Audio Flynn

MAXG, Do you by the XRCDs in a chain store or all mail order?

I had been agonizing over the defeciencies I have heard in HT receivers of many price levels and brands in the past 8 months. I bought a cheap Kenwood HT receiver 3 years ago just to learn a little bit. The processed sound experienced with the Kenwood was still evident in alot of the $800 - $ 1500 newer receivers I was looking at. Interconnects, Bi wiring my RB5s, 12 inch sub and other upgrades were not getting me to where I wanted to be. Frustrated by not being able to recreate experience of my early 80s analog system... Dual 510 turntable with Ortofon cartridge Denon PMA-730 Integrated AMP Home Made 10 inch 3 ways, EV, Speco and Pyle components a hybrid design based upon 2 of my friends speakers I liked JBL 4311 and Klipsch Heresy ...in an HT system with CDs for the music front end; I was just going to take a chance on the NAD T 761 from Sound City for $ 750 plus shipping. I cannot afford real expensive gear. God "called me" to this little HT storefront I had seen for a couple of years but had never stoppped in(my wife thinks that is my excuse for everything I buy). Real laid back guys most of their business is full house systems for people building $ 1,000,000 or more homes. The guy showed me their current lines Monitor Audio, Energy, Parasound and Integra. After about 45 minutes he said you seem to know your stuff; we have these Newcastle separates but we had to retrieve them from an installation because the preamp is too complicated for most consumers, you may like them. Well they gave me a week demo in the home and I bought them for $1100(origonal list $ 2400) including 3 year warranty, and Esoterec interconnects. www.sherwoodusa.com/newcastle/sep_main.htm Some of the features I am most impressed with: -Analog pass through for Phono, CD and Tuner(I think) -Owners manual states preamp has analog crossover to sub in analog mode(not sure how it is accomplished but sounds great) -5 x 125 power amp weighs 70 pounds no fan runs at maybe 105 -110 degrees F when driven hard for a few hours -good basic DD and DTS performance in digital mode(not that important to me but more than adequate for the family movies, blows away the Kenwood) Liabilities: -Universal remote is a pain to program and nearly useless. -Power amp was a struggle to put in the entertianment center due to mass. -small noise comes through spekers when switching sources -every digital source needs to be programmed no automated search for digital source or standard speaker setup(not inconvenient for an audio geek) Results -voices both spoken and sung sound real, inteviews on some CDs like Ian Andeson and Paul McCartney -CSNY harmonies never sounded better -Piano has more depth; real stength in bass notes(we have an old piano in the home to compare to) -J.S Bach Organ Chorales on NAXOS Wolfgang Rubsam on the Taylor and Boody organ is a great test disc; sounds like a church organ in my house now -easily distiguish the sound of a Martin from a Guild accoustic guitar on CSNY accoustic music(I used to "do sound" and 4 track demo recording in High School and college for accoustic and rock bands; I remember pretty well what a real guitar sounds like, hence the Audio Flynn nickname) -I am trying to determine( fun challenge I could not contemplate before) when Eric Clapton is playing through a Music Man and when he is playing through a Marshall amplifier; I think he is using a Music Man on the disc he did last year with BB King. BB sounds awesome vocally -Dianna Krall, Patricia Barber, and Bonnie Raitt finally sound really sexy each in their own way -reconfirmed how poorly mastered any of the Eagles CDs are, they ought to be ashamed of themselves If you can find these separates as a demo or on the web for a good price I would consider them a high probability for success upgrade. This is the most exited I have been about music in 3 or 4 years. My system -Klipsch RB5 mains biwired with AQ type 6 on Sanus steel 24 inch stands filled with 20 pounds of lead shot per stand -Klipsch RC3 center -Klipsch KSB 3.1 rears, Wood Technology MDF 28 inch stands -Adire Audio Rava 12 inch front firing sub 275 watts 65 pounds sealed cabinet(knock off of M&K $1200 sub design for $400) -Sherwood Newcastle AVP-9080R HT preamp -Sherwood Newcastle AM-9080 5 x 125 power amp -Kenwood CD-206 5 disc changer as a transport with Better Cables digital RCA interconnect -MSB Link II DAC(unaltered at this time) -Sony DVP-S530D DVD player -Better Cables and Audio Quest interconnects Next upgrade: Interconnects, cartridge and vacuum record cleaner to get my Dual 510 turntable back on line

Wow PZAN, That is a real cool set up. I was going to put Focal mids in my homemade monitors I made in 1983. What to you use for "front end" on your setup?

