treatments, but kept the in-wall speakers. I wanted to add a sub (the old owners had taken theirs), and their very good Marantz receiver just couldn't seem to get the speakers and sub to work well together. I was getting frustrated, ordered the lowest priced Anthem surround sound receiver and was shocked how easy peasy it was to have great sound in the room.

So, when we added music to our large room (also high ceilings like yours, lots of glass, multiple open doorways, etc.), I decided to try Anthem's Integrated Amplifier. It has worked wonderfully! I use it even for our soundbars.

I don't know RoomPerfect, so have no idea how it compares to ARC.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
iamlucky13
Posts: 3512
Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2017 4:28 pm
Location: Western Washington

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by iamlucky13 »

02nz wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2019 8:43 pm
honduranhurricane wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2019 8:08 pm Not an audiophile but curious when I saw all the Sonos comments. Is Sonos better than Bose? Or is that not a proper comparison?
Audiophiles turn up their noses at both (in much the same way that many coffee snobs turn up their noses at Starbucks or at Nespresso), because Sonos and Bose don't conform to purist audiophile notions of how sound should be reproduced and, I suspect, because of their mass-market success. Sonos has been especially successful in the digital age. If you're looking to spend say $400 on a speaker system rather on than on just speaker cables, Sonos is hard to beat for its combination of usability and sound quality. Can you have better sound if you spend more? Of course. The audiophile world can be a financial bottomless pit, where $2000 speakers (just passive speakers, no amplification, no playback device) are considered "entry-level."
There are many audiophiles who buy mass market brands like Pioneer or Infinity, so the theory of despising success doesn't fit.

The "purist" notion is accurate sound.

Bose didn't fall into their reputation by accident of their success. They prioritized perceived volume over accuracy and charged significantly more for a given level of build quality than most competitors.

They're not the only ones to do so. One of the worst sounding audio products I've heard, far worse than anything Bose makes, was a pair of Beats headphones with unbelievably muddy, overbearing bass, yet that brand achieved very rapid success by meeting the expectations of their target market.

To Bose's credit, they also prioritize ease of use, which is of obvious value to those who don't want to spend a lot of time and effort setting up a system, and all of the Bose products I've heard have had clear sound, even if they do usually design in a big bump in the mid-bass and again in the mid-treble to make them stand out. You could do a lot worse, and I'd say the overall treatment of Bose in audiophile circles has become exaggerated over the years.

Sonos also provided ease of use in wireless speakers, and sound that most users found acceptable, so again, they had a good pathway to success as wireless speakers gained popularity.
User avatar
TomatoTomahto
Posts: 17100
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:48 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

iamlucky13 wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2019 2:28 pm
There are many audiophiles who buy mass market brands like Pioneer or Infinity, so the theory of despising success doesn't fit.

The "purist" notion is accurate sound.
BHs would probably approve of many "audiophile" favorites:
  • Grado cartridges
    Double Advent speakers
    AR turntables
They all sounded much better than their pricetag would lead you to expect.

And, for what it's worth, one of my TVs has a Bose soundbar underneath (because of space limitations). It does not sound half bad.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
02nz
Posts: 10476
Joined: Wed Feb 21, 2018 2:17 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by 02nz »

iamlucky13 wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2019 2:28 pm
02nz wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2019 8:43 pm
honduranhurricane wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2019 8:08 pm Not an audiophile but curious when I saw all the Sonos comments. Is Sonos better than Bose? Or is that not a proper comparison?
Audiophiles turn up their noses at both (in much the same way that many coffee snobs turn up their noses at Starbucks or at Nespresso), because Sonos and Bose don't conform to purist audiophile notions of how sound should be reproduced and, I suspect, because of their mass-market success. Sonos has been especially successful in the digital age. If you're looking to spend say $400 on a speaker system rather on than on just speaker cables, Sonos is hard to beat for its combination of usability and sound quality. Can you have better sound if you spend more? Of course. The audiophile world can be a financial bottomless pit, where $2000 speakers (just passive speakers, no amplification, no playback device) are considered "entry-level."
There are many audiophiles who buy mass market brands like Pioneer or Infinity, so the theory of despising success doesn't fit.

The "purist" notion is accurate sound.

Bose didn't fall into their reputation by accident of their success. They prioritized perceived volume over accuracy and charged significantly more for a given level of build quality than most competitors.

They're not the only ones to do so. One of the worst sounding audio products I've heard, far worse than anything Bose makes, was a pair of Beats headphones with unbelievably muddy, overbearing bass, yet that brand achieved very rapid success by meeting the expectations of their target market.

To Bose's credit, they also prioritize ease of use, which is of obvious value to those who don't want to spend a lot of time and effort setting up a system, and all of the Bose products I've heard have had clear sound, even if they do usually design in a big bump in the mid-bass and again in the mid-treble to make them stand out. You could do a lot worse, and I'd say the overall treatment of Bose in audiophile circles has become exaggerated over the years.

