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Revitalizing AK

AK is the single biggest resource on the internet regarding evrything in HIFI audio. However; it seems through the years participation has dropped significantly. It can be for one of two reasons. Lack of interest which should not be cause there are a million facebook boards on hifi. Or , every question ever needs answering is already here is people just get the answers ...LOL

We need to put the spice back in somehow...Love this place and the kind folks who help all through the years
I have looked at and joined a few of the FB forums and they probably are pulling new/younger potential members away. But the difference between AK and the FB groups is like apples and oranges. I don't think it's just younger people but many are.
 
We are a vanishing breed. The industry is a vanishing one. If you compare the amount of people, resources and money that goes into VR and gaming and compared it to serious audio, we would not even register.

We are the candlemakers in Edison’s new light bulb world.
I know a couple of gamers that are into audio. They set up their computer room with tubed phono pre-amps and trees of headphones.
 
I would like to share some insight as a newer member. Audio is a financial indulgence that is time consuming and takes up space. There are near infinite combinations of gear to listen to. You can’t hear it all, for one reason or another. I’d rather reserve comment for things I feel I am qualified to comment on. And that requires having listened to something.

I exclusively lurk on Audio Science Review. The level of testing they do there is thorough and the discussion around it is fascinating. What rarely ever contributes to the conversation is when somebody makes assertions based on what the owner/reviewer Amir says, and passes it off as their own opinion. “Well I would never try that because Amir said this and/or that”. I’m rarely following a thread because I’m interested in the thoughts of somebody who hasn’t heard the thing. Unless they can bring something more to the table than “well Amir said so”.

So I try not to be that person. I do like posting what I’m listening to though in the threads that are reserved for that sort of thing.
 
Love AudioKarma!

AudioKarma is responsible for my renewed interest in audio in general and vintage audio in particular.

Without the expertise of the members here, I would have never been able to recap and upgrade a non working Fisher 500c, or repair my Marantz receiver, or recap, refoam, and repair numerous speakers. Repair and bring back to life more than a few Dual and Technical turntables. The knowledge gained from this site’s experts has enabled me to have amazingly good sounding systems for very little investment.

At this point of the audio hobby, I have no more room for new ‘finds’ and have quit actively looking for more vintage gear which has reduced my need for repair help and opinions on gear. I also found a tech who is able to keep my stuff running.

I listen to my systems everyday, but find myself coming to AK less frequently.

Hope the experts on this site don’t wear out on helping nobs like me.
 
Maintain civility. Talk to others like we'd want to be talked to. There are no dumb questions or stupid suggestions. Please raise your hand if you've always known everything about audio. People leave sites where they don't feel welcome. Thank you Mods who devote your time to keeping us all in line! I've deleted some of my posts that I've realized were not in line with AK's personality or mine on second thought.
 
I would like to share some insight as a newer member. Audio is a financial indulgence that is time consuming and takes up space. There are near infinite combinations of gear to listen to. You can’t hear it all, for one reason or another. I’d rather reserve comment for things I feel I am qualified to comment on. And that requires having listened to something.

I exclusively lurk on Audio Science Review. The level of testing they do there is thorough and the discussion around it is fascinating. What rarely ever contributes to the conversation is when somebody makes assertions based on what the owner/reviewer Amir says, and passes it off as their own opinion. “Well I would never try that because Amir said this and/or that”. I’m rarely following a thread because I’m interested in the thoughts of somebody who hasn’t heard the thing. Unless they can bring something more to the table than “well Amir said so”.

So I try not to be that person. I do like posting what I’m listening to though in the threads that are reserved for that sort of thing.
After you have been here for awhile you will come to realize that Amir is full of BS. "SINAD" is the holy grail of that sight (and a term that I personally despise), and lots of equipment will test well on a bench when hooked up to a 1 kohm resistor and have great SINAD but then sound like complete crap when hooked up to an actual system- example is some of the little Fosi class D amps that are marketed as having 300 watts per channel but actually have less than 30 WPC, yet Amir says the have better "SINAD" than a $5K McIntosh amp... The big issue is that that site never does subjective listening tests, and if they did they would learn that SINAD doesn't mean schizz with how an amp can sound.
... Rant Over ...
 
