Any 2 Channel Stereo freaks here?

Home Theater in the living room, stereo in MY room:

Rega P3 table
Arcam 7 CD
Ancient Marantz tuner (it still works, I have to keep it)
VAC Standard pre
Ayre V-1 amp
Meadowlark Shearwater Hot Rods

The new HT system will probably be built around Arcam components and either KEF or Paradigm Reference speakers.

 

While I think you should enjoy whatever esoteric audiophile equipment you choose, I must admit that beyond a certain point(pretty low on the fidelity scale) I don't know what you wolf eared folks hear. Give me decent imaging and a realistic soundstage and I am happy as a clam...the so called mid-fi does this just fine for me...I will admit to coveting a pair of Legacy Focus speakers...but a decent preamp and amp suit my needs without all the fuss...I am a set it and forget it kind of guy.

My system sans the imput devices is an old McIntosh C-28 preamp and a McIntosh 2205 amp through old (ca73) larger Advent speakers that have been rebuilt a couple of times... still sounds good.

 

Most modern surround sound systems can be played in stereo as well as in 5.1, 6.1 r 7.1.

 

Most people can't identify a 1k tone as opposed to 950Hz tone,
or tell the difference between low band shelf EQ set at 30Hz or 60Hz,
let alone identify when an EQ circuit set flat is engaged in a blind listening test.
IMHO, if a component is designed properly, you should not hear the difference between having the EQ circuit engaged and not.
But of course not all pre amps or controllers are made the same.

As far as me being able to "hear the difference as well"
I guess considering that I'm one of the guys that mix the stuff that ends up coming out of your speakers... my ears are OK.

 

Dear Audio Dave,
My RCA Radiola III just doesn't have the power to drive a pair of Atwater Kent horn speakers for 1927 vintage pseudo-stereo. Should I add a few more dry cells in series with the B+ line and hope for the best, or just go back to my cats whisker detector and headphones for pristine, natural audio?
Sincerely, Horsefly Heterodyne

 

i havent any clue what that stuff does, but that must be one hell of a system....

 

Agreed, i bet is it one hellova system. Have not updated this is a while but my system and others toys are listed at:

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/stevessystem.htm

 

NICE! One of these days, I've GOTTA get a turntable back into my system. The VTL Ultimate has a killer phono stage (mine is the MM).

 

I've been building my own loudspeakers for years now. It's time to step it up a notch too.

 

I've been hanging around hi-fi salons since I was a kid. Marantz tube stuff, KLH 9's (remember those), the Janzen electrostats, the Quads. Then, the revelation of the ARC SP-3 preamp, as well as the early Mark Levinson gear. The first jon Dahlquist loudspeaker. Double Advents, driven by the Phase Linear 700. The Linn Table. Double Quads, with Decca Ribbons, and big woofies. Big transmission line speakers. Triamped Euro speakers in inert white cabinets. Early issues of The Absolute Sound and The Stereophile when J. Gordon Holt published it out of Elwyn Pa. And yes, Klipshhorns for big bass. Remember the Dayton-Wright panels? And AR 3's modified- Levinson did a number on those years later with his Cello line. More Euro esoterica- Peter Belt magic dots, improvements to the Linn table, Goldmund, and all the other ridiculously expensive Euro-gear, Burmeister, Studer. Big Fkin Infinity boxes, taller than a coffin. The early Apogees and D'aGostino's early Krells. The rush to cone, isolate, damp and brick everything. Cable troughs. Ear examinations.Early bad digital. Later bad digital. Wilson's monster speakers, driven by Jadis Tube amps, throwing off so much heat you couldn't stand to be in the room. A Dukane Ionovac- didn't work, thankfully, but a treasure from the early sixties- ionize the air particles to make sound, just wear a lead vest when listening. Oh, yeah, and the gas tanks that went with them. Futtermans.
THose Huge Martin Logans, driven by Jadis tube amps in a salon on the Il St. Louis, still so hot you couldn't stay in the room for long, but guitars sounded better than real. Wilson Watts, with Whamms, and Puppies, at serious Dbs. The little italian boxes, the size of shoe boxes, that sounded like music and sold for 5 large back in the 80's. More Big fkin Infinity monkey coffins. Cables cooled by water. Amps cooled by water. Amps powered with Batteries. The return of the Triode and the Horn speaker. 80 thousand dollar japanese 10 watt amps with handwound silver transformers.Tonearms driven by air compression with isolation tanks and baffles located in remote rooms. Oh, ****, does this have anything whatsoever to do with listening to music? (And you thought exotic cars were silly....).

 

Yep, Sonus Faber it was. Dunno much about CD players cause i've managed to avoid them in the home system. (Oh, yeah, out of necessity, there's one for background music, and a couple more scattered about in small systems, but i just couldn't get stoked for a major one, that after the 30k dollar mark, sounded almost as good as the vinyl. Yeah, I know, I'm not listening to deep bass and my signal to noise ratio sucks. But the magic that comes from a decent record, a good tube amp and a sweet set of speakers can give you goose bumps even a low volumes- that's why i've stuck with electrostats all these years for serious listening. Unfortunately, as you know, it ain't the system to crank out Bad Brains on, but like cars, every hi-fi component and system is a compromise in some way). I also remember George Tice. He was an early proponent of clean AC power in massive doses. Alot of it is snake oil, but there are some classics. And the stuff that sounds like music seems to hold up pretty well over the years, at least in analog land. Still maintain loose contact with alot of folks that were in deep. The NY Audio Society still meets monthly, although i haven't been to a meeting in years. And, last time i checked, my old friend George Stanwick (aka 'Analog George') is still peddling phono cartridges and modest amp/speaker set ups from his home outside Albany.

