Question: Does anybody listen to "High Fidelity Stereo" music anymore?

[honeyiscool]

Really? My Debut II looked just like that.

 

In fact, isn't it this one?

 

[Red81]

if you're playing a cd or ipod through a tube amp, you're doing it wrong.

[honeyiscool]

if you're playing a cd or ipod through a tube amp, you're doing it wrong.

[Special J]

No pics, but when I'm listening for pleasure, I typically go for vinyl on my Rega Planar 2, played through an old 70's Akai receiver into a pair of Advent tower speakers. I have a couple of different rigs, and change out components from time to time. I have a set of old Pioneer speakers that I love the sound of, but they're obtrusively big, so they've been relegated to basement listening. I still buy my favorite releases on vinyl, and they often include a free download of the MP3's. I listen to my Ipod a lot as well, when driving, at work, doing yard work, etc. I love MP3's for the convenience.

[Deadbeat Son]

 

I'm 99% sure it is a Rega. A red plinth wouldn't be unusual, you can pick a color, and the tone arm looks like Rega's

 

 

The 1% got ya again!

[MyNameIsMok...]

 

This is a forum for musicians. Musicians always have had the worst radios. Lot of us are too busy playing and writing and practicing to be listening to a lot of new music. Go to any of the various audiophile forums on the Internet. Active music listening is the norm for a lot of people.

 

 

I don't want this to turn into one of your 15 page debate threads, but please try to consider how condesending you appear when you state certain opinions as facts and other obvious truths as revelations.

 

You're affable and smart, but I was a child prodigy too. Decades before you were born.

 

For the record:

 

a: audiophiles, like other niche groups do not represent a large enough sample group to consider them "a lot of people". A lot compared to what? iPhone users? Record buyers? People that download for free?

 

 

b: "Musicians always have had the worst radios" Wow. I could write a chapter ripping this statement apart with dialectic. It is almost the perfect phrase for illustrating illogical conjecture not based on fact.

 

 

It's relatively offensive to make these sort of loaded statements to an educated audience. Thanks for listening.

 

 

 

 

Oh, and I still would like to see cool "listening room" pics folks. Where are the comfy chairs, tower speakers, and other cool artifacts of a bygone era. Oh, and remember Hi-Fi Buys? That was a pretty cool store. And the days when you had 20 odd pages of gear in the Sears catalog. That was cool.

[yanktar]

Really? My Debut II looked just like that. In fact, isn't it this one?

 

It's that LITTLE 1% that gets me every time!

[yanktar]

Yes, it's the Debut III. The 1% got ya again!

 

mea culpa

[SrMeowMeow]

I listen on what is basically the cheapest stuff I can find. Some no-name earbuds I bought at RiteAid, some no-name computer speakers (with a subwoofer!) when I want to really hear nuances, or more recently some Bose headphones I got for Christmas. Or my terrible car speakers. I still love it. I'm sort of glad I don't hear differences in bit rate and all that stuff yet. Seems like it can get a little compulsive.

[Brian Krashpad]

Question: Does anybody listen to "High Fidelity Stereo" music anymore?

 

[JohnnyDD]

I got some old B&W DM6's. "The pregnant penguin". These were top of the line speakers from late 70's. Before it crapped out on me I ran them with an circa mid 70's big-ass Yamaha receiver cr2040. I got a revox deck and a technics sl5 direct drive turntable I got at a garage sale new for $5. Also got a betamax; watch old videos and concert tapes I copied.

Need a good amp. Only got a 50w per channel modern 2 channel technics receiver. Doesn't do the speakers justice.

Mostly listen to WMA's through headphones though. Problem is the space the stereo stuff, records and cd's takes up.

Also got a pair of cerwin vega RE series 3 ways I got at a garage sale for $15. They're loud I guess.

[jtr654]

YES.

[smorgdonkey]

 

-1980 Sony turntable

-Yamaha amplifier

-Pioneer tuner

-Technics cassette deck

-Paradigm speakers (these things are super heavy 'monitor series' - about $1200.00 back in the day just for the speakers)

[Flatspotter]

I have a pair of Infinity speakers from the late 80s, when they were a high end speaker company, not the purveyors of mediocrity that they've become since Harman bought them. I've since retired them since I couldn't find speakers that sonically matched them for a home theater system. I also have a nice AR turntable, but it's not currently hooked up.

 

I now listen through a home theater system composed of Focal speakers driven by an Onkyo receiver, and a Velodyne subwoofer.

 

 

 

[MyNameIsMok...]

^ okay, now I'm inspired. Nice setup, but where is the comfy chair?

[Flatspotter]

It's a comfy couch, and it's to the right, out of the picture.

[Emory]

One thing to do is scare up some big ass amp from the 70's. I've got a Marantz 4400, 57 pounds of thunder and backache. All watts are not created equal, despite what any specs may say. Corvettes and Civics can both go 65 mph, but when you need the acceleration, well, you know....

I was running it into 4 Bose 901's. Quad heaven, especially Dark Side of the Moon and Santana...

[mikesr1963]

I'm tearing up. Here's a photo of the turntable I used from 81 to 91 until it was destroyed with the rest of my stereo. WTF is up with not being able to control the freaking bass and treble on a stero anymore? Oh, Oh, and fun of explaining and dialing in the strobe on your turntable.

 

[MyNameIsMok...]

Ahh...the rare and magical "dimension" switch. What does it do? Too cool.

 

One thing to do is scare up some big ass amp from the 70's. I've got a Marantz 4400, 57 pounds of thunder and backache. All watts are not created equal, despite what any specs may say. Corvettes and Civics can both go 65 mph, but when you need the acceleration, well, you know.... I was running it into 4 Bose 901's. Quad heaven, especially Dark Side of the Moon and Santana...

