Hmmmm...I’m thinking the square root of minus 1.
"A rich audiophile has about as much chance of entering audio nirvana as a camel has of passing through the eye of a needle."
- old audiophile axiom
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It's always funny when people say they can tell what a system sounds like by seeing a list of the components and speakers or seeing a photo of the system. Break me a give.
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mapman
13,645 posts
08-30-2016 1:37pm
You can't obviously but some bets are safer than others.
Post your system and I'll show you a system that can't distinguish the difference between a stock fuse and an aftermarket fuse. Now, THAT'S a safe bet. |
mapman
13,647 posts
08-30-2016 4:09pm
Audio nirvana may still result from trying different things of interest just because you can even after finally being able to enjoy the music. It's a thrill of the chase kind of thing.
Pretty sure what you have there is Audio Nervosa, not Audio Nirvana.
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Anyone who thinks he can reach audio nirvana, and I'm not talking about feeling good about yourself or pleased about your system, but the REAL audio nirvana, in say ten or twenty years just doesn't understand the problem.
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mapman
13,652 posts
08-31-2016 11:25am
It’s all mostly a state of mind. You are in control to make it whatever you want it to be. Nothing else matters. Paranoia is the enemy.
This is is your mind. This is your mind on drugs. A mind is a terrible thing to have.
Paranoia? Geez, don't be such a Chicken Little. Paranoia is not the issue. Situational awareness is the issue. You don't know what you don't know.
Joke of the day: a man sitting in a commercial jet aircraft turns to the man on his right and says, "Hey, look at the people down there, they look just like ants." To which the other man replies, "They are ants. We haven’t left the ground yet."
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jafant
3,848 posts
08-31-2016 6:42pm
For me, YES, it is real!
Laughing...
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calvinj OP
1,048 posts
08-31-2016 8:53pm
Finally. A combination that I can live with for a long time. 7 years changing gear at a pace that was dizzying at times. I have have enjoyed the chase now back to the music. Nirvana is real if you want it to be.
At the risk of beating a dead horse can I suggest audio nirvana has very little to do with the equipment per se and everything to do with how the system is put together, how extensively and effectively the room is treated and how many tweaks are administered?
Cheers |
calvinj OP
1,049 posts
09-01-2016 9:19am
Ah duh. I didn't know room acoustics, Equipment matching, synergy and other things mattered. I'm glad a got smart people like you to tell me. Laughing. Thanks for the basic information. Lol.
No. I'm saying forget the equipment. Equipment is a dead end. Equipment synergy, equipment matching, all that stuff.
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OK, my entire system weighs 10 ounces. No power cords, no interconnects, no tubes, no fuses, no house AC, no AC ground, no transformer, no speaker cables, no speakers. I barely have any equipment to speak of. So, suddenly I’m the bad guy? What’s up with that? |
mapman
13,657 posts
09-02-2016 10:10am
"OK, my entire system weighs 10 ounces. No power cords, no interconnects, no tubes, no fuses, no house AC, no AC ground, no transformer, no speaker cables, no speakers. I barely have any equipment to speak of
Audio Nirvana, yes or no?"
Your Audio Nirvana or mine?
;-)
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mapman
13,658 posts
09-02-2016 5:41pm
Is your 10 ounce system your audio nirvana? Yes or no?
By eliminating power cords, ICs, speaker cables, crossovers, house AC, ground, transformers, fuses, etc. one realizes significant reductions in distortion and noise. In terms of sound quality as I’ve mentioned previously my portable cassette player outperforms my portable CD player in certain important areas, especially Musicality.
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Whether or not a 10 ounce portable system is my own private Audio Nirvana or not, as Mapman keeps nagging me to disclose, what I will say without fear of contradiction is that this TINY system (could it really be the smallest system in the world?) is VERY cost effective. The objective of this teeny system is not to be some uber audio nirvana system. Nothing like that, nor would I be so presumptuous. And as I said distortion and noise is inherently VERY LOW in the teeny tiny portable system, you know, what with the lack of transformer, fuses, house AC, etc. Audio cassettes sound VERY analog and CDs don’t sound too bad, either. Hel-loo! Audiophiles tend to go about things the wrong way sometimes - they get enamored with the idea of spending more and more when they could have gotten better results by spending less and less. No more aftermarket fuses, no more super fancy interconnects, no more uber pricey power cords, no monster speakers and their attendant cables. No more teacher’s dirty looks. And a tiny 10 ounce system can be tweaked to your heart’s content. Vibration Isolation, Dark Matter, Intelligent Chip, cryo’d CDs, cryo’d headphones, Morphic Message Labels, what have you.
Geoff Kait
machina dynamica
home of the Whopper
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infection
406 posts
09-03-2016 11:38am
I'm still thinking about the question.
On a business level...
mapman
13,660 posts
09-03-2016 12:04pm
Geoffkait will give a simple yes or no answer one of these days maybe.
