An audiophile here ?

[BurkDarkpatches]

http://www.audioreview.com/

Just wander and wander. As with reviews at Amazon, you'll get a feel for what's important and what's not. Based on that, recommend you find components in your price range, pull the trigger and don't look back. Don't become an audiophile, you'll enjoy your music more.... ;-) For one, you'll also never buy this, which is good, since your wife would cut it in half after the divorce (well, I would divorce you if you bought it!).

Steve

 

[Greybeard]

Don't become an audiophile, you'll enjoy your music more.... ;-) For one, you'll also never buy this, which is good, since your wife would cut it in half after the divorce (well, I would divorce you if you bought it!).

Steve

How about this?

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/08/0821_audiophile/2.htm

 

[BurkDarkpatches]

How about this?

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/08/0821_audiophile/2.htm

Yep, that's exactly what I'm talking about!

Steve

 

[an0nymous]

300k? There doesn't seem to be any special magic there. High density Plinth? Like an oak plank perhaps? I am sure that a good machinist could clone much of that (with the exception of the cartridge).
Oh what? "Gold-Tone"? Well never mind, money well spent.

 

[tempestivo]

http://www.audioreview.com/

Just wander and wander. As with reviews at Amazon, you'll get a feel for what's important and what's not. Based on that, recommend you find components in your price range, pull the trigger and don't look back. Don't become an audiophile, you'll enjoy your music more.... ;-) For one, you'll also never buy this, which is good, since your wife would cut it in half after the divorce (well, I would divorce you if you bought it!).

Steve

good advice ! but.....

 

[tempestivo]

How about this?

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/08/0821_audiophile/2.htm

300k? I am on a budget remember

 

[an0nymous]

Suggestion: On the deal sites that I frequent the Jammo sale at Vann's is getting positive press. I've not listened to them myself, but they seem to be well thought of.
It's been awhile since I've been there but it seems to me that the standard AVSFORUM response for this question is B stock from AV123
For a Sub I can personally testify to the awesomeness of HSU Research. In these threads Velodyne is inevitably Ford to HSU's GM so give them a look as well.
All of the Internet dealers offer the ability to audition in-home via 30 day no risk returns and that's my recommendation.
You should try them out. If they don't sound good to you, they're bad speakers. There's no substitute for auditioning speakers in your own home over a series of days. Having a couple of sets will allow you to A/B them. Invite friends.
Order a couple of sets and return the ones you don't want.
Other names you'll hear: Energy Deftech and occasionally Boston Acoustic.

Are you primarily interested in two channel or surround/home theater?

Currently I own a set of ATC SCM35's (lovely and British, but, in retrospect a bit more than I require for my two channel listening needs), a Hsu Research VTF2 Mk3 (goes well below audible (much to the distress of my wife and the dog). For surround sound/zone 2... I am a bit embarassed to admit that I am running a Now long discontinued Spherex omnipolar X-box surround speakers Just the speakers, the sub and the rest was pretty awful (and for that matter the speakers themselves are dog ugly) ... hang with me this is going somewhere... now before you sneer, these are clones of the excellent Mirage omnipolar surround sound speakers (made by the parent company at that time, since sold to the Chinese). Anyway, for home theater listening I highly recommend the Mirages (also sold at Vann's) because of the wide soundstage. There are speakers that sound better but the whole omnipolar thing actually works like a super hero. A lot of monitors are great for the person sitting in the sweet spot, but these little guys sounds good to the people at both ends of the couch as well.


Oh, one other thing: I remember being really impressed by the value of Vandersteen when I was auditioning everything I could get my hands on. I came dangerously close to buying those things.

You should pick out some auditioning material and use it on each set of speakers you try. You want a couple of pieces of music that are the sort of thing you usually listen to, preferably something that you know by heart and then a couple of different disks to explore the range. Look out for speakers that sound overly bright or boomy or that lack midrange.
Last time out I used the track Temple Drum from Mickey Hart's Planet Drum (subsonic lows), some Aaron Copeland, Tom Wait's Big in Japan, but thats up to you.
Do not audition with music that's dynamically compressed. Read this. You think autotune is bad? This is worse.

Pay attention to room set up, put the sub in a corner with a bit of space around it, low frequency is non-directional, the fronts should be 1 unit from each other and each should 1.5 units of distance from you.



Really you ought to go and ask in AVSforum, I've not paid attention in a while. Hope this helped.

 

[Blooze]

If you're into DIY, there are quite a few good options out there for reasonable money. Pi Speakers makes great affordable kits as do others. I've got a set of ART arrays, designed by a fellow on the AudioRoundTable forum, that I built for around $450. You can pick up used vintage Klipsch's for little money (I got a set of '82 Heresy's for $100).

If you live anywhere near some of the audio shows that go on (RMAF, LSAF, AKFest) that's a good way to hear lots of different speakers in lots of different price ranges. I've helped organize the Lone Star Audio Fest for the last three years and we've had all sorts of speakers from $100 to $30k.

