[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Reformed Audiophile True Confessions

[ralphpnj]

While there are many members here who most definitely do NOT drink that
infamous Audiophile Kool-Aid, I suspect that many of those same members
may have at one time or another drank deeply from that heady elixir.
Although judging from my many posts calling BS on the current state of
audiophile (mis)beliefs, I too was once an audiophile high on that
Kool-Aid (just look at my signature below to see some of the traces of
those times).

With that in mind I thought that it might be amusing to hear about some
of the crazier things many of you may have done while under the
influence of Audiophile Kool-Aid. I'll get the ball rolling with a few
my past transgressions against science and good old common sense.

A few quick disclaimers - most of my purchases throughout the years have
been on the used equipment market. Since many die hard audiophiles are
always chasing the next big thing and constantly upgrading the used
equipment market in high end audio is a good way to pick up some rather
nice equipment at much reduced cost. Luckily for me back in 2006 I
purchased my first Squeezebox , which was soon followed by a Transporter
and it was the move to computer based digital audio that helped to
"cure" me of my audiophilia before I went completely over the edge. Most
of the items listed below were purchased before the Transporter.

Dedicated circuit for my digital components with an audiophile
receptacle and a single outlet "digital" power filter

Heavy duty audiophile power cords

Bi-wired speakers (yes my Vandersteen Model 3A Signatures are bi-wired)

Audiophile universal disc player

Fancy headphone cables, some silver and some copper



Living Rm: Transporter-SimAudio pre/power amps-Vandersteen 3A Sign. &
sub
Home Theater: Touch-Marantz HTR-Energy Veritas 2.1 & Linn sub
Computer Rm: Touch-Headroom Desktop w/DAC-Aragon amp-Energy Veritas 2.1
& Energy sub
Bedroom: Touch-HR Desktop w/DAC-Audio Refinement amp-Energy Veritas 2.0
Guest Rm: Duet-Sony soundbar
Garage: SB3-JVC compact system
Controls: iPeng; SB Controller; Moose & Muso
Server: SBS on dedicated windows 7 computer w/2 Drobos
'Last.fm' (http://www.last.fm/user/jazzfann/)
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[Mnyb]

We Done this before , but honorably candidates from my long and sordid
career as an audiophile crackpot was all those cables ? Including Varius
VdH alpha core and audio quests ,caldera speaker wires and those really
silly signal cables with batteries :confused: to bias the dielectric ...
( all,of it bs ) pointy cones to place under equipment .

Basically changing to much equipment to often to chase the next thing .

All of leftover audiophile cables are recycled by now . I did not sell
them I did not want to profit from this myself and further spread the
disease .

I'll predict this will be a short tread , not many will admit in a
public forum that they been had and conned for decades ? I've did it
before so I'm only repeating myself .

The really stupid part is that I'm a person who should know better being
an electrical engineer ...

People wihtout engineering or scientific background have better excuses
.
Some of the technobabble spouted by audiophile manufacturers have a
plausible ring to it so I understand why people are fooled .

i think my own involvement in the general sceptic movement actually made
me see the errors in my own ways .
Audiophilia is just a smal part of more general problem . Alternative
medicin and other healt scams are the big ones you have billions of
dollars sunk into these so it's not likely to go away soon . But I think
it's a worthy cause .
If you go for root cause analysis , our ability to be fooled is behind
much of our problems .

Don't get me started on anti vaccine people , you know measles are back
in the U.S. now the idiots actually managed to brake the heard imunity
.....

That's why I present myself as an example that we can all be fooled ,
and I'm convinced that this is not a harmless problem . Buying the
audiophile scam ( or any other scam or cult ) can erode your ability for
critical thinking .



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Bedroom/Office: Boom
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Misc use: Radio (with battery)
iPad1 with iPengHD & SqueezePad
(spares Touch, SB3, reciever ,controller )
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[SuperQ]

A long time ago I got conned into buying monster cable stuff by the
local audio shop. I mostly needed a long subwoofer line cable so that I
could get the sub properly positioned. I think I spent $150-200 (back
in 1999). That was a lot of money for me in my early 20s. The cable
was even directional, and I didn't believe it, but I installed it
"correctly" just the same.

Since then I've learned just how evil monster cable is. I think I still
have that cable in a box somewhere.


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[Julf]

Post by Mnyb
i think my own involvement in the general sceptic movement actually made
me see the errors in my own ways .
Audiophilia is just a smal part of more general problem . Alternative
medicin and other healt scams are the big ones you have billions of
dollars sunk into these so it's not likely to go away soon . But I think
it's a worthy cause .
If you go for root cause analysis , our ability to be fooled is behind
much of our problems .
Don't get me started on anti vaccine people , you know measles are back
in the U.S. now the idiots actually managed to brake the heard imunity
.....
That's why I present myself as an example that we can all be fooled ,
and I'm convinced that this is a harmless problem . Buying the
audiophile scam ( or any other scam or cult ) can further erode your
ability for critical thinking .

