DOES YOUR STEREO DO IT'S JOB?

[SterlingOne]

To get the desired result, which is synonymous with accommodation, playing/recording stereo and multi-channel music from today's sources, like Blu-ray, downloads, and streams, I've had to purchase a lot of interfaces to get the music into my 20 year old Preamplification/Control Amps, Sony TA-E9000ES/TA-P9000ES. These interfaces include an M-Audio IEC958/Toslink Conversion Box, Creative Sound Blaster X-FI HD External Sound Card, Airport Express Base Station, and even an OPPO-205, to play multi-channel from PC or Thumb Drive. A modern HDMI, and WI-FI A/V Pre-Pro would totally eliminate the need for all of this kit,, even the very expensive OPPO. With the modern Pre-Pro, I could enjoy all sources for music very conveniently. As far as music from traditional and obsolete sources goes, my system does get the job done, that's to say, music delivered from my Universal Player, Turntable, DAT Recorders, CD Changer, Tuner, and Cassette Decks via my Preamplification is still perceived by me to be as good as anything I've heard recently at Best Buys, which is about the only place in my neighborhood where I can still audition new equipment. At any rate, if I were to win the Lottery, I would likely get a modern A/V Pre-Pro and replace my JBL L100t3's with JBL 4429's.

 

[elcoholic]

We each get to define what "doing the job" means to us. Convenience of use and simplicity in the signal chain is certainly part of my criteria as well.

 

[Hoewieloewie]

In my case, my equipment is pre-HDMI. It thus requires a lot of round about tactics to listen to PC sourced audio media. This inconvenience can be resolved upon purchase of a new A/V Pre-Pro; however, I do not have the discretionary income to make such a purchase guilt free, since I can still get stereo from PC to my old Sony Pre-Pro via Airport Express, Creative Sound Blaster X-FI HD, or usb to OPPO-205 DAC. The OPPO even up samples to 24/192.

Hello. All I use to get the digital music on my laptop (including Spotify and Youtube) to my old skool analog Superscope R-330 receiver is a Muse Mini USB DAC. You can connect it to a USB port of your computer. Plug and play. No driver to be installed on your computer, no adapter needed.

 

[JoeESP9]

We each get to define what "doing the job" means to us. Convenience of use and simplicity in the signal chain is certainly part of my criteria as well.

The question asked was, "Does your stereo do it's job?". The amount of effort required to achieve that wasn't asked. If it sounds the way you want IMO it's doing the job.

Regardless of what hoops one has to jump through to get a system to that point, once there no more work is involved.

 

[Hyfi]

The question asked was, "Does your stereo do it's job?". The amount of effort required to achieve that wasn't asked. If it sounds the way you want IMO it's doing the job.

Regardless of what hoops one has to jump through to get a system to that point, once there no more work is involved.

I guess in reality, everyone's stereo does it's job. Just like people, some do their job better than others.

 

[JoeESP9]

As for jumping through hoops to achieve sound that "does its job", I knocked down a wall between my living and dining rooms to make one listening room. That was quite a bit of work for me. However, I only had to do it once.

 

[MaxP]

I have two systems in my house, the main one in the basement and the system I just put together in our living room. I am very happy with both, but I make slight improvements nonetheless on occasion as well, that’s the fun part. I went for a decade or more without a dedicated system and have again started listening to music as the activity and not just a component of commuting.

 

[RunOutGroove]

As for jumping through hoops to achieve sound that "does its job", I knocked down a wall between my living and dining rooms to make one listening room. That was quite a bit of work for me. However, I only had to do it once.

Who needs a dining room anyway? I eat in front of the TV and if I don't do that there's a breakfast nook...

 

[SterlingOne]

As for jumping through hoops to achieve sound that "does its job", I knocked down a wall between my living and dining rooms to make one listening room. That was quite a bit of work for me. However, I only had to do it once.

As I understand it the reason you knocked down a wall was to have more room to do some shuffle dancing to the tune of Rhythm Is A Dancer.

 

[SterlingOne]

Hello. All I use to get the digital music on my laptop (including Spotify and Youtube) to my old skool analog Superscope R-330 receiver is a Muse Mini USB DAC. You can connect it to a USB port of your computer. Plug and play. No driver to be installed on your computer, no adapter needed.

This seems similar to my Creative Sound Blaster X-FI HD device. It operates up to 24/96.

 

[elcoholic]

The question asked was, "Does your stereo do it's job?". The amount of effort required to achieve that wasn't asked. If it sounds the way you want IMO it's doing the job.

Regardless of what hoops one has to jump through to get a system to that point, once there no more work is involved.

