How competitive are you with your system?

Hey Carlos. All it proves is a video proves NOTHING 

I have bought and bought and bought....I'm done 73 and I have what I need....my systems, sound great to my ears and that's what matters to me.

@isellgoodgear Let me be the judge of what I get out of your iPhone recording. See that is the whole point of sharing the audio recordings of one’s systems from the listening position, to overcome geographical differences. I personally would not want strangers lining up at my front door and making their way to my listening rooms and sitting in my listening chairs, but I do want them to get a glimpse of what I have been able to achieve if they are interested in hearing it. An audio recording of one’s system from the listening position overcomes the distance in our locations. It sounds like you are going to continue to hide behind your keyboard, like the majority of guys on WBF. Isn’t it ironic that in a hobby based on sound, you and others have chosen to convey how great your system sounds over written text words rather than through audio recordings? It is a real head scratcher to me that guys like you that go on forums and tell everyone how great & wonderful your system sounds but then lack the confidence to back it up and post a simple audio recording of their system from the listening position. What kind of logic is that? Such a great sounding system should at the very least sound stellar on an audio recording one would think. I know that it is not going to sound 100% like the sound in the room but it should sound close, at least the audio recordings of my systems do.

isellgoodgear   A phone video tells you nothing of its quality. 

YT video is a very good tool to tune any audio system close to the original sound. I’ve been exhibiting my system in audio shows >10 years. I heard all other exhibiting systems in all other rooms (>60) every years. All audio show videos sound signatures are exactly same as what I heard at the show. Our brain can compute the situation difference.

My memory can’t remember the small sound difference after each tune of my system. So, I record my system and listen it in my PC. I can hear every small changes from my system. I keep tune my system to sound closer to the original music.

 My Favorite Picture of You- Original

 My Favorite Picture of You - Wavetouch audio

I know how a good hi-fi system suppose to sound from my experience (>10 years at audio shows). It’s the musicality and SQ (smooth and non-fatiguing) of audio system to make listeners happy to hear it many hours.

Also, system should sound faithful to the original music which is the best sound. No system can sound better than the original music. If the original music sounds bad to your ears, your ears are too harden from listening harsh audio sounds too long.

The clean sound audio without the veil lets you enjoy the music. The veil between you ears and speakers hurts you the most. When you listen the music, what hits your ears hard is the veil. Not the delicate music behind it. The important delicate music you want to hear is far away behind speakers. Remove the veil to enjoy music.  

The showroom sounds splendid and stimulus at 1st, but your ears get tired and bored soon in quiet night home session. The good sound might be bit soft 1st, but your ears and spouse will appreciate at your home.  Alex/Wavetouch audio

Remember. I’ve already invited you to come here. Yup. I’m waiting. 

Lolz. I have EVERY confidence in my system. What the heck you think your gonna hear in an iPhone video is beyond me 🤣🤣🤣. 

@iselan I completely agree. I hope that @isellgoodgear  does not turn out to be like the guys on WBF that sit around all day and write & tell you about how great their latest and greatest cost is no object system sounds, but lack the confidence to make a simple audio recording from the listening position to share with others.

To lead by example, here are a few audio recordings of my OKTAN6 system from last weekend’s listening session for everyone to listen to, compare, and judge as they wish:

OKTAN6 System Audio Recordings

With that kind of certainty you should put up a picture of your system..

@isellgoodgear that is always the easy way out. Have some confidence and put an audio recording out, we know that it is not 100% representative but at least if provides some information. I hope that you do realize that this hobby is based on the concept & belief that audio recordings do convey the sound recorded to a high degree of accuracy. Commercial sound recordings were done with lesser technology than what you have on your phone nowadays so don’t be surprised to find out the level of accuracy that even a cell phone audio recording will convey. All you have to do is capture the audio at the listening position and make an audio recording, embedded in the video. Have a little confidence. This hobby is about sound and not words. Anyone can type and post whatever they want on these threads. Have some conviction and post and audio recording recording of your system like I and others have done. You sound very confident with your words, now is time to back them up with some audio recordings of your system, if you dare to be confident with what you say you have there. Let’s hear it shall we?