I hate to judge these things too hastily but it appears that listing one's affiliation in one's post here on Audiogon doesn't work as well as anticipated.
;-) (irony and sarcasm symbol)
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infection
405 posts
09-03-2016 7:39am
Whether or not a 10 ounce portable system is my own private Audio Nirvana or not, as Mapman keeps nagging me to disclose, what I will say without fear of contradiction is that this tiny system is VERY cost effective. And as I said distortion and noise is inherently VERY LOW in the teeny tiny portable system, you know, what with the lack of transformer, fuses, house AC, etc. Audio cassettes sound VERY analog and CDs don't sound too bad, either. Hel-loo! Audiophiles tend to go about things the wrong way sometimes - they get enamored with the idea of spending more and more when they could have gotten better results by spending less and less. No more aftermarket fuses, no more super fancy interconnects, no more uber pricey power cords, no monster speakers and their attendant cables. No more teacher’s dirty looks. And a tiny 10 ounce system can be tweaked to your heart’s content. Vibration Isolation, Dark Matter, Intelligent Chip, cryo’d CDs, cryo’d headphones, Morphic Message Labels, what have you.
Are you involved in the audio industry?
I'm still thinking about the question.
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Infection, I wrote,
"And a tiny 10 ounce system can be tweaked to your heart’s content. Vibration Isolation, Dark Matter, Intelligent Chip, cryo’d CDs, cryo’d headphones, Morphic Message Labels, what have you."
I design vibration isolation and resonance control products, Dark Matter for CDs, the Super Intelligent Chip, Morphic Message Labels and a host of other things, many of which I use with my teeny tiny portable systems. Alas, there is no conflict between my tiny little 10 ounce portable system and my selling audio products as you suspect. Anybody can develop a big system if they wish. Big systems can be interesting, too. I have nothing against very big systems or very expensive systems. You do see the advantages inherent in a very small system, right?
Geoff Kait
Machina Dynamica
advanced audio concepts
no goats no glory
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mapman
13,661 posts
09-03-2016 12:57pm
There is a lot to be said these days about IPhones and the lot. The newer ones sound pretty darn good. Could be nirvana. Better than a Sony Walkman even.
Good thimking, Moopman. Let me know when they come out with an iPhone that plays cassettes.
;-) ( the universal symbol for sarcasm and irony, just in case)
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mapman
13,663 posts
09-03-2016 2:37pm
"You can get even simpler with tin cans and a string. Get with the program! 🎯"
Wasn’t it Einstein who was fond of saying, make it as simple as possible but not simpler?
"Actually I agree that smaller can be better. It all depends on the room and person. Headphones take the room out of the equation."
Exactly, headphones take the room out of the equation. That’s a pretty big, complex and expensive unknown to take out of the equation. The portable headphone system also takes the transformer out of the equation. And house AC power and it’s attendant woes. It takes power cords out of the equation. It also takes interconnects and fuses out of the equation. All of the things that, you know, produce distortion and noise.
"You aren’t driving any Magicos or Dynaudio speakers with the little 10 ouncer I Would assume. 😏"
The headphones are part of the 10 ounces, grasshopper. The Sony Ultralights, specifically. They come in at just under 1 ounce. Rare earth magnets even. Oh, and no crossovers. I abhor crossovers.
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Forsooth.
Ok, thanks for the explanation.
What is Dark Matter for CDs?
Dark Matter is a spray on thin film the active ingredient of which is an absorber of the invisible portion of the CD laser background scattered light. Everyone is of course familiar with the green pen for CDs that absorbs the red portion of the scattered CD laser light. As it turns out most of the scattered laser light is not in the visible red portion of the spectrum, since the wavelength of the CD laser is 780 nm, into the near infrared portion. Thus green cannot absorb much of the scattered light since the invisible infrared portion is not affected by color, green or any other color.
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Should probably point out that all sound waves from speakers and live performances enter the ear and are processed as it were inside the head. The advantage of headphones of course compared to speakers is that the distortion and noise is significantly lower, you know, for the reasons I already outlined. Of course the will be those who swear that the sound should come from in front of you. It comes down to personal preference. The headphone set up has it’s advantages, including SQ, as I already outlined. And then there's cost. Shall we just sweep cost under the rug?
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calvinj OP
1,052 posts
09-04-2016 9:54pm
Ask a question openly and I get some honest answers from real audiophiles. Then...... As usual we get the same people with the same comedy skits and negativity. Lol. I would tell you to go away but you don't have anywhere to go or do so enjoy it while you can.
And what question was that you're referring to, pray tell? And what honest answers are you referring to?
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There is no absolute sound. No use pretending that some arbitrary subjective thing like Audio Nirvana is real or can be obtained by anyone. It’s like trying to solve ten simultaneous equations in twenty unknowns. The sound of a very good system changes day to day, and hour to hour, so how can there be nirvana is such a fickle world? For those who have found their own nirvana or content or happy, whatever, I salute you! Now that we all agree to disagree how about a big group hug?
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