Indeed. And that is pretty much the only reason I bother to get into
audiophile flame wars - wasting money on silly cables is not a big
thing, but rejecting critical thinking is, and if we are to save this
planet and survive as a species, it is not going to be through
truthiness, superfoods and unicorns.



"To try to judge the real from the false will always be hard. In this
fast-growing art of 'high fidelity' the quackery will bear a solid gilt
edge that will fool many people" - Paul W Klipsch, 1953
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[ralphpnj]

Post by Mnyb
People wihtout engineering or scientific background have better excuses
.
Some of the technobabble spouted by audiophile manufacturers have a
plausible ring to it so I understand why people are fooled .
i think my own involvement in the general sceptic movement actually made
me see the errors in my own ways .
Audiophilia is just a smal part of more general problem . Alternative
medicin and other healt scams are the big ones you have billions of
dollars sunk into these so it's not likely to go away soon . But I think
it's a worthy cause .
If you go for root cause analysis , our ability to be fooled is behind
much of our problems .
Don't get me started on anti vaccine people , you know measles are back
in the U.S. now the idiots actually managed to brake the heard imunity
.....
That's why I present myself as an example that we can all be fooled ,
and I'm convinced that this is a harmless problem . Buying the
audiophile scam ( or any other scam or cult ) can further erode your
ability for critical thinking .
Indeed. And that is pretty much the only reason I bother to get into
audiophile flame wars - wasting money on silly cables is not a big
thing, but rejecting critical thinking is, and if we are to save this
planet and survive as a species, it is not going to be through
truthiness, superfoods and unicorns.

On a related note but revealing a very different reason for people's
inability to apply critical thinking is the book and documentary
"Merchants of Doubt" (http://www.merchantsofdoubt.org/ and
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3675568/). Although I only just started
reading the book and have not yet seen the film I do understand the
general premise which is that by casting what on the surface appears to
be reasonable doubt upon well established science one can get many
people to ignore the science. Very closely related to high end audio's
use of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt). So basically if one can find
even a tiny crack in an otherwise very valid piece of science then one
can get people to disregard all of the science.



Living Rm: Transporter-SimAudio pre/power amps-Vandersteen 3A Sign. &
sub
Home Theater: Touch-Marantz HTR-Energy Veritas 2.1 & Linn sub
Computer Rm: Touch-Headroom Desktop w/DAC-Aragon amp-Energy Veritas 2.1
& Energy sub
Bedroom: Touch-HR Desktop w/DAC-Audio Refinement amp-Energy Veritas 2.0
Guest Rm: Duet-Sony soundbar
Garage: SB3-JVC compact system
Controls: iPeng; SB Controller; Moose & Muso
Server: SBS on dedicated windows 7 computer w/2 Drobos
'Last.fm' (http://www.last.fm/user/jazzfann/)
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[andy_c]

Post by Mnyb
The really stupid part is that I'm a person who should know better being
an electrical engineer ...

Same here! In fact, I decided to get into EE because of my interest in
the hobby back in the 1970s.

Post by Mnyb
i think my own involvement in the general sceptic movement actually made
me see the errors in my own ways .

Same here again!

Here are some of my previous blunders:

In the mid 1980s through the early 1990s, I bought:
Linn Sondek turntable

Magnepan MGIII speakers
Upon arriving home, I read the manual, only to find that they
recommended sending the ribbon tweeters back to the factory once a year
for rebuild. According to the manual, "It's the price we pay for the
highest quality sound reproduction". Of course, none of the reviews of
the speakers mentioned this, nor did anyone at the place that sold them.
I wonder why? Speaking of the place that sold them, it was an audio
shop in Woodland Hills, CA whose name I can't recall. The people there
would not even help me get the beasts into my car. Two years later, the
speakers started making a buzzing sound due to delamination of the
"voice coil" from the mylar diaphragm to which they are glued.
When they worked properly, they did sound good though.

Krell preamp
Krell KSA-100 class A amp
Great heater for those hot summer days!

Various audiophile CD players. At least three of these died after one
year's use.
In the early 2000s, I bought a universal player when my current player
died. I got into DVD-A back when Fry's Electronics was selling them for
$12 apiece. Some of them sound really good, like Workingman's Dead and
American Beauty. But these are remixes. I have since ripped them to
FLAC using DVD-A Explorer.


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[ralphpnj]

Post by andy_c
Linn Sondek turntable

Hey wait a minute I also have a Linn LP12 turntable and it WAS one of
the best audio purchases I ever made. Here's why - back in the late
1980s and throughout the 1990s while everyone was busy getting rid of
their LPs and (re)buying everything on CD because of the Linn my records
sounded really good, good enough in fact for me to keep them and NOT buy
the CD version. Since I bought the Linn used and I was not spending any
money buying my music collection all over again I'm pretty sure that I
actually came out ahead money wise.

