Any BARF Audiophiles?

DReg350

Well-known member
I just started playing with some new to me equipment. So much fun. My budget is meager compared to most, so I've purchased mostly used and some new. I'm running a used Jolida 202a. I LOVE tubes! I'm also running a new Schiit Multi Bit DAC through used Wireworld Oasis 7 interconnects and a new Ultraviolet 7 USB. I've got them connected to a pair of PSB Alphas I've had for some time. I picked up some used Wireworld Eclipse 6 speaker cables for a bargain. OMG, lots of warmth and detail. It's very very different from any stereo I've ever had. I may do some tube rolling, but I'm thinking I'll get different speakers first. I'm eyeballing a pair of used Meadowlark Swifts. I have an older Thorens turntable, but I haven't hooked it up yet. Still looking into preamps and cartidges. Thinking Denon 110 on the cartridge, but also looking at a Grado Silver. Or, scrap it and go with a Pro-ject Carbon. Kind of a cool hobby.
 

Not Sure

I like money.
Ummm... whatever you just said sounds super cool and I want in... on whatever it is your talking about, I think (I want to build a nice system, but have NFI where to start). :twofinger
 

stangmx13

not Stan
ive got a pair of MonitorAudio Bronze 2's run by a decade old Pioneer Integrated Amp playing Spotify off my Mac through its optical audio port. do i count as an audiophile?
 

russ69

Backside Slider
Jolida 202 is very nice. Some good EL-34s will really do the trick. I think I would try a Mullard EL-34 and see how it sounds but there are other affordable tubes that might make a big improvement (I run Old Tesla tubes from Quicksilver in my amps). Regardless, the Jolida will take you a long way. Loudspeakers are a completely different issue but you can't buy too much loudspeaker so don't sell yourself short. If you have a big "soft" room, and like an extended top end the Martin Logan Electromotion ESL electrostatic loudspeakers are the best bang for the buck and are easily driven by tube amps. As you may know, electrostatics that are tube driven are near the holy grail of best systems and M-L makes it easy to do.
 

jt2

Eschew Obfuscation
Loudspeakers are a completely different issue but you can't buy too much loudspeaker so don't sell yourself short. If you have a big "soft" room, and like an extended top end the Martin Logan Electromotion ESL electrostatic loudspeakers are the best bang for the buck and are easily driven by tube amps. As you may know, electrostatics that are tube driven are near the holy grail of best systems and M-L makes it easy to do.

Seconded - I picked up a set of the Martin Logan ESL's about a year ago and they are amazing. For the price, I don't think there is any speaker out there that can hold a candle to them.
 

}Dragon{

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ ︵ ╯(°□° ╯)
I was an audiophile back in the analog days... I'm just not as picky for audio perfection as I was back then. Tubes: McIntosh; Simulated tubes with IC's: Carver...

We had vinyl- it was scratchy and enjoyed it and we had the first gen of CD audio which was awesome. :afm199
 

tzrider

Write Only User
Staff member
I've spent a lot of time with tube gear, building speakers, vinyl, etc. Over time, practicality has imposed itself, as I'd spend less time listening to sources I have to deal with manually.

Today, my system has to support SPL that will keep up with loud drums and it needs to be easy to access music. I still buy CD's and rip them to FLAC. They're stored on a Raid 1 NAS. We use Sonos to distribute music to various zones. Main stereo is in the living room (which is our music practice room) and consists of Definitive Technology Mythos STS SuperTower speakers, driven by a Carver power amp with the Sonos zone player as the sole source. The speakers don't dominate the room, but with 950 watts of amplification, they wake the place up.

I can listen to high quality recordings, can jam with tunes and my son can play drums to backing tracks either stored on our network of streamed from an online source. A lot more music plays in the house than ever before and of course, that's why we have our systems.
 

ScarySpikes

tastes like burning
I like some audiophile gear, but I honestly hate dealing with audiophiles. Audio is way too subjective and some audiophiles are way too snobbish about their preferences. I used to have a set of Klipsch speakers. bookshelves and a sub hooked to an OK receiver. Talked to a guy about the setup I had and his response was, "That's ok for a budget setup I guess." He then showed off his set which was surround sound, some brand that he talked up a lot and sounded expensive. He played some music on it and honestly, I thought my setup sounded just as good if not better. I'm sure that audiophile types would have some thing about how the mids were washed out or some shit like that but what do I care if it sounds good to me, right?
 

stan23

Well-known member
I like some audiophile gear, but I honestly hate dealing with audiophiles. Audio is way too subjective and some audiophiles are way too snobbish about their preferences. I used to have a set of Klipsch speakers. bookshelves and a sub hooked to an OK receiver. Talked to a guy about the setup I had and his response was, "That's ok for a budget setup I guess." He then showed off his set which was surround sound, some brand that he talked up a lot and sounded expensive. He played some music on it and honestly, I thought my setup sounded just as good if not better. I'm sure that audiophile types would have some thing about how the mids were washed out or some shit like that but what do I care if it sounds good to me, right?

The new wave of audiophiles are not like that now. Bang for your buck is big these days.
 

Abyss

Anhedonia
I just started playing with some new to me equipment. So much fun. My budget is meager compared to most, so I've purchased mostly used and some new. I'm running a used Jolida 202a. I LOVE tubes! I'm also running a new Schiit Multi Bit DAC through used Wireworld Oasis 7 interconnects and a new Ultraviolet 7 USB. I've got them connected to a pair of PSB Alphas I've had for some time. I picked up some used Wireworld Eclipse 6 speaker cables for a bargain. OMG, lots of warmth and detail. It's very very different from any stereo I've ever had. I may do some tube rolling, but I'm thinking I'll get different speakers first. I'm eyeballing a pair of used Meadowlark Swifts. I have an older Thorens turntable, but I haven't hooked it up yet. Still looking into preamps and cartidges. Thinking Denon 110 on the cartridge, but also looking at a Grado Silver. Or, scrap it and go with a Pro-ject Carbon. Kind of a cool hobby.