I respectfully disagree. Ease of use, reliability, repeatability are all important. Say my turntable sounds fantastic despite every time I use it I have to lube the bearing and make a bunch of adjustments to get it to sound right, but I'm OK with that. So my system is doing it's job according to my definition of it's job. If that same table was in someone else's system they may take serious exception to spending 30 minutes at the beginning of each listening session to make that table perform of it's job. The OP said "No matter how far out of normal views it seems how many of you are satisfied with your System?" I think my distinction and yours are both valid even though the OP did not stipulate sound quality he only mentioned being satisfied.

 

[JoeESP9]

Sound quality wasn't brought up by the OP. I never commented on it as it's largely subjective. If you don't like the quality of sound you're getting your system is not doing its job. However, I've found that the closer I make my system sound like the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center the better everything, and I mean everything else, sounds.

I suppose it's all in how one approaches things. As I rarely change things the time and effort required to make my system "do its job" is a one time affair. As stated earlier I did some serious remodeling to combine two rooms into one. After that there was several months of tweaking things.

Speakers and room treatments are always sensitive to position. After initial placement, I move speakers in increasingly small increments and listen for a couple of days until they were just right. The same applies to room treatments. However, once this is done there's no need to do anything but listen.

When I switched from Acoustats to Magnepans a couple of years ago it took about two months of tweaking before I was satisfied.

Do you really spend 30 minutes to make a TT sound correct?

 

[Frbock]

Well, nobody's 'satisfied'. We all have the 'upgrade' that will blow our socks off.
That being said, I'm running an Adcom GTP400 into an Onkyo M5010 which drives a pair of Ohm Walsh 2 with 3rd gen drivers in them.
Inputs are Yamaha dvd-c961, and a Pro-ject Debut Carbon Esprit with a Sumiko Blue Point No 2.
On the not quite satisfied, the 2 things I'd love to sample are the Ortofon 2M Bronze, and comparing the M5010 to an Adcom 545 II.
On the latter, I'm not sure I'd hear anything earth shattering between them. I also have a TX-8555 that has a preamp, and something close to the M5010, but with a better power supply. I suspect it's weakness is in the pre-amp.

 

[doctor fuse]

It is doing it's job as I write this.

 

[StimpyMK2]

It’s taken a while and a few misses but have to say my current setup is just about perfect, superb stereo, amazing surround for movies. The hardest element for me was the speakers and getting the balance right for my rather broad music library and also a passion for movies.

 

[Frbock]

Actually, I just hit a limitation on my system that I hadn't considered. I have a sick puppy on my lap, so, I can't get up to adjust the volume, or select new material.
A system can be almost perfect until life steps in.

 

[Sam08861]

I love my pre-amp, crossover, tube amp, tube and solid state receivers, console, speakers, turntables/cartridges/styli, CD players, both reel to reel tape decks and even the subwoofers.

But, I'm not that excited about my DAC. I don't hate it, it's just not something I covet, like all the others. I am trying to roll some op-amps to see if this broken relationship can be salvaged and she can harmoniously join the others in the cult.

 

[Zygmo]

Mine was absolutely perfect. All vintage, nothing astronomically expensive. Best sounding system I have ever heard, and I have heard some astronomically expensive setups. But when I finalized mine, I had one rule. Never bring in any more speakers or amps to compare in my music room. Anything I could have brought in to try would be too expensive for me to buy anyway. So, never having heard anything elsewhere that sounded better than mine to me in my room, I was satisfied. Don't tempt fate.
Of course, it's all gone. You should see what I have now!! LOL

 

[quiet]

Yowzer.

 

[Frbock]

Well, nobody's 'satisfied'. We all have the 'upgrade' that will blow our socks off.
That being said, I'm running an Adcom GTP400 into an Onkyo M5010 which drives a pair of Ohm Walsh 2 with 3rd gen drivers in them.
Inputs are Yamaha dvd-c961, and a Pro-ject Debut Carbon Esprit with a Sumiko Blue Point No 2.
On the not quite satisfied, the 2 things I'd love to sample are the Ortofon 2M Bronze, and comparing the M5010 to an Adcom 545 II.
On the latter, I'm not sure I'd hear anything earth shattering between them. I also have a TX-8555 that has a preamp, and something close to the M5010, but with a better power supply. I suspect it's weakness is in the pre-amp.

I made a decision to go with the NAD c272 since it does have protection on the outputs.
I'm just going to start out with, I was wrong on the amp change. There's a little difference in the sound on Who's Next nothing to put my finger on, but there was a major difference when I put on Al Stewart Last Days of the Century. I wasn't playing it very loud. On the first song, when the bass was plucked, I could feel the pluck. I haven't experienced that on any previous amp.