Any audiophiles here?

[wyager]

Just wondering how many others are also into high end audio gear... right now, my best IEMs are my HJE900s, but I think I will replace those with some Triple.Fi 10s in the near future, considering the fact that they've come down like 50+% in price at some point in the near past. How about y'all?

[kenphliu]

I am using the triple fi 10 with an original 16g iPod and a portable headphone amp. It works great sound is very detail especially vocal.

[moj]

Do these qualify?

[lightknot]

I am using Beyerdynamic 770, 32 ohm cans; an iPod touch, and a single ended EL84 vacuum tube based headphone amplifier. The amp circuit is pentode driven from a medium Mu dual triode 12AT7 (or lower gain 12AU7) vacuum tube. Sounds sweet.

[tatasal]

I just got into this flashlight last month. I used to be a mid-to-high end dealer of audio systems in my place. Martin Logans, Audible Illusions and other better known brands that time.

[budynabuick]

Man there is no place for that here. Meant to add a smiley LOL

Keith

[tatasal]

Man there is no place for that here

1. Blame the thread starter
2. This section is "non-flashlight electronics"

CHEERS

[DisrupTer911]

Do these qualify?

Wait a sec lol are these hearing aides or headphones?

[moj]

I don't think hearing aids have wires and an audio jack?

[Bullzeyebill]

Let's attend to the OP's thread title and post.

Bill

[shado]

Bryston/PSB Stratus/Kimber in the family room, HK/Mission in the bedroom and a B&W Zepplin in the office.

[fyrstormer]

I am using Beyerdynamic 770, 32 ohm cans; an iPod touch, and a single ended EL84 vacuum tube based headphone amplifier. The amp circuit is pentode driven from a medium Mu dual triode 12AT7 (or lower gain 12AU7) vacuum tube. Sounds sweet.

I'm always amused when an audiophile claims to like tube amps. Tubes are great for music production, but they're crappy for music REproduction. Music production is art, and any device that makes a sound the artist likes is fair game, but REproduction should be as accurate to the original recording as possible. Transistors from Radio Shack easily beat the best tubes on earth for amplification accuracy, because transistors don't rely on boiling electrons off the end of a highly-charged electrode. (admittedly, the tubes are almost certainly paired with higher-quality solid-state components than the transistors, which helps a lot, but in a direct comparison, transistors will always beat tubes for accuracy.)

If an accurately-replayed recording sounds like crap, the solution is not to mask the crappiness by using a tube amp to "add warmth" to the output signal -- the solution is to remaster the recording to suit your preference. Fortunately, Audacity is free to download online.

Anyway, my preferred listening is through a set of $60 Sony earbuds with silicone earplugs (best bang/buck ratio I've ever heard), or through my $2000 JBL self-correcting studio monitors connected to my TV computer via a digital audio cable.

Pic for proof.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...s/CIMG5226.jpg


Your image is too large and has been replaced with a link. Please resize and repost.
See Rule #3 If you post an image in your post, please downsize the image to no larger than 800 x 800 pixels. - Thanks Norm

[AVService]

Just checking in here.

35 years in the Biz and still a heavy consumer too.

I build custom system/installations at all levels and of course do Automation as well.

I have Thiel,ARC,Krell,Levinson,Meridian,Benchmark,Tara and a Mac Mini in my main room and other capable systems in every other room.

Also I collect interesting items that I find significant and timeless.

I have also been a Flashlight nut since time began.....for me.

Ed

[Flea Bag]

I'm always amused when an audiophile claims to like tube amps. Tubes are great for music production, but they're crappy for music REproduction. Music production is art, and any device that makes a sound the artist likes is fair game, but REproduction should be as accurate to the original recording as possible. Transistors from Radio Shack easily beat the best tubes on earth for amplification accuracy, because transistors don't rely on boiling electrons off the end of a highly-charged electrode. (admittedly, the tubes are almost certainly paired with higher-quality solid-state components than the transistors, which helps a lot, but in a direct comparison, transistors will always beat tubes for accuracy.)

If an accurately-replayed recording sounds like crap, the solution is not to mask the crappiness by using a tube amp to "add warmth" to the output signal -- the solution is to remaster the recording to suit your preference. Fortunately, Audacity is free to download online.

Anyway, my preferred listening is through a set of $60 Sony earbuds with silicone earplugs (best bang/buck ratio I've ever heard), or through my $2000 JBL self-correcting studio monitors connected to my TV computer via a digital audio cable.