Of course once I started using the Squeezebox system to stream my music
I was able (with help of friends and my local library) to acquire
digital copies of much of my LP collection. However I still listen to my
vinyl every now and then.



Living Rm: Transporter-SimAudio pre/power amps-Vandersteen 3A Sign. &
sub
Home Theater: Touch-Marantz HTR-Energy Veritas 2.1 & Linn sub
Computer Rm: Touch-Headroom Desktop w/DAC-Aragon amp-Energy Veritas 2.1
& Energy sub
Bedroom: Touch-HR Desktop w/DAC-Audio Refinement amp-Energy Veritas 2.0
Guest Rm: Duet-Sony soundbar
Garage: SB3-JVC compact system
Controls: iPeng; SB Controller; Moose & Muso
Server: SBS on dedicated windows 7 computer w/2 Drobos
'Last.fm' (http://www.last.fm/user/jazzfann/)
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[Apesbrain]

At one point I swore by all this crap:

[image: Loading Image...]
[image:
Loading Image...]
[image: Loading Image...] [image:
Loading Image...]

It's amazing when you spend 10 minutes getting a CD ready to play how
much better it will sound!


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[ralphpnj]

Post by Apesbrain
[image: http://www.audio-ideas.com/articles/graphics/blacklight.jpg]
http://store.acousticsounds.com/images/large/S_STOPLITE__12484__06242009023654-693.jpg]
http://home.comcast.net/~atmosphere-sonique/Bedini_Ultra_Clarifier.jpg]
It's amazing when you spend 10 minutes getting a CD ready to play how
much better it will sound!

I have the similar types of products and treatments that I apply to the
hard drive before I stream any music :)

Really makes a BIG difference with all the standard audiophile types of
improvements - veils lifted; window opened; wider, higher and deeper
soundstage; more air; greater clarity; etc. Plus there is also my
patented air purification and ionization system (the system works by
aligning all the air molecules in the optimum pattern for music and
WiFi) which gives me the same improvements on any music streamed via
WiFi. Of course for my wired devices those hyper expensive audiophile
Ethernet cables provide all the necessary audiophile improvements.

Now I'm thinking that perhaps I'm not a reformed audiophile after all :)



Living Rm: Transporter-SimAudio pre/power amps-Vandersteen 3A Sign. &
sub
Home Theater: Touch-Marantz HTR-Energy Veritas 2.1 & Linn sub
Computer Rm: Touch-Headroom Desktop w/DAC-Aragon amp-Energy Veritas 2.1
& Energy sub
Bedroom: Touch-HR Desktop w/DAC-Audio Refinement amp-Energy Veritas 2.0
Guest Rm: Duet-Sony soundbar
Garage: SB3-JVC compact system
Controls: iPeng; SB Controller; Moose & Muso
Server: SBS on dedicated windows 7 computer w/2 Drobos
'Last.fm' (http://www.last.fm/user/jazzfann/)
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[Archimago]

Interesting topic Ralph...

Yup... Been there, done that with the Stoplight pen, demagnetizer,
"break in" CDs, and even the PWB Rainbow Foil. Tried sticking CD in
freezer as well (you know, the poor man's cryo!).

17532

Thankfully (perhaps) I was still a poor student back when the "mania"
hit as I started sucking the Kool-Aid and I was doing all that stuff
above. I could not afford hundreds/thousands $$$ for expensive cables
but I started making my own Cat-5 speaker cables (ouch the blisters in
braiding that stuff!), tried various coaxials for digital SPDIF
(soldered my own connectors), magnet cable RCA's...

Thankfully (again!) I knew of some local audiophiles and had a chance to
be exposed to some of this stuff without laying anything on the line
myself - Nordost speaker cables, Totem "beaks", cable risers. The
biggest expense back in those days was a Sony SCD-1 when SACDs hit
around 2000 which would have been the peak of my obsession. I managed to
convince myself that this stuff made no difference after painstakingly
trying to do blind tests with the SACD player and various cables vs.
CD-layer (I was almost 30 years old by this stage and couldn't hear much
difference already; certainly nothing that affected my ability to enjoy
the music). I recognized (with much pain and arguments with some
hardcore folks) that the beliefs around much of the audiophile
paraphernalia were:
17533
(RIP Leonard Nimoy)

From that point on, I started challenging myself with my own test CDs of
excellent music as well as MP3 tracks burned back to CD-Rs. Since 2005,
I've been comparing things like high bitrate MP3 (192kbps+) and test
tones with jitter sidebands when I audition gear. I would always ask if
anyone heard any difference... Guess what, never once has anyone
complained about MP3 even with Grand Utopia EMs, Ravels, Sonus Faber,
Wilson, B+W, mbl... There were times I could hear simulated jitter when
(usually older) dealers and reps could not; reminding me of the
importance of hearing acuity. All this of course lead to the blog idea
when I had enough of Audio Asylum folks claiming they reliably identify
320kbps MP3. Enough nonsense! Time to get out there "in print".

