2. amps-preamps
  3. 175396-143318

No more "High End" for me...Back to Reality Audio

After a 3 year roller coaster ride with so called "Audiophile High End" Tube Amps,/Tube Preamps, multi thousand dollar DAC's, Speakers of all shapes and sizes, and several DIY mods. I've settled on what will be my "forever system" and stop chasing a Dragon that I'll never catch. There's more important things in life to worry about. Plus HIgh End crap can be very fickle at times. It has taught me though what sounds good and how to get there and of course how much it will cost new or slightly used.

For the first time, I'm building a system around the Speakers. I'm an electronics Geek so that has ALWAYS come first. I've always done DIY Speakers as well form High School to College to married life (my Wife puts up with A LOT).

My Bose 901 "passion" will be with me forever. I will defend those Sealed Box odd shaped boxes till I do. Any old Geezer will be told off wherever they knock that Brand down. I did it last last week.

Anyways, the list :

  • Klipsch Cornwall IV's driven by a pair of resto modded McIntosh MC50's
  • Sony UBP-X1000ES (gotta get some more before they and the 1100ES become as rare as the overpriced Oppo crap) with my mods to the Analog Output boards
  • Orchard Audio Ultra Amplifers x6 (I'm getting near the end of hand buiding/soldering the 6 pcb's)
  • Stax SRM-007tA with Koss 95/X Electrostatics
  • Surround Speakers will be 4x Series I/II Speakers with two on Tulip Stands and two more hung from the ceiling (what the Wife can see sitting down but can hear is always a good thing)
  • Center Channel with be two Heresy's resting horizontally angled up towards the screen slightly
  • two double stacked 12" H-Frame Subwoofers on the back wall 
  • All the Electronics will be mounted in the wall giving lots of space for the Cornwall to do their "thang"

To those still chasing the Dragon. Enjoy !

 

 

rajugsw
erik_squires
15,993 posts
 

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.

thyname's avatar
thyname
3,107 posts
 

What is the difference between "high end audio" and "reality audio"? Is it price? If so, what price level do you draw the line?

hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,928 posts
 

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. 

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,662 posts
 

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.

********************

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!

 

twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,313 posts
 

It's not the destination, it's the journey.

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