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scotchegg

Any audiophiles in the house?

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41 minutes ago, scotchegg said:

Spendors were on my shortlist along with the usual suspects (Harbeth, PMC, Graham) before I eventually went for the ATCs. They’ll probably be there on the next shortlist too.

As I went up through each speaker and amplifiers too, it is like removing a veil each time. The D9s are transparent and supposedly one of the best around. I used to have a LINN setup with a Sondek but the rega rp10 blew it away once I fitted the Aphelion, the worlds smallest generator.

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Steve Waite: Engineer at codelegend.com

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35 minutes ago, Chock said:

Led Zeppelin and the Cocteau Twins would have been lost without them

Don’t often see those two in the same sentence!


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14 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Night and day. The Naim has real authority. Bass I've never heard before thinking the B&Ws weren't capable of delivering it but with the right amp they are. More dynamic sound too. I am able to combine home cinema DD5.1 with stereo music and get the best of both world's with an amp with HT bypass. Pre-outs from the Yamaha go into AV input on the Naim. Front L/R connect to the Naim.

That option wasn't around 20 years ago when I first got into home cinema. My first Naim although I want to hear the XS3 before making a final decision.

I had a Naim NAIT a long time ago and that was one of the best small amps around at the time for sound quality into the right kind of speakers.

The D9s with custom cables:

spkrcble_2.jpg

 

The rig with twinned Devialets:

D440s.jpg

The Devialet has a best in class digital MC input which can output through a USB to record the old records into a digital format.

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Steve Waite: Engineer at codelegend.com

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Quite exotic stuff being mentioned here. I can't even begin to come close.

All I had was a good old Kenwood home hi-fi . That was connected to my PC /TV etc.

When it finally gave up the ghost, I never replaced it. (Not in to home theatre, surround sound or listening to music except on headphones from the PC).

It's Sad but true. (Phrase from which pop song of the 60's?)


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1 hour ago, SteveW said:

I had a Naim NAIT a long time ago and that was one of the best small amps around at the time for sound quality into the right kind of speakers.

The D9s with custom cables:

The rig with twinned Devialets:

The Devialet has a best in class digital MC input which can output through a USB to record the old records into a digital format.

Clearly a man of taste. Spendor are also excellent speakers. Do you know how they got the name? The founder was Spencer and his wife was Doris. 😁 Or maybe Doreen, can't remember. Ingenious!

I used a Denon DTR2000 to record my vinyl. Digital Audio Tape was the future (like garlic bread!). Sadly it never became mainstream but the digital copies were superb quality. I recorded them onto a PC and hand-edited every track to remove clicks and pops. Ended up with 16-bit FLAC. Took me a month for 30 3 hour tapes. Still got the Denon which I bought in 1992.

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Ray (Cheshire, England).
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4 hours ago, scotchegg said:

That’s a bulky receiver. Sure it was a great driver for the Thorens and Advents, America’s answer to the BBC LS3/5A!

Yes, it was a beast. The excursion of the Advent woofer was unreal when playing Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon!

Edited by Doering


Lawrence “Laurie” Doering

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Oh, a subject near and dear to my heart!

Got heavy into audio 40 years ago, and settled on a pair of Thiel 3.6 speakers (outstanding), a Theta transport and DSPro DAC, and various pre-amps/amplifiers. All told, I had about $25K invested in audio, including high-end cables, a Townsend Seismic Sink, and an API Power Wedge. 

Today my system sounds better than ever but at less than half the total cost, which is not surprising given the march of technology. Still have the Thiel speakers, but my beloved Theta transport chewed up its last set of gears and I replaced it with a Rega Apollo, which sounds better than the Theta and DAC ever did. After going through a couple of pre-amp/amplifier vendors I settled on Adcom. My Adcom GFP-750 gain stage went wonky a while back so I picked up a Prometheus TVC (transformer volume control - look, Ma - no power cable!), hand-built by a nice gentleman in Thailand. The Adcom GFA 5802 amplifier (250W per channel, pure Class-A. It sounded terrific but ran HOT all the time) had all the hexfets dry up and it started to hum, loudly. To replace it I recently picked up a pair of Schitt Vidar mono-blocks. Bass and overall clarity is improved, but the sound stage moved forward a bit. I like a Row T perspective versus being more forward in the hall. 

Over the years with dozens of hours auditioning cables I have become a fan of Kimber, so Kimber 8TC and Silver Streaks tie everything together. At 67 my ears don't go north of 12khz anymore (motorcycles and firearms), but I can still detect phase and timing anomalies. My wife and I used to sit and listen to music all the time, but as the kids have gotten older the TV seems to dominate our attention nowadays. That's when I retreat to my flight sim and headphones!


