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Post by daveinlax on Nov 11, 2021 22:35:08 GMT -5
(a majority of my listening is concert amateur recordings) I pitched my collection of a couple hundred Grateful Dead/JGB cassette tapes that I collected last week. |
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Post by Ronv69 on Nov 11, 2021 22:44:24 GMT -5
Yeah, the high-dollar cables, etc., hold no interest for me. I do think a clean power source makes a difference, given how amplifiers work, but a couple feet of spendy power cable is going to make no difference to that. That's a problem an electrician would have to address. Small speakers do some things better than big ones, but they aren't going to fill a large room with sound or rock out or produce bass like a big one. I have a APC Smart 1500 UPS and a power stabilizer on my setup. It gets clean, stable power. |
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Post by urbino on Nov 11, 2021 22:50:41 GMT -5
Did someone say, "aururophilia borealis?" No? I was too poor to get into high end stuff and now too deaf to bother. I had a hodge-podge of mostly Technics stuff with Marantz receiver. I eventually got a decent Sony A/V receiver when 4-channel Dolby Surround became a thing. My first pair of speakers was Realistic--gasp--a Radio Shack brand. Those were replaced by Yamaha towers and some forgettable brand of rear speakers, eventually working up to Boston Acoustics all around. Original Technics turntable through it all. When digital became a thing, I railed against lossy formats (a majority of my listening is concert amateur recordings), .shn or .flac only. Now, not so much a concern about mp3. Now the only thing I'm using is a Magnavox all-in-one shelf thingie for CD, my Zune (cutting edge!), and Bluetooth link. I was listening to a friend's system one time and she asked, But how real do you want it to get? I took her point that at some level, you can surpass the limits of your own ears, so more $ doesn't buy you anything more. I don't get too hung up on "real." I don't know whose reality I'm trying to reproduce. If it's live, is it supposed to sound like it did in the venue? Nobody records live albums that way, and it didn't sound the same everywhere in the venue. Which spot was "real"? If it's a studio album, which reality counts? What it sounded like when the musicians individually played their parts, in the room in which they were playing? I don't want to hear that. What it sounded like in the control room? I still don't want to hear all those little bits and pieces. What it sounded like in the control room with all the effects applied? When it was mixed down? What the mastering room sounded like? That's typically not great, either. No thanks. |
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Post by Ronv69 on Nov 11, 2021 22:59:56 GMT -5
Did someone say, "aururophilia borealis?" No? I was too poor to get into high end stuff and now too deaf to bother. I had a hodge-podge of mostly Technics stuff with Marantz receiver. I eventually got a decent Sony A/V receiver when 4-channel Dolby Surround became a thing. My first pair of speakers was Realistic--gasp--a Radio Shack brand. Those were replaced by Yamaha towers and some forgettable brand of rear speakers, eventually working up to Boston Acoustics all around. Original Technics turntable through it all. When digital became a thing, I railed against lossy formats (a majority of my listening is concert amateur recordings), .shn or .flac only. Now, not so much a concern about mp3. Now the only thing I'm using is a Magnavox all-in-one shelf thingie for CD, my Zune (cutting edge!), and Bluetooth link. I was listening to a friend's system one time and she asked, But how real do you want it to get? I took her point that at some level, you can surpass the limits of your own ears, so more $ doesn't buy you anything more. I don't get too hung up on "real." I don't know whose reality I'm trying to reproduce. If it's live, is it supposed to sound like it did in the venue? Nobody records live albums that way, and it didn't sound the same everywhere in the venue. Which spot was "real"? If it's a studio album, which reality counts? What it sounded like when the musicians individually played their parts, in the room in which they were playing? I don't want to hear that. What it sounded like in the control room? I still don't want to hear all those little bits and pieces. What it sounded like in the control room with all the effects applied? When it was mixed down? What the mastering room sounded like? That's typically not great, either. No thanks. I hear you. I've heard Edgar Winter in a small club. That's not the sound I want in my house. Nor the Stones in a foot stadium. I do like my classical and opera to sound natural though. Not necessarily "real". |
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Post by qmechanics on Nov 12, 2021 2:28:46 GMT -5
I am not a big believer in fancy cables etc. (Though I have solid connections between my components and good speaker wire. ), however I will say gauge and connections do matter. Case in point, I had a friend with a typical 1970-80s Technics stereo set up; separate components (Only his tuner, amp and preamp were integrated.) & speakers which were sold as one group. I told him for around 30 bucks I will make him go wow. Home Depot sold 12 gauge speaker wire for around 1.00 a foot ( I use the same wire to this day). Radio Shack sold 3 ft length wire, 14 (might have been 12) gauge, with gold plated RCA connectors for around 8.00. I replaced my friends 18 (might have been 20) gauge speaker wires with the 12s and changed the really cheap RCA cables, with the Radio Shack specials on the tape deck output and CD player (He mainly listened to those two units.). He was shocked and very pleased.