I used to be like you, then I discovered the magic of FLAC vinyl rips. The only thing better about analog is that the mastering isn't compressed like shit to sound "louder," hence why lossless audio rips of a properly mastered album are the absolute tits.

I still have some albums on vinyl for hipster cred tho. Unopened IX Equilibrium
 

nakedape

Well-known member
I built two Dyna 70s and custom boxes with drivers from the old Speaker City in San Rafael. Pre-CD days. My friends were hardly impressed, they just wanted it LOUDER. I could never get the Dyna pre-amp to behave, can't remember what I ended up using. But those mono blocks brought good money when I sold them.

Now, I have Tannoy 501s and a Airport feeding it iTunes playlists. The little Tannoys are sublime. And they get way louder than old ears would ever need. They are also hidden behind plants so it's like magic music emanating from the walls. Cost is reasonable, less than $200 each, and they blow away top-shelf stuff from not so many years ago.

950 watts RMS? That's nightclub loud! The new PA systems my dad's band uses are stupidly light, insanely powerful, and really expensive. But overall, being an audiophile is a lot easier than it once was.
 

johnkol

Well-known member
I just started playing with some new to me equipment. So much fun. My budget is meager compared to most, so I've purchased mostly used and some new. I'm running a used Jolida 202a. I LOVE tubes! I'm also running a new Schiit Multi Bit DAC through used Wireworld Oasis 7 interconnects and a new Ultraviolet 7 USB. I've got them connected to a pair of PSB Alphas I've had for some time. I picked up some used Wireworld Eclipse 6 speaker cables for a bargain. OMG, lots of warmth and detail. It's very very different from any stereo I've ever had. I may do some tube rolling, but I'm thinking I'll get different speakers first. I'm eyeballing a pair of used Meadowlark Swifts. I have an older Thorens turntable, but I haven't hooked it up yet. Still looking into preamps and cartidges. Thinking Denon 110 on the cartridge, but also looking at a Grado Silver. Or, scrap it and go with a Pro-ject Carbon. Kind of a cool hobby.

Welcome to the wonderful world of aural blissfulness.

First audiophile rule: make sure that the value of your music collection far exceeds the value of your stereo. In other words, buy lots of music.

A corollary of the above: if you thought motorcycles were expensive, prepare to go broke on the pursuit of the perfect sound.

Congratulations on your new gear; that's pretty much how everyone starts -- and it usually never ends.

At some point in my audiophile life I got into tube gear, spent quite a lot on tube rolling, but I was never fully satisfied. One day I tried some powerful solid state gear and I never looked back. Tubes may work for some types of music, but did not work for the type of listening I do. Ask yourself what your objective is: are you looking to reproduce the live experience? Or will you be happier with more sedate listening volumes?

Turntables can get really expensive; do you have that many records to make it worth your while?

The Meadowlarks are not very sensitive, so they are not a very good match for the Jolida. Tube rolling at this point does not seem like a good investment of your time or money. Where you go from here depends on your listening environment: how big is your listening room, and what kind of sound levels are you trying to achieve?
 

GAJ

Well-known member
I just started playing with some new to me equipment. So much fun. My budget is meager compared to most, so I've purchased mostly used and some new. I'm running a used Jolida 202a. I LOVE tubes! I'm also running a new Schiit Multi Bit DAC through used Wireworld Oasis 7 interconnects and a new Ultraviolet 7 USB. I've got them connected to a pair of PSB Alphas I've had for some time. I picked up some used Wireworld Eclipse 6 speaker cables for a bargain. OMG, lots of warmth and detail. It's very very different from any stereo I've ever had. I may do some tube rolling, but I'm thinking I'll get different speakers first. I'm eyeballing a pair of used Meadowlark Swifts. I have an older Thorens turntable, but I haven't hooked it up yet. Still looking into preamps and cartidges. Thinking Denon 110 on the cartridge, but also looking at a Grado Silver. Or, scrap it and go with a Pro-ject Carbon. Kind of a cool hobby.

What is your budget for new speakers?

Floorstanding or stand mount?

The Meadowlark Swifts have one of the weirdest frequency response graphs I've ever seen, (the black line is the one to look at).

http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/104meadowlark/index.html#SjMyj6roDh1StYEr.97

SWIFIG3.jpg


Assuming your Thorens TT works save your money towards the cartridge.

I own the Project Carbon with Ortofon Red cartridge and it is a very good combination, no question.

Main speakers in my HT, and I love them, are Usher V602s, in my secondary listening room I have Martin Logan LX16s and I compared them to my old B&W CM1 Concept 90s as well as to the excellent Q Acoustics Concept 20s and the quality of sound was close for all but where the Martin Logan Folded Motion tweeter really shined was when listening to Classical, Jazz or Acoustic music where the improved detail of that tweeter really shone through.

Both speakers are paired with subwoofers; the main HT has a Velodyne DD15+ (msrp over $4k) while the secondary room has two pathetic little Yamaha SW012s at a grand total of $183 for both. :laughing

I have to say while the DD15+ is might impressive, so are the pair of little Yamahas. Having two of them gives a real sense of tight controlled bass down to a true 28hz coming from everywhere/nowhere.

28hz is fine for music but the 15hz of the DD15+ for movies is like twisting the throttle on a literbike! :laughing
 
Top