If you had to do it all over again

[MattyW]

1 hour ago, was_a said:

Great question - if implausible (in that I couldn't answer it without having experimented with sources and equipment over many years). Starting out now one word comes to mind: cheaper! This is not a word that would apply to vinyl, of course!

 

The standard of a $2K DAC these days is extraordinarily good. And a thriving second-hand market for speakers and amps is a huge advantage for an experienced buyer. 

 

My approach would be to keep things simple, attain very good rather than superlative sound quality, and enjoy the music.

But superlative sounds so very much better 

 

If I could arrive at my current config without having to learn on the way and experiment so much it would have saved tens of thousands of dollars. That's not saying the system is tens of thousands of dollars,  simply that it has taken trying a lot of gear to arrive at what I like is all.

Edited April 3, 2020 by MattyW

[Brianvcskin1]

Get to the point of diminishing returns stop and enjoy the music.

Haha not likely.

 

[mpearce38]

9 hours ago, MattyW said:

But superlative sounds so very much better 

 

If I could arrive at my current config without having to learn on the way and experiment so much it would have saved tens of thousands of dollars. That's not saying the system is tens of thousands of dollars,  simply that it has taken trying a lot of gear to arrive at what I like is all.

Fully agree,

 

There have been some bad decisions along the way, like trying to shoehorn triple ported speakers into a small room with bass issues. Also things I've sold along for peanuts which I now wish I'd held on too.

 

I just find instore demos compromised one thing I've learnt recently is synergy between components especially amplifiers and speakers the variables are huge and even with same amp same speakers in a store can sound very different in your own home.

 

I remember demoing a pair of Kefs ls40 in store and didn't get what all the fuss was about but found a used pair latter on and they were a phenomenal speaker in my room.  You just don't know until you hear it, then you can't un-hear it which is what makes chasing the dream so hard and expensive.

Edited April 3, 2020 by mpearce38

[KRSDarwin]

It’s the journey itself that I have really enjoyed

 

Bose lifestyle > AVR and separates > Sonos > HiFi magazines > donating systems to family members > much better speakers > much better amplification > hobby with my son> SACD > vinyl > SNA > Roon & DAC > secondhand gear > tubes > Discogs > multiple systems > ?

 

I find it hard to imagine being shut in like we are without great music.  Last night our family listened to beautiful music late into the night under warm lamp lights. Perfect. 

[jeromelang]

I wish i'd started on vinyl earlier, and bought all those great records at cheap prices

 

i would also want to experiment with high efficiency, time-aligned speakers, low watts amps with non-metallic chassis,  single chassis digital playback devices.

 

 

[Al.M]

On 31/03/2020 at 10:32 AM, allthumbs said:

From a 35 year interest on and off starting all over again is difficult to contextualize because of the changes in technology that have occurred during my journey.  The change from Analogue to Digital has been disruptive and required a number of updating of hardware over the years but for me it has been a very positive move.

 

If I was to replace the words "Audiophile / Enthusiast"and "HiFi gear" with" Imelda Marcos" and "shoes" respectively I would argue could explain most of us .

 

I tend to think that high fidelity hardware was probably solved 40 or 50 years ago and the rest has been a tinkering at the edges and I am more bedazzled by the sources and amount of available music and the connectivity options  and the adaptive ability of the industry to so readily integrate the internet, that right now I can't think of the next leap forward.

 

As i have often said I have a pair of 30 year old floor-standers that still sound not only good but competitive with a lot of contemporary speakers that still provide me with real satisfaction. Overall they look pretty much the same as what is available now namely a box with drivers and I ponder outside of electrostatics why no great leaps forward have been made in speaker design?

 

The limits of Physics perhaps?

 

But generally I'm relatively happy, a few false roads taken, a few good dollars wasted, a few good lessons both ignored and learned but an enormous world of music discovered, explored and enjoyed.

 

 

What 30 year old speaker do you have?

 

Speaker driver technology from 1990s and until now have not really got much better. Instead what’s happened is there is a lot of glitz with drivers and speaker external appearance commanding stupid prices.

 

In the 90s there were tweeters like Dynaudio Esotar tweeters and Scanspeak paper cone midrange units, lots of good Scanspeak and Seas Driver, ATC dome midrange units, designs that are still used and as good as modern equivalents using the bespoke materials and like price tags.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Al.M

[Batty]

I'd like to try electrostatics.

[kranky]

I do it over and over which is why most of my gear is DIY.

Learning, making mistakes, it's all part of the journey.

I was looking for a transformer the other day and came across some EML Mesh plate 300B tubes i had stashed away and forgotten about, another project.

Steve.

 

[allthumbs]

45 minutes ago, Al.M said:

What 30 year old speaker do you have?

ELAC -EL-100's

 

 From memory I bought them in around 1989 and they have been back and forth around the world with me.  They were designed by one of the major engineers of the renaissance of German Hi-Fi, Wolfgang Seikritt who developed and manufactured the drivers from his company Axiom Elektroacoustic's that was bought by ELAC and became a wholly owned subsidiary of ELAC.

 

Seikritt had started at Braun based in Frankfurt and co-developed some of those famous speakers, before moving to HECO and then became a co-founder at Canton if I remember rightly of which both companies were based around and the Taunus sound was born.

 

It is said the Braun would send the young Seikritt to hear Symphony concerts in Frankfurt twice a month , just imagine that.