A link to a phone video tells you nothing of its quality. When you come to UK you are very welcome   And yes it’s VERY VERY special. A listener yesterday used the word ‘perfect’. I hesitate to agree but it is pretty damn close    

@isellgoodgear post a link to an audio recording of your system. Would love to hear what you are working with. I know that it is not the same as being in the room but it will at least give us a glimpse and a flavor of the quality of your playback system. With such confidence it must sound very special. Please share your pride with the rest of us through an audio recording of your system for us to hear.

Who ranks their system? This question is easy to answer.  Ex.  I spent 100k on my system and use 5k speaker cable wires.  Its obvious this system is the best.  I never once thought of it as I spent enough on my system and I'm content on it.  Now I can understand people love the hobby and want to try new gear, but if your happy, thats all that matters.  The question is subjective based on price like all luxury items.

I don’t have to be competitive. No one that has heard my system has ever heard any better.  Yes I know that will get me dogs abuse but it really is true.  The key is the ability to set the Audiopax timbre lock 💯 correctly. Try it.  You can’t! 

My system is very argumentative.  We fight all the time.  How does someone even come up with these questions(Do you try to rank your system with others’?)?    

Comparison is the thief of joy. 

Nothing wrong with generally comparing similar components or brands as you build your rig. However when you reach your happy end, then do what Rick James said, "ENJOY YOURSELF!"

toddalin   I don’t have it and I don’t stream to the audio system.

To get AV files, I do 

copy (ctrl + C)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwq7LIxYblo

go to https://yt5s.ltd/ and paste (ctrl + V) it in blank box. 

choose mp3 or mp4 and click download.

Copy downloaded file to a memory stick. Play it in Oppo-95.

And I record this.  My Favorite Picture of You - Wavetouch

Alex/Wavetouch audio

Mihorn, I assume that you’ve seen the Oppo-95 with WaveTouch built in that has been on the local C/L?  Not there now, but been there for a while off and on with a substantial price drop and probably will be back.

As I noted, the contour control adjusts the "forwardness" of the midrange. This is not a simple midrange volume control.  As set (20 ohm "default"), I like the vocal detail it affords and when I listen to direct cuts, it sounds similar to me.  I listen to disk after disk with no fatigue.  Often I strive for a more vocal from my seat!

You need to realize that sitting on the couch puts my head back to the cushions and when recording, the mic stands forward of that.  Even a couple inches can have a profound effect when you are dealing with this sort of thing and it is not quite so forward as it sounds in the track.  I can also engage the "Tube Simulator" to take a bit of vocal "edge" out on bad recordings.

@toddalin I agree with Alex that you need to experiment with taming some of the forwardness of the midrange because at least to me the forward presentation would lead to quick listening fatigue.

@mihorn I have a Modwright Dalby Oppo-105D that I use in one of my other systems as a DAC for streaming. The Oppo players are and still sound very nice.

The other thing that I will mention is that to achieve greater inner detail, low level detail, nuance, and resolution you really need to work on the source material itself. You will not increase the inherent resolution downstream of the source. I know that @toddalin does not connect his system to a PC or streamer but he would really enjoy what HQPLAYER would do to the sound of his system.

Amazing! While people switch DACs few times and pay $$$$$ ($260k for a DAC?), 15 years old Oppo-95 sounds this. Again the separate DACs can’t avoid veils and glare (4 extra connectors on d cable destroy delicate d signals). Cheers! Alex/WTA

toddalin   this is an Oppo-95    https://youtu.be/zSX0HLSauag

I am absolutely non-competitive - not even sure why anyone would be.  It isn't a race, it's a pastime.

That's the purpose of the "Contour" control if so desired.  The recordings were done in the "20 ohm" position.

OMG! Your system sounds better than any $million systems in the world. I love it! Your sound slight forward for my taste but it’s matter of taste. And you can push back the sound-stage if you want later. You’re almost complete control of your system sound at this stage. Congrat! Big time! Alex/WTA

toddalin  https://youtu.be/zSX0HLSauag   https://youtu.be/TykEDQDdtaE

@toddalin I listened to the audio recording of your system playing Landslide and it sounds very, very good. The sound is very clear and you get the warmth & the extra harmonics from the “tube simulator” which adds body. You have a really nice sounding system.

Compare the sound of your system to the sound on the recording of this guy’s system, who has the top of the line Gryphon speakers & electronics, and the new $350K dCS Varese digital playback stack in a dedicated custom built “acoustically engineered” room:

Landslide on the Big Dig System

How does the sound of your $6k system compare to the sound on the recording of the over a $1 Million dollar room & system?

