Who R U?

I'm a 20 year old entrepreneur/college student. i currently am in my 2nd year at California State University, Long Beach which i attend full time, and i also started a business with 3 friends (Pacific Coast Acquisitions, LLC.) in which we purchase properties that are in foreclosure, do a little handy work on them and then sell them on the market for the going rate. right now we're in the middle of our second year and we have 13 properties in our possession and growing. my system is only worth a piddly $7-10k, but i only paid around $5000 for it. its in the virtual systems under my moniker if you're interested in checking it out.

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.

Hi, I am a 48 yo minister/radiographer, married, two small
boys(3&7yrs). I am here because, after being away from my music for a number of years, I have recently been bitten
by the audiophile bug. That sucker bites hard!!!. My last
system was purchased in 1985; things have changed considerably in the interim. I am more interested at this point in thanking all of you who are kind enough to discuss
audio issues that have been an enormous help in educating me in the past few months. I learn something new every time I come to this site. I am also grateful that you are kind enough to exchange/sell extremely high quality equipment
for reasonable prices. I have no idea where this hobby will
leave me (other than broke), but it's going to be a good ride in the meantime. Again thanks!. Bill

Welcome aboard Revvrun. This is a great site, so enjoy the ride!

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?