2. amps-preamps
  3. 1365280197

Modern High end vs. old receiver

So I recently sent in my Aesthetix Janus in for a capacitor upgrade, which leaves me without a pre-amp. In desperation for a little music, I brought in my the Kenwood Kr-3090 that I inherited from my grandmother and have been enjoying in the garage. 25W, made 1978-1981 or so. Damn thing sounds almost as good my Aesthetix Janus and Audio Research VT-100 MkII. Now don't get me wrong, there's a difference, but I can happily sit and listen and fully lose myself in the music.

I am using Acoustic Zen Adagio speakers, which work well with low-powered electronics, as evidenced by Robert Lee's matching them with Triode corporation tubes at the shows. I'm also using my standard front end - Oppo BDP-83 with Brystond BDA-1 and Acoustic Zen Absolute cables. Still.... jeez, it's unreal how much better it sounds than some of the other high-end gear I've had in here.

My learning from this is that the source matters, and you should not look askance at equipment just because it is old or inexpensive.
128x128darkj

Showing 5 responses by csontos

csontos
1,311 posts
 
When the best minds pretty well think alike, it's hard for them to compete with each other. The trick is finding them without it being too expensive.
csontos
1,311 posts
 
Frogman, I would hazard a guess that among nine out of ten non-audiophiles there would be consensus that the differences are slight. The basic circuit hasn't changed since it's inception. Serious differences only exist among speakers, the weakest link. You conceded to the law of diminishing returns,(which imo sets in by component, not individual person, btw) used the word 'little', and stated 5%. And then concluded the difference is more than slight.

Really?
csontos
1,311 posts
 
Al, you're obviously blessed with better ears than me. Although I can hear quality differences with great recordings, it's the poor ones that seem to be a better yard stick for me.
csontos
1,311 posts
 
Sure I agree with you but you say tomato and I say, well you know what I mean. I was referring to the gear in that the better the component, the better the image that can be gleaned from the recording and ime, gear has a tougher time with poorer ones. Garbage in, garbage out is a given. But the poorer recordings tend to reveal the quality of the components to a higher degree ime. My statement regarding your ears was sincere. Whether one or the other or both recordings resemble true to life sound or not I think is irrelevant to this question. There is a level of reality there chock full of all the cues that would confirm that. Imo, it's tougher to tell the difference between components using great recordings just because they have an easier time making them sound good and thereby masking their own shortcomings. Btw, you did say the inverse is also true. I'm a bit confused now as to what you were referring to there.
csontos
1,311 posts
 
Oh. Thank you. Your grammar is also clearly better.
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