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Best stereo system in the world.


Shane_B.

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If you think about it, no stereo system can sound better than the gear employed to make the record in the first place.

Any content that might be revealed, which is to say sounds that had not been audible to the engineers, isn't likely to be good information. The extras you're going to get will be pedal squeaks, trucks passing by, conversations from the control room, horn spit,  footfalls, gurgling stomachs and hum from the fridge next door.

A more realistic goal is to hear it like the engineers heard it. That's doable and it won't take you 30 years and a quarter-million to achieve it.

Respect for his determination and appreciation for music, though. Sadly, that's dying out. As I am reminded every time I see a teenager rocking out to a single Apple earbud.

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44 minutes ago, bitflipper said:

If you think about it, no stereo system can sound better than the gear employed to make the record in the first place.

I always felt the same way. I have a respectable turntable and some good JBL speakers. I just bought a new needle for it. Took forever to find online. But the biggest thing that changed the sound was a cleaner I made. I've gone down the rabbit hole of how to clean LP's for decades. The best thing I could find online were vacuum based ones. Being Mr. Frugal, I decided to make my own and try on some old LP's that I didn't care about ruining. Man did it work amazingly well. I bought a cheap $40 dollar wet/dry vac and used some scrap PVC I had laying around and some felt furniture pads I had laying around. I was completely astounded at the difference it made. Old records I had been getting at the thrift stores sounded like new. I was completely astounded. Wish I would have done it years ago. It even worked out to where the hose of wet/dry vac fit tightly inside the PVC and I didn't have to screw with making an adapter. I used Enzyme based cleaner and surfactant that photographers use. It seemed to work best when I put a layer of that on and sprayed distilled water on top. It somehow activated it. I was truly amazed at how well it worked. LP's I thought were ruined just need a deep cleaning. 

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8 hours ago, bitflipper said:

As I am reminded every time I see a teenager rocking out to a single Apple earbud.

Proof that ignorance is bliss! 😁

I used to have a killer stereo system, the stack kind with subwoofers and satellites.  I had two sets of speaker systems which allowed me to put one in front and one behind to have, basically, full surround-sound from just a left and right signal (though it also sounded fabulous with actual surround sound!).  I once had a friend sit right in the middle while I played (at concert volume) Bach's Tocata and Fugue in Dm followed by a couple other fine choices.  He was completely blown away and said he'd never realized how orgasmic music could be!

Of course, unfortunately, after you've heard music replicated correctly, it's nearly impossible to listen to it coming out of a crappy source... 😒

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I was a college student in the late 60's, when the hi-fi movement was reaching its apex. Stereo was still a new thing (I still have a vivid memory of hearing my first stereo recording - Magical Mystery Tour) and every kid wanted at least a Kenwood bookshelf system in their dorm room. I couldn't afford one, having spent all my excess pennies on a guitar and a mandola. And drugs, of course.

For the next 30 years, owning a high-quality stereo system was not a priority. I bought synthesizers and amps for them, PA systems and vans to haul it all in. I spent the price of a decent used car on reel-to-reels for recording. Multiple $4k computers, then more keyboards and guitars.

I would never have predicted that my first truly high-fidelity playback system would come in the form of a computer accessory.

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8 hours ago, craigb said:

Of course, unfortunately, after you've heard music replicated correctly, it's nearly impossible to listen to it coming out of a crappy source... 😒

By far, thee most incredible thing I have ever heard was a pair of lower end Magnepan's and a sub through a lower end McIntosh MA5300. Still pricey but not insane like their high end or PS Audio etc.. Some Best Buy's have a high end section. I A/B'd a room full of AV and Stereo head's to the MA5300 they had and nothing even came close. I never knew how important the distortion rating was on an amp until I heard one that didn't fudge that number. It was so clean and so pure compared to the other 24/25 AV and Stereo heads they had. Some were more expensive than the MA5300's $5K price tag.

I'm happy with my 35+ year old Technics turntable I bought used, well, 35+ years ago, with a decent cartridge and my 70's Pioneer SX 550. My brother bought it new in 76 or 77 and gave it to me a couple of years ago. I had been using a now 20 + year old cheap JVC AV head but the 70's SX 550 is far better/cleaner sounding. Then I picked up a pair of very used/damaged but still working JBL L880 speakers off the for sale bulletin board where my wife works. Not a fan of JBL but they were cheap and it all sounds great to me and not worth the price difference between this setup and a Maggie/McIntosh imo.

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