Coming out of the blackhole called work...retirement
Hello All
I have just retired and emerged from the mud of work that encompasses everything and acts light a blackhole for hobbies and enjoyment. Now that I am seeing some light I want to upgrade my 70's something stereo to something I can really enjoy. I read in a post from long ago about a preamplifier called a George Lightspeed. It was Australian, quality sound according to the posts and cheap. Is this something I want to consider or must I look at products in the thousands or 10's of?
Thank you one and all for the friendship, comradery and interest. Forget retirement. There is so much on this audiogon forum, it will be a full time job reading the interesting bits first and then onwards. Its like reading a book a few pages behind the author as (he/she or she/he) writes. This is going to be one heck of a good trip. Again, thanks. |
A lot of good advice to think about. Do as much listening as you can.Trust your ears only! I was glad to see many suggestions on how to get good synergy.Which means so much. Many will suggest you get what brands and models they like or have.Or because they read a good review on.Take it with a grain of salt.Again ,trust Your ears . A system that is a good fit for the room means a lot. Good luck and have fun! Ray |
If you can, spend the weekend at AXPONA in Chicago (April 13-15 2018) before you buy anything. It will be the largest collection of hifi gear in North America (I think) and will enable you to hear many, many systems and figure out what sound you like and don't like. Before you part with $50K or $100K, buy an inexpensive ticket and hotel room and then immerse yourself in the magic AXPONA affords. I'm certain you will have a much better idea of what you are after once you hear lots of different systems. Have fun. Al |
@amg56 You have a very good advantage, as you are building your home from scratch, if I understand correctly. Your room/treatments is the most important part of the system that you will be putting together (IMHO). It seems that you have some good $$ to spend, so deal with the room first. It’s the single most important issue that most of us have to had to "tame" with the conditions that we have with our existing rooms. You have the opportunity to get the room dealt with before the gear. After that, well, it’s all about your personal preferences sonically for the gear that you fill the room with. Good luck, and please keep us notified on your progress. |
Before you start spending money on gear, determine for yourself what kind of midrange and ’presentation’ you like. You may really like something like the disappearing act and clean presentation of a small Harbeth P3esr mated to a good single ended triode amp. Or other, more high efficiency speakers like Audionote; or horns, or single driver speakers. With or without a little subwoofer. You may really prefer a paper cone midrange or soft dome to polypropylene or more exotic material (I do). If you’re in Australia, you are in a very good location to get some great deals on high(ish) end clones coming out of China - like a dartzeel clone or FM acoustics clones on ebay (both less than $1000). And also the tube integrateds like Line Magnetic, Cayin, etc. http://cattylink.com/ Finally, you should be able to find very good DACs as well, for equally cheap (less than $1,000) coming out of China and Singapore. Just do some reading and listen to as much as you can. Try to keep it simple and enjoy the journey. :) |
Congratulations !! I retired 18 months ago and am really enjoying it ! I also treated myself to a new system as a retirement gift to myself I wanted a high end system for a not outrageous cost. I chose the following : Rogue Cronus Magnum 2 integrated , Golden Ear Triton Plus 2 speakers, Musical Fidelity V90 DAC , NAD CD player , Rega Planar 1 turntable Best !! Russ in Pittsburgh PA |
OP: If you are really willing to start from scratch, there are so many angles to consider and places to start - and twice as many opinions! You are likely to get many suggestions that have merit and are worth considering. Here's mine (distilled down to four suggestions): 1. Take your time (as someone else suggested). 2. I agree with the conventional wisdom (?) that the two most important components of a SYSTEM are the room and the speakers. So, spend a disproportionate amount of your budget on your main speakers and setting up and treating the room (to work with the speakers you chose and vice versa) 3. If you have stereo and surround sound ambitions, focus (effort and $$) on getting the 2, 2.1 and 3.1 channels to sound the best they possibly can; and then round out the effects channels and equipment (and add subwoofers, if need be). I believe that L, C and R channels are the most important channels, in terms of sound quality and impact in a HT/surround system. 4. Leave room in the budget for speaker and room correction software/digital processing (whether it comes in the form of computer software, components, built into speakers or some combination thereof). Not everyone agrees, but I think modern speaker/room correction options are really great for tweaking and fine tuning a room/system and getting it just right. Have fun and keep us posted on your progress, please. Scott |
