Even had another powers urge last Saturday and this time I was home.
A power surge should never knock out anything more than a fuse. If the equipment was off at the time, its more likely it was a lightning strike on the AC line, which can take out anything. If this were the case you should be informed of that by whomever did the repairs as this is usually easy to show that something other than a surge did the damage- at which point its covered by homeowner's or renter's insurance.
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FWIW, high end audio isn't about price! Its about intention. This is a poorly understood fact and so a lot of people have spent way more getting 'good sound' than was really needed.
Knowing how to get imaging and depth out of audio equipment without harshness and brightness is useful knowledge for any audiophile!
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I look for equipment that sounds good, is well made, durable, and not fickle. My Quicksilver and Pass gear pass those tests. Not sure if they're high end, but they're not fickle.
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What is the difference between "high end audio" and "reality audio"? Is it price? If so, what price level do you draw the line?
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Glad you have found out exactly who you are and what you want. I take exception to one thing though:
overpriced Oppo crap
It may be overpriced today, but the reason for audiophiles to love the Oppo was the analog sections. Even in their less expensive units the sound quality coming out of the 7.1 outputs was superior to most AVR's and processors. My Oppo kept me from having to purchase $10K surround processors for several years. I've only now replaced it with an HDMI only UHD player. Whatever your other opinions are, Oppo BD players were pretty awesome for the price. They were never crap.
Their headphone amps/DACs however did not sound nearly as good to my ears.
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I spent way too much time and money during the shutdowns having lots of fun buying and selling and researching.
I now have a very satisfying sounding system.
Property much better than I would have imagined.
Now it's back to traveling and enjoying the world.
Will check out interesting comments but done upgrading.
RIP Covid 🙏
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It’s about the music. Like what you like if it cost $2k or $200k this hobby or obsession whatever you chose, is about you and the music.
Now go enjoy it.
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Yeah. I just can’t believe how good my system sounds with such cheap "not Audiophile" stuff. I’m listening to MoFo’s SACD of Tapestry at the moment just enjoying the music and not giving a Rat’s Ass how it’s getting to the KEF R3’s.
Did I just let the proverbial Cat out of the Bag ?
Imaging, Soundstage, Depth, Phantom Center. It’s all there ! Can’t wait for the big boxes at the end of the month. Go big or go home. I always say...LOL !
Cheers Everyone !
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All depends on what peak you're trying to climb, funny thing is one creates the peaks in one's own mind.
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Breathe In/Breathe Out. Money In/Money Out
Done is GOOD!!!!!
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@oddiofyl
I love my Forte IV's! I was running Schiit Freya + with NOS tubes into First Watt F7 and denafrips Venus 2 fed by Node 2i. Sound was really good then I tried the Esoteric N-05dx and sound stage grew two feet wide per side and contained more depth. The Esoteric is a Preamp/DAC/Streamer combo for $9K which is less than high end DAC and Streamer. When I bypassed the preamp in the Esoteric the sound stage lost some width and definately some depth and resolution. I love playing with this stuff and consider the Esoteric a high end piece (not uber high end). Best JH
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I sold audio stuff for 30 yrs ending in 2001. When i retired, I brought home mostly Audio Research stuff because that was our lead sales component.
In the last 10 years, I’ve tried to do an experiment with the cheapest components i could find and still deliver more than appreciable SQ.
I have a VPI That listed for $3800 back then, AR amp and pre, Sonus Faber speakers and an AR CD 3 disc player that I traded in for a CD 8. I picked up an old English made Onix int. amp at 30 watts, Primare cd player , Proac Studio 100’s on Target stands and a Rega II tt and a record scrubber.
It is more than passible and quite good.
Sound is clear and immediate and w presence. Players are "in the room" w good recordings and timbres are spot on with good transients and decay.
Now granted, older components may not have given the bang for the buck as well as they do now but I tried to match my acquisitions to the years of the AR equipment w the exception of the AR CD 8 player.
I think with a good dac, the Primare would play as well as the CD 8.
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The term High End is misleading.
High Enjoyment is more appropriate.
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Yep, with you. I’ve climbed the ladder as far as I can within any real reason. System is no slouch, but the peak has been reached!
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I guess I have been very lucky. I've been quietly combing through this forum for the last few years and it's really helped me at purchase time. I committed to listening before I bought my biggest purchases and it's made a big difference.
Biggest learnings were understanding the room acoustics and component matching.
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Rajugsw,
Good luck with that!
40+ years on the audiophile train and I jumped off one year ago and haven't looked back! Downsized, sold off a lot of speakers and components after settling on a low-end audiophile system that I truly enjoy. I'm just crossing my fingers that the bug doesn't suddenly return.
There's nothing wrong with contentment. It leaves more time & $ for listening more and discovering more good music.
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That's awesome @pesky_wabbit ! Enjoy my friend. Tubes ain't for Boobs. I had my fun with them (Jolida 3502p with KT150's). A friend lent me a pair of McIntosh MC30's for a little while. Very nice Amplifiers but for what they are going for now. Not worth it for me. I wish I had my MC50's to compare them too (In repair at the moment).
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@mrskeptic Overpriced and overhyped. I’ve heard them played through their own DAC verses external. External DAC’s always won. My friend picked up an $18 Dollar BDP-80 (? - not sure). Anyways he drives his DAC with that $18 Dollar machine as his Transport.