Pic for proof.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...s/CIMG5226.jpg


Your image is too large and has been replaced with a link. Please resize and repost.
See Rule #3 If you post an image in your post, please downsize the image to no larger than 800 x 800 pixels. - Thanks Norm

I'm a music nut first and "audiophile" second and I can understand what you mean about loving tubes being contradictory to being an audiophile, but in my mind, there are two types of audiophile: Those who obsess over equipment to get a system accurate enough to hear everything and those who obsess over equipment so they can get the music to sound the way they like it to sound, "accuracy" be damned.

I'd consider myself more in favour of the latter though I still appreciate some balance in presentation. We must remember though that there isn't really such a thing as "accurate" if accuracy depends on getting things closest to what the mixing or mastering engineer hears. What exactly do these engineers hear or hope to hear? Many mixers will tell you that before they sign off on a recording, they'll make sure to test it in their car or some other mass-market system and that if still sounds as good as it did through their monitors, then they're happy and will then hand it over for mastering or whatever. My take-away from this is that the central message of the music should be audible through an average or better-than-average sound system. It should not require a crazy-expensive high-end pile of equipment. Of course, you'd hear more with the better system but often, it is possible to hear more than what the engineer or artist intended and that could distract from the central theme of the music or even take the life and soul of the recording.

I've heard this injustice performed by many, many seemingly "accurate" systems out there. For this and many other reasons stated above, though I still value some neutrality and accuracy, I place much more emphasis on what sounds good to my ears rather than what allows me to hear the most things in a recording. Many of my favourite 80s and early 90s recordings lose their fundamental sound and lose their ability to communicate when played through what is supposed to be an "accurate" system and music for me is first and foremost about enjoyment and emotional connection. Analysing the music is fun too but that's a second priority of what a system should do. BTW, I love my SS and tube equipment equally as much!

[Sammy_boy]

Well said Flea Bag, I'm very much in the same camp as you. I'm currently listening to Classic FM on an old transistor Hacker Sovereign II radio - a make of radio that's not well known outside of the UK and went bust at the start of the '80s. It has a single speaker but sounds brilliant though I suspect certainly not 'accurate' reproduction. Same goes for my old '80s Pioneer amp and Mission speakers, both of which I got for free off Freecycle! I love the sound from this though sadly it's been relegated from the lounge as my wife thinks it looks untidy! There's currently a small Panasonic DAB/FM/Aux/CD unit in it's place, doesn't sound as good as the amp/speaker setup but is fine for me.

Spending a bit more than usual on above average sounding kit gets me a quality of sound I enjoy, any more would involve an outlay of money I couldn't justify for a relatively small increase in perceived sound quality imho.

[Megatrowned]

I recently have gotten onto the path of becoming a audiophile. (Because we also like our torches, should we then call ourselves flashophiles? Audeoholics? )
Anyway, I have a good friend who sold me his pair of Byro L/1 speakers. Wow! Now, I have not had much opportunity to hear 'really nice' systems and I do not have a great amp, but I do love these speakers. The same friend also gave me a nice pair of Grado SR200's. And after doing so research, I think they are the nicer 'black dot' versions with the nicer drivers.
Now to get myself a nicer amp/preamp.

[Flea Bag]

Well said Flea Bag, I'm very much in the same camp as you. I'm currently listening to Classic FM on an old transistor Hacker Sovereign II radio - a make of radio that's not well known outside of the UK and went bust at the start of the '80s. It has a single speaker but sounds brilliant though I suspect certainly not 'accurate' reproduction. Same goes for my old '80s Pioneer amp and Mission speakers, both of which I got for free off Freecycle! I love the sound from this though sadly it's been relegated from the lounge as my wife thinks it looks untidy! There's currently a small Panasonic DAB/FM/Aux/CD unit in it's place, doesn't sound as good as the amp/speaker setup but is fine for me.

Spending a bit more than usual on above average sounding kit gets me a quality of sound I enjoy, any more would involve an outlay of money I couldn't justify for a relatively small increase in perceived sound quality imho.

You've got a fellow radio-listener here too! Unfortunately here in Singapore, radio isn't as varied as what you guys in the UK or those in the US get! We used to have a 4-hour dedicated classic and contemporary Jazz programme from 8pm to midnight every Saturday and Sunday night. Not anymore though...

I've got a speaker system but because of the small size of my listening room, acoustics aren't quite good enough so lately I've been gravitating back towards a headphone system which was what I had years ago when I was a student. I've got a few dedicated headphone amplifiers but amazingly, the best sounding and most enjoyable one (to me) was also the cheapest, most convenient, most adorable-looking and most portable! It's a $60 cMoy amplifer in a mint-tin running off 9V batteries! Not everything that sounds great has to cost a bomb!

As a big fan of his, I'd also like to state with sadness that my favourite Jazz guy of all time -Dave Brubeck passed away from heart attack today... I'm glad his children are carrying on the musical tradition.

