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vintageboy
Chicago HiFi
Welcome here
scott1019
Super Member
WOW, thanks everyone for the gracious welcome!.... :yippy:
I should probably start out by giving everyone a little background of my audio experience.
My first memory of playing around with audio came when I was about 5 years old and I was messing around with my dad's Marantz receiver and Kenwood speakers. At the time I wasn't supposed to touch it, but at 5 years old I couldn't help myself. The Kenwood speakers stayed with me until I moved to college. I got my first CD player when I was around 10 and listened to the headphones and it was amazing, it was an RCA and one of the first portable ones they made.
While in high school a friend of my dad's gave him his old CD player to use and I was amazed at the sound when he first hooked it up to the Marantz. I cannot remember the name of it, but it sounded good. I also remember playing with his Concept turntable and TEAC cassette deck.
When I first got to college I bought a Kenwood surround sound receiver to go with the speakers my dad gave me. I got 3 free Sony speakers with the deal. When I finally got my first house I bought a pair of Advent II speakers from someone I met online while looking for woofers for my Kenwood's which needed the surrounds replaced. We have been friends ever since. I then purchase my own Marantz receiver, a 2226 which I still have to this day.
My dad still has the Concept turntable and Marantz receiver since purchasing it new back in 1981 at Pacific stereo in Chicago, IL, 2 years before I was born.
I am now 27 years old and my passion for audio is unquenchable. The list of speakers I have heard and owned is immense. I have also heard more receivers, preamps, amps, CD players, and tuners than I would care to admit. In the past 5-6 years I have bought and sold well over 200 pieces of equipment and currently I have nearly 100 items I will be selling... Hunting for things and finding those few special pieces is what I have really found to cherish in this hobby. The knowledge I've gained in the process has been rewarding and I wish to share it with everyone here.
Before coming here I have been an active member on Agoraquest and Lansing Heritage. Chances are I'll know some of you. I have visited many other forums, but never really got involved in giving advice. I do a lot of reading and asking and now its time for me to give back some of the knowledge I have attained.
All of the gear I have purchased I have spent a long time evaluating using blind A/B testing at the same volume with the same cables etc. to get as accurate a measure as possible. Most of my impressions I have stored in my head... and trust me there's a lot stored there.
Currently I have a Saba MT-201 Tuner, Yamaha YP-D4 turntable w/ Micro-Acoustics 530 MP cartridge, Sony TA-E1000ESD which I use for its Parametric EQ, Sony CDP-508ESD with its Dual Burr Brown PCM8 DAC's (best sounding CD player I have yet owned), Classe Thirty Preamp and Classe Seventy Amp (connected via Balanced XLR's and a 10Db Attenuator), Speakers are my own custom cabinets with 12" Paudio Coaxial drivers. Cables are my own custom interconnects and power cables which I have tested to sound as good as anything available.
Extras include a NEC CD-730, NEC T-710, Uher EG-750 (late version which sounds identical to the digital EG-751), Sony SDP-EP9ES (which I use as a PC DAC), and Sony TA-N110 (PC amp), Sony STR-DB930 (extra bedroom), Denon TU-767 (livingroom).
My living room system consists of very "wife-friendly" gear. Including a Panasonic 50" Plasma, H/K AVR130 receiver, (4) Altec Corona speakers, Altec Capri speaker w/Minneapolis 8" full range driver for a center channel, Playstation 3, Wii, Panasonic 5-disk DVD, Sony VHS, and HSU 8" subwoofer.
My Dedicated Theater system consists of a Sony STR-V555ES, Pioneer ELITE DV-59Avi, Sony DVP-CX777ES 400-disk changer, Escient Fireball, Audio Alchemy DDE 3.0 and Pro 32 Digital front end connected via the I2S interface, HSU HRSW12Va subwoofer w/ 500-watt amp, Panasonic AX200U projector, and 5 Audio Nirvana 8" speakers in my own custom cabinets.
I have a TON of other stuff, but I will be selling it all soon so I won't mention it all.... in threads to come I will outline a lot of the gear I have owned and my impressions as well as answer questions people may have about this gear. I do a lot of "top 10" lists, so please bear with me guys. I do this for a reason. I have already listened to nearly everything and it really helps those who want to narrow things down quite a bit. I started this after frequenting FMtunerinfo and reviewing their "shootouts" and "ricochets". The cream really rises to the top when you test a LOT of gear, trust me!
I will no longer be aquiring gear and doing these tests, I have spent too much time doing this already. I have chosen to instead start searching for great material to LISTEN to and enjoy. I know it has taken me a long time to get to this point, but my system is finally at the point where I can sit back, relax, and enjoy the music...
I would like to get a better pair of speakers and a very special tube amp one-day, but for now I am very content with what I have. I also want to pursue the benefits of a Media server to store all my CD's and DVD's as well as Asynchronous USB to S/PDIF for 2-channel 24/96Khz audio for my PC as well as getting a new DAC for my PC audio to replace my Sony EP9ES. I mainly want to do this so I can preserve my collection.
Currently I am searching for the all but illusive Sony CDP-X7ESD to test vs. my 508ESD, a Tandberg 3012, Sony TA-F808ES, Sony DVP-S9000ES, a NEC integrated amp or receiver, and a remote for my NEC CD-730. Of course I am always looking to try new things, and I have a much longer list, but these are the select few things I am currently looking for. If anyone has any of this gear they are looking to sell please PM me.
I will warn everyone that I have been VERY opinionated in the past and have been known to upset the moderators. I only say things because I hate seeing honest hard-working people spending more than they need to on audio. I have learned that many of the hi-end manufacturers are selling nothing but "snake oil" and that there is no correlation between the price paid and the quality of the sound you can achieve.
