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What to do?

In about a month I will be moving out of my 12x18ft dorm room into a 7.5x14 ft nightmare of a room (remember it will also have my full size bed, desk and dresser). My question is in regards to my stereo, what should I do with it? Keep in mind, this is my baby, I have been building this for about three years. I started with paradigms and worked myself all the way up to Mini Utopias. I started with a Yamaha CD Changer and now have a Musical Fidelity 3D. My Acoustic Zen ICs cost more than my orignal amp. You guys get the picture.

So what should I do? I was thinking that I might sell the system and start over in about 1.5 yrs when I will have more room again. In the meantime, I was thinking of downgrading and going simpler. Maybe some Triangle Cometes or Quad 11Ls with a Creek Integrated or audio refinement integrated. I could probably even "borrow" a SCD-C333ES from my dad as a source.

It will be just be sad to see it go, although it might be worth it, I will still have my headphone set-up (Senn HD 600 w/cardas cable and Berning MicroZOTL) and I will get a smaller replacement system. My biggest concern with keeping the big rig is that I will not be able to hear the system at its full potential and I will know what I am missing. With the cheaper gear, I know that I will be missing something, but it will be for thousands of dollars less.

So, what should I do? Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks
smjason
7 responses Add your response
gotoma8
32 posts
 
True True, tough decision...if you can live with the gear in the small room, keep it...headphones are great, but they don't do justice to music, no matter how wonderful the phones are...but remember that a good system does not need to be "loud" to be heard...its greatness is the dynamics it gives when down low...but you can sell and get it all back 1.5 years later.
good luck.
Gotoma8
mraybeck
23 posts
 
Hello, Smjason. You have a very impressive system and I can understand your attachment. Did you purchase the items used on Agon? If so, although it may sting a bit, I would sell everything and recoup your losses. In the meantime, I would make do with your can setup (which is superb from first-hand experience).
Trying to use a system like that in such a tiny, crowded room is like using a Ferrari to pick up groceries - while it would certainly work and look stylish, it is an incredible waste of potential. In addition, you would have to live with only the memory of huge soundstages, pinpoint imaging and tight bass.
I recently posted my experience with my nearfield setup, and thought, "perhaps he could make it work with careful placement and heavy room treatment." Then I saw the dimensions of the room and everything vying for space, and despite my optimist nature, I doubt you would be able to attain a satisfying result (especially since you already know how good it CAN sound).
Besides, another 1.5 yrs of age in a crowded dormroom is the recipe for depreciation. So, sell now and listen to phones while researching/dreaming about your next system (while that money appreciates - hopefully).
Good Luck, Mark
twl
3,251 posts
 
Why don't you get a pair of Lowther EX3 and build a set of Voigt Pipes, and run them with your MicroZotl. That's what I did for awhile. They will easily fill your small room with great sound using the MicroZotl. They will be a little lighter in the bass than you are used to, but will give terrific sound over 40Hz. The MicroZotl will drive them to about 100db on peaks, so it will be plenty for a small room.
You could make them for about $1100 for the pair - complete. This is not a theory, I did it for awhile myself, and they were almost loud enough to fill my large room with a MicroZotl, but not quite. Small room should be no problem. This way you can get dual purpose out of your amp. If you build a folded version of the Voigt Pipe, they will be small enough to not dominate the room. I know one member who has Mezzo Utopias, and he tried out the Lowther Voigt pipes and liked them very much. I KNOW for sure that the MicroZotl will drive the Lowthers well in your small room. You won't shake the building, but will get very crystal clear, clean coherent sound. And it is relatively cheap to do, doesn't take up much space, uses your existing headphone amp, and you can keep your existing CD player as the source. Selling the rest of the gear will give plenty of money to do this and have alot left over. Sounds like a plan to me.
elgordo
530 posts
 
Sell it now. Use the money to buy a CD (from the bank, not Circuit City). When you have a bigger room in the future, you will be able to buy the same equipment for less money or better equipment for what you have in the CD. In the meantime, enjoy the 'phones and remember that life is not a spectator sport.
bemopti123
303 posts
 
Sometimes patience can pay off. You will have to ponder about the possibility of ever getting the same quality and condition gear again. If you know that you have a system that is to your satisfaction, which is something very difficult to accomplish for an audiophile, why go through the move of selling and buying, a smaller system, then, most likely selling the gear again, in order to purchase another system that resembles the system you actually owned 2 years ago(now)? It might be tempting, but in my few years of buying gear, I have come around to the realization that sometimes, keeping a piece of gear is in the long term more economical and practical then getting into the game of buying and selling...You will always lose some money in the process. Mint or great condition pieces of audio, as you have them are difficult to come by.
The voigt pipe is small in footspace, but large in size. Sort of simple and yet difficult to make, especially the longish triangular section, I have a pair with Fostex fullrange drivers...not as efficient as the lowther drivers, I drive mine with a 300B amp (9 watts per channel)-cost less than $450 to make.
eldulcesol
197 posts
 
Smjason, obviously do not take this system to your dorm room. If you can leave it set up at your dads place, then you will have a place to go to during breaks. Something to look forward to.

If you cannot leave it somewhere, see what you can sell it for. If you can sell it close to what you paid for it, without taking a big loss, then sell it. If it is going to hurt you,big lose$ that is, and you really like what you have, keep it. We all know that audio equipment deprieciates the most after the first year or so. In other words, if you sell it now at 50% less than what you paid for it, in a year or to, it would not be that much more of a differance to sell it. Think about what your replacement cost would be compared to what you can sell it for now. In a couple years you can continue where are now or start over again. Tough decision.

In a dorm room that size, keep your headphones and or get a descent boombox that you can live with.

Good luck
ehart
215 posts
 
When I was in college, just having a room to yourself was a gift. Count your blessings and enjoy the headphones!
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