Sonos also provided ease of use in wireless speakers, and sound that most users found acceptable, so again, they had a good pathway to success as wireless speakers gained popularity.
I doubt the majority of the population knows of Pioneer, Infinity, Denon, or any number of mass-market electronics brands outside of maybe Sony and Panasonic. But everybody has heard of Bose. As I noted in my earlier post, part of the reason for audiophiles' distaste is sound, but another part of the reason - maybe not among all audiophiles, but certainly among some - is distaste with Bose's commercial success.
EnjoyIt
Posts: 8244
Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2013 7:06 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by EnjoyIt »

watchnerd wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2019 8:48 pm
stoptothink wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2019 8:46 pm
honduranhurricane wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2019 8:08 pm Not an audiophile but curious when I saw all the Sonos comments. Is Sonos better than Bose? Or is that not a proper comparison?
Not a proper comparison. They both have (or had) a niche/gimmick and were way overrated/overpriced because of it. Bose had those tiny speakers (that didn't sound good if they costed half as much...but they were small) and Sonos were kind of the first "smart speakers" on the market and there are now plenty of alternatives. They are both OK, but similar performance can be had at a much better pricepoint.
Yeah Sonos was SOTA in about 2014 or so.

They've lost a lot of ground since.
Sonos speakers are a great way for sending audio throughout the house where quality is just not that important. The Sonos amp, although overpriced is not that bad of a 2 channel amp. Mixed with good speakers provides good results. We have Sonos in many rooms of the house. Our media room does not have anything Sonos attached to it. A few rooms of the house have pretty good ceiling speakers and Sonos amps power them. Throwing a single little Sonos One speaker in the bathroom where quality makes no difference is kind of cool.
A time to EVALUATE your jitters: | viewtopic.php?p=1139732#p1139732
OldBallCoach
Posts: 604
Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2018 4:22 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by OldBallCoach »

We have a home theater room which is about 90% McIntosh componets. I know the sub woofers are Velodyne and there are two of those...the speakers are all built in to the walls so no clue...To be honest I have no idea of what does what for the most part..I just have an Ipad with all the commands on it and it does the rest. About once a year the guy comes in and updates software and it works really smooth. We still have a very old Pioneer Elite plasma TV in my office and I think that old unit is about as good as anything out there now days...our theater room is a projection unit and its cool and big and all that...and you can make the sound do anything...I dont even want to think about what we spent on this whole deal, but it is pretty amazing.
columbia
Posts: 3023
Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2013 5:30 am

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by columbia »

I’ve made some decent cash on my ITT fund in the last few weeks, so decided to help prime the economy and get a PrimaLuna ProLogue Four power amp. It should arrive by Tuesday. :)



Image


https://www.primaluna-usa.com/prologue-four
Northern Flicker
Posts: 15288
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 12:29 am

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by Northern Flicker »

Inexpensive short cables of average quality will sound no worse than much longer, very expensive cables. I use inexpensive RCA cables 12 inches in length— cheap enough that I cannot remember the cost, under $5.00 each probably. They simultaneously solve the wire tangle problem while assuring that the cables are not a limiting factor for sound quality, even if connecting a high end source to a high end amp.

For speaker cables, you don’t need anything more than 10 gauge lamp cord available at your local hardware store (up to 50 feet in length, but shorter is better). If you are not happy with the resulting sound, the speaker wires are quite unlikely to be the component needing an upgrade.
Chip
Posts: 3994
Joined: Wed Feb 21, 2007 3:57 am

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by Chip »

Northern Flicker wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2020 7:51 pm For speaker cables, you don’t need anything more than 10 gauge lamp cord available at your local hardware store (up to 50 feet in length, but shorter is better). If you are not happy with the resulting sound, the speaker wires are quite unlikely to be the component needing an upgrade.
Who has a 3000 watt lamp that requires 10 gauge lamp cord?
User avatar
windaar
Posts: 1662
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 6:31 am

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by windaar »

Not high-end stuff but I like the look and sound of my 1970s Marantz components. Technics turntable and 1967 KLH speakers.
Image
Nobody knows nothing.
User avatar
Tyler Aspect
Posts: 1620
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2017 10:27 pm
Location: California
Contact:

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by Tyler Aspect »

Gone are the days when I listen to music using 7 feet tall speakers. All the contents I consume recently are streamed. I have a FiiO USB DAC and my favorite headphones in JVC HA-SR500.
Past result does not predict future performance. Mentioned investments may lose money. Contents are presented "AS IS" and any implied suitability for a particular purpose are disclaimed.
User avatar
unclescrooge
Posts: 6264
Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2012 7:00 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by unclescrooge »

columbia wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2019 5:08 pm I started buying vinyl again after about a 15 year break. My sub $1500 system is:

Fluance RT82 turntable

Tubes4HiFi phono stage:
http://www.tubes4hifi.com/PH14.htm
They offer kits and full builds; the heart of the operation are recreations of Dynaco power amps.