[SemiMan]

First on a matter not related to the post below, but anyone who uses the terms IPOD and audiophile must be officially drawn and quartered with perhaps a public humiliation :-) I know, I have one too. I love the convenience and I probably listen to it more than anything. You get used to the way it sounds, but 30 seconds on a good system and you start to realize what you were missing.

On the post below, a little clarification is needed. Transistors are not more "accurate" than tubes, though the resultant amplifiers built with them usually are. Tubes are actually highly linear amplifiers unlike transistors that require lots of feedback in order to achieve equivalent linearity. Of course, then comes in the definition of "accurate. Is it THD? That is just one measurement, there is IMD, TIMD, and those are usually only done with 2 frequencies as opposed to multiple frequencies and/or complex signals which is not representative of music.

I do agree with modern transistor amps, tubes really do not make sense any more. The cheapest from Radio Shack ... probably not. What is really exciting is the best of the Class-D amps which look like they are close to virtually perfect.

I am naturally a skeptic, but i have listened to situations where I could detect a cable change .... which doesn't tell me one cable is better than the other, it tells me something is horribly wrong with the equipment design such that that difference would be noticeable.

Now I just wish I could find time to "just" listen to music. Now that would be an audiophile dream.

I'm always amused when an audiophile claims to like tube amps. Tubes are great for music production, but they're crappy for music REproduction. Music production is art, and any device that makes a sound the artist likes is fair game, but REproduction should be as accurate to the original recording as possible. Transistors from Radio Shack easily beat the best tubes on earth for amplification accuracy, because transistors don't rely on boiling electrons off the end of a highly-charged electrode. (admittedly, the tubes are almost certainly paired with higher-quality solid-state components than the transistors, which helps a lot, but in a direct comparison, transistors will always beat tubes for accuracy.)

If an accurately-replayed recording sounds like crap, the solution is not to mask the crappiness by using a tube amp to "add warmth" to the output signal -- the solution is to remaster the recording to suit your preference. Fortunately, Audacity is free to download online.

Anyway, my preferred listening is through a set of $60 Sony earbuds with silicone earplugs (best bang/buck ratio I've ever heard), or through my $2000 JBL self-correcting studio monitors connected to my TV computer via a digital audio cable.

Pic for proof.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...s/CIMG5226.jpg


Your image is too large and has been replaced with a link. Please resize and repost.
See Rule #3 If you post an image in your post, please downsize the image to no larger than 800 x 800 pixels. - Thanks Norm

[AVService]

I am in the business for a Looooong time and a Hobbyist too.

Thiel,ARC,Krell,Meridian,Benchmark,Cardas,Tara,Kim ber and on and on and on.

And I try and judge no one else's listening habits or tastes,unless I am billing them for the work!

Ed

[Changchung]

Yamaha receiver
Aiwa speaker in the A output
B output
Infinity kappa 5 1/4 components
Infinity midrange and Clarion 5 1/4 three way for surround
I am driving the B and surr chanels with a 35rms x4 car amp with a 12v 50amp PS and a Linear Power EQ
Crown 402 with a 12" power bass sub woofer in a vent box.

Edit:

Sony mini disc
Ipod cable
PC music play with Remote App
TV audio

Loud and clear.

Happy for the moment...


Sent from my phone with camera with flash and internet on it...

[Alpinebully]

Musical Fidelity Pre amp, Cyrus CD + Power supply, Moon W-5 Power amp & Dynaudio Contour 1.3SE.

Put this system together nearly 10years ago, and always wanted to finish it off by swapping the MF pre for one from Chord, and adding the Chord DAC; both ive demoed at home on my system and the results were nothing short of amazing. But sadly i never squeezed in these purchases while ones disposable income was at its peak... With kids on the way now, i recon it will be about 40years now before i get another chance

[makapuu]

A little late to the party, but this is what I got.

Cary cad-75ia integrated tube amp using 6550 tubes
Cary CD-300 tube cd player
ProAc Response 2.5 speakers
All interconnects and speaker cables are Straight Wire Maestro's mk.II
All electronics powered through a Tice Solo AC power conditioner.

My latest and probably most used Hi Fi toy is this.
http://thodio.blogspot.com/
A audiophile boombox (Yes you read that right)
The one that I have is the Teak finish.
I'm pretty sure the speakers are Focal, kevlar cones, soft dome tweeters.
It is powered by 2 handmade Burr-Brown class H amps delivering 70 watts per channel.
http://thodio.blogspot.com/2011/04/t...-140.html#more
In case any of you are wondering, it sounds better than the Bose Acoustic Wave.
I accidentally came across it when I was searching for flashlights.
http://archive.light-reviews.com/for...hp?f=29&t=1015
I agree with everything said, Thanks FASTCAR