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#1
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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introductory high end audio buying guide
Hi
I have owned a bose system for several years and I am finally beginning to feel that I am growing out of it. Its good for home theater but doesnt give me the *full* sound that I expect for music. Anyway, I am looking at spending some money to buy a nice stereo system (a good pair of speaker, an amp and maybe a pre-amp). Can anyone recommend me to a book or a set of articles which walk you through some technicals and some suggestions on how to go about picking stuff. My budget is upto about 5k altho if I can find something for less than 3k, its better Thanks - Rajeev |
#2
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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introductory high end audio buying guide
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#4
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introductory high end audio buying guide
On May 4, 10:49*pm, Peter Elem wrote:
Read Absolute Sound when it comes out. And whatever it says, assume the opposite. Ditto for the editor's book. Here's a site with a much higher signal-to-noise ratio: http://www.audioholics.com/ bob |
#5
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introductory high end audio buying guide
On May 4, 3:31*pm, wrote:
Hi *I have owned a bose system for several years and I am finally beginning to feel that I am growing out of it. Its good for home theater but doesnt give me the *full* sound that I expect for music. Anyway, I am looking at spending some money to buy a nice stereo system (a good pair of speaker, an amp and maybe a pre-amp). Can anyone recommend me to a book or a set of articles which walk you through some technicals and some suggestions on how to go about picking stuff. My budget is upto about 5k altho if I can find something for less than 3k, its better Thanks - Rajeev With due respect and some humor, if your point of departure is a Bose system, nearly anything you do will sound better. All that aside, there are reams of literature, thousands of articles, and vast amounts of information out there that all lead up to the same thing: Audition Audition Audition You are anticipating spending what many people spend on a used car, in some parts of the world a brand new car. For that kind of money, you should be able to demand a good level of cooperation from sellers and dealers. Legends to avoid: a) It depends on what you listen to - No, it does not. A good system will be capable of reproducing anything thrown at it irrespective of style and origin. Some systems *are not* capable of such resilience, but do well on restricted signal. Not much good if you want to listen outside of that range. b) It depends on the volume you listen at - No, not really. A good system has sufficient headroom to reproduce signal at any reasonable volume. Yes, your listening conditions will affect what is a 'reasonable volume', but that is simply another operating condition that must be met. Again, some systems do well at low volumes with restricted signals... not much good as above. c) Expensive = Better Sound - Moving target. Not necessarily. More so with speakers, turntables, cartridges and various transducers, far less so with electronics-in-general, tuners, pre-amps and power amps. d) Tubes are better than Solid State - No, just different. And with different limitations and peformance parameters. e) Solid State is better than Tubes - As above. Pick what you like, listen to it for an extended period of time in your home environment. You CANNOT judge well except there. Try various things. Don't just settle, and listen _only_ to the equipment, not the salesperson. And good luck. There is more smoke, mirrors, persiflage and blather in the "HiFi" industry than with used cars. Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA |
#6
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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introductory high end audio buying guide
Some good info on this page:
http://www.harmanaudio.com/all_about_audio/ Including a good explanation of power specifications, and an overview article on speaker design. bob |
#7
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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introductory high end audio buying guide
wrote:
Hi I have owned a bose system for several years and I am finally beginning to feel that I am growing out of it. Its good for home theater but doesnt give me the *full* sound that I expect for music. Anyway, I am looking at spending some money to buy a nice stereo system (a good pair of speaker, an amp and maybe a pre-amp). Can anyone recommend me to a book or a set of articles which walk you through some technicals and some suggestions on how to go about picking stuff. My budget is upto about 5k altho if I can find something for less than 3k, its better Thanks - Rajeev start by going here and spending $20 for a copy of the 2006 article by Floyd Toole, "Loudspeakers and Rooms for Sound Reproduction. A Scientific Review" http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=13686 Don't bother with the clowns at Absolute Sound, except as entertainment. -- -S maybe they wanna rock. maybe they need to rock. Maybe it's for the money? But That's none of our business..our business as fans is to rock with them. |
#8
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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introductory high end audio buying guide
Another good resource on speakers is the All About Sound brochure
from this page: http://www.paradigm.com/en/paradigm/downloads.php Yes, it plugs one brand of speakers, but the technical information is solid. bob |
#9
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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introductory high end audio buying guide
"Peter Elem" wrote in message
wrote: Hi I have owned a bose system for several years and I am finally beginning to feel that I am growing out of it. Its good for home theater but doesnt give me the *full* sound that I expect for music. Anyway, I am looking at spending some money to buy a nice stereo system (a good pair of speaker, an amp and maybe a pre-amp). Can anyone recommend me to a book or a set of articles which walk you through some technicals and some suggestions on how to go about picking stuff. My budget is upto about 5k altho if I can find something for less than 3k, its better Thanks - Rajeev Read Absolute Sound when it comes out. .....Then invert the meaning of just about every word you read. IOW if TAS says water flows downhill, run do not walk to your kitchen sink and do your own test, because they generally don't get anything right. |
#10
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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introductory high end audio buying guide
bob writes:
Some good info on this page: http://www.harmanaudio.com/all_about_audio/ Including a good explanation of power specifications, and an overview article on speaker design. bob Also check out "Audio Perfectionist Journal;" the 1st 2 journals are free and IMO, having bought all of them to date, contain the best information. http://www.audioperfectionist.com/pa...ejournals.html |
#11