Vista Audio Spark integrated amp:
http://www.vista-audio.com/products/Spark/index.htm
Great one man operation from Serbia

Elac Debut 6.2 speakers

Not exactly a premium set up, but it sounds great in our smaller living room and that’s all that matters.

I might expand to a DAC in 2020 and looking at one from Schiit Audio.
I tested the Elac debut speakers side by side in my living room-sized home office against the more expensive KEFs, and wharfdales, and they won hands down. Didn't like the form factor compared to the others, but they sounded the best.
columbia
Posts: 3023
Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2013 5:30 am

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by columbia »

unclescrooge wrote: Wed Mar 18, 2020 12:26 pm
columbia wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2019 5:08 pm I started buying vinyl again after about a 15 year break. My sub $1500 system is:

Fluance RT82 turntable

Tubes4HiFi phono stage:
http://www.tubes4hifi.com/PH14.htm
They offer kits and full builds; the heart of the operation are recreations of Dynaco power amps.

Vista Audio Spark integrated amp:
http://www.vista-audio.com/products/Spark/index.htm
Great one man operation from Serbia

Elac Debut 6.2 speakers

Not exactly a premium set up, but it sounds great in our smaller living room and that’s all that matters.

I might expand to a DAC in 2020 and looking at one from Schiit Audio.
I tested the Elac debut speakers side by side in my living room-sized home office against the more expensive KEFs, and wharfdales, and they won hands down. Didn't like the form factor compared to the others, but they sounded the best.

Which Wharfedale model? Those heritage line speakers are sharp looking!
User avatar
sleepysurf
Posts: 886
Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2013 5:59 am
Location: Florida

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by sleepysurf »

On a related note, now is the time to support your favorite lesser-known musicians (near and far) by buying their LP's, CD's, or music downloads. Unfortunately, like many other "gig workers," many are losing scheduled bookings.
Retired 2018 | currently ~64/33/3 (partially sliced and diced, with a slowly rising equity glide path)
User avatar
unclescrooge
Posts: 6264
Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2012 7:00 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by unclescrooge »

columbia wrote: Wed Mar 18, 2020 12:28 pm
unclescrooge wrote: Wed Mar 18, 2020 12:26 pm
columbia wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2019 5:08 pm I started buying vinyl again after about a 15 year break. My sub $1500 system is:

Fluance RT82 turntable

Tubes4HiFi phono stage:
http://www.tubes4hifi.com/PH14.htm
They offer kits and full builds; the heart of the operation are recreations of Dynaco power amps.

Vista Audio Spark integrated amp:
http://www.vista-audio.com/products/Spark/index.htm
Great one man operation from Serbia

Elac Debut 6.2 speakers

Not exactly a premium set up, but it sounds great in our smaller living room and that’s all that matters.

I might expand to a DAC in 2020 and looking at one from Schiit Audio.
I tested the Elac debut speakers side by side in my living room-sized home office against the more expensive KEFs, and wharfdales, and they won hands down. Didn't like the form factor compared to the others, but they sounded the best.

Which Wharfedale model? Those heritage line speakers are sharp looking!
Don't recall. Either the 225 or 310.

Definitely not the high end series.
Eyeski
Posts: 65
Joined: Mon Jan 27, 2020 7:16 am

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by Eyeski »

Audiophile here. Got the bug in high school and have spent way too much over the years, but it brings me such pleasure.

Current system:
Zu Druid V
Perla Sig 50 Interated
Cambridge Audio CXU.

Currently listening to some Jethro Tull quite loud.
JamesSF
Posts: 53
Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2014 7:41 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by JamesSF »

Source: Apple Digital Masters (some of Apple Music)
Amp & Preamp: Quad 33 / 303
Speakers: original Quads (electrostatic speakers), designed in 1957 but they work well today
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by LadyGeek »

^^^ I know Quads, as I've been a fan of electrostatic speakers for quite some time. I've never owned them, but listened to them in the stores.

The fun part is finding an amplifier that can drive a nearly pure capacitive load.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
anonenigma
Posts: 1133
Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2011 11:58 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by anonenigma »

telecaster wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2019 9:57 pm
anonenigma wrote: Fri May 24, 2019 11:29 pm Upgraded Dynaco Stereo 70
Silverline Sonatina speakers
NAD CD 538 single disc player

Incredible midrange and accuracy acquired for under $3,000.
Nice! I recently restored a pair of ST70's. What are you using for preAmps?
No preamp. CD player into $10 PAC LC-1 Remote Amplifier Level Controller (via Amazon) into the ST70. The interconnect is an expensive ($600 list 20 years ago) pair that a friend sold me for $60. I wasn't a big believer in fancy wires before that, but the difference was crazy. When I listen to Hopkinson Smith's "Pieces de luth du vieux Gaultier," I hear the strings pushing the air. When I listen to "Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely," it's like Frank is in the room. Before this rig, I thought that album was beautifully performed but indifferently recorded.