Compared to some folks, I guess I don't have too much of a Kool-Aid
story. I feel thankful to have saved alot of money and experienced much.
These days, finances would be no issue when it comes to multithousand
dollar speakers and thousand dollar ethernet cables. I'm just glad the
mania has passed and I hope I'm mature enough to not be swayed by this
stuff any more while keeping an eye on what "works" for me and could
actually be intellectually defensible.

BTW: I was at the 'HiFi Center opening that Stereophile posted on'
(http://www.stereophile.com/content/hi-fi-centre-opens-friday-new-vancouver-location)
recently last night. Still a lot of fun checking out the gear and
chatting with the reps even though my opinions might differ
significantly from many around me... I'll post some pictures of the
well-attended even on the blog in the next couple weeks!


+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
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Archimago's Musings: (archimago.blogspot.com) A 'more objective'
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[ralphpnj]

Post by Archimago
Interesting topic Ralph...
Yup... Been there, done that with the Stoplight pen, demagnetizer,
"break in" CDs, and even the PWB Rainbow Foil. Tried sticking CD in
freezer as well (you know, the poor man's cryo!).

Thanks Archimago - just the kind of post I was hoping for and very
interesting. Please keep up the good fight!



Living Rm: Transporter-SimAudio pre/power amps-Vandersteen 3A Sign. &
sub
Home Theater: Touch-Marantz HTR-Energy Veritas 2.1 & Linn sub
Computer Rm: Touch-Headroom Desktop w/DAC-Aragon amp-Energy Veritas 2.1
& Energy sub
Bedroom: Touch-HR Desktop w/DAC-Audio Refinement amp-Energy Veritas 2.0
Guest Rm: Duet-Sony soundbar
Garage: SB3-JVC compact system
Controls: iPeng; SB Controller; Moose & Muso
Server: SBS on dedicated windows 7 computer w/2 Drobos
'Last.fm' (http://www.last.fm/user/jazzfann/)
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[Archimago]

Post by ralphpnj
Thanks Archimago - just the kind of post I was hoping for and very
interesting. Please keep up the good fight!

Of course the fight against all forms of false advertising,
miseducation, and intellectual dishonesty is for all "audiophiles"! That
SONY has the -balls -to advertise the 64GB SD card for "Premium Sound"
is a reflection of how companies are truly aware of the ridiculousness
of the audiophile sector. Why not SD cards for "Noise free RAW images!",
"Premium Hi-Def video recording!", or "Unparalleled Home Theatre
Experience!"?

At the Christmas party where the computer enthusiasts, videophiles,
audiophiles, HT geeks, etc. are all invited, the current crowd of
"audiophiles" that inhabit the mainstream press seem to represent the
ignorant, pompous uncle with more cash than brains. The one who everyone
knows was taken in by a Nigerian scam and remains in denial - perhaps
even ready to shell out more for the next round of promises. Of course
this seems to be the caricature I evoke in my mind of these guys in the
press... Perhaps some of these writers are more simple than that and a
prostitution analogy would be more appropriate. Who knows.

In any case. I do hope that in my (our) lifetime, the term "audiophile"
can be respectable and evoke an image of the guy who values quality, is
astute enough to "call a spade a spade" because he has learned and
experienced enough to understand how things work, and can be honest
about sound rather than confuse sound quality with irrational exuberance
and mystified by lavish luxury.

This won't be an easy task because some parts of the industry and
certain manufacturers IMO have built business models that would collapse
so it will indeed be a fight.



Archimago's Musings: (archimago.blogspot.com) A 'more objective'
audiophile blog.
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[ralphpnj]

