I am 38 years old, single, and living in the midwest at the moment (recently moving here from California). I have a dual Degree in Electrical Engineering, and in Marketing. I have been employed as a technical sales person in the aerospace industry, the auto industry (OEM Electronics), the IC industry (selling high speed linear devices and A/D, D/A chipsets) and now work for an IT company (Yes, I move to a new venue about every five years... I get bored very easily, and am constantly looking for new challenges). As a musician playing the piano, string bass and electic bass, I have spent many a nights trying to decide weather to listen to my stereo, or to just play a tune on my own. This love of music, is what drew me into high end stereo in the first place. I have been through at least 15 high end system iterations, since I was 17 years old. I have owned many of the big name speaker brands, (along with a couple real stinkers)...such as : Magnepans, Polks (arg!), DCM , Spica, Acoustat, Infinity, Magnepan (the only brand I ever owned twice) and Legacy Whispers. As I have become wiser over the years, I have learned that there is no such thing as a perfect component or speaker. As an Engineer, I have found many failings in virtually every big name audiophile component or speaker. (One designer does this part right, but completely misses the boat on another parameter etc...) My findings have led me to modifying virtually everything I currently own. I'm not talking about power cords here, I'm talking about better IC's, better caps, better wire (especially in most speakers). A simple "holistic" look, at each component and speaker design, from beginning to end. (Whoever said that the weakest link is the best your system will ever sound, was dead right). What many audiophiles don't realize is that their particular component or speaker is itself, "a box of many weak links". In my findings one designer seems to overlook something that another does correctly, but the other guy drops the ball somewhere else. It is my humble opinion, that if someone did everything right (for a resonable price, and it CAN be done), he would corner the market. I have been ardently looking for that "Holistic" speaker or component designer, but the only guys that come close, are selling their products for rediculous prices. I just can't stomach the $1000 - $5000 speaker wires, and $5000 - $20000 amplifier prices. As my quest continues, I will be trying to spread my resonably priced findings to all of you, so that you too can avoid trying to find nirvanna, thru massive and needless expenditures, of hard earned cash.