Congrats on retirement, I’m a few years behind ya! I would agree with suggestions here of “let your ears decide what’s best for you”. My wife and I flew from Michigan to Colorado to the RMAF show and had a blast listening to all that’s current. We already had a new system but was looking for improvements. Ended up falling in love with some Zu Audio Soul Superfly speakers but I just couldn’t pull the trigger as they were a bit more than what we recently purchased. Well, my wife didn’t tell me until we got back home but SHE bought them! A while later we went to another Audio show in Toronto and ended up finding a TT we really like(German made Acoustic Solid brand). My wife fell in love with the beautiful bubinga plinth so we picked that up. So, the moral of the story is... bring your wife with you! Rick |
retired-hank3 posts01-27-2018 4:17pmWelcome to retirement life. No more schedules and “I must get this done by...”. Ah, not quite right. There's always the dreaded fridge list, from the missus. Cheers George |
Welcome to retirement life. No more schedules and “I must get this done by...”. The main thing is to buy what you like and what you enjoy to listen to. There is no such thing as a perfect system and it is very subjective too. As a retirement present to myself, I bought myself a simple and non clutter system because I no longer want to have multiple components and cables running among them. I purchased the Devialet 1000 Pro with a pair of Focal Maestro to simplify my home. The source is a custom built cube PC by my son-in-law with two dedicated 6TB hard drives with Tidal / JRiver as digital music management. I will later re-condition my 40-year old turntable as analogue source and same vintage NAD CD player for my CD collections. |
Congrats on your retirement. I'm two years ahead of you and can tell you to simply take your time and don't rush into any major purchases and to audition as much as you can before committing. That, and mickeyb beat me to it: you really can't go wrong with the JBL suggestion. Take a look at youtube and check out kenrick sound and what he does with JBL speakers. You don't have to modify them like he does but it will give you a good idea of just how good those old designs still are. Happy listening. All the best, Nonoise |
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WOW! Thank you all for your best wishes in retirement. It feels good to sleep in, well not having to get up at a certain time anyway. For a couple of you commenting on my car, AMG are my initials. I wish I COULD own an AMG! I'll settle for a nice stereo system. I will be perusing magazines, shops, forums absorbing from the learned. Mine you I spent half a day reading a topic on TC and Graphene. Apart from the overboard sledging (I am an Aussie), the technology is fascinating. One to more forum subjects.... Adrian |
There is no way you can meaningfully spend such big money and hope to just enjoy good sound. The problem as some have already said is the room. It is too small for full range reproduction and great dynamics, and it is square with a ceiling height that is about half the other dimensions. The biggest issue will be room modes that will give you a terribly boomy bass. So either do something about the room’s dimensions if you still can (or listen in another room) or design your audio system around the problems of the room. In case of the latter: 1 choose dipole speakers without too much bass extension. Dipoles produce far fewer room modes. My personal favourites would be the Quad 28012 electrostats for the best that money can buy (and well within your budget). 2 use multiple small subwoofers to extend the response in the lower frequencies, but not too far down, and perhaps preferably dipole subwoofers like the Rythmik kits. See here for explanation: http://www.acousticfrontiers.com/20101029using-multiple-subwoofers-to-improve-bass-the-welti-devanti... 3 perhaps use some bass traps and other room treatments, to the extent that you can live with them esthetically. 4 use a high end pre amplifier/DAC with room equalization to control both main speakers and the subs. My suggestion would be the DSpeaker Antimode X4 that will equalize both the main speakers and the subwoofers. In addition you will also need a power amplifier. My suggestion would be the Quad QMP monoblocks for balanced inputs and a perfect match with the speakers (there are many affordable alternatives, although electrostats are not the easiest load so why make life difficult for yourself). For source material I am all in favour of an all digital system for superior sound quality and convenience. A multiformat player from Oppo will be excellent and allows you to play movies as well (just add a nice tv screen and you can watch opera rather than just listen to it). Streaming from the likes of Spotify, Tidal and Qobuz has also become a very convenient source for unlimited access to huge high quality music libraries or internet radio (by now equal or superior to FM radio). Sonos, Apple Airport Express and Chromecast Audio are convenient implementations, but so are more flexible mini computers like the mac mini, an Intel NUC or the Raspberry Pi. Why not digitize from your lp collection what is not available from a streaming service, and store it on a local hard drive? |