 

Siekritt had a falling out with the other co-founders of Canton ( another band of young and talented engineers and business capabilities who launched the company from scratch) and went out on his own. His drivers were recognized by enthusiasts for their exacting tolerances and the speakers were known for their neutral and natural sound reproduction moving away from the famous/infamous? Taunus sound.  Axiom got into trouble and was bought by ELAC and Seikritt's designs were used in the reboot of the ELAC brand with a new range of speakers, the ELAC -EL100 was one of those.

 

Seikritt was also recognized as an earlier inventor ? developer of the dome tweeter back in the 1960's.

 

Although I bought them in Austria I think the price back then was about 700DM.

 

Photo is from the net, but they are two albums I still have in my collection and were played on my Elac's back in the day.

• Modell: EL 100
• Baujahre: 09/1989 - 08/1992
• Hergestellt in:
• Farbe: Esche Schwarz Dekor, Nußbaum Dekor, Weiß Dekor, Grau Dekor
• Abmessungen: 750 x 235 x 285 mm (H x B x T)
• Gewicht: 15,5 kg
• Neupreis ca.: 698,- DM (UVP/Stück)

Technische Daten

• Bauart: 3-Wege Baßreflex Standlautsprecher
• Chassis:
  • Tieftöner: 2x 165 mm Konus
  • Mitteltöner: 1x 25 mm Kalotte
  • Hochtöner: 1x 19 mm Kalotte
• Belastbarkeit (Nenn-/Musikb.): 100 / 130 Watt
• Wirkungsgrad: 91 dB/2,83V/1m
• Frequenzgang: 38 - 22.000 Hz
• Übergangsbereiche: 900 / 3.200 Hz
• Impedanz: 4 Ohm

 

[djmt]

I've had hundreds of lp's, hundreds of cd's, hundreds of cassettes. Keep it simple. A good pre/dac/streamer, roon/tidal, actives...done.

[Alan Davis]

On 31/03/2020 at 12:35 AM, needlerunner said:

I would probably be where l am now. It's taken me 40+ years to get there. But l now have the system that l am truly happy with. So in answer to your question: Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Just out of interest, what is the system that you are now so happy with?

[pops9745]

On 02/04/2020 at 2:03 PM, mpearce38 said:

I guess for me having a good think about it I'd do the following

 

Go active and remove the variable of the amplifier

Get a good quality Streamer / DAC

Play around with good quality analogue pres

Pay more attention to my cabling 

 

Yep going active has been great - for me and the family. Just start playing music from the phone (Spotify, Tidal, Roon, local network) and the speakers turn themselves on and beautiful music springs forth. Easy. Spent so much time agonising over equipment and how to make it easy for the family over the years. Now I don't even have to think about it - can spend more time discovering new music.

Edited April 19, 2020 by pops9745

[lemarquis]

I don't know that I'd do anything differently. It's all part of the journey and I haven't made too many cock ups.. it's all been fun. Happy where I have landed so far

Edited April 22, 2020 by lemarquis

[bevwil]

I wish I had hung on to my Spica TC 50s

[Essence]

prioritised room above everything else...

[warweary]

On 30/03/2020 at 9:05 PM, mpearce38 said:

If you sold every bit of kit you had and started from scratch what would you do?

I would weep at the loss.

[MattyW]

Mmm, my answer has changed.  I'd get the bundle of Linear Tube Audio Z10 Integrated,  Lampizator DAC and Spatial M3 speakers that they sell for $10k USD. Would likely sound as good as what I have for less complexity and money 

[Jeddie]

Great thread.

 

2 things;

1.  We talk endlessly about speakers, dacs, cables, chopping boards,  subs etc on and on we go, totally forgetting how important the source is.  Doesn't matter what you have downstream, if your source is shite.

 

2. The poor man always buys twice.  Get good quality 1st time. 

 

[Yamaha_man]

If I had a chance to do it all again I would not sign up to planet audio, by doing so I would enjoy a prosperous life.

@Marc, you have so much to answer for.

Edited May 9, 2020 by Yamaha_man

[metal beat]

13 minutes ago, Yamaha_man said:

If I had a chance to do it all again I would not sign up to planet audio, by doing so I would enjoy a prosperous life.

@Marc, you have so much to answer for.

 

sometimes I think being a crack addict would be cheaper 

[mpearce38]

22 minutes ago, metal beat said:

 

sometimes I think being a crack addict would be cheaper 

and less addictive

[Marc]

8 hours ago, Yamaha_man said:

If I had a chance to do it all again I would not sign up to planet audio, by doing so I would enjoy a prosperous life.

@Marc, you have so much to answer for.

Don't worry. I'm a victim and an addict too as a result of this site. When I started it, I had only a casual interest in Hi-Fi.

Now ...

[Yamaha_man]

10 minutes ago, Marc said:

Don't worry. I'm a victim and an addict too as a result of this site. When I started it, I had only a casual interest in Hi-Fi.

Now ...

I would rather die by my own sword than yours, just saying....

[Tone Malone]

I overhauled my system just before home active speakers really took off in the marketplace, so I'd check out actives now. Less wiring and less angst trying to match the amplifier to the speaker. 

 

I'd also focus on what source components and software allow me to access my music most easily (whether in a digital or physical format). The more accessible the music is, the more you'll play and enjoy it.

[Cafad]

If I had to start all over again, I think I'd buy a 12 foot tinnie and do a lot of fishing.  

Edited May 10, 2020 by Cafad