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Woolie Wool posted:Well some people actually buy 20-year-old V8 Ferraris. A lightly used Corvette will be much cheaper, faster, safer, probably handle better, has some actual cargo room, and the gas mileage is much better, but many people, given the choice between the keys to a C6 Corvette and a Ferrari F355, are going to take the Ferrari. Sometimes the sensible choice is just boring, and tubes are cool. I personally don't give much of a gently caress about my amp's measurements, I know they're worse than the solid-state models from the same manufacturer and I don't care. I didn't get it because I wanted to have objectively the best amp, it's a real live tube amp that actually amps with tubes for less than $400, and it's really cool seeing the heaters come on and in replacing the worn out input tubes with ECC88s that were made before most of the people on SA were even born. Do they sound better than the 6N1Ps sounded when they were new? Who the gently caress cares, how many things do you have that were made in 1965? So your reasoning basically boils down to "it's old and it has pretty lights on it so I don't care if the amp is objectively a piece of poo poo". I think I understand it now - audiophiles are basically cats. Doesn't matter if the equipment is garbage as long as it looks pretty (and is expensive).
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Jan 11, 2016 19:04
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| # ? Apr 18, 2024 11:32 |
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The car analogy would work if certain cars weren't astoundingly beautiful works of art in their own right. Tube amps aren't really known for being pretty.
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Jan 11, 2016 19:54
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Or replace the Ferrari with a Camaro Z that's been at the bottom of a lake for 15 years.
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Jan 11, 2016 20:16
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One day I'll take a photo with all the knobs on it, but I think my tube amp looks pretty nice. Sounds like poo poo though. http://imgur.com/a/U5eDa
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Jan 11, 2016 21:50
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KozmoNaut posted:Apparently I'm a "cable fundamentalist" just like the crazy woo-woo audiophiles, because I doggedly trust in science, measurements and common sense. Please find out what this special music is for us.
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Jan 12, 2016 09:48
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LOVE LOVE SKELETON posted:Please find out what this special music is for us. I asked what this special delicate equipment and special music was, and why such special care has to be taken during playback when the gear used in studios is anything but delicate, and they use completely ordinary cabling. Another user did propose a test using an audiophile test CD (of course) containing a recording of a high-pitched bell. His reasoning was that he had tested some cables and found that some of them caused the bell's sound to be inaudible. So of course some cables are more transparent than others  Unfortunately, since there had been some rather unpleasant posts directed towards me by a particular user*, the thread was closed by a moderator. So I never got recommendations for this allegedly very sensitive equipment and special music, and magical EQ-capable cables. I'm sure the magical special music is either something from Chesky or mastered by Steve Hoffman. * Said user is an ex-moderator on the site, which apparently makes him exempt from moderation/banning.
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Jan 12, 2016 10:07
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As silly as it is, you have to respect McIntosh for doggedly doing exactly what they do, every time. They announced a wireless all in one speaker at CES that uses the DTS Play-Fi architecture like most of the wifi stuff coming out of smaller manufacturers. And how do you differentiate your purchased-from-a-supplier reference platform in a crowded market? If you guessed "blue VU meter and silver knobs" you win the prize!  That said at only $1000 it barely qualifies for this thread. If I had baller money I'd get a few of the new mini mu-so Naim announced, that premium knobfeel gets me every time. qirex fucked around with this message at 19:49 on Jan 12, 2016 |
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Jan 12, 2016 19:45
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I think a grand for a glorified clock radio (with a VU meter instead of a clock) fully qualifies it for this thread.
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Jan 12, 2016 20:10
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I'd rather have this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqn5BisP4No But then again, I think all McIntosh gear is frightfully ugly.
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Jan 12, 2016 20:16
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TomR posted:One day I'll take a photo with all the knobs on it, but I think my tube amp looks pretty nice. Sounds like poo poo though. As compared to AM radios in general? Did you replace the caps? How are the speakers in the cabinet?
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Jan 12, 2016 20:56
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HFX posted:As compared to AM radios in general? Did you replace the caps? How are the speakers in the cabinet? Does it improve the emotional response of the music? What about GRIP? Have you tried brilliant pebbles?
