Any Home Audiophiles Out There

[Guildmark]

That's a pretty intimidating room!

There are products now for those who are caught in an audiophile time warp, as described in the following news article about valve amps for iPods:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/business/yourmoney/15novel.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

 

[capnjuan]

That's a pretty intimidating room!

It's from the Japanese McIntosh book. Published in the 1970s completely in Japanese, its purpose was to enflame interest there in vintage Mac gear. Mac correctly surmised that interest there and corresponding premium prices would induce Americans to sell thereby generating both the cash and the need for Americans to buy then-new Mac: sample page - technical data - THD, rms watts, frequency response, slew rate blah blah for the Mac 75 and Mac 275. Pairs of mint Mac 75s running KT88s are in the $5000 range (so popular, since re-issued by Mac):

Japanese audiophile's studio set up to A/B the best gear in the world; on the left Mac 30s next to Mac mono preamps up and down and, on the right, a Marantz control center over top a Marantz 7 preamp (I used to own one ) flanked by a pair of Marantz Model 8b or Model 9 mono amps; approaching $10,000 for a pair:

Guitar porn...? Amp porn ... have some:

<sigh> CJ

 

[capnjuan]

I'm sorry; did you say you needed some tubes for your Mac 75s? Got a matched quad of Genalex Gold Lion KT88s right Here. $1,599 BIN ... :shock:

 

[hideglue]

I'm sorry; did you say you needed some tubes for your Mac 75s? Got a matched quad of Genalex Gold Lion KT88s right here

Hi capn,

Funny, I was just going to say that I'm really not looking forward to another purchase of a matched quad set of KT88s for my VAC amp. Yet another reason I should go back to the SS McIntosh.

 

[capnjuan]

I'm sorry; did you say you needed some tubes for your Mac 75s? Got a matched quad of Genalex Gold Lion KT88s right here

Hi capn, Funny, I was just going to say that I'm really not looking forward to another purchase of a matched quad set of KT88s for my VAC amp. Yet another reason I should go back to the SS McIntosh.

Hi 'Glue; that's a beauty all right ... My oldest brother is still an 'Ophile. Carys, some of the other esoterics ... really fine stuff. And ... with your new quad, you'll have a chance to obsess over whether the bias needs to be adjusted for another $200 or so ... and whether your cables might be generating unwanted capacitance which would warrant new ones ... and on and on and on ... :shock: :wink:

 

[hideglue]

And ... with your new quad, you'll have a chance to obsess over whether the bias needs to be adjusted for another $200 or so ... and whether your cables might be generating unwanted capacitance which would warrant new ones ... and on and on and on ... :shock: :wink:

Too funny. So you know all about the dark side. Well, I'm still in the 12 step program and I think its working. Who knew MIT cables just stuffed wadded- up bubble gum in those boxes?




.
Say, is your brother's Cary a single ended triode? Is it possible to use a line level preamp like my passive McCormack and still drive electrostats.........

 

[capnjuan]

Too funny. So you know all about the dark side. Well, I'm still in the 12 step program and I think its working. Say, is your brother's Cary a single ended triode? Is it possible to use a line level preamp like my passive McCormack and still drive electrostats.........

Well ... I'm sure that those around you are pleased the program is working. I think he still has the Cary 300s ... I'll ask. Last time I was at his place and we were digging his gear, the conversation went something like:

He: "Did you hear that?"
I: "Hear what?"
He: "That"
I: "What are you talking about?

... then there were the 4 different external exhaust fans ... the transformer bolt-induced noise ... the steel bricks ... it's a sickness.

 

[Guildmark]

That's a pretty intimidating room!

It's from the Japanese McIntosh book. Published in the 1970s completely in Japanese, its purpose was to enflame interest there in vintage Mac gear. Mac correctly surmised that interest there and corresponding premium prices would induce Americans to sell thereby generating both the cash and the need for Americans to buy then-new Mac: sample page - technical data - THD, rms watts, frequency response, slew rate blah blah for the Mac 75 and Mac 275. Pairs of mint Mac 75s running KT88s are in the $5000 range (so popular, since re-issued by Mac):

Japanese audiophile's studio set up to A/B the best gear in the world; on the left Mac 30s next to Mac mono preamps up and down and, on the right, a Marantz control center over top a Marantz 7 preamp (I used to own one ) flanked by a pair of Marantz Model 8b or Model 9 mono amps; approaching $10,000 for a pair:

Guitar porn...? Amp porn ... have some:

<sigh> CJ

So, if I bring a date into this room and play my LP copy of James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" for her, will I get laid any sooner?

