Are you into HiFi?

[twinjet]

Bose is known to have hella bass. unfortunately, their customers tend to agree that if there is a big bottom, then that equates to it sounding absolutely amazing.

my theory is that their older listening clientele have poor hearing...

Yeah, hella bass is a good way to put it! But, a good system should sound good across all frequencies, not just the bottom end.

 

[Rumbledore]

Yeah, hella bass is a good way to put it! But, a good system should sound good across all frequencies, not just the bottom end.

...and by poor hearing, i mean the dads who equate mega-bass = sounds good and pull out the line of credit card against their stupid houses to buy one and continue the cycle of plastic waste #imnotmadlmao

 

[Jeff Scott]

Bose is NOT Hi-Fi in my world.

My system is far from the way out there high end hi-fi but it serves me with real, natural sounding music in all genres at realistic volume levels.

 

[blowinblue]

As they used to say in audio salons all over the world, "Bose, the speakers with bass from 20-20k Hz."

Been enjoying home stereo gear since 1973 (one year after moving out on my own). My Dad had a good home stereo beginning in 1961. Listed below is a collection of ‘budget’ gear that continues to give me listening enjoyment in my main system. In parentheses indicates year acquired. All items purchased new. No doubt my system would have been upgraded more through the years, but many funds were diverted to buying bass guitars, bass gear, and accessories. I listen to a mix of vinyl, CD, and KUSC 91.5 Classical FM.

Vandersteen 2Ce’s (1992)
Rega Planar 25 (1999)
Sumiko Blue Point Special (1999)
Creek OBH-8SE (1999)
Adcom GFP-750 (2002)
Adcom GFA-555 II (1993)
Oppo UDP-205 (2017)
Nikko Gamma I (1978)
Solidsteel 5.5 audio rack (1999)

room 14’5” W, 37’5” L, 8’11” H

M. M.

 

[Jeff Scott]

My current system (for the past 30 years has been the same, except for the addition of my McCormack Micro Integrated Drive about 15 years ago.

 

[twinjet]

Bose is NOT Hi-Fi in my world.

My system is far from the way out there high end hi-fi but it serves me with real, natural sounding music in all genres at realistic volume levels.

It seems it is not hi-fi in anyone's, especially in the audiophile community. The Bose system only propelled me into the hobby of critical listening and pure sound. I have always been unnecessarily cheap on music listening equipment but after hearing my stuff through the Bose, I knew I had to have more. The SoundDock I obtained is excellent for just having something to listen to, but it's way too bass heavy for what I want out of my music.

If I want to get a more true sound from my music, I opt for my Sennheiser cans. The HD558 set is just great. Open-back, no-frills headphones with a flat response. This brings me to my next question:

Who here opts for headphones instead of speakers?

I want to buy a high-end set of headphones eventually. The HD558 is great, but after trying a set from Master & Dynamic, I'm hooked. Additionally, it's just easier than assembling a sound system given my current housing layout.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I spend far more time listening on my AKG K401s than I do my stereo system.

 

[twinjet]

I spend far more time listening on my AKG K401s than I do my stereo system.

Nice! AKG keeps coming up on my headphones research. How do they compare to other models/brands you've owned?

By the way, the Master & Dynamic set I tried were the MH-40s. I hope to eventually try a set of Klipsch HP-3s to see what $1,000+ gets you in headphones. I'm curious...

 

[Kenova]

My portable system is Astell&Kern AK70 + ATH MDR7/1More Triple Driver

TV and Laptop system: Mackie CR3 and M-Audio BX8d2 + Meridian Explorer 2

 

[two fingers]

Nope.

Are there differences?

Yep.

But they are subtle

If I had time to just "sit and listen" to music, I might get into it more. These days, if I get a sec to listen to music for enjoyment, it's usually through earbuds while I'm loading the dishwasher or folding towels. And I'm not "concentrating" on musical subtleties.

Just not worth the research, hassle and expense to me. And it probably won't ever be worth it.

 

[blowinblue]

Finally retired my 40 year old Nikko Gamma I FM tuner last month and replaced it with a Bluesound Node 2i. Very happy with that decision. Still listen to vinyl and CD but streaming opens up a whole new world. Some of us are a bit slow to adopt new technologies. I would be in that group. See my previous post (#64) on this page.

Vandersteen 2Ce’s (1992)
Rega Planar 25 (1999)
Sumiko Blue Point Special (1999)
Creek OBH-8SE (1999)
Adcom GFP-750 (2002)
Adcom GFA-555 II (1993)
Oppo UDP-205 (2017)
Bluesound Node 2i (2018)
Solidsteel 5.5 audio rack (1999)

M. M.

 

[fdeck]

Well, I just learned that our home stereo is starting to wig out. The buttons are randomly doing the wrong things. It's a cheap Philips bookshelf unit with a 5-CD changer.

