Hi-End audiophilia, myths, misinterpretations and...

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Hell_labs - you're full of shit audio-wise. Your ears just need to be educated or trained. You (and anyone else for that matter) have always got an open invite if you'd like a demonstration someday at my place. To an extent, you simply don't spend big bucks on a nice system NOT to hear a difference. It's like anything else in life that way. Everyone I've ever auditioned my gear to has literally (okay, figuratively) shat themselves, especially when I spin an LP and then switch between the two sources. Audio and listening to hi-fi is an art form that people used to take more seriously and was a lot more popular before the advent of all this silly disposable shit people choose to occupy their time with.

Seriously - walk into a nice audio salon someday with your favorite CD or LP, spend some time, open your mind and your ears. You'll be surprised what you're likely to hear.

I have had a long standing joke regarding my audio obsession though... I used to say the blessed be that are half deaf as they don't need to spend as much as me! lol  I realize today that's BS. I'm proud and elated to know the difference between good and bad sound. It's a hobby (that isn't or doesn't have to be as expensive as you think) like most others in that you need to be dedicated to it. And that's probably the biggest reason why so many in the mainstream can't commit. They're not really into 'anything' refined, cultured or nice. They don't want to admit something is nicer, especially if they cannot or do not want to afford it.

If after you cannot truly detect and appreciate a good sounding hi-fi system, I'd recommend you go see an audiologist and then a psychologist because something is truly wrong with a) your hearing and perhaps b) your mental state of mind regarding the topic. I know most people have a "it's good enough" type mentality, but there's nothing wrong with saying: hi-end audio sure sounds great, but as someone that's not *that* into music, I am unwilling to devote that much money, space and time to it. That's a little more civilized than ignorantly writing it off...

My apologies to the OP for getting off topic. This will be all I have to say about the state of affairs of today's audio and the dispassionate mentality of the mainstream in this thread. If anyone cares to start a new one in the Coffee House or something...

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as promised, I didn't want to derail the thread any further, which is about the A1200 playing mp3's. So... in a nutshell to combat some of the statements:

I own Hi-Fi tuning fuses for all my gear and yes, they make a difference. I might not have been able to hear the difference in the power section of the DVD/SACD player I inserted it in, but there was a big difference in the stability of imaging when I rebuilt said power supply with BlackGate caps and FRED diodes. Hi-Fi Tuning fuses DO make a HUGE difference when they're placed within the audio chain - and that's their main purpose. Power Amp protection for your speakers for example - is not the same as the fuse in the power supply section. Good power amps have 3 or more fuses in them. Speakers with fuses also benefit from the silver filament fuses and big time!!

Monster Cable is not total crap, but they do represent an embarrassment to the term 'Hi-End'. These guys IMO ARE out to gyp nubiles, fresh getting into audio, off of their hard earned cash. Monster Cable *is* ridiculously overpriced for what they are, but are much better than the stock cables you get with some audio/video gear. Look elsewhere for better bang for your buck. Look at the geometry and the types of materials real high end cables talk about. Generally speaking, if it's expensive and you've never heard of it before - that's the stuff you should be looking into buying. Asking your audio dealer is always the best advice though. No, today's big box mass consumer audio/video/appliance "salespeople" are not qualified to even ask what the weather will be in a few hours  

Hell Labs - in your world, there is no such thing as "digital stereo". All digital sources on the levels you're used to listening to ALL get translated to analogue - which is why cables matter. 75ohm digital cables are not all equal either.

The Sony PSX people are off their frickin' rocker - that's all that's needed to say about that    Sorry they have tainted your view of the hi-end. What turds.

Headphones are NOT better than speakers. First off, no imaging to speak of. You do not listen to a live orchestra play with headphones, do you? Hi-end audio is often about reconstructing a live event in front of you. Room reflections play a big part in the design of the human ear. It's not [the human ear] all coiled up and nasty looking like it is without reason    Headphones CAN sound great - sure, but they are the antithesis of a live experience. I own a pretty expensive pair of Sennheiser headphones that I never 'listen' to. Only give 'em a quick listen to monitor a recording and that's pretty much it.

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Hey guys...  out of respect to the OP, I started this...

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?p=544311#post544311

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Karlos - you can do Magic!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxUGR8vc8NE

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Not talking about hard rock or heavy metal concerts Hell Labs. Real concerts... orchestras comprised of human beings playing real acoustic instruments. But... the reason rock gigs suck today (and I'm a drummer btw) is because of shite gear played for the masses handled by a shite "engineer" or sound guy. MOST people are tone deaf and that's who the recording industry is now kowtowing to. It sucks for those of us that can appreciate uncompressed music - but really well recorded popular music pretty much does not exist today. You can thank the iPod, mp3's and clueless/classless (louder is not better) people for that. The use of compression in ALL pre-recorded music today is a horrible dirty little secret. I personally am outraged so many use the technique. Can hardly enjoy listening to any modern music today because of it. If you're lucky, a jazz or classical album will be released with little to no compression - but I guarantee you'd be hard pressed to find 'em. The Beatles latest releases all feature minimally compressed music and they're all quite proud of that fact for a reason. Steely Dan and Jamie Cullum are a couple of bands that still know how to record, but Jamie's slippin' big time. Hopefully he'll still care about how music sounds in another few years  

