These days I make a living as a 42 year old freelance Photoshop guy. One of my clients is the TV department of a motion picture studio here in Los Angeles. For them I make Ricki Lake look thinNER, retouch and "naturalize" Pam Anderson, make the Dawson's Creek and Just Shoot Me cast members peachy keen, get up close and personal with all those Battledome babes and much more.
My first foray into hifi was as a young boy in the early 60's. My dad acquired an appreciation for music since both his sisters in Japan were musicians. Even as a little kid my dad encouraged me to listen to his record collection on his setup. Doubtful I'll be the same way with my kids the day I become a father. "Hey, get away from those heat sinks you'll burn yourself!"
This continued through the early seventies as well when my dad got his receiver and reel-to-reel setup. I became his "remote control"! When I got into college, one of my passions became car audio. Did I just utter an oxymoron? I remember the days when only Fosgate and Zapco were making outboard power amps for cars. I also bought a set of Hart speakers which I think were one of the first with a separate tweeter and woofer. Ooooohh.
Through the eighties and early-nineties, I continued to experiment with car stereos, crossover construction and subwoofer enclosures. I was exposed to a lot of different gear since I designed and did production of car audio ads for a friend's installation business.
When the computer revolution hit the graphic design profession in the early nineties, I made the changeover, then discovered my true niche. The synergy between art and technology. Now I could really have fun. Around this time I bought my first home music system. An NAD 705 receiver, NAD 502 CD player, NHT Superzeros and an NHT SW2P subwoofer. It was a nice affordable setup, but even with my limited exposure to high end audio [I'd heard a Perreaux preamp/amp setup with KEF 104.2 speakers in the early 80's, remember those?] I knew there was a lot more to offer. My system sounded thin and the soundstage was absolutely tiny.
I hung onto this setup, then three years ago got bitten by the home theater bug. The NAD receiver was shelved and the SuperZeros became my surrounds. I bought a Marantz AV550 pre/pro and an ATI AT1505 amp. I got 3 NHT SuperOnes to run across the front and a Pioneer DVL700 combo player. I gave my NHT SW2P to a friend and upgraded to a SW3P. Through all of this I still clung to the notion of having a nice music setup so I purchased a Musical Fidelity E60 CD player to use with my HT system. During this time Audio Advisor became my best friend. And you know what? I still wasn't happy.
So with this incredibly tall rack stuffed with gear sitting in my house, I pondered what I could do to improve the sound of music only. Early last year I went out and got a pair of Sonus Faber Concertinos. Very nice, but still not there. So last summer I decided I couldn't have a combo HT/music setup and be satisfied, and dedicated myself to building a music only system on a budget.
That revelation lead me to seek out forums like this. The pictures in Stereophile were neat, but I could never get the information I wanted out of their reviews. Now my system consists of a Sim Audio Moon I-5, the Concertinos, with a Bel Canto DAC 1.1 on the way. The big NHT sub is still part os the scene. Cardas Golden Cross and DH Labs Silver Pulse interconnect and Analysis Plus Oval Nine speaker cable make up the connections. Bel Canto? AP Oval 9? Hmmm, have I been listening to the advice of my fellow forum members? However, I did pass up the chance to get a Sony SCD-777ES at the low employee discount. OK, I'm not listening to everyone.
Have I finally joined the ranks of audio enthusiasts?
My first foray into hifi was as a young boy in the early 60's. My dad acquired an appreciation for music since both his sisters in Japan were musicians. Even as a little kid my dad encouraged me to listen to his record collection on his setup. Doubtful I'll be the same way with my kids the day I become a father. "Hey, get away from those heat sinks you'll burn yourself!"
This continued through the early seventies as well when my dad got his receiver and reel-to-reel setup. I became his "remote control"! When I got into college, one of my passions became car audio. Did I just utter an oxymoron? I remember the days when only Fosgate and Zapco were making outboard power amps for cars. I also bought a set of Hart speakers which I think were one of the first with a separate tweeter and woofer. Ooooohh.
Through the eighties and early-nineties, I continued to experiment with car stereos, crossover construction and subwoofer enclosures. I was exposed to a lot of different gear since I designed and did production of car audio ads for a friend's installation business.
When the computer revolution hit the graphic design profession in the early nineties, I made the changeover, then discovered my true niche. The synergy between art and technology. Now I could really have fun. Around this time I bought my first home music system. An NAD 705 receiver, NAD 502 CD player, NHT Superzeros and an NHT SW2P subwoofer. It was a nice affordable setup, but even with my limited exposure to high end audio [I'd heard a Perreaux preamp/amp setup with KEF 104.2 speakers in the early 80's, remember those?] I knew there was a lot more to offer. My system sounded thin and the soundstage was absolutely tiny.
I hung onto this setup, then three years ago got bitten by the home theater bug. The NAD receiver was shelved and the SuperZeros became my surrounds. I bought a Marantz AV550 pre/pro and an ATI AT1505 amp. I got 3 NHT SuperOnes to run across the front and a Pioneer DVL700 combo player. I gave my NHT SW2P to a friend and upgraded to a SW3P. Through all of this I still clung to the notion of having a nice music setup so I purchased a Musical Fidelity E60 CD player to use with my HT system. During this time Audio Advisor became my best friend. And you know what? I still wasn't happy.
So with this incredibly tall rack stuffed with gear sitting in my house, I pondered what I could do to improve the sound of music only. Early last year I went out and got a pair of Sonus Faber Concertinos. Very nice, but still not there. So last summer I decided I couldn't have a combo HT/music setup and be satisfied, and dedicated myself to building a music only system on a budget.
That revelation lead me to seek out forums like this. The pictures in Stereophile were neat, but I could never get the information I wanted out of their reviews. Now my system consists of a Sim Audio Moon I-5, the Concertinos, with a Bel Canto DAC 1.1 on the way. The big NHT sub is still part os the scene. Cardas Golden Cross and DH Labs Silver Pulse interconnect and Analysis Plus Oval Nine speaker cable make up the connections. Bel Canto? AP Oval 9? Hmmm, have I been listening to the advice of my fellow forum members? However, I did pass up the chance to get a Sony SCD-777ES at the low employee discount. OK, I'm not listening to everyone.
Have I finally joined the ranks of audio enthusiasts?