cobalt

Like most of you I have been buying and selling different equipment for many years. Within the last couple of years my system has changed almost completely.

I have some changes I am thinking of doing but overall the combination of rooms acoustics and equipment sounds best to my ear. I have a very reputable High end store by me I have been dealing with since the 70's and I have had the pleasure of experiencing just about every piece of esoteric equipment money can buy. I just wish I had that kind of money to buy some of it.

I purchase all of my equipment except cartridges as demos or used, have never had an issue and saved a small fortune doing so.

Currently I have an Accuphase E-408 integrated powering 4 ohm Totem Winds. My vintage Accuphase T-100 tuner, Arcam CD36 CD player and Transrotor Dark Star Reference TT with transrotor speed controller & platter weight, SAE arm, clear audio DiVinci cartridge (What brings the system to life). I am also using a Richard Gray power conditioner and Audience AU24E cables and interconnects. Both cables and power conditioning were critical to the overall sound of the system. There is also a Tandberg 10XD reel and Nakamichi 680ZX cassette i have owned since new but rarely get used.

I have owned many different systems. I tried to make a list of everything which amounted to over 50 different products but to date this has been the most pleasing to my ear with depth and clarity I have only heard from systems costing multiple 10's of thousands more. I feel I have hit the point of diminishing returns for cost vs sound quality. Although there is a speaker company I have heard called ADAM that makes some of the most lifelike sounding speakers I have ever heard. I am on a $0 stereo budget right now but someday I am considering these. In general the system sounds remarkable at all listening volumes.

Just don't get me started on HT.

PS: for the record I have heard some great systems over the years and some were pricey and others not and I find it is more important to match components than to spend lots of money to get the best experience. Some of the older receivers and equipment had amazing sound although different than what we focus on today.

Mike in CA

Cobalt, some serious audiophile gear. Very nice! I've not heard the Totem's but have read that they are exceptional.

Tonydec

Mike (mdrums), check out kabusa.com

They are probably THE go to group for the 1200 tables, and sell cartridges that match up very well.

cobalt

Thanks,

I had the opportunity to meet Vince Bruzzese of Totem along with many key people from most major players. One of the perks of knowing the local shop for a long time. He is a nice but somewhat unique character. I was surprised to hear that he designed and holds the patents to some of the drivers made by dynaudio that he uses in most of his line and has gone to great lengths to make the Wind and exceptional speaker for a somewhat reasonable price. I compared them to speakers costing $30k more and decided the value was unbeatable. Besides they look cool and the mahogany finish matches my decor.

Tonydec

It's nice finding those surprises isn't it? When I was last looking for speakers, I listened to Vienna Acoustics, Kef, Thiels, Sonus Faber (but quickly ruled them out due to cost), Monitor Audio, and I'm sure a couple of others. Then I started hearing about AV123, and Onix , the new (at that time) company of Mark Schifter (well known and respected). I read some reviews on their stuff, and was intrigued by the Stratas, a Planer Magnetic hybrid, with crossovers designed by Danny Richie (also a well known designer in audio). It uses some very good drivers, some also used by Genesis.

The specs on paper looked awesome (but so do a lot of others that don't sound good). I found someone local that had some set up for demo, they pretty much are direct sales only but have a few customers that are willing to demo. I took a wide range of music and settled in. He also had Kef's and Swans set up. I listened to all over a couple of hours, and purchased a set of the Stratas on the spot, didn't even sleep on it. Lot's of people are skeptical, or even blatantly scoff at the mention of them, until they hear them. I have come across 2 area 'audiophiles' that had the same experiance. One drove to my house from about 2 hours away he was so skeptical. He could not believe it. They were only 2 grand, but as many reviewers said, they sounded well worth 5 if not more.

I had them on my Primare gear, first with a modded Carver M500 amp, then with B&K Reference 200 amp. Then, I hooked them up to my McIntosh MC275 tube amp, and holy cow! I have come to really love them with the Mc. I'll be upgrading the power cords soon, which should result in another improvement.