Post by Archimago
Of course the fight against all forms of false advertising,
miseducation, and intellectual dishonesty is for all "audiophiles"! That
SONY has the -balls -to advertise the 64GB SD card for "Premium Sound"
is a reflection of how companies are truly aware of the ridiculousness
of the audiophile sector. Why not SD cards for "Noise free RAW images!",
"Premium Hi-Def video recording!", or "Unparalleled Home Theatre
Experience!"?
At the Christmas party where the computer enthusiasts, videophiles,
audiophiles, HT geeks, etc. are all invited, the current crowd of
"audiophiles" that inhabit the mainstream press seem to represent the
ignorant, pompous uncle with more cash than brains. The one who everyone
knows was taken in by a Nigerian scam and remains in denial - perhaps
even ready to shell out more for the next round of promises. Of course
this seems to be the caricature I evoke in my mind of these guys in the
press... Perhaps some of these writers are more simple than that and a
-prostitution -analogy would be more appropriate. Who knows.
In any case. I do hope that in my (our) lifetime, the term "audiophile"
can be respectable and evoke an image of the guy who values quality, is
astute enough to "call a spade a spade" because he has learned and
experienced enough to understand how things work, and can be honest
about sound rather than confuse sound quality with irrational exuberance
and mystified by lavish luxury. (I have nothing against expensive
designs, let's just not confuse esthetics with function.)
This won't be an easy task because some parts of the industry and
certain manufacturers IMO have built business models that would collapse
so it will indeed be a fight.

So you met my uncle?



Living Rm: Transporter-SimAudio pre/power amps-Vandersteen 3A Sign. &
sub
Home Theater: Touch-Marantz HTR-Energy Veritas 2.1 & Linn sub
Computer Rm: Touch-Headroom Desktop w/DAC-Aragon amp-Energy Veritas 2.1
& Energy sub
Bedroom: Touch-HR Desktop w/DAC-Audio Refinement amp-Energy Veritas 2.0
Guest Rm: Duet-Sony soundbar
Garage: SB3-JVC compact system
Controls: iPeng; SB Controller; Moose & Muso
Server: SBS on dedicated windows 7 computer w/2 Drobos
'Last.fm' (http://www.last.fm/user/jazzfann/)
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[Archimago]

Post by ralphpnj
So you met my uncle?

Which one?

The pompous ass, or the one picked up for propositioning the undercover
cop to offer sexual services? ;-)



Archimago's Musings: (archimago.blogspot.com) A 'more objective'
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[ralphpnj]

Post by Archimago
Which one?
The pompous ass, or the one picked up for propositioning the undercover
cop to offer sexual services? ;-)

They are brothers so I guess you know both.



Living Rm: Transporter-SimAudio pre/power amps-Vandersteen 3A Sign. &
sub
Home Theater: Touch-Marantz HTR-Energy Veritas 2.1 & Linn sub
Computer Rm: Touch-Headroom Desktop w/DAC-Aragon amp-Energy Veritas 2.1
& Energy sub
Bedroom: Touch-HR Desktop w/DAC-Audio Refinement amp-Energy Veritas 2.0
Guest Rm: Duet-Sony soundbar
Garage: SB3-JVC compact system
Controls: iPeng; SB Controller; Moose & Muso
Server: SBS on dedicated windows 7 computer w/2 Drobos
'Last.fm' (http://www.last.fm/user/jazzfann/)
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[Squeezemenicely]

Post by Apesbrain
It's amazing when you spend 10 minutes getting a CD ready to play how
much better it will sound!

I am ashamed - at a hifistore the guy trying to take all my money
introduced me to this magic spray. You spray your CD with it and
suddenly the sound is amazing, more detail - everything you ever wished
for...

I even fell for it in the testdrive in the shop, but not enough to spend
the ridiculous amout of money he wanted for it. But I always wondered,
how it suddenly sounded different to my ears / mind. Spooky...

Glad that simply being rather poor at the time prevented me to get into
this sort of craziness.



LMS 7.9.0 on Wandboard (SoA)
Synology DS-410j NAS
Squeezebox Touch, Squeezebox Boom, Squeezebox Radio, HifiBerry
PicorePlayer
Schiit - BIFROST Dac
Spotify Premium
iPhone: iPeng - iPad: Squeezepad, iPengHD
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[andy_c]

Post by ralphpnj
Hey wait a minute I also have a Linn LP12 turntable and it WAS one of
the best audio purchases I ever made. Here's why - back in the late
1980s and throughout the 1990s while everyone was busy getting rid of
their LPs and (re)buying everything on CD because of the Linn my records
sounded really good, good enough in fact for me to keep them and NOT buy
the CD version. Since I bought the Linn used and I was not spending any
money buying my music collection all over again I'm pretty sure that I
actually came out ahead money wise.

Smart move getting it used. I bought mine new, and it was really
expensive here in the States, like $550 for the Ittok arm, $850 for the
table, and $600 for the Karma cartridge (stupid choice). At that time,
my record collection was not very big, and in pretty bad shape, so I did
need to replace many of them anyway. It was a nice table though. I had
a black one, and also got one of those wall-mount shelves from Target in
the UK, and it was black too. The combination made a really handsome
package, and the wall-mount shelf totally eliminated the skipping and
unsteadiness issues.

I do remember in the early days of CD, selection was bad, and they were
typically more expensive in absolute dollars than they are today, even
with no inflation adjustment. I ended up building up my collection very
slowly because of that. Then it seems in about 2000 they started
releasing many obscure titles, and the prices got a lot more reasonable
due to the competition brought on by online CD sales, so I bought a lot
of CDs around that time.