My 2c from someone who did what you’re doing 8 years ago. I had last built a system in the 80s and it still works fine. But I decided to see what was around after 25 years of no spare time, now having a nice new very large room (actually a heated garage) to play with in a new way. I found as others mentioned that affordability was amazing, and began stocking up. But with me it’s a hobby so I went for the next thing. I discovered digital products and did some now-so-easy research on the web, ending up replacing stuff with Minidsp stuff, learning along the way. And of course, in one of life’s ironies, the former software engineer finally realized that it all (well, most) could just be done in software. Duh. What I hadn’t known was the plethora of free apps available. I ended up with a new pair of computers (refurbs costing ~$400 total with pcie soundcards) taking the place of everything up to the power amps. It could have been just one computer, but my speakers are some 40’ from where I choose to ’work’ and to select music to play. Before you run out and spend money on a pile of more conventionally-packaged stuff (e.g. preamps and other boxes), I suggest you do some research on making your system out of a computer (or two even). Want an equalizer or other ’box’? Download one or ten and try ’em. Steep sloped linear phase crossovers. Drawable EQ curves. Reverb. Echo. Compressors. Any effect you can think of. It’s a blast, it’s actually downright cheap and it sounds better too. |
Welcome AMG. Life begins at retirement - at least, it did for me. I could not afford the system I wanted - so I began to build my own equipment. Consider DIY - it's far more rewarding than just buying stuff. Now after 15 years of DIY, I have an ESL system with DIY electronics and DIY air bearing turntable and DIY cabling. Could not touch it for $100,000 new retail. Several posters have suggested visiting audio shows. Good idea. I also suggest that you consider buying direct from the manufacturer, where feasible. With your budget, you can afford to travel a bit for auditions, and take in a concert as a bonus. Cases in point: Trans-Fi for turntable and tonearm, Soundsmith for cartridges and preamp, K&K Audio for kits and advice. I use the TF tonearm - I have two of them, and don't think they can be touched for less than 5x the price, and maybe not at all. Why manufacturers? Price, obviously. But also, VERY few people will bother to set up an analogue system to anything near its potential. The manufacturer is your best bet for determining that potential. Be sure to audition exotic speakers like ESL's or big Magnepans before you buy anything. And, I suggest, spend a maximum of $500 on cables until you have your system at a good place. Then try out new cables using your current sound as a reference. I use microphone cable for interconnect at $1 / foot. Exotics work no better. In my system. In my opinion. If you live near Seattle, why not stop in for a listen? |
Congrats been retired a wee bit over a year now, Nirvana sleep deprivation takes time to burn off you need more than one expensive hobby, the AMG may suffice ! get out and listen to live music no benchmarks will have you chasing your tail plus live music is in itself a hobby find a dealer you can trust who understands synergy finally fix the square room there is a lot of good info on web on designing a great sounding room enjoy !!!!!!! |
Great for you!! Enjoy the roller coaster ride now. The 70's was very good and I am close behind you. I am in New Jersey and a buddy of mine is on the hunt for better sound. He has been on craigslist and a few other places and has found so many older but very nice speakers for sale locally. He has been dragging me out and around to go hear them in the $2K price range. I have not ventured out like this is a very long time but the journey he has taken me on has been really fun and we have met a lot of very nice people we did not know before. We recently heard Von Schweirket VR5 SHEs?s, Alon Circe, Vandersteen 3A sigs, Quattros, Audio Physic Armanti, ProAc 3.8s, 70's TDL transmission lines, B&W 801 S3s, and a bunch of other speakers that were once considered very good in their day versus the current model of speakers that cost so much more today. What a blast. So like someone else mentioned already, take your time, go meet some nice people in your area, and enjoy the ride! Happy Listening. |
Congrats, you're gonna love it as long as you have a hobby. Audio is a great one. Been retired since 1/1/2010 and been offered jobs left and right. Turned them all down. Nobody wants to agree on my terms. I'm still in process of getting to nirvana in the audio world. I'm close but............. they keep extending the rabbit hole. Welcome to the hole. |
