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snilf

Responses from snilf

Check this system out!
I’m sorry, but—are you guys serious? Have you looked at those pictures? Have you read the article, and Mr. Gish’s "Audio Tips"? First, I have to agree with those who wondered about that gorgeous cabinet. We have to assume it’s well ventilated, es... 
Will a new Dac improve the sound?
Lots of very well-informed advice here already. For what it's worth, I was skeptical about DACs; I've got a Marantz SA8005 SACD player that sounded just fine. Then I found a PS Audio UltraLink DAC at an estate sale, and picked it up for a song ($1... 
How long ago did you catch the bug?
I’ve been an audiophile since high school. Growing up with a jazz musician/Caltech scientist father, I wasn’t allowed to use the system in his study: a Fisher 400 receiver, an ELAC/Benjamin Miracord turntable (with styli for both 33 and 78 rpm; he... 
Question about sound stage
It's kind of unnecessary to add anything here, but I will anyway. For one thing, hearing loss in one ear doesn't much affect perception of stereo balance, since so much of the sound is mixed with reflections by the time it arrives at your head. Tr... 
Don’t want to freak you out…
Sorry, but this thread kind of shocks me. Of course, cupping your hands behind your ears will enhance your hearing of sounds directly in front of you; all of these products merely replicate that age-old trick in a hands-free way. Great for eavesdr... 
Speaker shootout question -- do you position the same or differently, depending?
"Optimally," one would position each speaker at its "optimal" location (quotation marks because optimality will always be a compromise of one sort or another), and have only that speaker in the room. Then live with that speaker for a week or more ... 
Beautiful listening rooms
tablejockey: I completely agree that the visual aesthetics of one's listening room are important (unless you listen in total darkness). Still, jssmith has a point: many of the pictured rooms look acoustically dubious. Acoustic concerns have to com... 
Need new headphone setup.
rvpiano, I've been a headphone believer for decades; currently, I splurged on a set of the HiFiMan HE1000 (an insane $3,000!).  But the Sennheiser line is outstanding for the money, if you can use an open-back design. The HiFiMan is so open, by t... 
Nietzsche and Runaway Audio Consumption
nonoise: in China, and also in Japan, there is a serious market for the kind of hand-painted artistic copies you describe, to the point that particular "forgers" who are exceptionally skilled can sell "their" work for huge sums. The quotation mark... 
Nietzsche and Runaway Audio Consumption
twoleftears: very interesting suggestion. Benjamin was not in my mind when I wrote what I did, but I see your point. For those not familiar with the famous Benjamin essay, it's certainly relevant. I won't pretend to do justice to its subtlety and... 
Nietzsche and Runaway Audio Consumption
Thanks, hilde45. How do you happen to be reading Nietzsche? (BTW, when asked what a new composer should do, Richard Strauss answered: "Read Nietzsche!") And thanks, sns, for your insightful questions. They express my dilemma, which is what drew m... 
Nietzsche and Runaway Audio Consumption
As is often the case with aphoristic works, it can be helpful to look at the context of the given particular passage. In aphorism 302, Nietzsche writes: "The truly unendurable...are those who, possessing freedom of mind [freiheit der Gesinnung; "f... 
Nietzsche and Runaway Audio Consumption
Nietzsche and Wagner met in 1868 at a party in Basel, and talked all night about their common passion for Schopenhauer. They were close friends for the next several years; Nietzsche's first book, The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirt of Music, is ... 
Not manufactured any more.
Scientific Fidelity Tesla  
Dang it, I'm Deaf....
Russ—so sorry to read this. But don't lose hope. As the miraculous homeopathic cure sandthemall describes shows, strange things can happen. Three years ago, I was flying home from Prague on a plane with a shrieking infant right behind me. But tho...