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[ralphpnj]

Post by andy_c
Smart move getting it used. I bought mine new, and it was really
expensive here in the States, like $550 for the Ittok arm, $850 for the
table, and $600 for the Karma cartridge (stupid choice). At that time,
my record collection was not very big, and in pretty bad shape, so I did
need to replace many of them anyway. It was a nice table though. I had
a black one, and also got one of those wall-mount shelves from Target in
the UK, and it was black too. The combination made a really handsome
package, and the wall-mount shelf totally eliminated the skipping and
unsteadiness issues.
I do remember in the early days of CD, selection was bad, and they were
typically more expensive in absolute dollars than they are today, even
with no inflation adjustment. I ended up building up my collection very
slowly because of that. Then it seems in about 2000 they started
releasing many obscure titles, and the prices got a lot more reasonable
due to the competition brought on by online CD sales, so I bought a lot
of CDs around that time. They're all sitting in boxes in my garage now.

I too have my Linn LP12 sitting upon a wall mounted shelf but I made the
shelf myself using a very solid and heavy laminated square of high
density fiberboard, two large metal shelf brackets and some black spray
paint. I should also mention that several years ago I bought a used
Lingo power supply for the LP12 which I installed myself along with a Zu
Audio turntable cable.

As you said in the early days CD not only were they rather expensive but
many times they sounded quite unpleasant, especially all those poorly
mastered and hastily released CD versions of analog recordings. Heck in
those days the record companies often just digitized the analog master
that was used to cut the LP, even leaving in the RIAA equalization. A
very sad state of affairs. Add to this the fact that many "record"
stores and individuals were in such a mad rush to get of their vinyl
that more often than not the vinyl (which at that time often sounded
superior to the CD) could be bought for quite a bit less than the CD.
Yes indeed in the late 1980s and early 1990's at the beginning of the CD
era my vinyl collection grew quite a bit.



Living Rm: Transporter-SimAudio pre/power amps-Vandersteen 3A Sign. &
sub
Home Theater: Touch-Marantz HTR-Energy Veritas 2.1 & Linn sub
Computer Rm: Touch-Headroom Desktop w/DAC-Aragon amp-Energy Veritas 2.1
& Energy sub
Bedroom: Touch-HR Desktop w/DAC-Audio Refinement amp-Energy Veritas 2.0
Guest Rm: Duet-Sony soundbar
Garage: SB3-JVC compact system
Controls: iPeng; SB Controller; Moose & Muso
Server: SBS on dedicated windows 7 computer w/2 Drobos
'Last.fm' (http://www.last.fm/user/jazzfann/)
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[cliveb]

Like many others here in the UK, I went through the inevitable Linn/Naim
phase. It got as far as a pair of Naim 135 monoblocks and passive Linn
Isobariks. Then in 1993 I bought a pair of ATC SCM100A active speakers
and was instantly cured. I've still got the LP12 and Naim preamp that I
use for transferring LPs to the hard drive.

But that's by the by. My greatest claim to audiophile bonkers behaviour
is this: I had a very early A&R A60 amp, and it had DIN speaker sockets
- which back in those days were of course the Devil's work. I got a pair
of those stupid flat, plaited speaker cables, removed the DIN sockets,
and soldered the cables directly to the A60's circuit board. For some
unfathomable reason the amp did NOT blow up.



Transporter -> ATC SCM100A
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[andy_c]

Post by ralphpnj
As you said in the early days CD not only were they rather expensive but
many times they sounded quite unpleasant, especially all those poorly
mastered and hastily released CD versions of analog recordings. Heck in
those days the record companies often just digitized the analog master
that was used to cut the LP, even leaving in the RIAA equalization. A
very sad state of affairs. Add to this the fact that many "record"
stores and individuals were in such a mad rush to get of their vinyl
that more often than not the vinyl (which at that time often sounded
superior to the CD) could be bought for quite a bit less than the CD.
Yes indeed in the late 1980s and early 1990's at the beginning of the CD
era my vinyl collection grew quite a bit.

I was very underwhelmed with CD in the early days. They seemed good in
a superficial sense, having low noise and elimination of ticks and pops.
But the sound seemed mostly dull and lifeless, although a few were just
grungy and nasty. The worst early CD I had was an Abdullah Ibrahim disc
on the Denon label, recorded using 14-bit conversion. I suspect no
dither was used in this recording either. The piano, when decaying into
silence, had this nasty ringing sound. In the early days, I had better
luck with CDs made from analog tape. Maybe the analog tape had enough
hiss to dither the A/D converters?