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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introductory high end audio buying guide
Robert Sink wrote:
bob writes: Some good info on this page: http://www.harmanaudio.com/all_about_audio/ Including a good explanation of power specifications, and an overview article on speaker design. bob Also check out "Audio Perfectionist Journal;" the 1st 2 journals are free and IMO, having bought all of them to date, contain the best information. http://www.audioperfectionist.com/pa...ejournals.html does Hardesty *ever* employ blind comparisons? -- -S maybe they wanna rock. maybe they need to rock. Maybe it's for the money? But That's none of our business..our business as fans is to rock with them. |
#12
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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introductory high end audio buying guide
Steven Sullivan writes:
Robert Sink wrote: bob writes: Some good info on this page: http://www.harmanaudio.com/all_about_audio/ Including a good explanation of power specifications, and an overview article on speaker design. bob Also check out "Audio Perfectionist Journal;" the 1st 2 journals are free and IMO, having bought all of them to date, contain the best information. http://www.audioperfectionist.com/pa...ejournals.html does Hardesty *ever* employ blind comparisons? [...] I don't really recall--it's been years since I read the journals and to be honest, and I've posted here about this before, while he speaks of saving one money, the stuff he recommends is ridiculous like $10-20k biwired Audioquest Everest cables, among other things in that same price range. What helped me was just the basics of speaker placement, acoustics of a room, being wary of trying to equalize out a room/system, and as well time/phase-accurate speakers like Vandersteens, Thiels, and Meadowlarks (now defunct, I understand). Beyond that, I think he and Shane Buettner get a little "out there" on what they recommend ($30k vinyl setups, etc.) and I've taken that with a grain of salt, but like I say, the first two journals especially helped me (someone with no knowledge of how measurements are taken [and *******ized]) understand some key basics (or they seemed key to me, anyhow). |
#13
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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introductory high end audio buying guide
On May 10, 12:48*am, Robert Sink wrote:
Steven Sullivan writes: does Hardesty *ever* employ blind comparisons? I don't really recall--it's been years since I read the journals and to be honest, and I've posted here about this before, while he speaks of saving one money, the stuff he recommends is ridiculous like $10-20k biwired Audioquest Everest cables, among other things in that same price range. On the basis of that single recommendation, I think we can conclude that Hardesty *never* employs blind comparisons. What helped me was just the basics of speaker placement, acoustics of a room, being wary of trying to equalize out a room/system, and as well time/phase-accurate speakers like Vandersteens, Thiels, and Meadowlarks (now defunct, I understand). Beyond that, I think he and Shane Buettner get a little "out there" on what they recommend ($30k vinyl setups, etc.) and I've taken that with a grain of salt, but like I say, the first two journals especially helped me (someone with no knowledge of how measurements are taken [and *******ized]) understand some key basics (or they seemed key to me, anyhow). I read his newsletter for the first year, before he hiked the price to match the products he touts. It was an odd mix of solid, practical information and the usual high-end voodoo. bob |
#14
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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introductory high end audio buying guide
On Fri, 9 May 2008 21:48:13 -0700, Robert Sink wrote
(in article ): Steven Sullivan writes: Robert Sink wrote: bob writes: Some good info on this page: http://www.harmanaudio.com/all_about_audio/ Including a good explanation of power specifications, and an overview article on speaker design. bob Also check out "Audio Perfectionist Journal;" the 1st 2 journals are free and IMO, having bought all of them to date, contain the best information. http://www.audioperfectionist.com/pa...ejournals.html does Hardesty *ever* employ blind comparisons? [...] I don't really recall--it's been years since I read the journals and to be honest, and I've posted here about this before, while he speaks of saving one money, the stuff he recommends is ridiculous like $10-20k biwired Audioquest Everest cables, among other things in that same price range. Anybody who openly recommends expensive cables (as opposed to merely acknowledging that such cables exist for the buying should one feel compelled to do so) is suspect in my book. What helped me was just the basics of speaker placement, acoustics of a room, being wary of trying to equalize out a room/system, and as well time/phase-accurate speakers like Vandersteens, Thiels, and Meadowlarks (now defunct, I understand). Beyond that, I think he and Shane Buettner get a little "out there" on what they recommend ($30k vinyl setups, etc.) and I've taken that with a grain of salt, but like I say, the first two journals especially helped me (someone with no knowledge of how measurements are taken [and *******ized]) understand some key basics (or they seemed key to me, anyhow). Vinyl setups is one place in audio where I believe that expensive rigs actually do "dig" more out of a record groove than do cheaper setups (up to some as yet undetermined point - at least for me). That's because, like speakers, Record players are electromechanical in nature (I.E. transducers) and every part of them contribute to the sound of the whole. That means that attention to mechanical detail (like turntable bearings, platter resonance, speed stability, arm bearings, arm geometry, and of course, cartridge quality and matching to the arm, etc.) is all important. Precision costs money and the best I've heard a record sound was on an acquaintance's Walker Proscenium turntable carrying some exotic cartridge which cost more than a diamond of similar weight and size! I've never heard such sound from a phonograph record before (one of my own personal records to boot), it was eye opening. Now whether or not that same (or at least similar) result could be had for a less stratospheric price, I don't know. I do know that my J.A, Michell "Orbe" Spyder/SME IV/Sumiko Blackbird combo doesn't even come close and it isn't cheap kit by any stretch of the imagination! |
#15
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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introductory high end audio buying guide
bob writes:
On May 10, 12:48Â*am, Robert Sink wrote: Steven Sullivan writes: does Hardesty *ever* employ blind comparisons? [...] On the basis of that single recommendation, I think we can conclude that Hardesty *never* employs blind comparisons. [...] I read his newsletter for the first year, before he hiked the price to match the products he touts. It was an odd mix of solid, practical information and the usual high-end voodoo. [...] Yes, I'm inclined to agree with you--I think you articulated in 1 small paragraph what I danced around saying in several emails. |