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Introduction from a Newb and Polling " Does size Matter?"

 Greetings music lovers! My name is Richard and I am a 69 year old, semi retired commercial photographer living in Brooklyn. Until a year ago I was happy with my Klipsch 600 M speakers and a small NAD amplifier. Now with a little more time on my hands I have decided to devote a portion of my time to what I call Audio enthusiast; for some reason I don't like the term Audiophile. In addition to being a photographer I've always been an amateur musician. I had a garage rock 'n' roll band when I was in the sixth grade. Now I just play acoustic guitar and my other passions include cooking, collecting affordable outsider art, interior design mixing different Period furniture to create a unique look. I also like to collect music; mostly fine recordings on vinyl.  My primary source of listening to music is vinyl and my secondary is streaming high res music through Tidal  while I am cooking or doing dishes.  I embrace both analog and digital and I look forward to experimenting with Dirac Live which came with my new NAD M10 integrated amp. 

I joined this group to find like -minded folks who love music and want to share their sonic journey.  I am a complete Newb. I am not an expert on anything so I am looking for a place to ask ignorant questions about things that I don't know about.  It all started a year ago when I had a turntable that needed service and I found myself standing in a high end stereo shop and they were playing music through a pair of Sonus Faber Lumina II's, Wow! Speaker design has changed a lot in the last 50 years!  If you've read this far I want to start a thread on what others think about the 17"x 13" chassis format ? To me it seems this size was created in the early days of HiFi when the component had to have room for tubes, large circuits and transformers. I live in a NYC apartment which is not huge so space was my general concern. I saw the Pro-ject line and Class D amps. I thought how cool it is to have this big sound coming from a component the size of a shoe box !

My main setup does not have any Pro-Ject gear in it but even my NAD M10 is on the small size. 

I know its probably a frivolous topic to start with. In the scheme of things the size of gear has nothing to do with sound but I was curious if anyone else thinks that micro components are a cool feat of engineering?

 

Richard

richardnyc2
kerrybh
690 posts
 

@richardnyc2 No, I don't show my photographs-I'm sure they are not of that quality. My photos adorn a few office walls around town-likely more popular for price (0) than artistry. Lots of horse farms here in the Bluegrass and I enjoy hanging out on the turn for home and shooting horse races. So, plenty of subjects. I've never seen anything prettier than a horse race.

You have received a lot of good advice and there are lots of good choices that will meet your needs. For what you are looking for, I hope you get a chance to hear some of the latest generation class Ds. Far ahead of Class D from even a few years ago.

ghdprentice's avatar
ghdprentice
9,487 posts
 

To create a virtual system, click on your userid in the upper right hand corner.

Then click on my profile you should be able to create it there. It's easy to add photos and id your equipment.

parkergetdean
1,094 posts
 

@richardnyc2 it's fun to read about your tweaking with speakers. I bet the SFs sound good! I had a long back and forth between floorstanders and bookshelf speakers. Ultimately, I like the height of bookshelf (as high as a place them) and also the design aspect and the placement flexibility. I nudge them every week. I am currently using speakers that are the best I had in my small-ish room, from craigslist for less than I paid for my first decent set.30 years ago. The only rule to what sounds best is that there is no rule!

Post removed 
richardnyc2 OP
35 posts
 
  • ghdprentice
  • Thanks for the reply.  Yes of course I'm with you on that. You can't fit what is in a McIntosh amp in a small box.  My work around is to have Linear power supplies or separate switch power supplies that are outside the box. 
  • It's all different ways to obtain the best sound. Please do not take my preference of not calling myself an Audiophile as a negative. It is just a label and If I were you I would wear it with pride. The fact is that I don't have gear that costs the same as my car. 
  • My friend who is an Audiophile calls me a " budget audiophile" lol . I think I'm about 15K into my set up so other non-audiophiles think I am nuts. Still others have cables more expensive than my entire set up.  I think it's great we can all talk about the passion of music or sound without judgement.  
  • I am jealous of your man cave. I'd love to hear how you have treated your room for sound. I am also jealous that you live in the PNW. I went to high school and college there and I miss it. I went to Western in the 70's and back then it was the war of the amps up in Bucky towers . Everyone would get a bigger amp to drown out the apartment next to them. It was not about sound quality, it was about air movement !
  •  I'm glad Ive evolved.... 
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