The situation didn't improve for me until around 2000, when I bought the
universal player, a Denon 1900. The improvements seemed to suggest that
maybe, once dither was used, the early A/D converters used in recording
studios were better than the DACs in consumer CD players. DACs saw vast
engineering improvements from the early 1990s to the early 2000s, so
maybe that was the ticket. I am very happy with the sound I'm getting
now. I am running Squeezeplay on an HTPC using HDMI out to an Emotiva
UMC-200. No digital nasties at all.


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[audio53]

Fortunately, my frugal fiscal sense has limited my audiophile
transgression to a two year subscription to Stereophile magazine. Also
helping was the onset of tinnitus 16 years ago and partial hearing loss
in my right ear. I wasn't about to pay for something I would never hear.



Regards,
Bob

FLAC->SB Touch (wired)->PS Audio DLIII DAC->Yamaha RX-595->Paradigm
Reference Studio 60 v.5.
Music files are stored on a Synology NAS.
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[probedb]

I used to read What Hi-Fi? does that count? ;)

After having to replace the binding post on a speaker I got to see the
wiring inside and realised there was no point buying expensive cable
because KEF certainly don't use expensive cable inside their speakers.
Taking a hearing test I can only hear to about 15.5KHz so have never
believed hi-res content was of any use anyway.



'last.fm' (http://www.last.fm/user/probedb)
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[pablolie]

i must say that about the only time i heard a night and day difference
after an upgrade was the first time i bought good speakers (very musical
2-ways from long dead German company). they were all of $750 at the time
or so.

ever since, i think i have made more or less rational decisions - but
the increase in sonic quality went by the law of diminishing returns.

i also once could have sworn those green pens improved sound quite
dramatically, and my fav CDs (in storage) all have that carefully
applied green outer and inner edge :-)

since my first decent system (Denon 1290 CD player, use Luxman
integrated, the inevitable Technics SL1210 turntable (still in storage)
and a TEAC 8030 cassette deck i worshiped), i have only upgraded major
components 2 times. not bad for a 25 year interest in audiophilia. once
when i moved into a big house, and blew a lot of money into a system
that made me smile for countless hours for over 14 years, so not a bad
return on investment), and then after divorce, when i moved into a
*small* place and i had to downsize... and i love the little system i
have now for less than a third of the cost of my former system.

my only area where i admit total suckerdom and guilt are headphones - be
it over the head, or in ear, i have a ton of them. luckily i never blow
more than $700 on them, but it does add up, and honestly the first good
set i bought still sounds absolutely fantastic. not sure why i do that,
but after confession here in audiophiles anonymous i may be on the road
to recovery. oh and i also once spend a lot on a stupid cartridge for my
turntable that didn't even fit right and sounded indistinguishable (and
quite possibly worse) than the standard, $200 Ortofon i had had forever.
:-)

i have my former high end system in storage, and my attempts at selling
the pieces on Audiogon or Ebay show that any dollar we spend in
audiophilia is gone, there is nothing like a decent return on investment
:-)

other than that, i enjoy moderate amounts of irrationality here and
there, but when i am happy with something it tends to last forever and i
don't muck around with it, even though i stay current on what's new and
such.



...pablo
Server: Virtual Machine running Ubuntu 12.04 + LMS 7.7.3 on VMware
Player
System: SB Touch --optical->- Benchmark DAC2HGC --AnalysisPlus Oval
Copper XLR->- NAD M22 Power Amp --AnalysisPlus Black Mesh Oval->- Totem
Element Fire
Other Rooms: 2x SB Boom; 1x SB Radio; 1x SB Classic-> MusicalFidelity
M1PWR -> Totem DreamCatcher
Computer audio: workstation --USB->- audioengine D1 -> Grado PS500e
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[Curt962]

Hello All!

I was getting a bit worried that I was perhaps the only one who had
decided to spit out the Audiophile Kool-Aid, and begin using my own
Common Sense, and Ears with regards to my decades-old affinity to
listening to well-reproduced Music!

Something so simple as careful attention to detail in setting up an
Audio System can transform even a modest system into a very good one,
often at no extra cost. Folks within the Companies that make some of
my favorite gear (Thanks to: ADAM Audio, GIK Acoustics, SVSound) have
lent their expertise in aiding me in extracting the last ounce from my
gear, and none asked for a single penny in return!)

No annual re-builds, or "solder of the month" Club to Join...

The High End industry has done much over the decades to discredit
itself, but there are still some really good folks out there that can
cut thru the Crap, and show you how to really enjoy your sound system.

I'm happy now!!

Great Thread Ralph!



Life is precious. Celebrate every day!
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[Curt962]

Hello All!

I was getting a bit worried that I was perhaps the only one who had
decided to spit out the Audiophile Kool-Aid, and begin using my own
Common Sense, and Ears with regards to my decades-old affinity to
listening to well-reproduced Music!

