No more "High End" for me...Back to Reality Audio


After a 3 year roller coaster ride with so called "Audiophile High End" Tube Amps,/Tube Preamps, multi thousand dollar DAC's, Speakers of all shapes and sizes, and several DIY mods. I've settled on what will be my "forever system" and stop chasing a Dragon that I'll never catch. There's more important things in life to worry about. Plus HIgh End crap can be very fickle at times. It has taught me though what sounds good and how to get there and of course how much it will cost new or slightly used.

For the first time, I'm building a system around the Speakers. I'm an electronics Geek so that has ALWAYS come first. I've always done DIY Speakers as well form High School to College to married life (my Wife puts up with A LOT).

My Bose 901 "passion" will be with me forever. I will defend those Sealed Box odd shaped boxes till I do. Any old Geezer will be told off wherever they knock that Brand down. I did it last last week.

Anyways, the list :

  • Klipsch Cornwall IV's driven by a pair of resto modded McIntosh MC50's
  • Sony UBP-X1000ES (gotta get some more before they and the 1100ES become as rare as the overpriced Oppo crap) with my mods to the Analog Output boards
  • Orchard Audio Ultra Amplifers x6 (I'm getting near the end of hand buiding/soldering the 6 pcb's)
  • Stax SRM-007tA with Koss 95/X Electrostatics
  • Surround Speakers will be 4x Series I/II Speakers with two on Tulip Stands and two more hung from the ceiling (what the Wife can see sitting down but can hear is always a good thing)
  • Center Channel with be two Heresy's resting horizontally angled up towards the screen slightly
  • two double stacked 12" H-Frame Subwoofers on the back wall 
  • All the Electronics will be mounted in the wall giving lots of space for the Cornwall to do their "thang"

To those still chasing the Dragon. Enjoy !

 

 

rajugsw

The main problem people seem to have with the pursuit of good sound is when to stop.  Many do find a happy level that satisfies them and stop buying gear, but many others seem driven to continue obsessing and spending money endlessly.

I am a type 1 - I reached a point where any 'improvements were trivial and settled in to enjoy my systems.  I will say that the type 2 relentless upgraders are handy for us type 1 people - they are a ready source of pre-owned gear at decent prices.

 

We stop and we know we can stop when all acoustic characteristics of sound in our room are well perveived, especially timbre and imaging...

Thats all....

 

@gkr7007 

I’ve seen all the modification videos. 

  1. Line the cabinet with “No Res” (I gotta guy who has a poop ton of it)
  2. Line the Horn backs with Dynamat Extreme (any auto parts store it’s cheaper than Amazon)
  3. SoniCaps (I actually have some that paralleled up will = what’s on the crossovers.
  4.  Copper Foil and Heavy Gauge Wire Air Core Inductors
  5.  Sit back and “listen to the music”….not the equipment that it’s played on or the boxes the sound is being reproduced out of
  6. Save up for a new Car (long story there)

Again, loving everyone’s comments and ZERO negativity.

Rayjugsw

I used the VCap ODAMS for the crossover mod.  In fact I use those caps for a lot of my mods.  They are great for both crossovers and circuits.  Always get a nice positive move forward.  If you already have caps that's great, but just an FYI.

There's a saying in sports .. stay out of other people's pockets! I'm always tickled at how passionate folks get about what other people spend on their enjoyment. The speed limit is 55 mph, that doesn't stop me from driving a performance car. Enjoy your Prius but don't throw shade at the Porsche owner.