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7 hours ago, scotchegg said:

I sometimes see people mentioning speaker brands like Klipsch and Genelec that do home hi-fi or studio monitors when they talk about their simpits, so was wondering if any other Avsimmers also dip their toes into the expense and inconvenience of audiophilia?

I sort of am, when I have time.

I have a highly modified Hafler DH-220 which is probably my nicest part.  About 6 or 7 sets of pretty nice cables and interconnects.  I have some modded RCA speakers with Linaeum tweeters.  I'm not the true audiophile in my family though.  My stuff is all second-hand largely.

I actually wish I had a better setup with my simpit.  It is really poor compared to my stereo system.


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Ah, the good old classic days of JE Sugden amps, Kef104's or Tannoys,Thorens t/table with an SME arm, tipped with a Shure V15, or Quad 33/303 combo, with matching ELS speakers..


Robin


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I recently bought a pretty decent record player from Marley:
https://thehouseofmarley.com.au/products/stir-it-up-turntable
Also rebuilding my hoard of records slowly over time. I still have my old records my brother in Detroit is looking after them, it was too expensive to ship them to New Zealand but one day maybe.

As for Flight Sim I used to have the 5.1 speaker setup but now I got tinnitus, and that synthetic engine noise that Flight Sim produces is a really bad culprit for tinnitus, so anyone on here should be aware of that. Now I just use small 2 channel desktop speakers with the volume lower for Flight Sim, I want my ears to have better longevity and degrading them with that synthetic noise isn't worth it. 


Matthew Kane

 

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30 minutes ago, Matthew Kane said:

As for Flight Sim I used to have the 5.1 speaker setup but now I got tinnitus, and that synthetic engine noise that Flight Sim produces is a really bad culprit for tinnitus, so anyone on here should be aware of that. Now I just use small 2 channel desktop speakers with the volume lower for Flight Sim, I want my ears to have better longevity and degrading them with that synthetic noise isn't worth it. 

Sad to read about your tinnitus.  I've been managing sever tinnitus in my left ear, and I'd imagine it would drive most people insane if they instantly had to deal with the noise level I now deal with 24/7...it almost did that to me.  Curious if you are referring to jet engine sounds, and what sort of volume levels you find to be a culprit.  PM me if you wish.

Fortunately I've trained myself to not dwell on it and by and large I get by just fine (at least most of the time).  In fact I've got audiophile grade stereo gear and still greatly enjoy listening to music.  Nothing like being able to close your eyes, and the walls of your living room vanish as it becomes a symphony concert hall.  Once you've experienced stereo imaging at this level, you are ruined for life and nothing less will do.

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Rod O.

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10 hours ago, scotchegg said:

I sometimes see people mentioning speaker brands like Klipsch and Genelec that do home hi-fi or studio monitors when they talk about their simpits, so was wondering if any other Avsimmers also dip their toes into the expense and inconvenience of audiophilia?

I have a Luxman amp, Denon CD player, Pioneer network player and ATC speakers (I’m in Japan so the electronics are a bit cheaper than they might be in the West, but had to retain some loyalty to British brands hence the speakers).

Arcam cd drive coupled with an Arcam D to A converter.

Cambridge control amp & Cambridge power amp

KEF 104 speakers, these are too big now, looking for something a good bit smaller!

 

Best....  Phil

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I LOVE hi-fi and class myself an Audiophile as well as a FlightSimPhile. I have over the years modernised though, so i can stream and enjoy the latest digital has to offer, whilst still endulge in my hifi. I now have:

- Cambridge CXA80 amp

- Cambridge CXN Network Player

- Rega Planar 3 Turntable

- Cambridge CP1 Phono Stage

- Mission MX5 floor standing speakers

All my CDs have gone - ripped into FLAC format and stored on a network drive. So i listen to FLAC, stream from Spotify, or listen to my faves on 12". A perfect mix!

 

And for completeness, i prefer Flightsim through quality 2-channel desktop speakers - i have a pair of Bose Companion 2's.

Edited by Jetset408

Rob Bates
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The modern DAC hifi components on the market have made CD players irrelevant, as you've done with your system.  I've also got a CXA80 amp and its integrated DAC has revolutionized the way I use/view digital music.  When my ancient CD player finally dies, there won't be any need to replace it.  But vinyl LPs and turntables will live forever, feeding analog line-level to my amp.

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Rod O.

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9 hours ago, Chock said:

Got a lot of audio monitoring stuff on account of being into music production at home and a lot of amps and power sources too for the same reason. I tend to use monitoring headphones most of the time for the flight sim, since these don't attempt to 'fancy stuff up', instead giving you the original sound.

- exactly

Got a music studio, and put all my sound through an RME Fireface 802 set to 24/96 then a Lake People headphone amp into Sennheiser HD6xx phones. Works a treat.

thunderous sound does make a real difference to the sim experience but it ain’t cheap...

 

Ray

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