Now that the plague has me largely confined to home, I look forward to listening a lot more than I have been.
tzydzy
Posts: 23
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by tzydzy »

I consider myself to be an audiophile. I have attended the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver two times, the defunct Audio Karma Show in Detroit, AXPONA in Jacksonville and Chicago and the Florida Audio Expo, all of which are on hiatus for the pandemic to see the state of the high end art. It's nice to see and listen to million dollar systems and find that with selective purchases of entry audiophile gear, both new, close out end of model year and used, one can have a great system that outperforms the mid fi of mass market brands and gets close to some of the esoteric brands.

I have several systems around the house, typically migrating from the 2 channel room to other rooms as components are upgraded. A separate 7.2 channel home theatre room has the newest components, due to the rapid change in video technology and the idea that spending $12,000 on a video pre-pro is not the best value, so $500 on a Denon receiver will do for a few years vs. an Anthem and then buy it again when the codecs or video resolution changes.

I don't spend tons of money on wires or power cords. I heard the late Gordon Gow co-founder of McIntosh Labs speak years ago and he, being an engineer eschewed gold plating on their components at the time (they now do it, probably for marketing purposes). I used to work for the local electric company and the miles of wires between the power plant to your home are mainly aluminum cable steel reinforced, so a silver wire 3 foot power cord isn't going to make things sound better.

I have Infinity Kappa 8.1 Series II speakers (You'd have to buy a Revel to get equivalent from Harman now), a Carver power amp, Soundstream Preamp (designed by a Krell engineer - $1,500 when introduced - $99 on ebay as company was sold and now only makes car stereo), Nakamichi Cassette decks, Philips CD players, an AR Turntable, MCS/Technics tuner, David Hafler preamp for the phono stage, a Denon moving coil phono pickup and Slim Devices/Logitech Squeezebox streamer in the 2 channel set up. Nothing esoteric, but much more resolution than the Denon receiver could ever want to be that is in the HT room, and possibly rivaling systems that would cost a lot more at new today list prices.

I have classical training in piano, flute and violin, appreciate good live performances and cringe when the sound guy in a concert over drives the amps or mikes just about anything (especially drums!) in an old concert hall with good acoustics where one can hear a whisper in the last row without amplification. But I really like things above scale at home and 900 watts (about 93db) in the living room at times is not enough!

But because of investing, the money is available for the purchase of nice equipment and for the upgrades when the money burns a hole in one's wallet!
User avatar
Kagord
Posts: 1670
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2018 12:28 pm
Location: Peaksville, Ohio

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by Kagord »

Anybody have high end audio and/or theater equipment (with a few THX demo loops that are sequenced and programmed to play first so you can marvel at the fidelity), and your offspring are sitting in that dedicated room watching a movie or listening to music on their iPhone through the iPhone speakers?
User avatar
sleepysurf
Posts: 886
Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2013 5:59 am
Location: Florida

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by sleepysurf »

Kagord wrote: Thu Jan 07, 2021 5:25 am ... offspring are sitting in that dedicated room watching a movie or listening to music on their iPhone through the iPhone speakers?
Actually, the kids (and DW) are far more sophisticated these days... they listen to Amazon Echo's and Google Home devices, while my MartinLogan electrostatic speakers quietly cringe in the corner!
Retired 2018 | currently ~64/33/3 (partially sliced and diced, with a slowly rising equity glide path)
Wanderingwheelz
Posts: 3125
Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2019 8:52 am

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by Wanderingwheelz »

m@ver1ck wrote: Fri May 24, 2019 10:20 pm I've got about 100K worth of Audio Equipment. Slippery slope - if I had discovered this site earlier, I would have socked more money away - and probably would have been happy with a 10K audio system too.

Still - if any audiophiles here - love to hear what their systems look like...
Sold my entire dedicated audiophile system Several years ago (carefully bought used on Audiogon), which returned me a small profit, luckily. I also sold my dedicated headphones set up. Then bought way down to a streaming LS50 Wireless setup. Sold that last year. Now I listen to music through our family room AV setup (Onkyo/Paradigm) and Sonos.