I should probably start out by giving everyone a little background of my audio experience.
My first memory of playing around with audio came when I was about 5 years old and I was messing around with my dad's Marantz receiver and Kenwood speakers. At the time I wasn't supposed to touch it, but at 5 years old I couldn't help myself. The Kenwood speakers stayed with me until I moved to college. I got my first CD player when I was around 10 and listened to the headphones and it was amazing, it was an RCA and one of the first portable ones they made.
While in high school a friend of my dad's gave him his old CD player to use and I was amazed at the sound when he first hooked it up to the Marantz. I cannot remember the name of it, but it sounded good. I also remember playing with his Concept turntable and TEAC cassette deck.
When I first got to college I bought a Kenwood surround sound receiver to go with the speakers my dad gave me. I got 3 free Sony speakers with the deal. When I finally got my first house I bought a pair of Advent II speakers from someone I met online while looking for woofers for my Kenwood's which needed the surrounds replaced. We have been friends ever since. I then purchase my own Marantz receiver, a 2226 which I still have to this day.
My dad still has the Concept turntable and Marantz receiver since purchasing it new back in 1981 at Pacific stereo in Chicago, IL, 2 years before I was born.
I am now 27 years old and my passion for audio is unquenchable. The list of speakers I have heard and owned is immense. I have also heard more receivers, preamps, amps, CD players, and tuners than I would care to admit. In the past 5-6 years I have bought and sold well over 200 pieces of equipment and currently I have nearly 100 items I will be selling... Hunting for things and finding those few special pieces is what I have really found to cherish in this hobby. The knowledge I've gained in the process has been rewarding and I wish to share it with everyone here.
Before coming here I have been an active member on Agoraquest and Lansing Heritage. Chances are I'll know some of you. I have visited many other forums, but never really got involved in giving advice. I do a lot of reading and asking and now its time for me to give back some of the knowledge I have attained.
All of the gear I have purchased I have spent a long time evaluating using blind A/B testing at the same volume with the same cables etc. to get as accurate a measure as possible. Most of my impressions I have stored in my head... and trust me there's a lot stored there.
Currently I have a Saba MT-201 Tuner, Yamaha YP-D4 turntable w/ Micro-Acoustics 530 MP cartridge, Sony TA-E1000ESD which I use for its Parametric EQ, Sony CDP-508ESD with its Dual Burr Brown PCM8 DAC's (best sounding CD player I have yet owned), Classe Thirty Preamp and Classe Seventy Amp (connected via Balanced XLR's and a 10Db Attenuator), Speakers are my own custom cabinets with 12" Paudio Coaxial drivers. Cables are my own custom interconnects and power cables which I have tested to sound as good as anything available.
Extras include a NEC CD-730, NEC T-710, Uher EG-750 (late version which sounds identical to the digital EG-751), Sony SDP-EP9ES (which I use as a PC DAC), and Sony TA-N110 (PC amp), Sony STR-DB930 (extra bedroom), Denon TU-767 (livingroom).
My living room system consists of very "wife-friendly" gear. Including a Panasonic 50" Plasma, H/K AVR130 receiver, (4) Altec Corona speakers, Altec Capri speaker w/Minneapolis 8" full range driver for a center channel, Playstation 3, Wii, Panasonic 5-disk DVD, Sony VHS, and HSU 8" subwoofer.
My Dedicated Theater system consists of a Sony STR-V555ES, Pioneer ELITE DV-59Avi, Sony DVP-CX777ES 400-disk changer, Escient Fireball, Audio Alchemy DDE 3.0 and Pro 32 Digital front end connected via the I2S interface, HSU HRSW12Va subwoofer w/ 500-watt amp, Panasonic AX200U projector, and 5 Audio Nirvana 8" speakers in my own custom cabinets.
I have a TON of other stuff, but I will be selling it all soon so I won't mention it all.... in threads to come I will outline a lot of the gear I have owned and my impressions as well as answer questions people may have about this gear. I do a lot of "top 10" lists, so please bear with me guys. I do this for a reason. I have already listened to nearly everything and it really helps those who want to narrow things down quite a bit. I started this after frequenting FMtunerinfo and reviewing their "shootouts" and "ricochets". The cream really rises to the top when you test a LOT of gear, trust me!
I will no longer be aquiring gear and doing these tests, I have spent too much time doing this already. I have chosen to instead start searching for great material to LISTEN to and enjoy. I know it has taken me a long time to get to this point, but my system is finally at the point where I can sit back, relax, and enjoy the music...
I would like to get a better pair of speakers and a very special tube amp one-day, but for now I am very content with what I have. I also want to pursue the benefits of a Media server to store all my CD's and DVD's as well as Asynchronous USB to S/PDIF for 2-channel 24/96Khz audio for my PC as well as getting a new DAC for my PC audio to replace my Sony EP9ES. I mainly want to do this so I can preserve my collection.
Currently I am searching for the all but illusive Sony CDP-X7ESD to test vs. my 508ESD, a Tandberg 3012, Sony TA-F808ES, Sony DVP-S9000ES, a NEC integrated amp or receiver, and a remote for my NEC CD-730. Of course I am always looking to try new things, and I have a much longer list, but these are the select few things I am currently looking for. If anyone has any of this gear they are looking to sell please PM me.
I will warn everyone that I have been VERY opinionated in the past and have been known to upset the moderators. I only say things because I hate seeing honest hard-working people spending more than they need to on audio. I have learned that many of the hi-end manufacturers are selling nothing but "snake oil" and that there is no correlation between the price paid and the quality of the sound you can achieve.