So, what next?

My plan is to put a small fanless computer there, with a hard disk, class-D power amp module, and write some code that lets us control it from our phones. I'm not sure I'd call it hi-fi, and certainly not audiophile, but it will be a fun little project. If I'm successful, I'll share my code.

 

[Alkali Ike]

Finally retired my 40 year old Nikko Gamma I FM tuner last month and replaced it with a Bluesound Node 2i. Very happy with that decision. Still listen to vinyl and CD but streaming opens up a whole new world. Some of us are a bit slow to adopt new technologies. I would be in that group. See my previous post (#64) on this page.

Vandersteen 2Ce’s (1992)
Rega Planar 25 (1999)
Sumiko Blue Point Special (1999)
Creek OBH-8SE (1999)
Adcom GFP-750 (2002)
Adcom GFA-555 II (1993)
Oppo UDP-205 (2017)
Bluesound Node 2i (2018)
Solidsteel 5.5 audio rack (1999)

View attachment 3233960

View attachment 3233961

M. M.

Nice system! I have a pair of Vandersteen 2Cs from around 1987 that I still use daily and that still look and sound like new. Best overall speakers I’ve ever owned. With a decent subwoofer to hit the lowest bass octave, these are phenomenal. If they ever do break, I’ll probably get new ones.

 

[blowinblue]

View from the listening chair.

M. M.

 

[fdeck]

View from the listening chair.

M. M.

What's the painting?

 

[Pilgrim]

I've never pursued Hi-fi much, just good sound. Much of that has been budgetary. If you really want to hear high fidelity sound reproduction, you have to have the system to create it. I don't have thousands to put into a sound system. (And I have no desire to spend the multi-thousands that exotic systems cost.)

When I was younger, I couldn't afford it. My idea of a good stereo has always been $200 used speakers (hey, Design Acoustics made some good stuff, and so does Polk) and a decent Sony receiver. Now that I'm 68, my hearing is about 50% from 2KHz on up. Not much sense in trying to refine my sound system when I can't hear it to full advantage, and I already have good sound.

I will live with "good" sound and be happy.

 

[twinjet]

Here's a funny experience I wanted to share...

Spent nearly four hours listening to jazz at a friend's house last night. Interesting part was, I had come over with the intention of showing him a bit about high fidelity audio and how music could sound with lossless audio and good speakers.

Assuming he was using no-name stuff as he had before, I brought my Bose SoundDock (again, I realize they're not audiophile grade but it's a step up from generics) hoping to share my newfound enjoyment in this hobby. Ironically enough, he not only had a name-brand speaker, it was a Bose belonging to his roommate. We checked it out for a brief amount of time and ultimately concluded it was too boomy for our enjoyment.

My bud grabbed his two $16 RCA speakers which were stacked on the floor. Aside from some interference and slight distortion, they were actually fine to listen to! There wasn't this overpowering bass presence like what our Bose speakers had.

Of course, being the cheap speakers they were, we did miss out on a lot of other detail, or if we did catch it, it didn't sound that great. But that didn't matter so much because without the Bose bass presence, we still kind of heard it.

All it took was some approximate positioning of the speakers and we had ourselves a good night enjoying great jazz and brews.

 

[Chad Michael]

Used to read every issue of Stereo Review, High Fidelity, and Audio magazines.

Have a literal ton of old gear (home audio as well as pro audio) that sounds just as good today as it did 30 years ago.

 

[jeffb28451]

“Taught”, above speaks a lot of truth in a short space. I’ve got over $100 k in a system, have been into hiend for 40 years and sold the stuff. His advice is spot on.

 

[ExaltBass]

I have a bunch of vintage gear and, over the last year, I have been looking at getting them in back in top working order in the music/bass room. Last summer I get my Sansui SD-7000 open reel deck, in awesome shape. I have a recently purchased Thorens TD125-mkII in shop getting a few upgrades done, and my previous Thorens TD125 mkII with a broken headshell (kids), and Ariston RD-40 turntables will be sold this winter to help fund the projects. The speakers are Acoustat 2+2 electrostatics, and other items include a Marantz PMD320 CD player, Tascam CDR-433 CD recorder.

My Electrocompaniet Preampliwire (preamp) are heading to the shop this week, and Harmon Kardon HK775 (x2) twin monoblock,amps, are due to go in next week. The Teac 122 Cassette deck has been cleaned and calibrated.

Upstairs in the family room I have system comprising of a Conrad Johnson PV2-AR (and further updated), a Tascam CD player, Rotel Amp, JBL L-100 speakers, and Velodyne sub.