Audio equipment is definitely a slippery slope as you called it, and I made the decision to retire early at the expense of having way too much money tied up in “things”. But this allowed me to make a very large deposit at Vanguard, and right now it’s showing a $16,000 capital gain. I also sold my Porsche for similar reasons. A lot of money was tied up in something I wasn’t using very much.
Being wrong compounds forever.
hvaclorax
Posts: 586
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2016 5:01 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by hvaclorax »

I’ve been an audiophile for 5 decades. As I retired in 2015 I have downsized my system and taken up streaming as a Boglehead approach to my needs. I realized software and the cloud can provide all the quality and quantity these old ears could ever desire.
An inexpensive HP desktop computer using JRiver software and Spotify music app sends a high resolution digital signal to the Yamaha AVR via HDMI cable. All signal processing is done in the desktop so the AVR is only doing amplifier duty. This feeds my DIY speakers from Parts Express. I’m currently tri-amping multi-channel LPCM signals to my paired 3way stereo system with very satisfying results. Yes, Spotify is a compressed (lossy) signal but I find the music quite revealing. Total cost around $1000 for the hardware. Monthly cost $10 for the Spotify, $60 annually for Norton antivirus and about $20 annually for JRiver software updates. I consider this bare bones cost as many audiophiles on JRivers web blog have very expensive exotic systems using lossless signal such as Tidal, etc.
The beauty is many millions of audio tracks are available limited only by ones ability to search them out. For instance, Hagia Sophia is a church in Constantinople built in 537 (now Istanbul) where Stanford engineers recently were able to recreate the acoustic environment for sacred vocal music (polyphony?) not heard in 1000 years. So my system allows me to explore the world of music limited only by my own imagination. And truly it’s all about the music not the equipment isn’t it.
HVAC
neowiser
Posts: 235
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2020 4:32 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by neowiser »

My dad was an obsessive audiophile and also a musician. In the 60's he built Heath kit speakers (Altec Lansing) then modified one with a larger Altec "horn" for base with the help of a friend who was a physicist. He loved to say, "close your eyes and you can't tell this isn't live". And he was right, the sound is incredible.

I inherited the speakers, they are huge and heavy and look something like this: https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649 ... s/1545823/

The one he modified looks like a science fair project inside, it doesn't look professional and the huge horn extends out the back of the cabinet. No one in my family has any interest in these dinosaurs and I'm wondering what to do with them when it's time to downsize. Now that technology can deliver superior sound with smaller speakers, will interest in these old systems fade? Will the modification make them uninteresting to collectors?
WhiteMaxima
Posts: 3323
Joined: Thu May 19, 2016 5:04 pm

Any BH audiophile there?

Post by WhiteMaxima »

[Thread merged into here --admin LadyGeek]

I thought BHs are not just wealth collectors. I am an audiophile that spend some my money on audio gears. Actually quit a lot money. Do you also have such hobby and like to share your experience?
austin757
Posts: 481
Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2018 11:48 am

Re: Any BH audiophile there?

Post by austin757 »

No not me
User avatar
sleepysurf
Posts: 886
Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2013 5:59 am
Location: Florida

Re: Any BH audiophile there?

Post by sleepysurf »

Multiple previous threads on this, such as... viewtopic.php?t=281859

Perhaps one of the mods will merge this.
Retired 2018 | currently ~64/33/3 (partially sliced and diced, with a slowly rising equity glide path)
Mike Scott
Posts: 3574
Joined: Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:45 pm

Re: Any BH audiophile there?

Post by Mike Scott »

I used to be but my hearing has degenerated to a point where a moderately priced off the shelf audio system is good enough.
monty
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2017 8:20 am

Re: Any BH audiophile there?

Post by monty »

I also have spent a lot of money on my system, buying and selling equipment, but now I think I'm set. My pre, amps and phono pre are all Herron. Nottingham tt, Verity Parsifal speakers. It's been a fun ride getting to this point, but I am off the merry go round :happy
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95466
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by LadyGeek »

I merged WhiteMaxima's thread into the ongoing discussion.

(Thanks to the member who reported the post and provided a link to this thread.)
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
User avatar
TomatoTomahto
Posts: 17100
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:48 pm

Re: Any BH audiophile there?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

Mike Scott wrote: Sun Aug 07, 2022 1:12 pm I used to be but my hearing has degenerated to a point where a moderately priced off the shelf audio system is good enough.
I have protected my hearing as much as possible, but I'm in my 70s. I still can delight in how my electrostatics sound, and the blending of subwoofer and mains that my Anthem can phase adjust to sound like music and especially the audio bubble that accompanies my video experience.

I don't spend to an absurd degree as I once did. I have spent a 4 digit amount on room treatments, which provided a BH level of "bang for the buck."
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
sasquatch12
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Aug 15, 2017 1:52 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by sasquatch12 »

Audiophile here as well, and really enjoy my setup. A good dedicated audio system will blow away any Sonos system it is not even close. If you do want ceiling mounted audio you can get much better speakers and gear for it than Sonos from companies like Paradigm or Focal. It will be more expensive and it is not an all-in-one system so you will have to pick your corresponding components. The Sonos is nice in that it is an all in one system and easy to deploy, but you will sacrifice sound quality, although sound quality is not important to everyone as you can see by the proliferation of Bose everywhere.