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Some pics of my current 'main' 2-channel system. Getting tempted to add another amp/preamp combo and setup a pair of B&W's for rears though. NOT really for movies - for the multi-channel SACD's and DVD's I have of music concerts and such. There is a front projector in this room which fills the space between the speakers rather nicely. lol  

Tandberg amp you see sitting next to one of my Ascents NEEDS a matching preamp... Already have the B&W's  

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Yes, recording techniques are in the shitter today. While even George Martin would argue that separating instruments like that is kind of a "no-no", it does make for a more compelling sound. Recording with minimal mic'ing (a microphone should be abbreviated MIC, not MIKE, as unfortunately some hi-end journalists mistakingly do), say two to four, enables a much more realistic sound stage image to be recorded and played back. This over-engineered Pro-Tools computer file crap that's been plaguing modern recordings for the last 15 or so years is for the frickin' birds! Music industry needs to wake up, but they're never going to. They're literally killing themselves slowly but surely and that's okay kind of. Not much music coming out today worth marketing or purchasing  

I can count on one hand how many "popular" new bands since the mid 90's into the 2000's I'd care to listen to:

Jamie Cullum
Amy Winehouse (she may be whatever, but the music and talent around her is rather good)
Gnarls Barkely
Black Joe Lewis
Dave Matthews (a song or three and that's it though)

...really straining to think of anyone else as new in my record collection. I'll have to edit the post if I come up with anymore. lol

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LOL! I totally grew up with some really nice 'ghetto blasters' in my day. That thing looks like a modern rip-off of one though. Don't know much about it, but it looks too thin and cheap compared to the ones we had. Our stuff was usually grey, NEVER black and they had analogue VU meters, NOT LED's. Too many red flags for that thing to be taken seriously - even though we're just talking boom boxes. lol  If that's all that exists now though, I guess it's kinda cool for what it is. Wouldn't pay more than $150-$200 for it though (Assuming it's worth that much to begin with)... what's your definition of "big money"?

And yeah... if you're that tickled over a boom-box, ever read any Jules Verne? I hear 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea is a real good read... lmao

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@m4rk1z:

Yes, I've recorded music to both a hi-fi VHS deck and a "Dolby Labs" VHS machine before. We both know which one is better, BUT... you're right. Even without control of the recording levels, a VHS tape is the closest thing possible to reel-to-reel sound as we can get. Very similar, if not exactly the same ips recording too. Just sold a Yamaha Hi-Fi VHS machine that allowed you to control recording levels in fact. Without the use of ANY Dolby noise reduction or compression - this is truly hi-fi at its best. Too bad the mechanisms are so damn noisy though  :mad:

Because of that, I still prefer recording on my Nakamichi made Kyocera decks.

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I guess those audiophiles also rebuild their rooms to create an optimal acoustic space?

Yeah, I have a couple of portable acoustic traps I set out when listening, but I really do need to dampen the corners and a couple of walls. I haven't gotten around to doing just that yet. It's funny, because the couple of serious audiophile friends I have, when they're over - they like the liveliness of my room as-is. One has admitted that he over dampened his room and he did. Just sounds dead to me, but then again - he's using conventional box speakers - to which I *am* an audio snob about. Only a few boxes have ever left a good impression on me and two that quickly come to mind are Thiel and B&W. I don't even care for the boomy/bassy sound that comes out of Wilson's more expensive stuff, although they come REAL close and I haven't spent too much time with 'em.

@m4rk1z: what speakers are you using in the room that's pictured?

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Are those a pair of martin logans?

Yes - they're a pair of Ascents. I'm normally a Magnepan guy - but thought I'd try a pair of electrostatics out for a while. Had to replace the stator panels immediately (something you almost always have to do with these damn things when you buy used), but they sound great now. They're a little too focused for my tastes and having said that, wouldn't want any smaller of a curvilinear radiator than these. I'll go back to Magnepans someday (last pair were model III's), but for what I got these for, including a rebuild, I couldn't pass up.

And right on paul1981! Excellent diatribe of your own there. Wish more people were as passionate about some of this stuff today. But because music and its recording techniques leave so much to be desired, people simply aren't as interested anymore and rightfully so I guess. Next thought though is why the mainstream does not believe in re-listening to certain types of music. As if there's some sort of stigma to listening to classic rock or folk rock from the 60's. We're already acutely aware of what the mainstream thinks of the classical and jazz genres. Classical aside though, there are many, many, many groups are still relevant today. Most of the songs from the 50's-60's I listen to are about love, relationships and spirituality. They made and continue to make you feel good when you listen. Ahhh, I get it now... makes perfectly good sense why someone would rather listen to repetitive bass lines "produced" by a rap "artist" that has no respect for women, the law, themselves, or humanity in general     lol

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I have been on the lookout for KEF Raymond Cooke series 105/3 for quite some time now.

What amps are you using?

Seems I change my amps around every few years... Threshold, Golden Tube Audio, Margules, Tandberg, Tube Audio Design, Adcom, Rotel and Forte have all graced the rooms within the past 15 years or so. Currently, I'm using a Bryston 4B and am quite happy with it. Speaker cables are bi-wired Wireworld Equinox 5.x's. Come to think of it, for once in a very long time, I'm quite pleased with all of my components. I'm sure I'll be content for a while, but might have to add an Oppo Blu-Ray SE (DVD-Audio, SACD, etc.) edition someday soon. Seems like a great all around universal player for the money and since digital is not entirely my thing, this thing might just fit the bill.