Your audio equipment?

[sidewinder]

9 hours ago, porcy62 said:

I thought my last CD player was the linn cd12 I bought 20 years ago but after I discovered replacement parts aren’t available anymore my next “last CD player “ will be an entry level of Rega or Naim, my last one and cheapest one. No way I spend big money on digital anymore. 

The CD555 is about the same vintage as the CD12 and presumably they were going after the same high-end audiophile market. Production stopped a few years ago but unlike Linn, Naim have put aside spare mechanisms for each player built. They also have a better pedigree when it comes to supporting their older kit, in fact I’m still running a 40 year old power amp on one of my setups, which just needs a recap every decade or so. Not to knock Linn, who make some absolutely superb kit and who themselves have transformed old LP12s with great upgrades over recent years (Keel, Urika, Karousel etc.)

In your scenario porcy I would recommend a really good streamer with NAS drive etc. One thing I really do like about CD is no faffing about and I find these days I use it more than the turntable, strangely enough.

Edited March 29, 2022 by sidewinder

[porcy62]

10 hours ago, sidewinder said:

The CD555 is about the same vintage as the CD12 and presumably they were going after the same high-end audiophile market. Production stopped a few years ago but unlike Linn, Naim have put aside spare mechanisms for each player built. They also have a better pedigree when it comes to supporting their older kit, in fact I’m still running a 40 year old power amp on one of my setups, which just needs a recap every decade or so. Not to knock Linn, who make some absolutely superb kit and who themselves have transformed old LP12s with great upgrades over recent years (Keel, Urika, Karousel etc.)

In your scenario porcy I would recommend a really good streamer with NAS drive etc. One thing I really do like about CD is no faffing about and I find these days I use it more than the turntable, strangely enough.

Nowadays I listen only cds from pre magnetic tape era, Ellington, Holiday, Lester, ecc. I think this stuff benefit from modern digital remastering, other then that I spin only records, so I don't think I really need a state of the art cd player for that. And the guys at Linn su**, so you may knock them, I lend you the cudgel

Edited March 29, 2022 by porcy62

[mjzee]

I own an Emotiva ERC-4 CD player.  On the whole I like it, but I do have a gripe: when playing a disc that has tracks that run into each other (gapless, such as a live recording where applause bridges the songs, or a suite of songs), there is a noticeable moment of silence between the songs.  This is the first CD deck I've owned that does this, and Emotiva confirmed there is no way to make the audio playback seamless.

Another little gripe about Emotiva: I posted a review on their site where I mentioned this problem.  They removed my review.  This definitely lends perspective to all the 5-star reviews on their site - it looks like that's all they allow.

[porcy62]

Major change in my front end, replaced the Linn Klimax power amps and Linn Kontrol preamp with this integrated:

Hybrid, all the spec HERE

I am downsizing, not downgrading.

Edited April 7, 2022 by porcy62

[jazzbo]

Congrats! I've heard good things and I'm glad you are happy with a new system "heartbeat."

[porcy62]

6 minutes ago, jazzbo said:

Congrats! I've heard good things and I'm glad you are happy with a new system "heartbeat."

I was considering downsizing for several years, never found an integrated I like better then my rig, until now. And two power chords and two interconnects less in the cable jungle makes sense. It was a demo, so I got good money trading my stuff.

Edited April 7, 2022 by porcy62

[jazzbo]

Awesome! There are many ways to make a happy audiophile cat.

[JSngry]

6 hours ago, porcy62 said:

Major change in my front end, replaced the Linn Klimax power amps and Linn Kontrol preamp with this integrated:

 

Is the chrome look back in style these days?

[jazzbo]

No, but "brushed aluminum" has hardly ever gone out of style.

[JSngry]

It did when everything was all black and then more aller black.

[jazzbo]

No, silver and brushed aluminum have always been available options and chosen by some.

[JSngry]

Not at Best Buy.

[jazzbo]

Well there are a lot of other places than Best Buy, online. More persons I know buying audio equipment buy online than ye olde mortar and brick establishments dwindling as they be.

Edited April 7, 2022 by jazzbo

[JSngry]

Best Buy sells vinyl, so they know what's desirable to today's well-attuned ears.

[charlieboy]

On 3/12/2022 at 10:48 AM, JSngry said:

Do you ever play them all at once, just to see what strange mysterious results would happen?

 

No I doubt it would be very pleasant. One mono, and one stereo is all.

On 3/25/2022 at 0:05 AM, mjazzg said:

You think he/she actually plays them?

I/he do/does.

 

Edited April 24, 2022 by charlieboy

[neveronfriday]

Since I still read around here once in a while and noticed that the forum software has been updated, I thought I'd update what I wrote when I started this thread and try the new interface that way.

The heart of my current setup, which I have been happy with for many years now, are the two Marantz units, PM-14S1 (amp) and SA-14S1 (CD/SACD player).

When I could get hold of one at a ridiculously low price, I added a Marantz CD6005 because, lo and behold, the SA-14S1 does choke on some single CDs that go way beyond CD specifications (so far, I came across about 20 out of 14000 CDs that the 14S1 loves to regurtitate) ... Marantz only guarantees the funtionality of its high-end players for CDs/SACDs that adhere to the redbook standard (go figure).

About two years ago, I added a Technics SL1500 turntable when I got it at half price (new). I only have a little more than a handful of LPs left that are simply not available in any other format and I wanted to play them. The Technics turntable does so better than my old Dual did.