I am certainly not an old timer but somwhere in the middle. I have noticed things getting past chippy to the point of being personal. Personnally I am never going to be in the financial postion to buy Krell, Wadia, Mark Levinson or anything along that caliber of spending $ 5,000 to $ 10,000 per component. If I was I would buy a house on a lake in northern Michigan, retire early, and fish and hunt every day. The people that buy really expensive gear used to be intimidating to me years ago. The blessings I enjoy in my life have very little to do with money. I try too get 80 % of the way to the sound quality at 20 % of the price of "high end"; the research to acheive this makes it a great hobby. Information off of this site gives me great ideas every week to consider. I will post a "2 Channel" review of my Sherwood Newcastle separates I just bough as demo closeouts on that thread. The best music has very little to do with the gear. The most awsome sound is when my frisky wife loads a jazz CD into the $ 100 Phillips CD clock radio in the bedroom; nothing sweeter than that music regardless of the artist.

Doug, Good point! I am in the planning stage of dedicating one circuit to my audio and one circuit to my video. Pulling wire a long way through inaccessable spots. What a pain; but worth it I am sure.

EAR, I am going to buy one XRCD soon just to try it. My only problem with the new formats is the cost of software. The limited amount availiable is not really an issue for me. I do not listen to alot of clasical but I can buy 4 NAXOS CDs for the cost of one XRCD or DVD Audio or SACD. The origonal cost of the recording sessions has been paid for many times over for Bill Evans, Miles Davis or Deep Purple. Why pay $25 a piece?

These new low line receivers have4 wimpy transformers and power supplies. You need to Look at separates or high current stuff like the Onkyo 787 or NAD T761

I have found most HT receivers to be harsh in my opinion due to the DACs. The DACs are for DD but not great for music. Another option is to go analog from the CD player to the 6 channel input in the HT receiver. Depending on the design of the receiver the 6 channel input should experience less processing.

I really like the HDCD format even though my DAC, an MSB LINK II, does not have the HDCD filter. I cannot think of a HDCD disc I have that sounds poor. I just think there was nothing in it for SONY so now we get SACD. I just upgraded to separates with an analog pass through to power my RB5s. It is a very significant upgrade. I would rather have a real nice DAC and $6.00 NAXOS or "cut out" CDs than SACDs at $25.00. If a well mastered CD through a quality DAC is not good enough sound; an audiophile may need deep pockets.

Definitely irreverent; we sometimes take this obsessive compulsive hobby to serious. I am on my 3rd copy(1 analog and 2 digital) of "Aqualung" by Jethro Tull cause the vinyl was worn out and the first digital sounded like a garage band with a bad PA. I like a magazine with a sense of humor. I am really disappointed TAS and Stereohile NEVER review Klipsch. Too old fashioned for those periodicals. Being irreverent with a friendly smile makes for a good day.

Thanks for the ideas. The tonearm design concept for the CS5000 is very simial to the table I have. Platter and base are much different. I will put a new cartridge(alwys wanted to try a low line Grado like the Red) on it and buy a record cleaner.

Sounddog, I am very envious of you guys with all of the multiple pairs of Heritage speakers. Now that I am 41 I warned my wife a mid life crisis diversion would be finding a pair of Lascalas, Belles or K horns at an estate sale and bringing them home unanncounced. Cannot afford them retail of course. She clearly understands my RB5s will be the smallest pair of speakers I ever own. How big is your music room to hold all of those speakers?

Sounddog, In looking at your system I see you have the Digital Director from MSB. I have the MSB LINK II dac and I really like it. Since the 1050 is a little light on digital inputs(as I remember one optical and one RCA) is it implied you use the Digital Director for jitter reduction and the ability to add new sources? I am narrowing the choice to the 1050 and the NAD T761( it has 3 digital inputs of each) of course the NAD will cost me at least $ 250 more. This sounds a bit stupid for a person who started programming in 1977(cannot master all of the software I use), BUT how do you guys insert your system list in every post?

I bought this in 1978 and discintinued its use full time in 1993. I turn it on for a couple of hours a few times a year and the strobe indicates it holds speed pretty good. I have been thinking about the Music Hall MMF5 or an entry level Rega or Rotel. Should one just get a new turntable? model recommendations? Opinions always apreciated!