Welcome to retirement! If you’ve been out of the loop for awhile, you may consider taking your time and wading in slowly. Technology has changed somewhat, for instance: streaming music, powered home speakers, room correction technology, etc. I’m amazed at the sound quality from relatively compact setups. Of course if you like the idea of traditional components, there are plenty. My point is there are likely options you may not be familiar with. I would guess most all are represented here to some extent with valuable expertise to boot- Hope you enjoy retirement! Regards, gary |
Go on some road trips to some audio shows around the country or the world. You will be able to talk to different dealers and will probably work out some demo time in your house. Or, you can team up with some manufacturers like PS Audio that gives you weeks of in-house usage and if you don’t like a component, they will take it back |
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@amg56....this is not an attack, but at your age ( over 50 I presume ), have your hearing checked. I do, every 18 months or so. Your sound room, as I mentioned prior, is the most critical component. Much good advice above, as, to finding out what you want a system to deliver to you. Be patient. Enjoy the journey ( never ending in many cases ). Find an audio club in your area ( if there is one ), and participate. This is another good way to get your ears wet. |
I just retired too 1/1/18. You have been given good advice but with 400 albums I would also focus on your vinyl collection. Is your turntable in good shape? Cartridge? You also need a high quality phono stage to get the most out of your records. There are some quality integrated amps that have built in DAC’s, & phono stages. Your speaker selection will also dicate the power needed to drive them. Solid state or tube? If it was my money I would listen to as much gear as possible before buying. I would also select my speakers first and then figure out what to drive them with. |
This can be a bit daunting if you have been out of the audio world for a while. I would start with your room first and make sure it is well designed. You can avoid a lot of problems by spending some time and money there. As others have said you have an opportunity to put a "system" together instead of piecing components into a whole. Trust your ears. Specifications are rather meaningless. Consider the support of the dealer and the company that manufactures the gear. If you have a problem can you really get something fixed? If you are careful, you can put a really nice system together so visit as many dealers and shows as possible. |
Congrats on your retirement. Retirement is not as good as people say... it is much better than that. You have a great opportunity here to put together a very satisfying system. As others have said; a combination of audio show attendance and visiting audio salons with some of your favorite recordings in hand should help you begin to discover what direction to go in crafting a system. As others have said, it is not about the money invested but rather the care in assembling components that play nicely together! In the end, the system has to satisfy you. Go with what sounds like "music" to you. Enjoy the journey! |
Since you re Building a new home seek expert consultation regarding the listening room, this is of paramount value for you. In particular, you might reconsider the 5m x 5m dimension. A square room generally invites the most standing waves. Find some odd dimensions or get all Golden Ratio for example. It would also be worth your time (and fun!) to spend a weekend at an audio show. Unless you are in a major city with good brick-and-mortar options, this is the only way to hear a lot of things and find a frame of reference for the kinds of gear you like and don't. Unless you're spending a half-million dollars, your system will involve compromise; hearing a number of rigs is the only way to understand which compromises you are happiest to live with. |
amg56: Congrats on retirement! Question: Are you married? If so, how does the Missus feel about loud music playing while she is trying to watch Dr. Phil? Maybe you should consider really good headphones? P.S. Where will you reside? What kind of music do you listen to? Makes a difference in kind of speakers you'll need. |
Amg56, Congratulations on your retirement. You have received some very good advice from various posters. I am in agreement with mitch2 in that you need to decide what type of sound and system you want. Definitely you need to get out and get exposure and attending an Audio show is an excellent ideal. As mitch2 said you need to hear all varieties amplifiers (tube,transistor, class D, low power and high power). There are many choices available in terms of speakers (and there are many!). In fact each category of audio component will offer an enormous number of choices. Get the needed exposure to High End Audio products. Since you re Building a new home seek expert consultation regarding the listening room, this is of paramount value for you. You have a very generous budget and can construct a superb system at that level. In my opinion you can spend less and still develop a superb sounding system. The key point is get out and listen to all manner of audio equipment and develop a sense of what you want your system to sound like. Charles |
