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

[DavidW]

If I was in the market for an integrated amp I would be inclined to get one from NAD. I owned a 3020 way back when. If someone wanted to criticize me they could say I'm paying way too much and I should get a Yamaha or Denon for half the price. Or they could say don't buy "mid fi" and get a much better Subjectivity Z99 for only $2000 more.

     I think I could explain my choice on mostly objective grounds, with some sentimentality in the mix.

I have an NAD power amp and it is absolutely amazing.  Loads of power.  Exceptionally low noise floor and distortion.  And that is just the entry level.  Both objectivist and subjectivist reviewers are in love with NAD's current class D amps.  They are just killing it!

[Todd]

The idea being, I suppose, that the appeal of a $50K Rolex doesn't lie solely in its ability to tell the time.  It may or may not tell the time better than the $10 Casio around my wrist (and also around the wrist of Will Smith in the movie Enemy of the State) but even if it doesn't, it's still a better watch.

It's neo-Gilded Age consumerism for the bourgeoisie.  So are Avalon loudspeakers and Goldmund electronics.  To connect such rarified stereo components, one must use at least Nordost Odin cables.  Preferably, the discerning listener, with 24 karat golden ears would use 24 karat gold speaker cables from Liutanie Audio.

[Florestan]

I generally refer them to Enemy of the State, and say that if it's good enough for Will Smith then it's good enough for me.  (I don't mention that in the movie he is disparaging when given the the Casio - for its stopwatch function - precisely because it must have cost all of $10.) 

 

[71 dB]

I think that Harry was reacting to all of us and not just you.  It is a matter of quantity, I think he felt like we were piling on.

Of course, but I apologized on my behalf. Others can do the same if they see fit.

[71 dB]

If I was in the market for an integrated amp I would be inclined to get one from NAD. I owned a 3020 way back when. If someone wanted to criticize me they could say I'm paying way too much and I should get a Yamaha or Denon for half the price. Or they could say don't buy "mid fi" and get a much better Subjectivity Z99 for only $2000 more.

     I think I could explain my choice on mostly objective grounds, with some sentimentality in the mix.

I thought 3020 was the super-affordable option costing only £69 and selling 1.4 million units becoming the best selling amp ever. My first proper amp was the follow-up model to 3020, NAD 302. Still banging even if it's my spare amp at this point.

[71 dB]

It may or may not tell the time better than the $10 Casio around my wrist (and also around the wrist of Will Smith in the movie Enemy of the State) but even if it doesn't, it's still a better watch.

I also use "$10 Casio", namely model F-91W. The only weakness of that watch is the low quality wrist band that gets broken within a few years. I bought high quality silicon wrist band for my Casio years ago and I have a perfect watch only needing a new battery every 7 years.

[71 dB]

I have an NAD power amp and it is absolutely amazing.  Loads of power.  Exceptionally low noise floor and distortion.  And that is just the entry level.  Both objectivist and subjectivist reviewers are in love with NAD's current class D amps.  They are just killing it!

What model do you have? NAD amps deliver impressive power compared to the specs and due to excessive current source can drive low impedance speakers with ease even down to 1 Ω!

[71 dB]

Yes that's the model I have.  Cheap enough to buy in quantity and leave around the place.

Cool. 

You are right about the wristband, however you can get replacement parts easily and cheaply.

Sure, but I wanted a permanent solution. The silicon wristband has been insanely durable.

[drogulus]

    Consider the conclusion that CDs don't sound as good as LPs. To test this you might record an LP and burn it to a CD and compare the results. Comparing a commercial CD with the same recording on LP won't signify as they will be differently mastered. A real comparison designed to reveal an inherent difference between digital and analog would eliminate extraneous variables as much as possible. You would digitally record the LP and match the levels when listening.

    I don't have the necessaries to do this test, but it would be easy to do if I had the right stuff. What I do have is a "needle drop" of the Bernstein 1958 Rite Of Spring which sounds terrific. If I compared the digital copy to the LP would there be a difference that was recognizably digital?

     Just in case you want to play, here is the needle drop I'm talking about.

     The Rite of Spring - Bernstein NYPO ('58)

     

     

[DavidW]

What model do you have? NAD amps deliver impressive power compared to the specs and due to excessive current source can drive low impedance speakers with ease even down to 1 Ω!

C268

[71 dB]

C268

Oh, quite a new model then. Cool.

[71 dB]

Comparing a commercial CD with the same recording on LP won't signify as they will be differently mastered.

Even if they were the same master, the CD would lack the distortion of LP.

A real comparison designed to reveal an inherent difference between digital and analog would eliminate extraneous variables as much as possible. You would digitally record the LP and match the levels when listening.

Yes and when we do this we hear how the digital copy of a LP sounds identical. It is the same master and contains the same distortions.

[Valentino]

^^^^Ruler flat doesn't sound good here, so after setting things up like that mine is tilted with a ruler straight 6 dB drop from 100 Hz to 10 kHz plus a 2-3 dB dip centered at 2 kHz.

Shall listen to that needle drop, drogulus. Haven't heard that recording.
I don't do needle drops myself. Playing LPs is half ritual, and I don't go to church much, so...

Wrist watches (and cufflinks) are almost the only jewelry a man can wear. So they can be a statement like an expensive Hifi system can be. Both hifi electronics and wrist watches can be SOTA without being expensive.

[Herman]

Why? The sole purpose of a watch is to tell the time.

It's also one of the few male pieces of status 'jewelry'.
Nobody really needs a wristwatch anymore.
You have a phone for checking the time.

[Irons]

Even if they were the same master, the CD would lack the distortion of LP.

Yes and when we do this we hear how the digital copy of a LP sounds identical. It is the same master and contains the same distortions.

[Florestan]

It's also one of the few male pieces of status 'jewelry'.
Nobody really needs a wristwatch anymore.
You have a phone for checking the time.

Of course. Phone, car watch, computer watch. I have not had a wristwatch since I can't remember when. 

[Valentino]

I have two. Don't like not wearing one. Faster than the phone. My sons (20 and 18) don't wear watches though.

[Fëanor]

Blind tests are the only way to remove expectation bias from the equation. Expectation bias renders listening tests useless, because it is about your expectations of the sound rather than the sound itself.

Absolutely and categorically true, of course.

(... Although there a been more than a few occasions when my subjective impression was much different that what I had expected or hoped for.)

[Harry]

Watches are another passion of mine, especially mechanical ones. I have three of them, and very please with them, and with leather straps I might add.

[Valentino]

Bought a couple of Oris watches some thirty years ago. My sons have inherited them. Hopefully they'll use them some time in the future.
My daily watch now is a Braun AW10, and for suiting up a Braun AW50. Both are nice light quartz watches with easy to read hands.

For hifi I plan to get a MM cartridge for the turntable, a lot of my listening is not really worth the (to me) rather expensive MC I'm using now.

The other stuff I have is just fine, even if it's not your average hifi shop gear.