My Stereo Gear:
Paradigm Tribute 30th Anniversary Speakers
Theta Digital Casablanca IV preamp
D-Sonic Class D Amplifier
Auralic Aries Mini music server and DAC
Nordost Red Dawn Speaker cables and interconnects
Theta Compi-Blu SACD and Blue-ray player
tigermilk
Posts: 866
Joined: Thu Aug 15, 2013 9:32 am

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by tigermilk »

Mostly gravitated towards headphone setups. Do have a 20+ year old Rega Planar 3 turntable, but most of my time is spent listening to my Marantz HD-CD1 and HD-DAC when at my home PC (and listening on my Massdrop Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee cans. Also have an old pair of HD 580s. The other room where the turntable is hosts my Stax 404s hooked up to a Stax SRM-006. At work I have a Stax SRM 252 attached to SR-001 "ear phones". I should upgrade my Stax unit, and the time may be right with the weak yen.
sherwink
Posts: 332
Joined: Mon May 28, 2007 9:48 am

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by sherwink »

When I used to turn the sound up on the JBL 4333A Studio Monitor speakers at night, the neighbors complained to the HOA in writing.
cacophony
Posts: 1354
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:12 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by cacophony »

My audio journey has led to the following conclusions:

The most important elements for good sounding audio reproduction are:
1. Speakers
2. Placement of speakers
3. Acoustics of room

Everything else just needs to be good enough so as to not to be a problem. (Blind test: https://matrixhifi.com/ENG_contenedor_ppec.htm)

Good speakers come down to:
1. Quality of design (cabinet, crossover, part selection)
2. Quality of parts/materials

Quality of design just takes one talented individual working in their garage. Quality of parts/materials is largely driven by the parts budget.

There are many excellent direct to consumer speaker companies that spend ~50% of the cost on parts/materials. They can do this in part because they don't spend money on things like marketing and retailer cut.

The problem with companies like Bose (and I'm sure Sonos to a certain extent as well) is that:
1. Their designs are primarily driven by aesthetics and not sound quality. The physics of good speaker design is often in direct conflict with something that is small and pretty.
2. They probably spend less then 10% of the speaker cost on parts, so you end up with low quality components relative to what you spent.

Many audiophiles are just audio bogleheads. They want as much of their money as possible to go into what matters to them: audio quality. It's not about spending a lot, it's about value.
User avatar
squirrel1963
Posts: 1253
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2017 10:12 am
Location: Portland OR area

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by squirrel1963 »

In 1994-2002 I had a system I really liked:

Magnepan speakers
Audio Research Power amp
Tube preamp
McIntosh MR67 tube tuner
Separate D/A converter for audio CDs

Then my tinnitus got worse, kids were born so I lost interest because with tinnitus you don't really get to enjoy audiophile sound anymore.

Now I have a 5.1 system, B&W speakers and integrated BK preamp/audioprocessor/poweramp.

I really love the quality of BK electronics but it's unable to decode some of the new audio formats.
I'm looking for a reasonably priced substition, so it'd be great to hear recommendations from fellow audiophiles.
LMP | Liability Matching Portfolio | safe portfolio: TIPS ladder + I-bonds + Treasuries | risky portfolio: US stocks / US REIT / International stocks
chemocean
Posts: 1561
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 8:45 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by chemocean »

Just sold a pair of SpeakerLab 4s for $85 (bought them at the original Roosevelt Ave. store in Seattle), because the 12" woofers can be used to repair Speakerlab 7s that are in high demand now. The buyer was only interested if the rubber was cracked. The rubber was in good shape. Sorry to see them go, but now "I" am in my 70s.

The last good audio system I had was in the 1970s, but I blew the pre-amps on my receiver hosting parties at my college coop. We still have my wife's college receiver but her FM tuner now wanders. I just recently hooked up to a the FM function of a MP3 player to input of the receiver to listen to the radio. I guess I now have been declassified as a audiophile with that move.
machineboy
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 9:52 pm
Location: Olympic Peninsula

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by machineboy »

chemocean wrote: Sun Aug 07, 2022 8:32 pm Just sold a pair of SpeakerLab 4s for $85 (bought them at the original Roosevelt Ave. store in Seattle), because the 12" woofers can be used to repair Speakerlab 7s that are in high demand now. The buyer was only interested if the rubber was cracked. The rubber was in good shape. Sorry to see them go, but now "I" am in my 70s.
I had a pair of their bookshelf speakers that I took to college. Great speakers, I picked them up because my uncle’s office was just across the street from them on Roosevelt…
Northern Flicker
Posts: 15288
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 12:29 am

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by Northern Flicker »

Chip wrote: Wed Mar 18, 2020 11:24 am
Northern Flicker wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2020 7:51 pm For speaker cables, you don’t need anything more than 10 gauge lamp cord available at your local hardware store (up to 50 feet in length, but shorter is better). If you are not happy with the resulting sound, the speaker wires are quite unlikely to be the component needing an upgrade.
Who has a 3000 watt lamp that requires 10 gauge lamp cord?
No idea. 12 gauge lamp cord is also fine for speaker wire, but when you read an article on an audiophile web site or blog site extolling the virtues of very expensive speaker wire, 10 gauge will let you rest easy in the knowledge that your speaker wire already is overspec'd so that you aren't missing anything.
User avatar
squirrel1963
Posts: 1253
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2017 10:12 am
Location: Portland OR area

