Topic: What audio system do you have, or plan on getting?

[dtwilbanks]

iPod/Computer/Vehicle

I have a home stereo but never use it.  Maybe because it's in the same room as the TV. 

[Mark]

I've recently rejoined the MP3 generation (having given it a miss for most of last year, following three years of experiments with numerous and costly DAPs/lossy formats), and bought myself this ridiculously small, 2Gb Zen V player from Creative:



I always go for this brand of DAP, as the sound quality beats the pants off every iPod I've ever heard. On this, I can carry about 20 CDs in variable bitrate ranging from around 160kbps to 320kbps. I have about 11Gb of music on my PC HDD, so I just switch content whenever I tire of listening to whatever's currently on the player. I add to my MP3 collection from various sources, but principally, from eMusic (at the rate of about 9-12 CDs a month), as well as by ripping from my own CD collection (not that I'll ever have the patience to rip all 1000+ discs!).

My headphones of choice for on the move are these Sennheiser PX200s:



They're surprisingly neutral-sounding for a pair costing around £22-£25, and unbelievably lightweight.

My home 'hifi' doesn't deserve either the name or a mention; and my SigmaTek XM400 Pro DVD/CD/SACD/MP3/DiVX/JPEG/...pretty-much-everything player ain't much better, either:



My home headphones, on the other hand, are MUCH better. I got these AKG K501s for just £60 delivered (they're worth £140+ new) from an eBay seller, and they arrived in immaculate condition:



They sound crystal clear, and while some people complain about less-than-ideal bass response, I've had no problems. Indeed, does one want walloping bass with most classical music?

And when I'm surfing the internet? I just whack a CD into my crappy, five-year-old PC (albeit with upgraded, Samsung DVD drives) and listen through a media player like WMP or Media Monkey.

[orbital]

portable listening on this:

It is 60GB's, almost full  I think I have a couple of GB's left in there. The sound is considerably better than the iPod, plus it reads every music format out there.

I try to use this headphone as much as it looks ridiculously huge 


other times, I use the tiny mx500.

At home, I have a very basic system which I use for movies more than anything else. An Onkyo receiver and surround system. My ears are not sensitive at all though, so when I want to listen to something loud, it suffices. I can hardly differentiate between a high quality hi fi and a basic set up such as mine. This is both good and bad I guess.

I have been using a CD player less and less though. I have all my music perfectly organized in 192 or higher kps on my computer and a digital connection to the receiver is quickly taking over the practice of changing (not to mention finding) CD's 

[Mark]

Orbital, what cans are those? And are they closed-back?

[orbital]

Orbital, what cans are those? And are they closed-back?

they are Sennheiser HD280 Pros. They are closed, and they produce a very natural sound with no accentuations to bo seen across the spectrum. And very comfy too

[Mark]

Thanks!

[toledobass]

At home is a Cambridge Audio amp and CD player and a Creek audio headphone amp along with Senn 580's.

For the road is a Sony CD player,  a go-vibe amp and senn 280's.


Allan

[sonic1]

I usually listen to music on crack, but sometimes weed is ok too. If I can't score that, I stick to cheap wisky.

[Danny]

A walkman with all of the aformentioned by sonic1.

[The Mad Hatter]

orbital: where did you get that portable music device? How much was it?

I listen on my rubbish mp3 player, but then I'm usually listening on the train so can't hear too much detail anyway.

If I'm listening to CDs, it's on my old Sony Discman, because firstly I find the sound remarkably crisp and clean, and secondly, I don't want to bother my housemates.

[Harry]

This is my secondary system.

Avalon wall speakers.
Meridian 508 24 bit player.
Nu Vista Musical Fidelity cd player
MF 308 amp.
Nordost cabling and interlinks.

[Harry]

The rest

[Sergeant Rock]

In the main listening room:

Canton Vento 807 speakers
Thorens TD 320 turntable with a Shure V15 cartridge
Sony S444ESII tuner
Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck
Denon DCD 685 CD player
Harmon Kardon 970 integrated amp (a cheap, quick replacement until I get my behemoth 25-year-old Yamaha amplifier repaired or replaced with something comparable)






In my den I have a Denon integrated amp and a HK CD player (which I really hate...it's not long for this world) and a pair of Polk bookshelf speakers:




Sony systems in the cars.


Sarge

[Harry]

Office system.

Meridian 508 20 bit, cd player.
Tannoy speakers, Saturn S6LCR, hanging from the wall.
Nakamichi amp/tuner RE 1.
Nordost cabling and interlinks.

Its quite a good set-up to my surprise.

[Harry]

And this one in my bedroom.
The Philips Streamium.

[George]

Harry, your wife looks pleased with the stereo. 

[orbital]

orbital: where did you get that portable music device? How much was it?

I got it from Amazon for about $250
http://www.amazon.com/iAudio-X5-Multimedia-Player-Black/dp/B000BKPK90
though, they seem to be out of stock for now. You can find it at other retailers I am sure.

My main reason with going with this player is that it needs no interface, and files are organizes like a regular hard drive with a folder/sub/subsub/... hierarchy. Very easy to organize music that way

[greg]

Re: What do you listen to music on?

the toilet

[Harry]

Harry, your wife looks pleased with the stereo. 

Well she is, my friend!

[Shrunk]

My preference is vinyl, which I listen to on my Nottingham Interspace turntable:



with this very weird but wonderful tonearm by RS labs:



...and a Denon DL103 cartridge.

When I have to listen to CD's, I use a Sony universal player that has been modified by Tube Research Labs (http://www.tuberesearchlabs.com/).

My preamp is a Bottlehead Foreplay, which I made from a kit (http://www.bottlehead.com/), and my amp is a pair of 300B SET monoblocks that I made myself (with extensive help from some more experienced friends).  Those are not operational at the moment, however, as I am in the midst of building the speakers, Lowther Medallion III horns to be exact  (http://www.lowther-america.com/):



...so until that project is complete (which is taking much longer than I expected), I'm listening thru headphones.