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Jan 12, 2016 21:28
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qirex posted:As silly as it is, you have to respect McIntosh for doggedly doing exactly what they do, every time. They announced a wireless all in one speaker at CES that uses the DTS Play-Fi architecture like most of the wifi stuff coming out of smaller manufacturers. And how do you differentiate your purchased-from-a-supplier reference platform in a crowded market? If you look at the sticker on the back of the thing, it says "Designed by McIntosh in the USA". Someone in one of the audiophile forums surmises this means it was actually made in China. I'm inclined to agree. Oh McIntosh, how the mighty have fallen.
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Jan 12, 2016 21:40
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Stereophile is running their CES impressions columns right now, they're pretty funny Just put everything in a separate box, that's got to sound better!  quote:Pass Labs may laugh a bit at its excess, as in the XS series, but Vladimir Lamm saves his smiles for the sounds of his brand-new, four-box LL 1.1 Signature line level preamplifier ($45,390/pair). That "pair" in the price is not a typo. This baby consists of two mono preamps plus two separate power supplies! remember the weirder looking it is the better it sounds  quote:Stunning to behold, eh? Cast your eyes on the US debut of Aries Cerat's new line of equipment from Cypress, imported by Joshua Masongsong of Texas-based Believe High Fidelity. In the middle of crazy, crazy Las Vegas, I felt as though I was immersed in a nice warm bath as I listened to Aries Cerat's Symphonia Aries Limited Edition 3-way horn loudspeakers ($125,000/pair gets you 101dB sensitivity and only one of five pairs in existence), Concero 65 SET class-A monoblocks ($35,000/pair), Impera Signature Edition Mk.II preamp ($82,500), and Kassandra Reference Mk II PCM DAC ($35,000).
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Jan 12, 2016 21:42
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Separates mean less crosstalk and Foobar has ASIO for bit-perfect stream output. 
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Jan 12, 2016 22:03
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I think shops like separate everything so much because it's an excuse to sell 2-3x the number of cables which is what all the margin is on. A boring integrated amp only needs a single power cable but this needs 4!
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Jan 12, 2016 22:27
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I'm reminded of the crazy Audio-Note CD player where the separate power supply is connected using a 3-pin XLR, a 4-pin XLR and a 5-pin XLR. And of course the CD-player only has a digital output, so you need a separate DAC. Naturally.
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Jan 12, 2016 22:29
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quote:Due to a damaged-during-shipment server, the source was a PC with Foobar. Oh poo poo, I hope they had the infamous Creative X-Fi card in there, with its "better than studio quality" processing of MP3s.
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Jan 12, 2016 23:02
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https://www.meridian-audio.com/products/loudspeakers/special-edition-dsp8000-digital-active-loudspeaker/#post-features On the other end of things, you can buy Meridian speakers that cram pretty much everything but the source into the speakers with separate amps for different ranges, all-digital crossovers, etc. 
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Jan 12, 2016 23:20
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$65,000/pair. Meh. Strictly mid-fi.
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Jan 12, 2016 23:27
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grack posted:Does it improve the emotional response of the music? What about GRIP? Have you tried brilliant pebbles? AM is capable of sounding quite decent, with a strong signal and well-running radio. It's not gonna be as good as like a CD or FM of course.
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Jan 13, 2016 00:35
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You can see in the link that I replaced the caps. The radio works fine. It uses an old style speaker with two coils instead of a magnet. The speaker is 12" so the sound from it is kind of flat. I get an AM baseball station that sounds fine because its just talk. There is an RCA jack that I have tried other sources with. I keep an FM tuner from the late 70s in the cabinet so I can listen to music. Still sounds flat without tweeters though. My point is the radio looks nice and is old and cool. I use it from time to time because I like it, not because I think it sounds good. It does not.
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Jan 13, 2016 02:45
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It's interesting to me that they opted for a 12" speaker. AM radio only does about what...4 kHz at the most? Reducing the bass goes a long way toward making it sound decent, and not quite so boomy and muffled. Seems like a smaller driver might have favored the mids a little more and made the balance better. Does it at least have a tone control? I don't recall seeing one.