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by squirrel1963 »

Northern Flicker wrote: Sun Aug 07, 2022 11:52 pm
Chip wrote: Wed Mar 18, 2020 11:24 am
Northern Flicker wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2020 7:51 pm For speaker cables, you don’t need anything more than 10 gauge lamp cord available at your local hardware store (up to 50 feet in length, but shorter is better). If you are not happy with the resulting sound, the speaker wires are quite unlikely to be the component needing an upgrade.
Who has a 3000 watt lamp that requires 10 gauge lamp cord?
No idea. 12 gauge lamp cord is also fine for speaker wire, but when you read an article on an audiophile web site or blog site extolling the virtues of very expensive speaker wire, 10 gauge will let you rest easy in the knowledge that your speaker wire already is overspec'd so that you aren't missing anything.
I think Monster Cable deserves the credit for the notion that the good 'ol red-black thin wire is simply not enough due to impedance being high with respect of the load. This was long time ago, around maybe 1985.

What I always thought to be snake oil though are expensive $500+ cables which IMHO are just copper wires with a fancy cover and sometimes very dubious claims such as "we add a 1.5 V battery for wire polarity", "it uses pure crystal copper", the first being obviously non sense and the second not being practically feasible because it'd be one rigid piece.
Afaik any such claims never survived double blind testing, I think the reality is that impedance is the most important factor, with inductance and capacitance being secondary, but I doubt that given two cables with these 3 parameters being identical we'd be able to hear the difference or see it on an oscilloscope or FFT analyzer.

I just use 10 gauge Belkin OFC twin wire, I believe I paid less than $1/foot many years ago, now Belkin doesn't make it anymore but with a quick Google I see plenty of these products and even with current copper prices you certainly won't pay $500.
LMP | Liability Matching Portfolio | safe portfolio: TIPS ladder + I-bonds + Treasuries | risky portfolio: US stocks / US REIT / International stocks
bagle
Posts: 329
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:59 am

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by bagle »

My primary system is all Naim, fed by lossless WAV and FLAC sources (either streamed from Qobuz or UPnP NAS server). Played through ProAc Tablette 11 speakers.

Of course, I put the system together Boglehead style: Bought most of the hardware second-hand or on sale. And I'm still using my 30-year old Sonus Fabers in my secondary system. Haven't spent money on expensive "audiophile" cables.
obgraham
Posts: 1613
Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2013 6:30 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by obgraham »

squirrel1963 wrote: Sun Aug 07, 2022 5:15 pm In 1994-2002 I had a system I really liked:

Magnepan speakers
So what did you do with the Maggies? I'm in the same tinnitus boat, and my Maggies are sitting in the basement.
User avatar
squirrel1963
Posts: 1253
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2017 10:12 am
Location: Portland OR area

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by squirrel1963 »

obgraham wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 11:57 am
squirrel1963 wrote: Sun Aug 07, 2022 5:15 pm In 1994-2002 I had a system I really liked:

Magnepan speakers
So what did you do with the Maggies? I'm in the same tinnitus boat, and my Maggies are sitting in the basement.
Sorry for your tinnitus, it sucks especially if you are a audiophile. I think the Maggies are the best speakers ever made, except maybe Martin Logan electrostatic speakers, but I would not have paid that kind of money, we BH types are low cost audiophiles and like bang for the buck.
I sold them for two reasons:
1) I just didn't enjoyed them anymore unfortunately
2) priorities changed, I think the audio/video revolution made some (many?) trade two channel audiophile/esoteric gear for a good 5.1 channel system.

I actually like B&W speakers a lot and the BK electronics, I think build quality is very good and audio quality is more than my ears will discern at this point. They are also very good IMHO for most music including jazz and classical.

Right now I'm looking for a good substitute for BK because the audio decoder cannot keep up with new formats and very often switches to stereo. I'm okay buying used, I actually prefer, half of the audio video stuff I have and nikon lenses for photography are used.
LMP | Liability Matching Portfolio | safe portfolio: TIPS ladder + I-bonds + Treasuries | risky portfolio: US stocks / US REIT / International stocks
User avatar
TomatoTomahto
Posts: 17100
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:48 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

squirrel1963 wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 12:25 pm
obgraham wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 11:57 am
squirrel1963 wrote: Sun Aug 07, 2022 5:15 pm In 1994-2002 I had a system I really liked:

Magnepan speakers
So what did you do with the Maggies? I'm in the same tinnitus boat, and my Maggies are sitting in the basement.
Sorry for your tinnitus, it sucks especially if you are a audiophile. I think the Maggies are the best speakers ever made, except maybe Martin Logan electrostatic speakers, but I would not have paid that kind of money, we BH types are low cost audiophiles and like bang for the buck.
I sold them for two reasons:
1) I just didn't enjoyed them anymore unfortunately
2) priorities changed, I think the audio/video revolution made some (many?) trade two channel audiophile/esoteric gear for a good 5.1 channel system.

