The CPF hi-fi enthusiast thread--check in here

I noticed the other thread was trending this way and I didn't want to take it off-topic. There seem to be a certain number of hifi enthusiasts here (I'm not saying "audiophile" since that tends to invoke thoughts of guys comparing $2,000 power cables and other weirdness) on CPF.

So, stand up and be counted. And if you have a neat system, post the specs and/or photos. I don't have anything really cool but I'll start:

Polk Audio SDA-SRS 1.2TL speakers
Phase Linear 400 power amp
DB Systems DB-1 preamp
Thorens TD-280 turntable
Pioneer TX-9500/II tuner
Kyocera DA-310CX CD player
Nakamichi LX-3 and BX-150 cassette decks
Teac A-1500-W reel-to-reel
AKG K340 headphones

I've had a lot of trouble getting together working components I really want. When I get some time to devote to repairs, the power amp will be replaced with an Adcom GFA-5800 (possibly two, I might have another one coming) and the preamp with a Phase Linear 4000/II. The DB Systems is a great little pre but not my flavor. Turntable needs an upgrade, too.

Speaker shot, and part of the rack before I had all the current components hooked up:

Nice, and as a "recovering" audiophile I recognize by name most of your equipment especially the SRS monsters, I came real close to buying them but went with Infinity Kappas.
Is Adcom still around? Do you know what the letters in their model numbers stand for?

I'm nowhere near near an audiophile, but I do like decent gear. He he, the wife put the hammer down on big equipment (Sob, goodbye Martin Logans ), so downsizing and hiding are the word now.

Just getting ready to (finally) try out some wireless rear speaker setups, I'll report back after Father's Day setup... :twothumbs

Oh, and nice rack, ABTO...:naughty:

I still have my main stereo componants from the good old days when my worst problems were wow and flutter; 30+ year old Jim Rogers speakers, MK Goliath subwoofer (about to be re-surrounded by myself with re-surround kit I finally found..) ..a RAM amp, Hafler preamp I built..a Technics SL-1 turntable, NAD and NAK portable cassette decks..

still, and yet, in my memory, the best sound I ever enjoyed came from my earliest system; a couple AR 2 AX speakers hooked to my Dynaco kit amp and AR turntable..gool ol AR... sigh...

I currently run all Rotel electronics. I.E. pre-amp, amp,cd player,tape deck
Excluding the older technics turntable running shure m97xe stylus
speakers (for the moment trying to save up the coin for axioms) are polk audio rti-150's (they have a tighter transient response than ALOT of thier other speakers but they are amp demanding)
im running Canare quad star 4x14 for speaker cables
Monster interlink reference cables
And the not so ear friendly ipod nano (but for a good "random" it works for hours)

Usually i try to download music in lossless only as i can hear a loss in mp3's below 320kbps and burn them to cd as the frequency responce of the rotel cd player is much flatter then anything i have ever heard from apple (whoops i know im putting on the flame suit for that one)

I don't have really expensive gear, but I tried to get together some equipment to do justice to my love for music. Here is my list:
NHT 2.5i mains
NHT AC1 center channel
NHT Super Zero rear surrounds
NHT Sub Two subwoofer with integrated Carver Sunfire amp
Belles model 1 amp for the mains
Marantz SR5000 receiver runs the center and surrounds (but only with the bass frequencies turned off or the low impedance of the NHTs trips the protection circuitry)
Sony 5 disc changer been playing since 1994

I also use quality interconnects and speaker cables.

Nothing really exotic here either, but still a pretty decent setup for the non-audiophile musiclover:

Pioneer A-404R amplifier
Pioneer PL-514 turntable
SM Electronic Supervision 2500 DVD (and CD and MP3 player)
Tangent Audio Millenium floorstanding speakers
DAP-Audio interconnects (very good quality at a very low price)
Speakercabled from the local DIY shop

Now I just need to finish the room to set it all up in. Once everything is set up, I can test if my turntable survived moving house. If it has, I'll take it apart for a rebuild. If it's dead, I'll probably start saving up for a Pro Ject Debut 3....

I'm still running my old B&W Matrix 801 Series 2's, They are almost 20 years old now but I can't stand to replace them. They are tri-amped with Krell monoblocks. I would like to try a set of 801 D's I run KEF's on my AV setup.

2 channel but a little different setup. 2 JBL 4726x w 4718x subs. Crest amps, V900 and a V1100. Dbx 2215 Eq w Dbx 120a Subharmonic Synthesizer. What that does is it takes the bass notes and reproduces them along with another set that is one octave lower. Very punchy to say the least. Tascam 302 dual tape deck, Denon DN-T620 CD/cassette combi-deck. Power by a Furman PM-8 power conditioner. Small 12channel Mackie mixer, 1202 VLZ Pro. What I especially like about this setup is it sounds very good at LOW volume which is something I was looking for. It doesn't have the clarity of tweeters since it is a 2inch format compression driver but it's suprisingly good. I have some other odds and ends pieces too but not using them now. All items are rack mountable and easily changed out as well. Hopefully someday I can update my Crests with some Crest CA-9's or some Crown K2's.

