Are There Any Audiophiles Here?

[ALange]

Quality trucks, guns, computers, women, tools, seem to be a common theme around the forum. Any of you equally obsessed by stereo equipment. I have what would be considered the low end of the upper class of equipment. Low end of class A or high end of class B. I wonder if there is a generational gap (They were popular during 60s to 80s) in the desire for good stereo so here are the specs.

 

• Adcom Amp 200 WPC
  
• Adcom pre-amp
  
• Adcom CD
  
• Vandersteen Spks
  
• MIT wires
  

I have had it for a good 15 years now and it would be hard to improve upon without getting ridiculously expensive. I do need a new turn table as I am a believer quality vinyl still rules. You can take audio acuracy too far too. Accurate sound reproduction and Bob Dylan don't jive. The only thing worse than his voice is his face. Definitely don't want a quality picture of him either unless you consider things like shaved cats arses a work of art.

[Wingnut]

I'm running Denon and Klipsch for the time being...Zembonez has the same receiver that I do

 

I'm waiting until I find my new house to upgrade the receiver and add some amps...because I may wind up with a house that's got a theater room.

 

As for Vinyl...I've moved away from it and into the realm of SACD. You get the warmth and truth of vinyl, but without the scratchiness. They're hard to find locally and they're relatively expensive...But totally worth it to me.

[ALange]

I'm running Denon and Klipsch for the time being...Zembonez has the same receiver that I do

 

I'm waiting until I find my new house to upgrade the receiver and add some amps...because I may wind up with a house that's got a theater room.

 

As for Vinyl...I've moved away from it and into the realm of SACD. You get the warmth and truth of vinyl, but without the scratchiness. They're hard to find locally and they're relatively expensive...But totally worth it to me.

 

I too use CDs. I have the vinyl still, but lack the turn table. I traded my first good stereo for a Goldwing in 1978. I had a monster Sansui at the time and some JBL L100 Centurys. Those were made when JBL still catered to audiophiles and were an industry standard for a long time. I also had a pair of Infinity collumn IIs. Power hogs that could shake the rafters. The stereo is still kicking but the bike got wrecked (not my fault). I am very happy with Adcom, US made and you can get some smoking deals on Ebay for amps, pre-amps, and they have pre-amp tuner combos. People areshying away from the big component audio systems and have focused on their TV. I have the GFA 5500 II amp that will kick 200 per channel continuous and has a very clear neutral sound, not colored at all. You can plug their CD players directly into the amp bypassing the preamp as the CD has a volume control. Less components for the signal to travel through = better sound, maybe. I looked to upgrade my speaker wires, two 15 foot sections of bi-wired speaker wire they wanted 1600 bucks for and offered me 600 bucks for my old 10 foot wires. Setting up the system in a new house. At that price I'll find a different location, perhaps the garage. I wonder if the Chevy would run better if I played music for it.

[Black02Silverado]

I'm running Denon and Klipsch for the time being...Zembonez has the same receiver that I do

 

I'm waiting until I find my new house to upgrade the receiver and add some amps...because I may wind up with a house that's got a theater room.

 

As for Vinyl...I've moved away from it and into the realm of SACD. You get the warmth and truth of vinyl, but without the scratchiness. They're hard to find locally and they're relatively expensive...But totally worth it to me.

 

I too use CDs. I have the vinyl still, but lack the turn table. I traded my first good stereo for a Goldwing in 1978. I had a monster Sansui at the time and some JBL L100 Centurys. Those were made when JBL still catered to audiophiles and were an industry standard for a long time. I also had a pair of Infinity collumn IIs. Power hogs that could shake the rafters. The stereo is still kicking but the bike got wrecked (not my fault). I am very happy with Adcom, US made and you can get some smoking deals on Ebay for amps, pre-amps, and they have pre-amp tuner combos. People areshying away from the big component audio systems and have focused on their TV. I have the GFA 5500 II amp that will kick 200 per channel continuous and has a very clear neutral sound, not colored at all. You can plug their CD players directly into the amp bypassing the preamp as the CD has a volume control. Less components for the signal to travel through = better sound, maybe. I looked to upgrade my speaker wires, two 15 foot sections of bi-wired speaker wire they wanted 1600 bucks for and offered me 600 bucks for my old 10 foot wires. Setting up the system in a new house. At that price I'll find a different location, perhaps the garage. I wonder if the Chevy would run better if I played music for it.

 

 

Ok that went way over my head.

 

I have the lower grade Denon and Klipsch KG4's of 1985 vintage.

 

I use to have a Nakamichi casette component stereo in my impala. Again that was back in 88. Wasn't the Nakamichi Dragon the casette player to have back then? I remember guys coming back from a tour in Japan bringing home all kinds of High tech stereo stuff because back then the exchange rate made it cheap.

[Wingnut]

I'm running Denon and Klipsch for the time being...Zembonez has the same receiver that I do

 

I'm waiting until I find my new house to upgrade the receiver and add some amps...because I may wind up with a house that's got a theater room.

 

As for Vinyl...I've moved away from it and into the realm of SACD. You get the warmth and truth of vinyl, but without the scratchiness. They're hard to find locally and they're relatively expensive...But totally worth it to me.