This post should be Tagged as a “teachable moment” for those that think that stereo systems’ audio sound quality is all about cost.
 

I'm not a techie but this should work. If I'm wrong, please help guys.

With desktop computer

Go to Youtube.com and log-in with any gmail address (yours or anyone). And watch this video How to Upload Videos on YouTube.

Upload video from smart phone

Go to Youtube app and log-in with any gmail address (yours or anyone). And watch this video Upload to YouTube from Phone

In Agon

After your video is uploaded in YT, ---- copy your YT video address ------ in Agon "Post response", ------- click LINK (looks like a chain next to smile) ------- paste YT video address in Text and URL------- Click OK.    Alex/WTA

ronboco    @mihorn    i recorded a few songs but don’t know how to get them here. Can you message me on the procedure. Thank you 

This one is for Carlos269.  You certainly hear a difference in the quality of the original recording where here you hear the "digital grain".  (And I probably recorded it a bit "hot".)  These are the problems of having a really revealing system. (I could/should have flipped the "Tube Simulation" switch to remove much of that.  Vanessa was on an SACD.

https://youtu.be/RkBXXVcg-ZU

The idea is to get the performers to come over to my place and do their thing.  Luckily, the room is big enough to accommodate them.

Again, this is an Oppo-95 though a Yamaha RX-Z9 RECEIVER in "Pure Direct" and my Mermans with no eq or room correction, electronic or physical, and recorded on a Nikon D750 DSLR. 

https://youtu.be/zSX0HLSauag

https://youtu.be/TykEDQDdtaE

I don't---I only have 3 friends that are into Hifi, one of which only likes vintage. The other 2 have the same taste as I do and we've shared components before. My inspirations usually come from seeing others rigs on social media. I will occasionally post a pic of my stereo but otherwise I'm content.

@mihorn 

i recorded a few songs but don’t know how to get them here. Can you message me on the procedure. Thank you 

Ron 

The ability to compare one system to another is not a level playing field. If for no other reason, in this hobby, the room matters more than anything else,and no two rooms are alike.

As others have stated, my entire system costs less than what some people pay for one cable.

As does mine, in its current state at least. 

It’s easy enough to throw money at a system, and if one has the good sense to hire a consultant the result might even sound quite good.

But it’s not the same as putting in the time and effort to learn and research and source components and learn how to fix them as the case may be.

Which makes you wonder, who’s the real audiophile here?

I don’t, not at all.  It didn’t take long for me to realize that my audio equipment isn’t in the same league with most of the other people here.  As others have stated, my entire system costs less than what some people pay for one cable.  Compared to other people I know, my system is clearly the best by a large margin, but none of them aspire to audiophile equipment and think that what I have paid for mine (around $9,000) is crazy.  Then again, some of them spend $100,000 on a vehicle, which I think is nuts.  We each have our priorities.  

Even better, the system is pure musical and spouse approves it. Alex/Wavetouch audio

mike4597   ~~~  I think the joy or satisfaction comes from being able to assemble a realistic sounding system 

Well, I do not see myself in competition with others but, rather, trying to achieve the best sound quality at the cost level I can afford.  Some can spend more than me, some can spend less, but I think the joy or satisfaction comes from being able to assemble a realistic sounding system at whatever price level one can afford.  I am sure others with more money can do better, but I believe I am doing well at the level I can afford.  Thus, the competition, if any, is against the absolute standard of perfection, however one describes that … but with the realization that we probably will NOT achieve true perfection.  We can achieve, however, a level of realism that is very satisfying. As part of that we need to recognize that we have differing tastes, differing hearing, and that “different” sounds are not necessarily “better” or “worse.”  Sometimes they are just “different,” and we can—and often do—perceive them differently.

Thanks,

Consider the room and electronics and recognize, what are those high dollar systems really going to sound like?  

@toddalin  Ok I see. Try to find it on CD. He was a great singer and all his albums have gems. By the way, your system sounds very good. Better than many high dollar systems.

I don’t have it and I don’t stream to the audio system.

I am lucky that my computer monitor is a classic Advent system that does a really good job with nearfield monitoring. 

And the reason I can tell that it does a good job is that when I listen to recordings of my system, it sounds true to what I hear in the other room except that on the computer in a recording I can much better hear the effects of the room.  And of course you loose much of the soundstage and imaging.

