I have everything now dude!!
End of the World system
So here's a question. You and your loved ones are the last one's on earth. Your fully stocked with a cabin in the woods, renewable energy, and food for a life time. The roads are out, and there's no place to get gas.
The remains of a high-end store are 20 miles away. What do you bring home, assuming you have to actually carry it back?
The remains of a high-end store are 20 miles away. What do you bring home, assuming you have to actually carry it back?
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So it's fun to see this thread has been resurrected, but the point I was trying to make is, if money was no object but weight and size means you have to carry it back (sorry your home has the only power source) how would you scale back your need for a music system? So moving into the store and 200 lb speaker systems that are custom order only are right out. I'm the OP and I get to do this. < grin > Erik |
Since I’m already close to the edge of nowhere at the base of the AZ western mountains and there is not a hi-end audio shop within hundreds of miles, I would be most happy to stick with the gear I have. Erik thanks for the advanced notice -I guess now would be a good time to stock up on a bunch of spare KT120 tubes and a spare cartridge. I love my place and my dedicated audio room has killer acoustics, but unfortunately, I don’t think I could survive the AZ summers without the operation of my AC. I would have to be on the scout for a new place. Then, after picking out one of the very nice, already solar powered and very well insulated homes, scattered among the foothills of the nearby town, I would build a good cart. One capable of hauling my little Maggies, TT, CDP, and several hundred LPs and CDs, the 15 miles from my home to there. It would only be a mater of several trips to get the audio equipment and personal belongings hauled out and I’m not too worried about moving furnishings and video, as most of the nice homes in that area would already have plenty of those things. Being on the side of a low hill, overlooking town, it would have a great view and good vantage point for picking off zombies. Weekly trips down the hill, into town, would keep us stocked in non perishables and I have plenty of guns and amo for hunting. If they’re not too ripe and moldy, are zombies good to eat? Asking for a friend. Anyway Erik, again, thanks for the heads up.....Jim |
It's not really an answer to this exercise, but in my post-apocalyptic world, I probably build my whole cabin out of speakers and build the walls of other audio gear. So that's kind of the most efficient use of materials, and I get lots of choices when I want to check out various combinations. In fact, I heat the place with tube amps. LOL |
40 Miles with loads of equipment on my back? Then 99 percent of that high end trash is out of reach. So I would try to get what is playing "Wonders" by the Piano Guys at this very moment while I'm writing this: Marantz' Musical Link HD-AMP1 and HD-CD-1 with Kef LS-50 and a few good cables. The CD player is a fine machine, the amplifier's DAC is able to cope even with files of very high resolution - and has a usb port on the front. So I could take a world of good music with me carrying only a small usb stick. If there are no CD's left I'd leave also the player in the store. Okay, reading file data from Marantz' bulleye display is not really funny - but on the other hand I would have to carry home only a rather lightweight amplifier and a pair of super compact boxes to get really good sound I could live with - without dying from dehydration and exhaustion on my way back. Those little KEFs produce a stunning bass despite of being small and light and the Class-D-Marantz is able to power them adequatly. What cables I would use? Silnotes or Morrow Audio as RCA interconnects, Audio Quest William Tell or Robin Hood as speaker cables. Enough for my cabin in the woods... Greetz out of the German lockdown, fifth week in home office, Hans |
With the new guidelines: preamp/dac: Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ amp: Mytek Brooklyn Amp+ turntable - Technics SL-1200G (if I had room for records, and I'd still stuff my pockets with cartridges every time I trekked back to the store) CD player/transport - Yamaha CD-S2100 (just something reliable) speakers - TAD Compact Evolution 1 Good speakers are going to be heavy no matter what - even these stand mount models. It's a labor of love though. The Sonus Faber Electa Amator III is also fantastic for a small speaker. I'm not wild about Sonus Faber in general, but if you gotta save space, those are pretty special. Harbeth HL5 perhaps? Or one could go with a Nagra Classic series setup. Oooh, I don't think I could leave that in the store overnight. My reality would probably be closer to yanking speakers out of abandoned cars and mounting them in Rubbermaid storage bins, but if we're dreaming here, Nagra and HEDD Type 20 maybe. |
Erik, you of all people 'here', by now, is well aware of how 'good intentions' of a forum topic can go wildly 'astray' in a very short span...;) Herding cats. in contrast, is Easy....*L* "Any Question is subject to misinterpretation." (Likely carved into The Wall of Lo-Temp Wax...somewhere....*smirk*) Have a better weekend, J |