 

[hideglue]

.

 

[Graham]

So, if I bring a date into this room and play my LP copy of James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" for her, will I get laid any sooner?

What? Any sooner than if Huck reads this thread? :shock:

Me thinks you may be lonely for more than tonight. :wink:

 

[Guildmark]

Hypothetically, of course. Hypothetically!
And I did say, "If".

I prolly shooda sed, "If I had brought a date into this room and played my LP copy of James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" for her, would I have gotten laid any sooner? Like before the age of 35?" :wink:

 

[Graham]

Much better. :mrgreen:

 

[capnjuan]

So, if I bring a date into this room and play my LP copy of James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" for her, will I get laid any sooner?

Yes ... but with all due respect to JT, to get the job done sooner, you'll need Luck ..

 

[jp]

... instead of ....

Man that makes my pulse race! Fortunately, I've never had the resources to feed a 'phile affliction (especially tube gear), and I'm satisfied with the junk store finds. Imagine paying $150K for this. . .

It's more my speed to find one of these at an estate sale for $50.00

As for whether owning one will get one laid, I think that all depends on chosen company and how one discusses their merits. . .
1) Possibly get laid -- "The guy at the shop told me it's the best turntable there is. It better be for $150 000. . . heh heh . . . some wine?"
2) Probably not get laid -- "Did you know that the JBL Paragon has an incredibly unique wave dispersion pattern due the convex refraction of sound waves, thus eliminating the sharp axis of symmetry that normally exerts unstable equilibrium on critical listening? Yeah I know, amazing! Want to listen to some of my avant-garde classical favorites? Maybe some Ornette? . . . Coleman . . . Ornette Coleman. . . you know composer, '60s free jazz, sax player. . ."

 

[capnjuan]

Man that makes my pulse race!

Hi JP: Mine too - I had a couple of pieces of '60s Marantz and an AR D-76 (4 X KT66/6550) that got left behind when we moved to Flourida ... wish I had it back but don't miss that nagging, obsessive thing that goes with it ... gear from the same people who made 'Glue's stuff?:

I'm sure that JBL rig has killer sound ... but if you want your hair blown back while you listen ....

As for whether owning one will get one laid ... incredibly unique wave dispersion pattern due the convex refraction of sound waves, thus eliminating the sharp axis of symmetry that normally exerts unstable equilibrium on critical listening? ...

Somehow, finer stereo gear became the presumptive badge of the swave and deboner man ... Got gear? No problem ... the chicks will follow: "C'mon over, I'll show you my gear ...:wink: "

I agree with the others that any full-function 25-35 year old, 50 wpc, Japanese receiver (am/fm/preamp/amp) will handle all the music chores ... the problem these days is connectivity. All the old gear has rca input jacks and usually screw terminal speaker connections. If the new DVD / widescreen / whatever doesn't or can't be adapted ... grief can ensue.

 

[West R Lee]

:shock: My gracious, what a turntable!!

West

 

[jp]

You know West,
There may be a logical reason too that THD is higher for AV related to digital signal foo vs analog signal foo. Take for example this fine looking Rotel AV receiver. It's a 7.1 system that can push 7 x 100 watts into 8 ohms, or 7 x 200 watts into 4 ohms. That's a hell of a lot of juice. Claimed THD is .9% with all channels driven and IM Distortion at .05%. So, my uneducated guess would be that multichannel THD should be considered differently than stereo THD. In fact, considering that we're talking 5 or more channels, I'd be impressed with anything .05 or below. Does that make sense?

Knowing this I think you should feel confident that you could find something with clean power and decent fidelity for under $1000, hopefully with decent build quality--beefy transformers and connects, decent heat dissipation, solid chassis, low vibration and resonance, etc. I always like a peek under the hood, a nudie or gutshot as capjuan would say--a look inside the case. You don't even really have to know much about how anything works. It's the same principle as slamming a car door. You can tell if it's quality by how heavy it is, how well the fastening mechanisms click into place, the feel and ease of the handle, and so forth. It becomes painfully obvious when comparing two components side-by-side which one is better built.