I actually like B&W speakers a lot and the BK electronics, I think build quality is very good and audio quality is more than my ears will discern at this point. They are also very good IMHO for most music including jazz and classical.

Right now I'm looking for a good substitute for BK because the audio decoder cannot keep up with new formats and very often switches to stereo. I'm okay buying used, I actually prefer, half of the audio video stuff I have and nikon lenses for photography are used.
It's not a very low cost option, but my home theater found a sweet spot using Anthem electronics and MartinLogan HT speakers with folded tweeters. I have a separate listening room with Ml electrostatics, but honestly most of my listening is in the HT.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
WhiteMaxima
Posts: 3323
Joined: Thu May 19, 2016 5:04 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by WhiteMaxima »

I have a 5.0 system for my SACD collection. Five Thiel2.3, Bryston 9BST, Oppo105 SACD player. For desktop, I am using Sennheiser HD800 with Woo Audio WA3 Tube amp, Danafrips R2R DAC, super mellow and clear. Source I am using Tidal, Qobuz and thousands of my CD/SACD collections.
Dave55
Posts: 2016
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 2:51 pm

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by Dave55 »

squirrel1963 wrote: Sun Aug 07, 2022 5:15 pm In 1994-2002 I had a system I really liked:

Magnepan speakers
Audio Research Power amp
Tube preamp
McIntosh MR67 tube tuner
Separate D/A converter for audio CDs

Then my tinnitus got worse, kids were born so I lost interest because with tinnitus you don't really get to enjoy audiophile sound anymore.

Now I have a 5.1 system, B&W speakers and integrated BK preamp/audioprocessor/poweramp.

I really love the quality of BK electronics but it's unable to decode some of the new audio formats.
I'm looking for a reasonably priced substition, so it'd be great to hear recommendations from fellow audiophiles.
I love your old system, the Maggies and Audio Research Amps. In my office I have a pair of B&W's bookshelf speakers and I am driving those with an NAD C-368 Integrated Amp, 80 watts per. Been happy with it for the past 4 years. In my living area I have there KEF LS 50 Wireless 2.

Dave
"Reality always wins, your only job is to get in touch with it." Wilfred Bion
User avatar
squirrel1963
Posts: 1253
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2017 10:12 am
Location: Portland OR area

Re: Any audiophiles on this forum?

Post by squirrel1963 »

Dave55 wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 2:07 pm
squirrel1963 wrote: Sun Aug 07, 2022 5:15 pm In 1994-2002 I had a system I really liked:

Magnepan speakers
Audio Research Power amp
Tube preamp
McIntosh MR67 tube tuner
Separate D/A converter for audio CDs

Then my tinnitus got worse, kids were born so I lost interest because with tinnitus you don't really get to enjoy audiophile sound anymore.

Now I have a 5.1 system, B&W speakers and integrated BK preamp/audioprocessor/poweramp.

I really love the quality of BK electronics but it's unable to decode some of the new audio formats.
I'm looking for a reasonably priced substition, so it'd be great to hear recommendations from fellow audiophiles.
I love your old system, the Maggies and Audio Research Amps. In my office I have a pair of B&W's bookshelf speakers and I am driving those with an NAD C-368 Integrated Amp, 80 watts per. Been happy with it for the past 4 years. In my living area I have there KEF LS 50 Wireless 2.

Dave
Maggies are surprisingly tough to drive, maybe it's very low impedance, not sure. Tube power amps do much better in this regard, but really what you need is lots of clean power.

Nad and KEF are great. As you might imagine I grew up with lots of "classical" vintage stuff. Old NAD are still very good and old Marantz are awesome. KEF are great speakers.
I absolutely loved the McIntosh tuner, but McIntosh stopped servicing them long time ago, tube replacements are very difficult if not impossible. The new tubes made today are very small in variety and many NoS stocks have been depleted. I just gave it away as I couldn't bear the pain of see this Beauty unused. Hopefully someone will be able to take good care.

New technology is awesome, the audio quality of even an iPhone on headphones is incredible considering its all integrated circuits and there is no room for big capacitors to stabilize power supply etc etc, but the beauty and sound of vintage Maggies, AR, McIntosh, KEF, NAD and Marantz is really difficult to beat, or maybe I just like the way they sound because they were my first serious audiophile stuff.
LMP | Liability Matching Portfolio | safe portfolio: TIPS ladder + I-bonds + Treasuries | risky portfolio: US stocks / US REIT / International stocks
Post Reply