Any audiophiles in here?

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Lowe said:
Sort of; I like my high end stuff, but have a sensible reality based point of view when it comes to the law of diminishing returns.
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Lowe - this is very much my view. I passionately believe, first and foremost in great speakers. And you can defo take it too far and there is tonnes of snake oil out there.

When professional studios use van damme speaker cables, I think its safe to assume these stupid cables achieve nothing :)

Ive experimented with a fair bit over the years, but now I have a completely digital system, comprising:

Windows Machine running j river playing ripped flacs (I don't agree that a .wav is better quality etc)

Benchmark DAC2 HGC
Home Made Hypex Ncore amplifiers. Class D 200w
Anthony Gallo Strada 2 x 2 and TR3-d Subwoofer

Linked with vam damme cables, XLR in the case of dac to amps

Prior to this I had Cyrus gear. And I also experimented with KEF LS50 as speakers, but they are terrible. Don't believe the (paid for!) reviews!
 
Hi Lowe, great to be in your esteemed company and what a relief my view are the same as a pro :)

Completely agree re amps. I was attracted to Hypex as I wanted class D for lower power consumption, heat and small size, to fit alongside the Benchmark. This was a cheapish way of getting 200w and also I liked the simplicity of the design and know they will effectively never break or if they do I can fix em/replace a part at low cost. I also like taking advantage of Neutrik's Speakon connections - very cool.

I love PMC too. I only bought my stradas (which on the face of it look too audiophile really for my taste) because they were a good price, and they are idiotproof, and by that I mean child and dog proof. They have a hard casing, you see. And they can be wall mounted. They are really only tweeter and mid range and no rear whole. They are totally unfussy about where they go, which is often a phrase used as a complete lie in stupid audio magazines - when clearly anything with a rear port must be placed carefully. I really dig using the associated sub (with an amp built into it) as of course bass is non-directional and it allow for flexibility in placement again and some really deep lows. I think you probably could improve on it though.

The Kef LS50 were a classic trick - they boosted that sensitive part of human hearing frequency range to make them sound hyper resolving and impressive during a testing session 9and you can see this on recorded graphs) but to live with they are invasive and you want to leave the room, they are that bad. Its stupid cos people say things like "unforgiving of bad recordings" that is literally a synonym for enjoying this stupid trick", since I can listen to old Robert Johnson or whatever with massive LP crackle and such and have no issue on mine, despite them being hyper resolving. Its a shame with the kefs though since for certain things, like male vocals, I adored the velvety tone. I imagine their higher end speakers would be nice. The Stradas, but contrast, are a touch lean at times. Never bright though.

Ive love to experiment with some of the 2k plus bookshelf speakers, by Kef, PMC, Dynaudio. but Id also love to experience a good floor stander too. For now I think mine are a good compromise and work well as a double up home theatre which is what they currently do.
 
Somnambulist said:
Sort of.

Mac Mini, Thunderbolt to HDMI cable into a NAD M51, Van Damme XLR cables, Event Opal speakers on IsoAcoustic ISO-L8R200s, sat on DIY stands filled with kiln-dried sand. At some point I need to get Dirac on my Mac so I can do some room correction + some acoustic panels.
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Ive always wanted to hear those Event Opals - look amazing
 
Nick1881 said:
I like my Hi-Fi gear. Also recently became a PMC fan and I'm running Hypex modules.

My set-up is PC running JRiver, USB connection to MDAC, Mark Grant XLR cables to 2 x Hypex NC400, currently Kimber 8TC but about to change to Mogami connecting PMC Ob1i. I have a fair bit of room treatment too, including bass traps and acoustic tiles.
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Lovely mate. What cases did you build your ncore in? Room treatment is so important isnt it, again most audiophiles overlook this. It will be my next project when we finally buy a house!
 
Oh wow so you must have only really recently built yours then? They've only been out a month or two? I really liked them and considered replacing my cheap chinese ones, but I'd still have to start drilling/cutting the back for the kinds of connections I want in it. (Neutrik Speakeron).

Though not essential my preference is also to have a power button on the front which is what Ive done
 
Lowe said:
Not really - so long as there's sufficient cross section in the cable then it'll do for me. I also don't really believe in hugely expensive interconnects and PSU cables. That said, where possible I'll use quality cable and connectors - VD, Canare, Belden etc, so I guess you can't call the cables I use cheap, but they're nothing compared to what some people will spend.
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Exactly. The snake oil never ceases to amaze me!
 
9designs2 said:
How do you tell snake oil from a real improvement ?

Some 40 years ago the idea that the source was important was seen as snake oil and foo.... but after a while it was recognised it does have a major part to play.

An open mind and a demo is often a good starting point ;)
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Yeah agreed - but I fall back on science and measurements as the best defence against the placebo. I think ultimately, as with all pleasures in life, we are always chasing the first "high".

If recording studios dont have it, dont buy it is another of my mottos :)
 
Lowe said:
It's more to do with what else is going on in the building or where you are. In my case it's a building where there's lots of air conditioning, dimmers for performance spaces and the like. All of these units going on and off can create audible issues and so the Furman units help us out no end. It's not something that's going to make a huge difference in the UK home unless you have a really bad fridge freezer or similar - but don't write off the importance of good power in general. :)
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cool thanks mate
 
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