On top of the cheap (but excellent) Marantz CD6005, I keep an age-old Samsung notebook which, in a week of reading and tweaking, I turned into my very own music server. I threw off everything (really, everything and every service), kept Windows 7 (!), disconnected the machine from the Internet (froze it in time) and kept Foobar plus a bunch of audio thingamajigs that hook into Windows and Foobar to let me play any hires audio file I have. That machine, in turn, is connected to the SA-14S1, which has a USB-interface for that kind of work. Attached to the notebok are two small (virtually silent) Western Digital 4TB portable harddrives which contain the most important hires files, SACD rips, high quality remasters (DCC, etc) and whatever I don't have in my CD collection.

I still kept my Dynaudio 1.8 MKII speakers, which have always come through for me, in every place I moved to (3 different ones) in the last few years.

Just a few weeks ago, I retired and moved to a new and wonderful apartment (penthouse, etc.).

In my new room, I surrounded myself with all the music I have, large cover reproductions of my favorite albums on the walls and several vitrines stuffed with hardcovers left over from my formerly large book collection, which I reduced by 90% a few years back.

My wife jokingly says that once I drop dead, she just has to torch the whole room and scoop the burnt remains into a smaller urn to fulfill my last wish ... to be buried with all the sh@t I accumulated as an eternally  dysfunctional collector.

Cheers.
 

Edited November 7, 2022 by neveronfriday

[sidewinder]

Nice one, neveronfriday. I too have some Dynaudio Contour 1.8 Mk 2s, which I keep on a second system. A lovely speaker and visually great too - a bit harder to drive though than the current Contour range but provided your power amp is up to it, not a problem. 

Congrats on your retirement - good for the listening time opportunities, for sure !

Edited November 7, 2022 by sidewinder

[neveronfriday]

@sidewinder

Yep, the 1.8MKIIs need a little bit of juice, but the Marantz PM14 has enough of that. Still, I bought the speakers three decades ago to fit into my then well-dampened (large) living room and now I have a rather "naked" environment. I still need to add stuff to make them fit in nicely. But then again, I have plenty of time to tweak for another decade or two.

The retirement was forced due to permanent health issues (that won't kill me), but in terms of pension payments, it didn't really make a difference if I worked another couple of years or not ... so I jumped ship.

P.S.: Nice to see that many people are still around from way back when ...

Cheers!

[sidewinder]

The only thing I’ve had to do with my Contour 1.8 Mk IIs is a slight tightening/torquing of the screws on the driver units, otherwise they are as good as the day they were bought, over 20 years ago.

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by sidewinder

[mikeweil]

1 hour ago, neveronfriday said:

My wife jokingly says that once I drop dead, she just has to torch the whole room and scoop the burnt remains into a smaller urn to fulfill my last wish ... to be buried with all the sh@t I accumulated as an eternally  dysfunctional collector.

🤣  I will recommend this prodedure to my wife.

1 hour ago, neveronfriday said:

 ... Marantz only guarantees the funtionality of its high-end players for CDs/SACDs that adhere to the redbook standard (go figure).

That explains why my Marantz SA 7001 refuses some discs - the dealer had warned me. Recently it stalls when being switched on and takes three attempts before playing any disc. I started using a multiple power plug a few months ago to switch off the whole hifi equipment while it is not in use, and he doesn't seem to like it. 

Nice to see you back here, btw.

Edited November 7, 2022 by mikeweil

[neveronfriday]

5 minutes ago, sidewinder said:

The only thing I’ve had to do with my Contour 1.8 Mk IIs is a slight tightening/torquing of the screws on the driver units, otherwise they are as good as the day they were bought, over 20 years ago.

 

Those (age-old) Dynaudio speakers beat everything else when I demoed them ages ago (B&W, Triangle, etc.). I bought them because I have lots of music, including crappy remasters, compressed reissues and whatnot. You know the game. The Dynaudios were the only pair of speakers that were forgiving in every regard. They just sound good to my ears.

Since then, I have only found one single pair of speakers to my liking ... and those you don't put into an apartment/house but have to build a rock-solid one around them: Focal (Grande Utopia). I have never been blown away by speakers like I was by those, but I would have to sell my wife and everything I own just to buy one single tweeter. Those speakers (also) perform the way I want them to. BTW: They also weigh more than a truck. So, I stuck with my trusted Dynaudios from the late 18th century that do the same thing on a much smaller (affordable) scale. Neutral, rock solid ... and they play well with Marantz who always add a bit of "warmth" to the spectrum.

P.S.: I used to be an audiofool () and gave that up a decade or two ago. When you turn 60 (+), speakers have to work differently ... especially if you listened to nasty stuff on full blast for 50 years.

18 minutes ago, mikeweil said:

🤣

I'm not kidding. "Hearses don't have luggage racks" is something I told my wife ages ago. "Burn it all", she replied, "and take it with you. You can re-assemble it in the afterlife." Let's hope that works. 

[mikeweil]

Have a pyramid built and have all the stuff stored along with your corpse, Like Old King Tut.

[sidewinder]

21 minutes ago, mikeweil said:

Have a pyramid built and have all the stuff stored along with your corpse, Like Old King Tut.

Now there’s an idea. A Viking-style longship a la Sutton Hoo full of LPs, CDs and Mosaics sounds good - and confuse future archaeologists.

[neveronfriday]

2 hours ago, mikeweil said:

Have a pyramid built and have all the stuff stored along with your corpse, Like Old King Tut.

At current real estate prices?
I think not.

1 hour ago, sidewinder said:

Now there’s an idea. A Viking-style longship a la Sutton Hoo full of LPs, CDs and Mosaics sounds good - and confuse future archaeologists.

Couldn't find a better version, but your reply reminded me of this:

Pepsi Ad.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

THEY CALL IT: A TELEPHONE (1916)