AK is part of my morning coffee ritual. And my afternoon tea ritual. And my after dinner beer ritual. And my late night puff ritual (well, barely a puff these days).
I really look forward to seeing the comments and posts by familiar folks like Sgt. Shultz, Adnick, Chris the retipper, etc. I only spend about three nights a week with my girlfriend (we will get married soon and get a house together, but right now what we have is working - I can blast music at 2am!).
Thanks AK! To 30 more years!
 
After you have been here for awhile you will come to realize that Amir is full of BS. "SINAD" is the holy grail of that sight (and a term that I personally despise), and lots of equipment will test well on a bench when hooked up to a 1 kohm resistor and have great SINAD but then sound like complete crap when hooked up to an actual system- example is some of the little Fosi class D amps that are marketed as having 300 watts per channel but actually have less than 30 WPC, yet Amir says the have better "SINAD" than a $5K McIntosh amp... The big issue is that that site never does subjective listening tests, and if they did they would learn that SINAD doesn't mean schizz with how an amp can sound.
... Rant Over ...
Sorry, what is this "SINAD?"

I know Sinbad, the 1990s comedian. Is that close?

Thanks!
 
Sorry, what is this "SINAD?"

I know Sinbad, the 1990s comedian. Is that clos
Pulled this off wikipedia (basically how much distortion an amp makes. It makes it seem that tube amps should sound awful as they have a very low SINAD, but as many of us know, they sound beautiful):

The signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SINAD) is a measure of the quality of a signal from a communications device. SINAD is usually expressed in dB and is quoted alongside the receiver RF sensitivity, to give a quantitative evaluation of the receiver sensitivity. Note that with this definition, unlike SNR, a SINAD reading can never be less than one.

Due to widespread use, SINAD has collected several different definitions. SINAD is commonly defined as:

  1. The ratio of (a) total received power, i.e., the signal to (b) the noise-plus-distortion power. This is modeled by the equation above.
  2. The ratio of (a) the power of a test signal, i.e. a sine wave, to (b) the residual received power, i.e. noise-plus-distortion power. With this definition, it is possible to have a SINAD level less than one. This definition is used in the calculation of ENOB for DACs and ADCs.
 
They have nice setups. There's a guy that does headphone reviews on YouTube.

wooh...$1750 for a set of headphones? I guess if you have no room for big amps and tower speakers, then the price isn't too outrageous for good sound ... I'm glad I have the room (and $$$) for big amps and big speakers.
 
The fact we can varied opinions, a bit of jabbing and still remain respectful is a great key to AK. "I don't know bout no SINBAD but I do know what my ears tell me :-) " Honestly, I have tried some equipment that has NASA specs (lol) and was quick to return. SNR and other aspects are great but that's like judging a picture because every stroke is precise...but could be ugly as hell if you see it. My equipment has to have a flavor as well as precision. The flavor for me (example why I like Marantz) is how it makes me feel ..am I in tune with what I hear either through focused listening or background, or is there something that makes me want to turn it off or at least fiddle because all is not well and there is a "tremor in the force:
 
The fact we can varied opinions, a bit of jabbing and still remain respectful is a great key to AK. "I don't know bout no SINBAD but I do know what my ears tell me :) " Honestly, I have tried some equipment that has NASA specs (lol) and was quick to return. SNR and other aspects are great but that's like judging a picture because every stroke is precise...but could be ugly as hell if you see it. My equipment has to have a flavor as well as precision. The flavor for me (example why I like Marantz) is how it makes me feel ..am I in tune with what I hear either through focused listening or background, or is there something that makes me want to turn it off or at least fiddle because all is not well and there is a "tremor in the force:
It's like describing what makes a female pretty. It isn't easy to put into words, but you instantly know one when you see her.

And what female looks pretty to you --- maybe doesn't to others.

;)
 
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