If you still want to stay in the 2-channel stereo realm, there seems to be one affordable choice in Yamaha's lineup for a stereo receiver with some updated features, but you're gonna sacrifice a little fidelity. Here's a Yamaha that's multizone and XM capable. Yamaha RX-797 THD at .019%, though. Not a bad compromise at about $550. Noticed that THD isn't even published on the Yammie site for the home theater-A/V units. Don't even know the difference between an A/V unit and a home theater unit--thought they were the same? :?

 

[West R Lee]

Hey thanks jp. I had very coincidentally looked at that same unit the other night. Very similar looking to the receiver I've got, but with much more connectivity and still very low distortion. Unfortunately for me, my son no longer works for Best Buy.....man he used to get me some deals there.

I'm afraid slamming the door wouldn't do me much good though, I'd think you'd have to have some experience with other car doors to make the comparison, and I ain't got it. You have given me a very viable option though it seems. I'll do more investigating.

Thanks jp

 

[West R Lee]

I've been doing some studying and I'll tell you guys, to an old 70's audiophile guy, it's depressing. Yamaha still makes top notch stuff in their price point, problem is just as I had thought.

Now keep in mind, my old Yamaha stereo reciever hasn't got a thing wrong with it, other than the fact it's not dual zone. Again, THD on it is .003. even the expensive Yamaha stuff, all geared towards cinema and surround sound are .06 THD (What's that, about 20 times LESS distortion in the old reciever?). Though I can only drive 4 speakers with it, you can crank this thing up wide open, and it still sounds great and won't blow your ears out. I play that through older Infiniti SM122's and the sound is incredible. Can't be had without spending a fortune anymore I guess.

Heck, I even caught Circuit City going out of business and bought some Bose 251 outdoor speakers in preparation. I guess they'll have to wait.....or I guess I could plug them in as the "B" speakers on the old reciever, and listen to the Infiniti's in the living room. Probably what I'll do. Especially sice I don't have any sattelite speakers now and can't find any of those I like.

Y'all ever wished some things hadn't changed?

:?

West

 

[andrewpogany]

Ha - something I actually know something about on this site (yay maybe I can contribute/reciprocate)!

I also like Yamaha (use an early 90's and still awesome RX-V2090). Just get a Niles switcher and run it with all your various rooms off your "B" speaker input. About 100-150 bucks or so for 4 speaker switcher. Keep you main/surround (whatever) on your "A" and turn off the rest of the house ("B") when watching 5.1 movies, cranking serious hi-fi. You need to get "in wall" rated wire if you want to be "to code". Soundstream makes very resonably priced wire you can buy by the foot at high end places. I wouldn't worry too much about the gage (I spent over 800bucks on the rest of the wiring Monster, Soundstream, "oxygen free copper" something etc, etc so I am def a believer in good wire....but for aux speakers not that much diff...just saying....

On "speaker A", I use Paradigm speakers, 2 main, 2 surround, 1 center, and w/ sub (not crazy $ and sound fantastic...I highly recommend them...and over the years I have heard/have friends with giant $$ Mac stuff, Nak, B&O, Klipsch, B&W, Dalquist, yadayada and EVERYBODY loves the paradigms.

On the "speaker B", through the Niles, I run my old ADS 780s in basement fireplace area, another pair of small Paradigms (Titans...really great) in basement bar, and 2 sets of Minimus 7s on two outdoor decks. The receiver can drive all of it at the same time. Quite loud. No problems.

Different inputs at same time....well I got nothing on that one. Also, X10 paramid remote relay is worth a look if they still make it. Pretty cool to be out on the deck or basement with your remote(s) and control the reciever/DVD/CD etc that is sitting in your living room.

One more thing, if your gonna buy something new, Yamaha / HK / Denon / Pioneer (prob more) all make really good stuff. But they also make wimpy stuff. Rule of thumb: plan to spend at least $1K (any brand) if you want an up-to-date AND kickass in terms of power reciever. Otherwise, save your money and wait.

Hope this helps you.