Cool site! Was just talking to some people about the Lowther concept. Speaking of CHEAP I just got 12 back issues of "The Sensible Sound". One of the writers reviewed a RCA close out CD player bargain he bought for $ 79.99; pretty irreverent!

Is there a place where you can mail order the CAT 5 from?

I have been getting more motivated to buy a newer technology HT Receiver. Are people satisfied with this "mail order" type of purchase? The unit seems to have good reviews, but I would trust participants in this web site more than the media. Any happy Outlaws with Klipsch?

What does it hurt to spend a little money on cables? I added Audioquest(AQ) Type 6 to my system and then biwired with Radio Shack for the low end. I will probably buy the biwire AQ Slate cable from Audio Advisor over the net for around $ 100.00 in the next month. I have a Better Cables digital cable between my CD changer and MSB DAC. It sounded more detailed than the Kimber optical cable. I want to buy an interconnect cable between the amp and DAC for $ 100- 120 just to try it. I have never spent more than $90 for a speaker wire pair and $ 55 for an interconnect pair; spending more than $200 or 300 would really be difficult to feel a cable is a value at this point in my system evolution. In my old high performance car days, fuel, fuel filter, ignition components and cables made a difference; cannot see it being that much different with audio...

Always have to chime in on my recommendation to evaluate the RB5s on really good stands. The cabinet is really nice and you can of course select a tweeter hight by selecting a stand heith of your preference. I would burn them in for a couple of months with a conventional wiring scheme. Then biwire and you will get a real nice improvement for low cost. I was in my HIFI store this week and the guys were saying they are starting to prefer a direct speaker than a RS3 type design. I use my old KSB 3.1 and think they sound fine. I personnally cannot critically listen to a rear speaker during a movie. I critically listen to the mains and center.

Sitting here having an Abolute and tonic(3rd one) after fighting the concrete jungle in the Detroit Automotive BIZ and thought I am a putz and have not started a thred in longer than I can remember. Not that i have a bad memeory; I do memorize about 160 client phone numbers BUT... 4 Way Street by CSNY electric sides or disc 2 Don't Back Down Down by Tom Petty No metal I know all the Deep Purle tunes. My esteemed colleages your thoughts...

AAAGGGHHH You took them out of the box? Never take them out of the box! You are supposed to tell alll of your friends you HAVE a Bose system. Not that you ever listened to it or even compared it to something else other than a transistor AM radio. I knew a guy that had all early 1980s Carver electronics and 901s. I always wished he would have bought LaScalas.

Audioquest from Audioadvisor.com is real value Bettercables.com is reasonable. I think one should go by percentage of total system expense. 5% of $ 5000 is $250 would be a minimum Over 15% of system cost may be a bit much. If you do not tweak cables you are not an audiopile(not misspelled) or you have another life.

drobo1, WOW somone actually agrees with me there may be an advantage to the RB5 over the RF 3. I paid more for my setup than RF3 s since I paid $ 160 for the Sanus Steel 24 inch stands and $ 30 for lead shot to fill them. I am certain they hold to the floor and dampen vibration. It is hard enough auditioning with CDs in an unfamiliar player let alone MP3 data. MP3 is incomplete data; not a good variable in a decision.

I understand your frustation; I am really lucky to have Almas HIFI in SE Michigan as my dealer. It is somewhat of a floorspace challenge for a dealer to fully display the Heritage series. I have never seen more than one of the Heritage line on display at one time. I just went into a place called Audio Video Alternatives in a north of Detroit to look at an NAD amplifier; I was there for 45 minutes in the store and no one talked to me. Maybe some of these places are looking to provide $ 20k -$ 50k whole house systems and are unimpressed by selling a single component. I heard of a good place in Windsor, Ontario to go to next called Stereoland. If service is disappointing at the point of sale; service would be worse after the sale. The search for an adequate dealer is as important as the selection of a component. I will be going

Bloomis, Don Julio and Jager? You know how to party! I am a bit partial to Herradura Reposado myself. I think the reference to the picture being better with Direct TV is not fair. My inlaws have Direct TV in Grand Rapids Michigan and my Dish looks better in Livonia Michigan. The music appears to be a much higher quality with Dish. I really like the classic rock channel. We should have a beer some time. We must only live 15 minutes apart. Ray, You have a raw deal. I am at 48k on AOL. The DSL option seems to be a few years away from being "turn key". 14k would make me nuts.