stan krajewski Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Revelation: My revelations are most assuredly someone else's misconceptions. Misconception: He thinks he's right but I know I am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmb3366 Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Revelations - 0 NFB SET amplifiers - Moving Coil and Moving Iron cartridges - Good speaker cable sounds better than 10ga DIY - Good RCA's are in improvement over radio shack specials - Room Treatments - Great phono-stages make all the difference in the world - Record cleaning machine - Bob Crites upgrades - Good flat to 20hz subwoofer Misconceptions - All amplifiers sound the same - Cables are snake oil - Horns are harsh - Vinyl is no match for CD - Tubes are a waste of time and money, create nothing but 'euphonic' distortion - What sounds good to one guy will sound good to another - If you cant measure it, you cant hear it - More WPC = better - Less THD = better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyboy Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 After reading all the reply's, everything I would have said has been covered! I definitely would have put high dollar audio cables/speaker wires make a system sound better...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 I probably don't count as a newbie but it has been a while since I last posted in 2 channel: Revelations: Radio - get a good one and if you are lucky enough to have decent stations in transmitting range you will be amazed. Digital is always improving and that is exactly why I have stopped buying it. The Denon 103 is the best bargain in audio. No pivoted arm on a TT can touch a linear tracking arm that is setup correctly. Some of the best vinyl to be had costs $1. Audiophile records sometimes sound better and sometimes not. They always cost about 30 times as much however. A tube pre-amp is more important to your sound than a tube power amp. A good phono stage (for MC certainly) is actually amplifying to a far greater extent than your amp. No amp on earth does 65 dB gain (or more). With high sensitivity speakers you can get away with as few as 3 watts - but you cant get bass extension without a sub. A good listening room with a less expensive system beats a bad one with an expensive system. Sometimes an equalizer can improve a poor recording but it will always make a good one worse if it is in the chain. Expensive cables CAN make a difference but rarely represent a decent sonic improvement for your money. A constant reliable power supply is vital to get the best out of your equipment sonically. This is especially true for any item that uses the frequency of the mains as a timing signal. Misconceptions: Tube watts are greater than SS watts. Its easy to setup a TT. An audiophile changes his equipment often An inexpensive system might be good but it can't ever be great. You can convey how good or otherwise your system sounds in an on-line forum. The back end of a system (speakers) is more important that the source. Oh - that will do for now I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 more stuff .not.= happiness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser SET say Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Flynn, that revelation came through the acquisition of a cassette deck for CHEEP mainly to digitize some family keepsakes. The deck is a pretty high end Yamaha with auto tape and NR set, reverse, the works. 59.00 in NM condition. It had been YEARS since I'd listened to a cassette and my thoughts about them were to almost classify them like 8 track. When I dropped in a metal cassette I'd made with Dolby C and DBX decompression of a reel to reel release of "Revolver," I was totally floored by the sound. I have never heard a better Revolver in any medium. Same for a copy I'd made of Allan Parsons "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" from an LP. Unbelievable. It's certainly a medium with no application anymore, and it never really got a lot of respect living in the shadow of reel to reel, but in it's last days of metal tape and Dolby C, along with finely crafted decks it really did the trick. I am half tempted to haunt Ebay for some of the high end commercial releases on metal tape...but I really don't need more antiques! Dave I'm with you 1000% Dave, I to this day miss my old car when it had the Alpine cassette player vs. the Bluakpunkt MD player I put in. I wanted to go digital on a small format and be able to make compilation MD's but not only are MD copressed they just can't touch the old cassette, once again my undying faith in analog was restored because like I've said in other threads I would get out of my car and continue to sing songs that were on the cassette player that I just don't do after digital. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that all CD is/was good for is ease of use[] I'd take cassette in the car and vinyl in the house over digital any day of the week. Not knocking any of your hard work in digital reproduction Dave but I'm just an old analog fuddy[] I had a golf buddy over the other night and even when I showed him that we were actually listening to vinyl he still had to go and lift my arm to believe it[:|] Then he looks at me and says how much do you think it will cost me to get back into analog Well I told him (like has already been mentioned in this thread) a good phono pre is key and where most of my current analog setups expense is and worth every dime! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 >Not knocking any of your hard work in digital reproduction Dave but I'm just an old analog fuddy... Not a problem, KSS. I'm a single malt man...but that doesn't mean I'll turn my nose up at Knob Creek and branch water. FYI, I made a 1 bit, 2.8mhz DSF digital from that cassette and I find them identical. I'd be surprised if you could tell the difference either... In any event, it's preserved. Making another cassette or R2R WOULD have involved a loss of quality. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser SET say Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 FYI, I made a 1 bit, 2.8mhz DSF digital from that cassette and I find them identical. I'd be surprised if you could tell the difference either... I don't doubt you at all especially the initial listening my deal is the more I listen to digital the more I'm figuring out that digital (to me) gets fatiguing regardless of how good the recording. For some reason there is a major loss in ambience with digital that I have never experienced in the analog world[] Heck my new car is all digital so I'm just learning to live with it, I have a six disc changer but I find myself plugging in the iPod all the time (once again ease of use and larger library) Guess as long as I'm listening to music I'm good to go[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 9. With high sensitivity speakers you can get away with as few as 3 watts - but you cant get bass extension without a sub Unless you want to rock the world with earth noise, I just can't buy into that one.......I mean how much bass extension are we talking about here? 60Hz and down? 40Hz and down? I would think if the mains can struggle to manage 40Hz at the 6 decibel roll-off point, and considering the fact that a 3 watt amplifier isn't going to fill any sort of large room with large sound.......Then you gotta figure it's probably someone who listens to a 3 watt amp in a small abode with oversized speakers, at low listening levels. Now if the high sensitivity speakers can pull off 40Hz with a 3 watt amplifier at low listening levels, (75dB and below for example) why would the user need a subwoofer? Unless the music one listens to requires the frequency extension from 40Hz and below, like recordings of earthquakes or some such, I couldn't see the use of a subwoofer for these sort of listening conditions. Granted, I do have music that has low extension below 40Hz, and does sound better with subwoofers. But this is when I've moved on from the 3 watt amp and want to crank things up, and mill about and do other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philipbarrett Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Revelations: 1) Your ears are trying to tell you something if you'd just shut up long enough to listen. 2) If it sounds good it is good. 3) There is no such thing as better audio, just different audio. Misconceptions: 1) My ears just aren't good enough to tell the difference 2) If you can hear it but can't measure it then you're not really hearing it. 3) Your eyes can't deceive you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 9. With high sensitivity speakers you can get away with as few as 3 watts - but you cant get bass extension without a sub Unless you want to rock the world with earth noise, I just can't buy into that one.......I mean how much bass extension are we talking about here? 60Hz and down? 40Hz and down? I would think if the mains can struggle to manage 40Hz at the 6 decibel roll-off point, and considering the fact that a 3 watt amplifier isn't going to fill any sort of large room with large sound.......Then you gotta figure it's probably someone who listens to a 3 watt amp in a small abode with oversized speakers, at low listening levels. Now if the high sensitivity speakers can pull off 40Hz with a 3 watt amplifier at low listening levels, (75dB and below for example) why would the user need a subwoofer? Unless the music one listens to requires the frequency extension from 40Hz and below, like recordings of earthquakes or some such, I couldn't see the use of a subwoofer for these sort of listening conditions. Granted, I do have music that has low extension below 40Hz, and does sound better with subwoofers. But this is when I've moved on from the 3 watt amp and want to crank things up, and mill about and do other things. OK - so for 75 dB or less in a small room.......otherwise..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodcaw boy Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 revs: speakers are okay miss:speakers are okay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.