I can say I am the happiest I've ever been with my system right now. I'm probably done upgrading most of the major pieces -- preamp, amp, speakers, turntable -- for the foreseeable future. But knowing myself, I will never be 100% satisfied to the point where I'm not occasionally thinking about tweaking or upgrading something. But I'm spending a lot more time getting lost in the music and a lot less time analyzing my system these days.
Homage to those who are pleased with your audio rig
HOMAGE TO ALL WHO ARE PLEASED WITH YOUR AUDIO RIG- ENJOY THE MUSIC!
I am now pleased with my two audio systems. I am enjoying the music. Both are, by most measures, humble audio rigs but.... I am enjoying the music.
It’s all tubes and digital in one system and SS and digital in the other, have not gotten back into albums. Parasound Amp, Schiit Preamp, Schiit DAC, Sony CD player, Bluesound Node 2, Vandersteen speakers with Rythmik Subwoofer one rig, Line Magnetic integrated tube amp, Rega CD player, Schiit DAC, Bluesound Vault and Tekton Double Impack SE speakers in rig 2.
Please tell us all, how did you get there? Are you still working at it? Care to tell us what equipment your using? Simple rig? Are you enjoying the music?
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Good for you, 2psyop My current system began taking shape 4 years ago and recently became complete and the sound is fabulous. I am now re-listening to just about everything in my collection. The journey has been fulfilled! VPI HW19 table with an Ortofon TA-110 arm & Cadenza Blue. VPI HW16.5 Cleaner. Sutherland Engineering N1 Preamp w/ a pair of EKSC Eagle 11' monoblock's on Acapella platforms. Custom made silent HD Audio PC w/ an MAudio 24/96 audiophile sound card. Wilson Benesch Vertex loudspeakers w/ W-B Torus System for the low end. Initial placement had the equipment rack between the loudspeakers, but everything changed with the addition of the Torus system. The rack went along a sidewall and the Torus went between the 2 main speakers. It really dialed in at that point with some fine adjustments. Even my wife is listening with me again. |
"Pleased with my rig", that would be me! I'm retired now nearly a year, loving life in the new place we moved to about two years ago and the new home we had built about 18 months ago (and yes, with a dedicated listening room). As for "we" that's me & my wife of nearly 42 years, with two grandkids just minutes away. Lots of volunteer work to keep me busy and contributing. A great music scene, great restaurants and great hiking in our new home. As for the equipment: PS Audio P15 Power Regenerator No plans to change any of this! |
@2psyop --
Great that you’ve gotten to that, enjoying the music - or managed to continue enjoying music on your audio journey, because that’s not always a given. Sometimes an audio journey is more about audio (or one certainly becomes more engulfed with it in these hi-fi affairs) than music per se, but the two are hardly inseparable; I find enjoying music an even bigger experience now because of how it sounds, or maybe it’s because I don’t feel ashamed about cherishing the sound of music and letting the physics of sound have its say. The live experience of an organ concert in a church and the acoustics it offers is cemented by its sonic nature; the grand locale, the reverberation, the loftiness, the massive scale, the physicality of the organ playing - this way it becomes more than music and turns into an experience of transcendence even. Try recreating that through the stereo. Most fail miserably and the experience falls utterly flat.
To me it has been about progressively realizing the importance of physics and size of sound, and how effectively miniaturizing sound mostly through speakers too small and inefficient - and believe me, most are - is diminishing the impact and nature of music-as-sound on its own terms. It’s not about SPL per se, but its uninhibited and effortless attainment at any desired or necessitated level is part of the equation, if you would. To my mind it’s become too much about "cultivation" and brands from a sonic package too wimpy and never really getting the basics right, on a broader scale at least. I’ve gotten to where I am now with the gradual implementation of horns, large radiation area/overall size, high efficiency and active configuration (see my setup on my profile for those interested, so not to take up more written space than needed), and this involved eschewing traditional hi-fi speakers and amps and instead choosing pro (i.e.: studio and cinema mostly) segment solutions. What I have now won’t essentially change down the road, so my current setup is pretty much the basic expression of what I seek in audio reproduction. A relief and great joy, actually, and an outset to work from that will have continuity and keep prices reasonably at bay. Simplicity may not be what best describes my system and overall approach. I mean, main speakers + two subs, 3 stereo amps (one for each driver section) and digital cross-over - plus the rest (DAC/preamp and PC-based source). The complexity issue, at least for the uninitiated lies in setting filter values by yourself and integrating the subs properly. It’s not plug-and-play for sure, but the efforts have been very worthwhile. I’m enjoying music immensely. No genre is left by the wayside, music just immerses with an effortless, full, present, coherent and dynamically unrestricted presentation. Frequency range extends down to 20-25Hz at full click, that is any desired SPL with ease. Very informative and alive at low levels as well. Happy dandy here. |
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