PS: Just noticed you're sort of in the North East. If you want to go to one of the Society meetings, let me know. There may still be some old Absolute Sound and Stereophile reviewers going- they were alot of fun, and very irreverent.

 

ATI 2007 Amp
ATI 7500 Pre/Pro
Klipsch all around (6)
Panny SACD/DVD-A/CD player

good enough for the likes of me.

 

I use an ATI 1505 for my rear and center channels.

A Monster!

 

I am using Audio Pro Bravo FX-04s (worth $5,500 NZ)
Sachem monoblock set (worth $5990 NZ - designed in NZ by an Italian ex-Ferrari owner with over 30 years of sound engineering experience)
Denon amp
Audio Pro 600W Ace-bass sub (worth $3000 NZ)
QED cabling

The Audio Pro and Sachems are some demo gear I'm trying out at home - yes I do work in the industry (just as well for my wallet!). The clarity is amazing and it feels like live concerts are in my lounge without the ear-splitting volume.

The Paradigm speakers are good too - they even do voice-matched in-wall, in-ceiling and outdoor speakers to go with the free-standing speakers.

 

"Alot of it is snake oil, but there are some classics."

Unfortunately, the snake oil to classic ratio does not favor the consumer. The thing that kills me about Stereophile and the other audiophile books is their inability to call a spade a spade. Expensive components that measure badly and don't sound good are called "idiosyncratic" not deeply flawed. And even the most gold plated product is somehow "good value for the money."

Readers often accuse these magazines of being in the tank for their advertisers. I don't know, I think they are in the tank for everyone, advertiser or not. It's great to support specialist audio, but I have yet to see the article that calls bullsh*t on some of the pseudo-science behind a lot of the high end products.

The irony is that these shills don't realize that they are only making themselves irrelevant. They certainly aren't helping the brands they pimp. Any reasonably knowledgeable buyer will discount the reviews and look to other sources of information and evaluation, mostly online.

My $15 (.02 at audio prices)

 

I've still got my Nikko reciever, Technics turntable and Akai cassette player that I purchased in '86, Sony CD player (from 2001) and JBL monitor speakers (from 1989)....and it all works fine!!!

 

I bought some cerwin vegas out of a white van that will blow that away

 

"The thing that kills me about Stereophile and the other audiophile books is their inability to call a spade a spade. Expensive components that measure badly and don't sound good are called "idiosyncratic" not deeply flawed. And even the most gold plated product is somehow "good value for the money." "

Ironically, J. Gordon Holt started The STereophile as an antidote to precisely this reaction by the then mass market magazines, Stereo Review, High Fidelity and that ilk only seemed to publish reviews of what was advertised in their pages and then, nothing disparaging was ever said.

J. Gordon did not accept advertising, and his rag, at least in the early years, rarely came out on time. I got turned onto it in about 1972 and at one point called the Stereophile offices to ask a question- j. gordon answered the phone. Today, obviously, the magazine is pretty much a more modern iteration of the glossy it sought to undermine. And, for some reason, I finally lost interest in reading The Absolute Sound after many, many years, though i think Pearson has some interesting ideas, and will occasionally give the nod to extremely odd assortments of obscure equipment.
There was one other guy J peter Montcrieff (sp)- who wrote a looseleaf that was an absolute riot. His views were quite extreme, and he had a particular style of writing that was often mocked by other underground journals. There was a point in the mid-70's when 'underground' audio journals were quite popular- there were quite a few that published a few issues and folded. This was the time period right before introduction of the personal computer, and alot of the geeks that eventually went in that direction were still fiddling with 'hobbyist' audio, even if they weren't buying the latest piece of Mark Levinson gear at astronomical prices. It was, in some ways, a golden age, when social activity was focused on 'listening'- a behavior I don't think is pursued nearly as much today, except by extreme fringe types and cultists. On the other hand, I was an extreme fringe type, and cultist.

 

LMAO! Who else had Bose 901's hanging from their ceiling!

 

I gave up on Stereophile & Absolute Sound after sampling 1 year subscriptions of each. Stereo Review & Audio were more benign, but were only really useful in the 70's.

My favorite for many years was the Audio Critic. Unfortunately, its editorial policies didn't have a very popular position with equipment manufacturers, so the mag didn't have much income. That probably contributed to the very very irregular publication schedule, which in turn didn't help it gain newstand recognition.

However, when it did come out, there was usually something worth reading, particularly studies & comparisons that skewered the "establishment" audio rags.

Go here for some samples of their writings:

http://www.theaudiocritic.com/cwo/Sample_Articles/

You will find that most electrical engineers (the ones that know how to design or measure the stuff as distinct from the owners & managers of the companies that make money off the fluff) will endorse Audio Critic standards and technical positions. I even have an ABX box available if anyone wants to do double-blind tests .

 

I wondered if anyone was going to mention The Audio Critic. I got it in'76-78 or thereabouts. Always wondered what happened to it. "irregular production schedule" that's being polite! It was an interesting mag when it came out, but I lost interest in audiophile gear so never renewed.