@toddalin please post an audio recording/video of the same song playing on your system. Based on the result you may have to reconsider the part that mine in not great. Looking forward to listening to your system playing back this same track.

Not bad, but not great.  There is a hollowness that is not in the original.  Also it sounds more "thin" and "brittle."  (There is an upper bass missing.)

https://youtu.be/dQi_ao5F71s

I’m assuming this is the original.

https://youtu.be/Uwq7LIxYblo

Many pro audio videos are made with cell-phones. I think it'll do just fine. Try it. Alex/WTA

ronboco       I only have my phone to record my system playing so I don’t think it would sound good at all. I could give it a try though. 

@mihorn 

I only have my phone to record my system playing so I don’t think it would sound good at all. I could give it a try though. 
 

Here is the clean sound system. OKTAN6 - My Favorite Picture Of You 

@mihorn 

You've been saying that your speakers are the best speakers in the world, but now you're offering someone else's speakers as reference?

Hey Ron,  Please post link of your system playing video. 

Here is the clean sound system. OKTAN6 - My Favorite Picture Of You 

There is no veil between me and the music (spkrs). Cheers!  Alex/Wavetouch audio

ronboco

@mihorn     Please come over to my place and listen to my system and tell me what sounds veiled. Because it sure doesn’t sound veiled to me. Regards, Ron 

@mihorn 

Please come over to my place and listen to my system and tell me what sounds veiled. Because it sure doesn’t sound veiled to me. 
 

Regards,

Ron 

IMO a large part of the problem of things like “ranking one’s personal audio system” against another one or the idea of comparison or competition is this. Whatever audio system you build is an assembly of wires, capacitors, transistors, transformers, circuit boards and electronic parts. That’s it. It makes music just like a saxophone or flute or guitar. Many people treat it like it’s special and precious. The idea becomes something like “ my child is smarter than your child” or “my kid is a better football player than your kid”. Take stock and analyze your life and try to figure out “why” you made your stereo the most important thing. There should be many things that come before it. If it all blew away in a storm tomorrow it could be replaced. Not to mention the childish nature of the ranking idea. Unfortunately when I see comments like that I wonder about the maturity of the audiophile thinking like that. A fellow friend and audiophile of mine built a beautiful system for himself and he put it simply, “it’s a hobby”. Certainly not his family or career or something else.

toddalin     No, you’ve not heard my videos because there are none, until now, of the current set-up.  But whatever...

https://youtu.be/CoOp12ayIVg  Original

https://youtu.be/yRsdYDuHjTI  Todd’s

Hey Todd,  Right, I heard your other videos a year ago. I’m hearing your new videos and it sounds much clearer than older videos. Your system sounds better than many (almost all) mega buck systems (>$500k). I admire your finding to make the clearer sound.

All due respect, the right speaker (Eric C voice in your video) sounds bit forward  to my ears (irritation). My suggestion is taking off stuffing (3" x 3") from right spkr (remember how much removed). If my suggestion is rude and unacceptable, I’m very sorry and I apologize. I’m saying in my best respect of your spkr making skill. Alex/Wavetouch audio

No, you’ve not heard my videos because there are none, until now, of the current set-up.  But whatever...

As I said, I bring the venue to the room.  This is a regular CD on an Oppo-95.  The speakers cost $1,500 to make and you are hearing a 23 year old Yamaha receiver with >35,000 hours on it.

No eq or room correction of any type and total investment <$6K.  And we don’t need no subwoofers.  Plus, I can crank rock music to insane levels undistorted!  This recording was done on a Nikon D750 DSLR using it’s internal mics.

https://youtu.be/CoOp12ayIVg

https://youtu.be/yRsdYDuHjTI

https://youtu.be/u12ZxcTvD30

toddalin    you experience the soundstage, imaging, and microdetail that are possible at realistic levels that envelop one.

I heard your videos and I don’t need to hear your actual system to get real experience. I’ve been exhibiting my audios >10 years. I heard all exhibiting systems in all other rooms every years. All audio show videos sound signatures are exactly same as what I heard at there.

I know how a good hi-fi system suppose to sound from my experience. It’s the musicality and SQ of audio system to make a listener happy to hear it many hours. Thiel - FINK sounds like scratching a sand paper to me and nobody can listen those sounds for a long time and their spouse (in other room) will bag to get rid of it ASAP. Ask your spouse to hear  this sound. Wavetouch audio - FINK     Alex/Wavetouch audio