One other suggestion, if you have a local audio club, join it. It will allow you to hear all sorts of systems in home settings and many will bring their rig to your place to let you hear it.

And last, go listen, listen, listen. We can give you all the advice in the world, but what sounds good to me might not to you.

Here's some pic of my arrays:

And here's some pics of Pi kits:
http://pedalforroses.homestead.com/Speakers.html

 

[Big Kev]

I have been very happy with any thing Klipsch that I can afford. I have a small ipod dock that will blow a Bose dock away for way less money.

 

[lvnelson]

Personally, I think that 5.1 is overrated. I get really wonderful sound from two channels and find that it's all I need to enjoy a movie. YMMV, but don't rule out two channel just because it isn't 5.1.

This can be good advice. On a limited budget I think you're better off to get a basic set-up, with expansion later in mind, than a cheap complete 5.1 set-up that you'll soon grow tired of and need to replace every part.

I also think Audiogon is a terrific place to buy secondhand gear. Aside from DIY (which I also strongly recommend, if you're inclined) it's the least expensive way into a quality setup. The best part is that audiophiles tend to baby their gear. When you buy secondhand, you're not getting someone's broken junk. 99% of the time, audiophiles sell because they're upgrading or they're getting rid of something that's been sitting in the garage for awhile. Most of what you'll find used is in excellent condition.

More good advice....I'm still getting good use out of my Marantz monoblocks I bought off audiogon 10 or so years ago.

 

[blantyre]

I fully agree the suggestions about buying good used over new. The most important thing is to listen to similar equipment to what you plan to buy - then you will know it's what you will enjoy. Listening fatigue can be a problem with a lot of systems - they sound good superficially but there is a lot of distortion and it wears you down after an hour or so. This can be especially true of loud, soggy bass.

I have no advice on specific system since I only have a stereo system.

 

[Uncle Erik]

300k? There doesn't seem to be any special magic there. High density Plinth? Like an oak plank perhaps? I am sure that a good machinist could clone much of that (with the exception of the cartridge).
Oh what? "Gold-Tone"? Well never mind, money well spent.

This level of gear is in the status symbol/genital waving realm. Sure, most of it sounds great. But the point is to show others that you can afford it rather than actually getting great sound.

Between the status symbols and the snakeoil, audiophilia gets a bad rep. Not undeservedly, either.

However, if you're willing to do your homework and learn to avoid the nonsense, audiophilia is hugely rewarding.

For instance, my parents had awful speakers, so I gave them a pair of ESS AMT-1 speakers I picked up for $300 and put a little bit into making them better. I didn't make a big fuss over how good they are, but the parents keep telling me how good the AMTs sound and how they spend a lot more time listening to music because it sounds so good. By the way, if you're not familiar with the AMT (air motion transformer) look it up. Very, very cool piece of technology.

For another example, I spent about $650 for a pair of Quad ESL-63 electrostatic speakers that needed a little TLC. They're healthy now, but I've heard very little that's better. The new Quads are in the high four figures, but they're not terribly different from the pair I have. I run them off an older tube amp I got for about $700.

These have given me much more than about $1,400 in pleasure and I can service both the speakers and tube amp myself.

So if you're interested in a good stereo, go for it. If something seems ridiculously priced, it IS ridiculously priced. If something sounds like BS, it most likely IS BS. But there's lots and lots of great stuff that's reasonable and delivers the sonic goods. Once you hear a good modestly priced system, you'll never go back to consumer gear again.

 

[tempestivo]

great advice from all and thanks for taking the time to reply ,greatly appreciated. What is a preamp/amp? I am looking into the McIntosh but I can't figure out what is the best way to go and what will I exactly need (amp+preamp or integrated )? As I don't really know much about audio systems don't hesitate to be SPECIFIC ,I won't take offense

Thanks again

 

[Blooze]

A preamp are the "controls" you are used to seeing on most amps, ie. volume, tone, balance, etc...... they can be as simple as just a volume control, or in the case of a pre for a turntable just for gain of the needle signal.


The amp, or power amp, is exactly that. Takes the signal from your source, amplifies it, and sends it out to your speakers or headphones depending on the situation.

Here's a preamp with a set of monoblock power amps (one for each channel, but there are "stereo" amps where they are combined into one chassis)

http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/1300.asp



An integrated combines the two. It can be convenient to have everything in one chassis, but seperate pre and amp can give you more flexibility to shape your sound. Many think integrateds are a compromise between the two, although they tend to be more cost efficient.

Here's an integrated.
http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/1007.asp

FWIW, I'm not endorsing McIntosh, just giving examples of those because you mentioned them, as I'm a big DIY when it comes to audio equipment.

I'm sure someone will come along with a better explanation than mine. I was just giving the quick n' dirty simple one.

 

[hifigeezer]

Robert Harley, editor of the audio magazine The Absolute Sound, has written one book called "Home Theater For Everyone" and another called "The Complete Guide to High-End Audio". Much of the same material is available free online; see avguide.com or Stereophile.com. See also the forum/marketplace Audiogon. There are a lot of similarities between those hobbyists and the ones on B&B.