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Jan 13, 2016 04:28
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I just went and measured it. It's closer to 11". The on off switch is a tone control. It goes from bass to treble as you turn it more in the on direction. This thing was made in 1946 so most people had probably only heard really lovely home audio stuff.
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Jan 13, 2016 04:39
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TomR posted:You can see in the link that I replaced the caps. The radio works fine. It uses an old style speaker with two coils instead of a magnet. The speaker is 12" so the sound from it is kind of flat. I get an AM baseball station that sounds fine because its just talk. There is an RCA jack that I have tried other sources with. I keep an FM tuner from the late 70s in the cabinet so I can listen to music. Still sounds flat without tweeters though. Sorry. I missed the cap replacement. I love fixing old radios. Not because I believe they will sound better, but because they are neat to keep running. Doesn't mean I don't try to tune them up to sound the best I can. Just went backed and looked at the link. Half of that didn't load for me while at work. Our Internet in that building is horrible. Sorry, I missed it. HFX fucked around with this message at 05:00 on Jan 13, 2016 |
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Jan 13, 2016 04:57
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Panty Saluter posted:It's interesting to me that they opted for a 12" speaker. AM radio only does about what...4 kHz at the most? Reducing the bass goes a long way toward making it sound decent, and not quite so boomy and muffled. Seems like a smaller driver might have favored the mids a little more and made the balance better. Does it at least have a tone control? I don't recall seeing one. Considering the age, going big was probably a cheaper way to get loud sound with the other equipment and the type of driver. Tons of old radios had quite large speakers despite AM radio broadcast not ever being all that excellent for bass.
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Jan 13, 2016 05:00
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Croc Monster posted:If you look at the sticker on the back of the thing, it says "Designed by McIntosh in the USA". Someone in one of the audiophile forums surmises this means it was actually made in China. I'm inclined to agree. Oh McIntosh, how the mighty have fallen. McIntosh's logo IMO looks like some weird creepy hybrid cross of a Satanic cult and an energy drink, aka fugly as sin.
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Jan 13, 2016 16:45
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That goes for all of their products in general, not just their logo. Everything they make is hideous.
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Jan 13, 2016 16:56
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Haha, their beach towel is amazing.
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Jan 13, 2016 17:26
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Panty Saluter posted:I think a grand for a glorified clock radio (with a VU meter instead of a clock) fully qualifies it for this thread. KozmoNaut posted:I'd rather have this: Their McIntosh clock is $1800
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Jan 13, 2016 17:47
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Dave Angel posted:Haha, their beach towel is amazing. I wish I could laugh at it, but this is mine.  Bonus points for anyone who spots the "deliberate" mistake. E: TIMGd cos I have a feeling that's big.
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Jan 13, 2016 20:31
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there is no life guard on duty at that pool
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Jan 13, 2016 20:33
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Sunglass earpieces sit below the kittens ears, instead of above as they should.
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Jan 13, 2016 20:35
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and the cups on the headphones are far too small.
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Jan 13, 2016 20:38
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the strobe indicates it's spinning at 50hz and not 60hz despite clearly being plugged into north american mains.
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Jan 13, 2016 20:40
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I think these all qualify. The main one I noticed is the decks being back to front. It's only a one sided towel too, so not a case of flipping it over. I love it far more than anyone else whose ever encountered it.
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Jan 13, 2016 21:15
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I would rock that DJ Catte towel. $45 McIntosh blue meter towel? Not so much.
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Jan 13, 2016 21:21
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It also uses a Hercules DJ Console Mk.I as a mixer without anything plugged in. And which doesn't have phono inputs anyway.
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Jan 13, 2016 21:37
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cats don't know how to DJ
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Jan 14, 2016 02:21
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Tell that to the cat.
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Jan 14, 2016 02:27
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EL BROMANCE posted:I think these all qualify. The main one I noticed is the decks being back to front. It's only a one sided towel too, so not a case of flipping it over. i see you only listen to SD records, not HD ones 
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Jan 14, 2016 02:40
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