Something so simple as careful attention to detail in setting up an
Audio System can transform even a modest system into a very good one,
often at no extra cost. Folks within the Companies that make some of
my favorite gear (Thanks to: ADAM Audio, GIK Acoustics, SVSound) have
lent their expertise in aiding me in extracting the last ounce from my
gear, and none asked for a single penny in return!)

No annual re-builds, or "solder of the month" Club to Join...

The High End industry has done much over the decades to discredit
itself, but there are still some really good folks out there that can
cut thru the Crap, and show you how to really enjoy your sound system.

I'm happy now!!

Great Thread Ralph!



Life is precious. Celebrate every day!
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[Mnyb]

Post by andy_c
Same here! In fact, I decided to get into EE because of my interest in
the hobby back in the 1970s.
Same here again!
Linn Sondek turntable
Magnepan MGIII speakers
Upon arriving home, I read the manual, only to find that they
recommended sending the ribbon tweeters back to the factory once a year
for rebuild. According to the manual, "It's the price we pay for the
highest quality sound reproduction". Of course, none of the reviews of
the speakers mentioned this, nor did anyone at the place that sold them.
I wonder why? Speaking of the place that sold them, it was an audio
shop in Woodland Hills, CA whose name I can't recall. The people there
would not even help me get the beasts into my car. Two years later, the
speakers started making a buzzing sound due to delamination of the
"voice coil" from the mylar diaphragm to which they are glued.
When they worked properly, they did sound good though.
Krell preamp
Krell KSA-100 class A amp
Great heater for those hot summer days!
Various audiophile CD players. At least three of these died after one
year's use.
In the early 2000s, I bought a universal player. I got into DVD-A back
when Fry's Electronics was selling them for $12 apiece. Some of them
sound really good, like Workingman's Dead and American Beauty. But
these are remixes. I have since ripped them to FLAC using DVD-A
Explorer.

Linn is a very good example on marketing on the slightly shady side .

they " discovered " that the source component was the most important
part of an audio system , while in the beginning they did nothing but
said source component the LP12 :) so now you where to place a
disproportionate amount of £££ on the TT , their TT .

And with the CD12 they probably broke the wall of shame on how
ridiculously expensive a CD player could be .

But only after years spreading the FUD about vinyls superiority , and
prat what was that really :D " pace rhythm and timing " they and naim
invented this and it can ofcourse not be quantified an any scientific
way .....



--------------------------------------------------------------------
Main hifi: Touch + CIA PS +MeridianG68J MeridianHD621 MeridianG98DH 2 x
MeridianDSP5200 MeridianDSP5200HC 2 xMeridianDSP3100 +Rel Stadium 3
sub.
Bedroom/Office: Boom
Kitchen: Touch + powered Fostex PM0.4
Misc use: Radio (with battery)
iPad1 with iPengHD & SqueezePad
(spares Touch, SB3, reciever ,controller )
server HP proliant micro server N36L with ClearOS Linux

http://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html
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[Archimago]

Post by Mnyb
Linn is a very good example on marketing on the slightly shady side .
they " discovered " that the source component was the most important
part of an audio system , while in the beginning they did nothing but
said source component the LP12 :) so now you where to place a
disproportionate amount of £££ on the TT , their TT .
And with the CD12 they probably broke the wall of shame on how
ridiculously expensive a CD player could be .
But only after years spreading the FUD about vinyls superiority , and
prat what was that really :D " pace rhythm and timing " they and naim
invented this and it can ofcourse not be quantified an any scientific
way .....

Ahhh. The CD12. I remember that baby well... Something like $20,000 for
a CD player introduced at the advent of SACD technology. I remember how
when I was shopping for the SCD-1 the salesman would say how "close to
SACD it makes all your CD's sound!" or something like that.



Archimago's Musings: (archimago.blogspot.com) A 'more objective'
audiophile blog.
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[andy_c]

Post by Mnyb
Linn is a very good example on marketing on the slightly shady side .
they " discovered " that the source component was the most important
part of an audio system , while in the beginning they did nothing but
said source component the LP12 :) so now you where to place a
disproportionate amount of £££ on the TT , their TT .
And with the CD12 they probably broke the wall of shame on how
ridiculously expensive a CD player could be .
But only after years spreading the FUD about vinyls superiority , and
prat what was that really :D " pace rhythm and timing " they and naim
invented this and it can ofcourse not be quantified an any scientific
way .....

The literature that came with the turntable included pontifications of
Ivor Tiefenbrun. One of the things he claimed was that any
electroacoustic transducer in the room other than the speakers would
degrade sound quality - even a telephone! I remember reading that and
thinking that this guy was just a highly eccentric individual. I didn't
realize that wacky claims like this would become mainstream in high-end
audio.

Regarding PRaT, I've even seen that term being used in connection with
amps and preamps. :D


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