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@rajugsw
Just curious why you consider Oppo "crap"?
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I’m running loaner KEF R3’s and they are Dull as F until I connected a pair of ICE Power 1000W@4ohm Amplifiers with a miniDSP EQ that I gently boosted the Treble from 8k on up and another gentle boost from 100Hz on down. Passband I did not touch. Sounds incredible but they are still Bookshelf Speakers. Bass response to below 40Hz and the Treble/Upper midrange isn’t killing my ears when I turn up the volume.
I carefully changed the el cheapo rc4580 Op-Amps with dual OPA627’s on each channel of the Sony Universal Player UBP-X1000ES . Replaced the blue "Chicklet" Capacitors with some SoniCaps that were laying in the same bin as the OPA627’s (TI Samples that were still sealed up). The resistors were changed out from throughole 5% (assumed) resistors with .1% or less Susumu Surface Mount Resistors. $150.00 does not turn it into a $5k DAC, but it sounds a bit darker than the PS Audio DirectStream DAC Sr. when I compared the two. Of course the PSA DSSr. DAC is more "Vinyl like" and very smooth sounding but the Bass extension in my mods beat the PSA DAC. I wasn’t expecting that. The Sony’s Analog stage was very "Wimpy sounding" whether SACD/DSD or PCM was played back though it. I can build my "Forever System" around this sound.
My first "Audiophile Equipment" was the Adcom GFA-345 Preamp with a GFA-545II back in 1993. I drove my friends Boston Acoustics A70’s with them for about a year with a Homebrew Sub that I copied (poorly mind you) the M & K Sub with the front facing and up firing dual Woofers.
When I got the Home Theater bug. in 1999/2000/2001, I traded the Preamp/Amp for a used Adcom GFA 555II. I had a Denon AVR that I also traded for a newer one with more features. I’ve been using AVR’s as my Preamp for the last 20 years !
The 555II gain board caught fire while I was servicing it after (one channel was dead - needed recap) 18 years of trouble free service.
The BAT VK50-SE Preamp stopped working after a Power Surge (the unit was turned off BTW) took it out. Once the Factory is done with it ($$$). I’m not sure if I’ll keep it or sell it. One thing is for sure, I’ve never burnt anyone on a sale and have "taken it on the chin" a few times.
The Preamp fiasco was the last straw for me. All my Consumer "not Audiophile" Equipment works flawlessly. Even had another powers urge last Saturday and this time I was home.
I really appreciate the comments/sympathy. I know I’ve been a bit harsh on some of my posts and sometimes in the rebuttals. But hey, it’s all good now. And I’m still a Schill for Orchard Audio’s Ultra Amplifiers. I like their sound and Dick Olsher did too (the little BOSC/StarKrimson ones from a few years ago).
But don’t worry, I’ll still be posting my crap on here form time to time.
I forgot to mention that I had the PS Audio Stellar Stack (SGCD Preamp/DAC, 3x M700’s, and a S300). Great system but Leo’s Amplifiers to my ears sounded better. Daren’s a brilliant Audio Engineer as is Leo and we need these young GUys along with Sean Casey of Zu and many other younger than me Engineers to keep striving and doings things way better than their very grey haired predecessors !
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Dr Bond and if you used OCC single crystal wire it would sound even more amazing, nothing OFC out there at any price will sound as good as OCC it's been now proven for over 50 years how Superior OCC single crystal is to ofc.
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Yeah, I enjoyed the high end roller-coaster more than I should admit, and I still read the monthly audio rags cover-to-cover., But what can I say? I just enjoy my system as it's currently laid out. Whenever something breaks I replace it. But essentially I am now out of the game.
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Waiting on one piece, a Toolshed Amps 300b and I should be done for a long time
are we taking bets here
one last toke......
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Over forty years here.....getting close to getting off the Rollercoaster soon. I agree, if I didn't revamp my system over the past year I don't think I could have afforded to in the near future. Bought a pair of Forte IV which I love , that set off a chain of events resulting in pretty much complete upgrade except for tuner and disc player.
Waiting on one piece, a Toolshed Amps 300b and I should be done for a long time.
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it's the dollar $ folks ,
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Its more about the experience, but this audiophile market pricing is going crazy now have to agree on this. Its putting allot of people off. some people are giving up and sticking to intergrated lower end systems.
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After a 3 year roller coaster ride...
Try 50 years....
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Here's an anecdote:
My mom has had the Bose speaker system for years. I purchased and set up a low-end hifi audiophile system ($3,000) for her at her home, and she is amazed. She loves it and is listening to music and enjoying it like never before. She is hearing things in the recordings that she never heard before.
It's a rather simple system: 20 year old $1,000 bookshelf speakers (Revel Performa M20), a 10-15 year old $1,000 solid state Musical Fidelity integrated amplifier, and a 15-20 year old $1,000 Musical Fidelity CD/DAC. I connected everything using basic 14G OFC cables.
If you had trouble getting great sound out of your system, it was probably due to mis-matching of components. There's a world of wisdom in these forums that can help you build a great system!
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The pursuit of high end audio is not for everyone.
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De Gustibus Non Disputandum Est!
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