It's great to find those giant killers. It's too bad the "audio elite" try to poo-poo such products.

whalebird

This is a nice discussion of which I have little working knowledge. I do much enjoy the vinyl sound. I have several hundred records and no turntable at the moment. In the early years of my audio addiction, I started upgrading components one at a time and the turntable finally quit and has yet to be replaced. So now I have upper tier, consumer quality gear(Adcom) and I am looking for another turntable. I just remember when the CD craze took off, that I was replacing all of my tape(that had been recorded from vinyl)with Cd's. I just remember my shopping mall turntable sounded better than any Cd's I had. I am anxious to revisit vinyl.

Tonydec

You have no idea whalebird! I did the same, went to CD. Finally realized 'something' was missing, put the table back in only to find my good cartridge was toast. Went out to buy a new one, intent being to 'only' enable me to listen to what vinyl I had and preserve them as the other cartridge was not as nice, as much of it could not be replaced on CD, and I was missing not listening to that music. I was only looking to spend about 500 bucks.

Next thing you know, new cartridge AND table, and I've since more than doubled my vinyl collection. Now, I'm looking to upgrade my CD player to get closer to the analog sound. I have a good player, Primare CD21, but looking for that little improvement. Contemplating a Primare CD31 or a tubed player.

A.Wayne

There is a reason for that .....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war


If you are currently listening to 16/44.1 then you will never approach the sound of analog with this format .. 24/96 get's one closer to the dynamics and sound of analog.

I have been exposed to both the best of digital and analog on rigs costing tens of thousands on many occasions and never once did digital approach the realism of analog and surprisingly such a comparison provided that rare moment in the audio world, unanimous agreement from those in attendance.


The failure of Digital to take hold at the top of the audio food chain ( sonically ) have led to an even stronger analog revival ..

http://www.cutestudio.net/data/produ...ping/index.php


Leading some to step back to what was considered the best playback medium in the 70/80's, much better than a TT:


http://www.tapeproject.com/

http://positive-feedback.com/Issue46/tape_project.htm


In 1980 i had heard what was then Mark Levinson reference system ( stacked quads with decca ribbon tweeter/ 24 inch Hartley's for the bass ) at Sound Components.

Peter Mcgrath demoed at the time with his Reel -Reel reference master tapes, the sound was unbelievable and many of us at the time had not realized how much those tapes played a role in what we heard, not to say it was not a fantastic sounding system, but the tapes took the sound to another dimension.


Until digital starts using it's full potential format of 24/192 the lowly analog will continue to rule , IMO ....

A.Wayne

Yes very much so and the worst at it was that great genesis guy ..

I Looked up the Stratas , i do like his design layout , looks like it could be a winner at that price point ..

ltc

44k, 48k, 16bit, 24bit....in the end it still needs to get converted back to analog.

Sound starts as analog and ends up analog ... Everything in the middle is simply an attempt to approach analog.

I did play with direct digital amplifiers a few years ago, neat theory, not so neat performance.

I used to like to tease digital students by reminding them that digital is simply analog driven in and out of saturation.

Audio Precision and Prism both make very good audio analyzers, but nothing is as subjective as the human ear...such is the nature of psychoaccoustics.

A.Wayne

true dat ....

DrJay

I agree with this, I have an SL1200 from KAB, great table and great guy to work with.

DrJay

Although I much prefer Analog, ie: vinyl, to Digital, with the right equipment digital can also be very satisfying. Not to mention the convenience compared to vinyl.

Tonydec

That convenience is a big factor. I can't tell you how many times I'm just kicking back really getting into the music when 'thunk thunk thunk thunk' Gotta get up and flip the lp.

I'm looking at replacing my player, either upgrade to the Primare CD31 from my current CD21, or go with a tubed player. Just to get me that little bit closer to the sound I'm looking for.

Mother

Nothing like a Kenwood turntable with a nickel on the head to keep it from skipping.