The big audiophile topic

[Kver]

Hey!

I was wondering if anybody here is as obsessed as I am with sound quality and audio equipment as a hobby? I have assembled quite the set myself:

Speakers: Dynaudio 3.0 Contour
Amp: Akai AM-93(the real deal!)
DAC: Musical Fidelity V90
Vinyl: Denon DP30-LII
CD Player: Denon DCD-1015
Tapedeck: Akai GX-400D
Equaliser: Akai EA-A2

Anybody else collects this kind of stuff? Pictures much appreciated!

[DeathDefier]

Not a huge one, but I do care about quality. I use Senheisser HD 555's with a XONAR DG soundcard in my computer that has a built in amp. Only other time I listen to music is in my car, and I don't have the money to spend on a setup for that.

[Kver]

If you're into headphones then that is an amazing one to have though. I am really fond of Sennheiser as a brand, they seem to produce the best stuff and they don't even ask excessive amounts of money for it.

[DeathDefier]

Yeah I got it on sale for 100$ like 3 years ago and it's still going strong. If it ever dies I'm definitely getting another Sennheiser for sure.

[Akraen]

I also have some HD555s for my desktop.

Kver already knows I'm into hifi as much as my budget allows (so mostly vintage).

My Proceed preamp and Martin Logan electrostatics are my show-off pieces-- I'll post some pics/info later.

[MGT]

Sadly I have no money/room for big ass soundsystems, so the past 4-5 years I've been using me headphones.. and those are somewhat modded(new pads, and retuned) Denon AH-D2000. Costed me around 400 euros(inc taxes) + shipment from US to Finland.

[Akraen]

Sadly I have no money/room for big ass soundsystems, so the past 4-5 years I've been using me headphones.. and those are somewhat modded(new pads, and retuned) Denon AH-D2000. Costed me around 400 euros(inc taxes) + shipment from US to Finland.

Funny thing is those Denons were designed in Japan, manufactured in China, mailed to the USA, then exported to you.

So the only role the US had in this was collecting tax money so a dude in Finland could buy a Japanese product. Ha.

[MGT]

Funny thing is those Denons were designed in Japan, manufactured in China, mailed to the USA, then exported to you.

So the only role the US had in this was collecting tax money so a dude in Finland could buy a Japanese product. Ha.

Nah they were modded in US, so kinda was logical to buy them from there as well.. Might have been cheaper to buy from EU, ship to US and ship back, but not by much due them being quite a bit cheaper for whatever reason in the US than anywhere in EU.

[Kver]

My main issue with headphones is that it feels awful to sit in your room with headphones on. I like being "surrounded" by my stereo.

[Akraen]

My main issue with headphones is that it feels awful to sit in your room with headphones on. I like being "surrounded" by my stereo.

Depends on the context. I like the quality headphones for travel, i.e. a 9 hour train ride to Bodo from Oslo Earbuds for working out/low profile in public too. It's also nice if someone is visiting and I don't want to disturb them to have quality over my ears.

Audio for every occasion, but nothing compares to my actual stereo, of course

[Kver]

Oh I have in-ear phones for public/travel, they're just not what I'd use if I were looking for quality. I'm sure that quality headphones can be amazing, especially with a designated amp(Musical Fidelity have a headphone amp in the same series as my V90 DAC apparently), but I firmly believe that a true audiophile experience is one of immersion.

Nothing beats closing your eyes and 'feeling' the sound in your room.

[Akraen]

Closing your eyes is a big thing - actually. Light and sound entering your eyes impacts resolution and fidelity.

I miss my sound room in my house in North Carolina (where I went to university). It was sound proofed with no cracks of light/windows, perfect acoustics. One day when I'm wealthy I want to go all out and build a sensory depravation room with a stereo.

For when closing eyes isn't a big thing, I loved displays like old AKAI that you could dim or turn off entirely.

[Kver]

A big part of it is listening to it in the way that works for you though. That is where the ancient yes/no cable discussions originate.

An actual sound room sounds nice though..

[Akraen]

I hear the cable difference, I'm not crazy-- and audiophiles are not stupid people, either. The cables exist for a reason.

[Kver]

Yeah I'm currently looking at a variety of stuff. These seem to be incredibly good for what they cost:
http://www.vandenhul.com/products/cable ... logen-free" target="_blank

The bad thing is that proper cables can easily get really expensive

[Kver]

So today I bought the discontinued Audioquest Type 8 loudspeaker cables, 2*2.5m, cold-welded by a professional with QED Airloc banana plugs. I got them for $250, and they used to go for $700 to $800 when they were still being sold.

My first impression, which is always difficult on another's stereo, was that they were incredibly clear. He had B&W 700s 1.5m apart, over a distance of 5m. He had a modified Naim receiver, so a pretty good setup, but a wooden floor and that distance created very.. bassy acoustics. I took my old cables with me so I could have a point of reference and decided that they were worth it.

At home I plugged them into my Dynaudio's and I immediately knew that I'd made the right choice. The Dynaudio's tend to be quite "bassy" as well, because they're massive(literally, 4 feet tall and 46 kg each) 4ohm monitors and the Audioquest's clarity contributed exceptionally well to their character. I'm probably going to have to stop listening to music soon or the police'll come visit me, but my god was it worth it, and it's not even expensive considering their retail price!

[Kver]

I can get a Luxman M383 amp, yes/no?

[Akraen]

I've heard one, the M383 is excellent. 220wpc that offered definitive resolution in the most complex frequency bursts.