TedTheLed said:

still, and yet, in my memory, the best sound I ever enjoyed came from my earliest system; a couple AR 2 AX speakers hooked to my Dynaco kit amp and AR turntable..gool ol AR... sigh...

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Yeah there was nothing like your first music maker. I bought an old Westinghouse (H-166 or close variant) cabinet radio/turntable from the local second hand shop for $15 back in college. It was missing one tube so I went over to Safeway and picked one up. Yeah, they sold tubes at Safeway back then. One tube fixed it and it sounded pretty good. I tossed the original turntable (don't all scream at once) and put a Garrard 55B in it. Wasn't stereo, but it would play your records and pull in your favorite FM station. Was also a nice piece of furniture for the corner of the room.

Here's a photofacts manual for sale on ebay with a picture on the cover.

http://cgi.ebay.com.my/WESTINGHOUSE...38034QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

I was all NAD, Velodyne, Polk, Audioquest and Grado phones in high school. These days, a cheapie set of Klipsch 2.1 computer speakers does the job.

My system

Tannoy Revolution R2 Speakers
Naim Nait II
Michell Mycro (with ubiquitous RB300)
Rega Planet CD Player
Leak Troughline II + Tim de Paravicini tube stereo decoder

There must be a law of diminishing returns at work here, especially with treble response dropping off with age, I topped off at <£500 per component.

Anyway keeps me happy... Neighbours not so happy :tinfoil:

Radio said:

I'm still running my old B&W Matrix 801 Series 2's, They are almost 20 years old now but I can't stand to replace them. They are tri-amped with Krell monoblocks. I would like to try a set of 801 D's I run KEF's on my AV setup.

Click to expand...

I heard a set of 801 Matrix series two's almost 25 years ago...that's why I have B&W's now

P.S. I recently got to listen to a set of Gallo reference three's. they sound awesome and look great.

I hope your windows are storng enough to handle the bass

post a video of you strobing the speaker [heck, if you have the capability you can try PWM lights with a variety of frequencies on it]

I have a 7.1 system consisting of:

2x Onix Rocket RS1000 Signature (front)
1x Onix Rocket RSC200 Signature (center)
2x Onix Rocket RS750 Signature (rear)
2x Onix Rocket RS750 (surround back)
2x Onix Rocket UFW-12 (subs)
Pioneer Elite VSX-84TXSi (receiver)
Oppo DV-970HD (DVD-A & SACD)
Roku Soundbridge M500 Media Player (FLAC & MP3 files)
Perpetual Technologies P-1A w/ SOCS for Onix Rocket RS1000 Signature (DSP)
Homebuilt HTPC (DVD, Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, and OTA HD)

I listen to 2 channel music in only 2 channel with no subs.

CD player: Cambridge audio 640C V2
Preamp: Rotel RC-03
Poweramp: Audiolab 8000P (new model)
Speakers: Mission 782

My favorite component has got to be the 8000P. It produces incredible precise punchy sounding bass without being too dominating (like a subwoofer) even at low volumes. It sounds way more powerful than the rating suggests.

You must have a very different range of hifi components in the US since I only recognise a few of those names.

monkeyboy said:

You must have a very different range of hifi components in the US since I only recognize a few of those names.

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Well... In my case I'm not a traditional audiophile who spent a lot of time at the local hifi shop. I found most of my gear through word of mouth online.

- My speakers and DSP are from an Internet Direct company. link
- My SACD and DVD-A player is really a Universal player from a Chinese company that made a name for themselves (on the internet) with their very good DVD players. link
- I figure you've heard of Pioneer
- The last device is a network audio player from Roku. link

Abtomat
If that Phase Linerar 400 Power Amp is what I think it is, That's one stout sombitch!!!. Isn't it fun making the house lights dim with it?
My Stuff:
Sony PXS-5 turntable running a Shure M95
Apt-Holman Pre-amp
Apt Pa-1 Power Amp.
Energy Pro-22 Speakers
Home made powered subwoofer with acceleration feedback.
The power amp often has often been substituted with various amps I had a part in designing from where I used to work.. including a couple models with some tube voltage gain stages.

The PL400 is a 200WPC stereo amp from about 1973. It's powerful, but they built them very lightly. All the components are underspec'ed and it doesn't have enough cooling capacity to run wide open. Most Phase Linear amps were like that--partly why they got a reputation for being unreliable when rock bands started using them for shows. This was back when no one else was making big-watt solid-state amps other than McInotsh.

I'm really hoping to fix the GFA-5800 (yeah, I know what it stands for. ) and get it in the system. 250WPC, full MOSFET front to back, and weighs 30 pounds more than the PL400.

I will never forget the day, I think I was 19, that I heard my first Reference series B&W's. I said "Where's the bass?" "Where's the sizzle?" My friend just said "ssssssshhhhhh.......listen" Then I heard it!! Music the way it was SUPPOSED to sound! I could SEE the orchestra with my eyes closed, the sound stage was amazing. It was Glen Miller if you need to know. Needless to say, I was ruined forever, thine eyes had been opened. No more "Boom and Sizzle" for me. I had to go buy a pink noise generator to EQ my room perfectly flat. If you have never listened to music on a real HI-FI like the systems listed here....DON'T!!! It's like taking a bite from the forbidden fruit. Innocence lost