Got Any Audioholics Here?

a reply to: Lazarus Short

Yes sir, the MDR's. I've tried the 1A's before, and they sound absolutely lovely.

I have an old CDP-85ES Changer that I'm working on restoring to sell right now too with a built in DAC and headphone amp. I've seen some of them go on the bay for about $250 in "okay" shape. Tickles me inside a bit.

a reply to: Shugo

I looked at your link, but I must confess that I always preferred Sennheiser's, at least before they moved production to China. Oh, yes, Stax too - back when I was a headphone enthusiast, I had a pair of SR-5 earspeakers (as Stax called them) powered with a Stax vacuum-tube amp (forget the model #). That rig provided me with some of the best audio I ever experienced - however, increasing tinnitus put the brakes on my headphone hobby.

a reply to: Lazarus Short

No harm, no foul. Most Sony ES gear I've found is quite expensive - to the point I can't justify the expense. It's geared towards the audiophille who insists on having a pricetag go with his sound. I personally feel you can get great sound out of a pair of Senny's or Pioneer's.

just found this thread and have to say im an analog freak!
ive got a 1976 vintage pioneer sx-1050 receiver [wish it was an sx-1250] which is wonderful.
ive also got the pioneer ct-f9191 and ct-f8282 tape decks, circa 1977. yes, i still listen to tape.
maxell ud-xlII, and xl-II tapes that i recorded back in the 70's and 80's dont seem to have suffered from the years.
other brands have not fared well though. i was in the habit back then of playing an album once,recording it
to tape then listening to the tape. im enjoying listening to albums again, and to me analog is where its at.
my pioneer pl-630 turntable is long gone so i purchased a audio technica and it sounds great.
people will argue digital is best, but for me analog..records..tapes, are best.

a reply to: autopat51

I prefer analog myself. I just did the math a few days ago. I got my first stereo when I was 8. It took me 3 years to go from Analog, that is Unbalanced L/R to TOSLINK. It took me 13 years to go from TOSLINK to HDMI 1.4. Even in spite of that, I still am rocking a DAC. One of my systems has a Pioneer PL-990 attached to it. Another has a Pioneer CRT (I wanna say an WS340, or something?) tape deck.

Even though I have a lot of digital sources now, I too will still argue in favor of analog. I use an Emotiva XDA-2 Gen 1 to convert the signal of music files on my PC to analog before it hits the Pre. Then from the pre (I use a Fusion 8100) it goes out unbalanced to a set of power amps.

I used to have a Pioneer SA-420, the integrated amp of the SX-1040 (if my memory is right). That thing was a blast!

originally posted by: barkleymayson
a reply to: jtrenthacker

Hey, buddy! I see that you're experienced with the question of choosing the right turntable - can please help me as well! My cousin has sent me the list with reviews for best turntable for scratching - which one would you recommend me to get?

While I'm not quite an authority on Turntablism, it seems that Audio-Technica LP120 is very popular. Personally, I'd go with the Technics SL-1200's just because of the nostalgia factor. They were the turntables that hip-hop was built on. Looks like they are going for $600-$1000+ used.

Didn't see this thread before so will def be watching it.

From a turntable perspective you can't go wrong with the AT LP120 at that price point, this is currently what I run. If you want to customize the sound a bit there are multiple videos or sites that go over how to remove the built in preamp. Granted you are talking scratching and not just a listening experience so that could impact your choice.

Im about to drop a good amount on a vintage (circa 60s) McIntosh Tube setup or the newish MA252 for my analog setup .
Could get something cheaper or whatever but for me its not only an investment, McIntosh build quality, but also the aesthetics and hell since I got into audio 25 years ago it's been a dream of mine to own a piece of M gear.

Current setup is a good quality budget config of an Onkyo A-9010 for integrated amp, Onkyo C-7030 for CD, Definitive Tech D7 with music streaming via thunderbolt to audio out.

Previous setup was a Marantz mono block 5 channel system with B&W DM607s. this was a great though very bright sounding system but I had to sell it for a few reasons.

I scored a Bogen Challenger 33 for 15 bucks at a church yard sale.
2 6L6GC, 3 12AX7, 1 12AV6.
I'm going to use it for a harmonica amp.

a reply to: skunkape23

Gotta love those deals! Those are pretty nice when converted to an instrument amp, though I suppose for the harmonica one wouldn't have to do much of anything.

I've currently got a 20w custom guitar amp being built by Ceriatone. I strongly considered building it myself, but the folks at Ceriatone simply deserve my money (that's saying something..).

Next couple months will be hopefully setting up my parents theater. Should be fun! Been quite a few years since I've done it.

I'm jealous of anyone who has McIntosh anything

Only just seen this thread - think I'll follow along.
Always like discussing good audio gear.

Stereo only for me, though I was once tempted to try 2.1 with a REL sub.

Mainly a Roon user, streamed to Metrum Ambre in the main listening room and onto a Schiit Gumby feeding a Rega amp and Rega Ear headamp driving Kef R's and HD650's respectively.... basically mid range without spending silly money, but still fun.

Next upgrades will be amp and speakers.

a reply to: UKTruth

More audiophole people need to support Schiit IMO.

Great products , great prices all built in the US which given your apparent location probably doesn't matter as much.

Im currently running an Schiit Etir as my USB interface into my integrated amp.
To keep building out that stack im going to grab a Modi III DAC I think which at the $99 price point is getting great reviews, "Modi 3 is the best-sounding DAC in its price-class that I’ve heard to date. And on the lower side of $200 I am hard pressed to name anything else that can definitively beat it"


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