Well, a fine mess of a thread I started here! :) The goal was kind of to ask how you’d optimize for size, and not care about cost. What happens to your buying choices when there’s no one around to brag to, money doesn't matter and you have to physically work to get it. The McIntosh 611’s weigh 95 lbs each. 20 miles... with a wheel barrel I suppose it’s technically do-able. Probably best to get the preamp first, because maybe by the time you are done with that run you will have changed your mind. :) Personally, I'd be looking for an integrated, perhaps Class D but I haven't heard any recently. Also, where would I go to loot DVD's anymore?? |
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Frankly surviving apocalypse is not so interesting... I am lucky because for me death is not too much, suffering is.... Then in this audio room where is the means to end my misery? Suggestion please... :) For the S.Q. my system is si good already anything to improve it is welcome, but it is no more my goal.... Job done.... People are afraid of death but living is sometimes truly scary... |
Just as I am today, I'd be very concerned about durability. I want good sound, but I assume that I'll get used to whatever I have and waver between loving the sound and hearing nothing but problems. The end of the world would only make that part of it both worse and better. I just don't want any of it to break! Inside: preamp - McIntosh C52 amp - McIntosh MC611 (x2, or maybe just a 2-channel MC462) turntable - Technics SL-1200G (and a whole crate full of cartriges) CD player/transport - Yamaha CD-S2100 (or something from Marantz or Denon. I'm operating on the premise that these mass produced models are probably more reliable than something high-end and esoteric) speakers - JBL K2 S9900 Outside: preamp - SPL Director Mk2 amp - Crown XLi 3500 turntable - not outside CD player/transport - Yamaha CD-S2100 (same as inside, probably even identical in case they need to be put together for parts) speakers - Klipschorns in front of a really long wall I know, I put the Khorns with the Crown and the JBL K2 inside. I had to give you all SOMETHING to complain about! |
I would drag back all the current variants of the ls3/5a speaker I could find, and finally, once and for all, hear them all in my listening space at the same time , to hear how they really stack up against each other. Stirling, Graham, Falcon, Rogers, Proac, Mistral, Harbeth........ Then I'll know.....I'll finally know....... |
This also brings up the pickle of all the nuclear power plants. With no one to oversee them, they would all suffer a meltdown, effectively poisoning the entire world. Thought about while watching ’The Walking Dead’. Also, why don’t all the zombies in the north freeze solid in the winter? Then you could just go around and shatter them with a hammer. Unless of course, a zombie just ate someone who just drank hot chocolate. |
mrklas: I’d create a nice MC turntable. After that its all gravy :) You can copy one. You can build one. But there is only one Miller Carbon, and you’re a little late to try and create it. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 About 17 years too late to be exact. |
So I'm to assume all the talented musicians still performing music would be gone... OK, never mind the weight, but Steinway is now making a piano which can play back and/or record thousands of songs via an iPad and solenoids under the keys. You click on Horowitz or Glenn Gould, or Oscar Peterson, etc. I would buy a few great-sounding acoustic guitars, a Matchless DC-30 Amp and some PRS electrics. Along with a great guitar rack. Also a few outstanding keyboards. The sound system would have to be matched to the room I place it in. Rowland gear would be nice enough, with a musical digital front end. The turntable would have to be fairly compact and easy to set up and use- like a VPI or a Linn. I've heard and enjoyed HUGE speakers, but I would rather get something smaller that still does 20-20K, and it would have to look aesthetically appealing as well. But I would give all this up for a neighbor who could come visit and really play an instrument well and/or sing- Live. |
Here's my assumptions: 1. My cabin had my current equipment and music media - albums, cds, tapes, hard-drive of music 2. There's no more stream services operating 3. I have some sort of wheeled cart. If its 20 miles I can make many many trips...no one else is left. Therefore, step one is to make sure the store has a good waterproof and dust proof structure. My priorities are music media. Then upgrading the turntable. Based on the cartridges...I'd create a nice MC turntable. After that its all gravy :) |
Just so they aren’t wearing Boy Scouts uniforms. Those are the worst. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2RKM83CQ_A (And be sure to carry your ten round revolver! lol!) |
Reminds me of the last man on earth show on fox....too bad they cancelled, let alone did not even play the supposed finale episode! What a cruel joke, to think I followed the series for several years...getting back to the quest to recover gems from the audio store, seeing that it's a good distance away with no roads and through the woods, I think I'd learn how to whistle real good. |
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