 

I too use CDs. I have the vinyl still, but lack the turn table. I traded my first good stereo for a Goldwing in 1978. I had a monster Sansui at the time and some JBL L100 Centurys. Those were made when JBL still catered to audiophiles and were an industry standard for a long time. I also had a pair of Infinity collumn IIs. Power hogs that could shake the rafters. The stereo is still kicking but the bike got wrecked (not my fault). I am very happy with Adcom, US made and you can get some smoking deals on Ebay for amps, pre-amps, and they have pre-amp tuner combos. People areshying away from the big component audio systems and have focused on their TV. I have the GFA 5500 II amp that will kick 200 per channel continuous and has a very clear neutral sound, not colored at all. You can plug their CD players directly into the amp bypassing the preamp as the CD has a volume control. Less components for the signal to travel through = better sound, maybe. I looked to upgrade my speaker wires, two 15 foot sections of bi-wired speaker wire they wanted 1600 bucks for and offered me 600 bucks for my old 10 foot wires. Setting up the system in a new house. At that price I'll find a different location, perhaps the garage. I wonder if the Chevy would run better if I played music for it.

 

 

Not CD's...SACD's. Super Audio CD's...Whole different animal that requires specific stuff to play them. They're TONS better than regular CD's.

[D&SYukonDenali]

I'm currently running the higher end Denon components (about three years old) with very large Cervin-Vega fronts, Cerwin-Vega center, and Bose rears. System is OK for now, probably need better speakers, but don't feel like spending the money at this time.

Once my current place finally sells and I start building the house, I plan on getting the Denon AVR-5308CI (or equivalent at the time of purchase) and zoning the house with it. Should be easy work to do myself when it is just studded in. The old system will go into the basement at that point.

[grampadirt]

I'm also a believer vinyl still has it's attractions.I think I have maybr 75-100 old albums of which 10-15 get played on a regular basis.Would you believe The Byrds',Jefferson Airplane,and a couple others' first release? How 'bout Beach Boys,Bad Co.,Led Zepplin..I could go on.In '76 I bought a full set of stereo equipment from a west coast chain called Pacific Stereo,and still have and use to this day.Back then there wasn't alot of $ in the household so I couldn't get top notch stuff but it all still works today.Art,you mentioned not having a turntable...if you have lotsa 45s and 331/3s you gotta be bummed at not having something to play 'em on.My old Quadraflex QL410 still rocks,well built for the money.I've changed the belt,stylus and cartridge a couple of times but the unit still works great..even after 30 years.I connected all that to the surround sound amp and can put out some pretty good sound....my neighbors enjoy it too Oh and my fav album? Cheap Trick..Live At Buddah Khan

[superjim]

What about the Stones..."Thru The Past...Darkly?"

[MarkD]

Denon AVR-3803 Receiver

Paradigm Studio 40's front

Paradigm Studio 20's rear

Paradigm Studio CC center

Paradigm Servo 15 sub

Apogee silver interconnects and speakerwire

 

 

All about 5 years old and can rock the house

[rvsahs]

Denon AVR-3803 Receiver

Paradigm Studio 40's front

Paradigm Studio 20's rear

Paradigm Studio CC center

Paradigm Servo 15 sub

Apogee silver interconnects and speakerwire

 

 

All about 5 years old and can rock the house

Nice setup Mark...I bet you CAN crank up the wattage in your cottage!

[grampadirt]

What about the Stones..."Thru The Past...Darkly?"

 

 

Yup,another good one.Of course we couldn't talk about rock without including Jimi Hendrix or The Moody Blues..In Search Of the Lost Chord,another fav of mine.....just sounds great on vinyl

[P'cola Denali]

[Wingnut]

I've got Denon 3806 for the receiver and the Klipsch RF-35's for speakers along with the Reference series 12" sub.

 

I'm going bigger soon...Just gotta find the new pad. I may be going HUGE

 

[2000DV4.8]

I would be, but I severely lack the funds. My music money goes more towards the "other" side of the CD.

[Zembonez]

My system consists of:

 

 

• 1 Denon AVR3806 as Preamp
  
• 2 Adcom GFA-555 series II Amps
  
• 1 Adcom GFA-535 series II Amp
  
• 1 Adcom ACE-515 Line Conditioner
  
• Sony PS-3750T Cast Alloy Turntable (vinyl rules!)
  
• 1 Sumiko Blue Point cartridge and headshell
  
• 1 Grado Reference Platinum cartridge and headshell
  
• 1 Denon DVD player
  
• 4 Advent 6003 towers
  
• 2 Image Dynamics DVC 12" Subs in custom enclosure
  
• 2 Sonance In Ceiling Surrounds
  
• 1 KEF center channel speaker (don't remember model)
  
• Kimber and Thomas interconnects
  
• Kimber Kable Speaker cables
  
• 55" Sony Bravia
  

 

 

Subs and Mains run off of the 2 GFA-555s / Surrounds run off of the GFA-535 / Center and Secondary Mains run off of the Denon 3806 amps.

 

In pure 2 channel mode the mains and subs are crossed over differently than they are when the system is in surround mode.