PS The most noticeable difference, as you all know, comes with the change in speaker wires (Good 12 gauge lamp wire should work as well and is easier to find.) with the RS interconnect cable to the CD player getting a nod next (Typical of what I have read, seen and heard.). Still I isolated each step to illustrate that none of his purchases were wasted money.
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Post by urbino on Nov 12, 2021 2:37:41 GMT -5
Yeah, if your cables aren't good enough to give you a good, stable connection, that's a problem.
My Tannoys have a 3rd binding post for a ground wire. That was a new one on me. I haven't tried it, yet. Supposedly it lowers background noise. Or can in some circumstances, anyway.
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Post by Legend Lover on Nov 12, 2021 4:59:33 GMT -5
Merged and moved to the Sound Booth, as I feel that's the most appropriate place for it.
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Post by terrapinflyer on Nov 13, 2021 8:26:10 GMT -5
(a majority of my listening is concert amateur recordings) I pitched my collection of a couple hundred Grateful Dead/JGB cassette tapes that I collected last week. You just said that to hurt me. |
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Post by terrapinflyer on Nov 13, 2021 8:51:16 GMT -5
Did someone say, "aururophilia borealis?" No? I was too poor to get into high end stuff and now too deaf to bother. I had a hodge-podge of mostly Technics stuff with Marantz receiver. I eventually got a decent Sony A/V receiver when 4-channel Dolby Surround became a thing. My first pair of speakers was Realistic--gasp--a Radio Shack brand. Those were replaced by Yamaha towers and some forgettable brand of rear speakers, eventually working up to Boston Acoustics all around. Original Technics turntable through it all. When digital became a thing, I railed against lossy formats (a majority of my listening is concert amateur recordings), .shn or .flac only. Now, not so much a concern about mp3. Now the only thing I'm using is a Magnavox all-in-one shelf thingie for CD, my Zune (cutting edge!), and Bluetooth link. I was listening to a friend's system one time and she asked, But how real do you want it to get? I took her point that at some level, you can surpass the limits of your own ears, so more $ doesn't buy you anything more. I don't get too hung up on "real." I don't know whose reality I'm trying to reproduce. If it's live, is it supposed to sound like it did in the venue? Nobody records live albums that way, and it didn't sound the same everywhere in the venue. Which spot was "real"? If it's a studio album, which reality counts? What it sounded like when the musicians individually played their parts, in the room in which they were playing? I don't want to hear that. What it sounded like in the control room? I still don't want to hear all those little bits and pieces. What it sounded like in the control room with all the effects applied? When it was mixed down? What the mastering room sounded like? That's typically not great, either. No thanks. Yeah, that was kind of what I was getting at. People get nostalgic over vinyl and more power to them, but I don’t feel the tradeoff of pops and dust crackles is worth the analog warmth. I remember the first time I heard Yes Relayer on CD, in 4-speaker stereo, whilst I was in college in a, um, hypersensitive state. I can't imagine what would have made it sound "better." I listen to acoustic folk music, too. So there's a range of different expectations in fidelity for English ballads, a 70s Grateful Dead audience recording, and a Black Sabbath studio recording. I saw Bob Dylan in a football stadium in the 80s (what genius planned that!?). It predictably sounded awful. The tapes of the show aren't bad. I think my point, if I have one, is that there are too many objective variables in the subjective experience to say, for instance, adequate cables are inferior to Monster Cables in all cases. Or something like that. Again, more power to those who can discern better sound from their googlephonic setup with moonrock turntable, but I am not one of those people. Then again my brain is addled from all those evil rock concerts. Of course I also spent a lot of that time chatting with tapers between sets, and that's a whole 'nother geekdom. |
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