[deejaid]

 

Wow. People don't truly actively listen to music anymore. It's all so passive and regulated to the background/personal listening devices. Then there is the matter of huge and cheap/portable storage drives and the evil shuffle button. No more sitting and beholden to the music. No more waiting for the end of side one, carefully reading the liner notes to see who all played on the cut and knowing when to flip to side two or select another record for a seamless experience. No more staring deeply into an album cover until it reveals it's precious mystical secrets. An entire era has come and gone and I was too busy living to even notice it.

 

 

 

The era isn''t over for everyone. I still listen to primarily vinyl and am teaching my little girl to appreciate taking time out of the day to put on a record. She is only 18 months but when I get home from work she grabs my hand and takes me over to the rack system in the corner and after I start the record she asks me to pick her up and watch the record spin. We then look at the album art together. I don't which one of us enjoys it more:).

[JRicoC]

 

I don't want this to turn into one of your 15 page debate threads, but please try to consider how condesending you appear when you state certain opinions as facts and other obvious truths as revelations...

 

 

Actually, when I read the original post I thought the same thing as Honey. Many audiophiles don't listen to any digital audio or spend hobby time on internet forums. I think that if you were to go to a high-end audio store (one that has TWO or more, dedicated two-channel rooms) you'd find quite a few folks who'd never venture into a forum like this. That's not a slight on musicians, or forum members. It's just not the approach that such enthusiasts tend to embrace. As others have mentioned here, with the market preference for surround-sound digital gear you can get a really high-quality, two-channel setup for relatively little (under $3000) these days ...

[MyNameIsMok...]

The era isn''t over for everyone. I still listen to primarily vinyl and am teaching my little girl to appreciate taking time out of the day to put on a record. She is only 18 months but when I get home from work she grabs my hand and takes me over to the rack system in the corner and after I start the record she asks me to pick her up and watch the record spin. We then look at the album art together. I don't which one of us enjoys it more:).

 

 

That is great man, My dad used to do that with me. Sometimes he would let me put an army man on the turntable and watch him spin out of control just to keep me interested. Great tale, thanks for sharing.

[aliensporebomb]

Oh man, it's YOU GUYS. You know, guys like me when I was in my high school days spent every damned cent of my part time job on my stereo setup. I still own a Rotel RA-1000 integrated amp, JVC dual dubbing deck, Denon CD player (the "newest" part of that setup) and some "Pow Pow Power" 3-way speakers that they just don't make 'em like that anymore. I actually use this setup to monitor my own mixes to hear what they sound like on a "home hi-fi setup", Plus that rig really does bass like nothing else. That Rotel amp has a real power to the low end that nothing else seems to have.

 

AND there's MUSIC for those who LOVE the old album era. Check out Porcupine Tree's "In Absentia" - a really well produced "album as art form" project. Another one, newer yet: Devin Townsend Project's "Ghost", a lushly produced labor of love, it basically sounds like Pink Floyd meets the Beach Boys (the good Brian Wilson era) meets Tangerine Dream. It's uncanny. And theres more! Steve Hackett "Beyond the Shrounded Horizon" - a 2-CD set at that as well as the new "Flying Colors" release.

 

Pop singles remain "ear candy". But for those who want a gourmet meal, you gotta search. Glad to see there are fans of the "heavy equipment" still around.

 

I won't even get into my guitar/music production stuff - that's just as bad of a "money sink".

[dimperdoo]

It seems like not so long ago there was a trend towards "home theater" augmenting hi-fi audio. Always kinda wondered about the quality of audio on betamax then VHS??? Similarly, it seems like 5.1/surround began to displace quadrophonic - until the miniaturization thing started really becoming accessible.

 

I envisioned something of a 5.1 system to which end I got 4 KLH speakers in sealed cabs w/ passive radiators. Of course, family life kinda shelved the plan and those towers stand mute... That and the kenwood amp went t/u - of course that wasn't getting me surround...

 

oh the changing times

[honeyiscool]

 

I don't want this to turn into one of your 15 page debate threads, but please try to consider how condesending you appear when you state certain opinions as facts and other obvious truths as revelations. You're affable and smart, but I was a child prodigy too. Decades before you were born. For the record: a: audiophiles, like other niche groups do not represent a large enough sample group to consider them "a lot of people". A lot compared to what? iPhone users? Record buyers? People that download for free? b: "Musicians always have had the worst radios" Wow. I could write a chapter ripping this statement apart with dialectic. It is almost the perfect phrase for illustrating illogical conjecture not based on fact. It's relatively offensive to make these sort of loaded statements to an educated audience. Thanks for listening. Oh, and I still would like to see cool "listening room" pics folks. Where are the comfy chairs, tower speakers, and other cool artifacts of a bygone era. Oh, and remember Hi-Fi Buys? That was a pretty cool store. And the days when you had 20 odd pages of gear in the Sears catalog. That was cool.

Read your own statements in this thread for condescending. I'm not saying I'm not guilty of it either, but you're the one who declared active listening to be dead and mourned the times we are in today just because it doesn't quite align with what you think is important.

 

Consider this. What you consider important for active listening is not very relevant anymore. When you have so many people who leave their homes at 18 to go to college many miles away, they don't exactly take tower speakers and a crate of records (or even CDs) anymore, because you don't have to. Digital files have the potential for great sound, and in fact, the average iPod listener is $99 away from a great pair of headphones that will make the music really come alive. And you might think your old speakers sounded great, but it's really amazing what little to no money buys you these days in terms of quality.

 

A lot of the "audiophile" community has gone away from the whole $20,000 speakers thing and instead there are a lot of new age people, many young, who care about sound quality, just look at the size of communities like Head-Fi. There are people who proudly proclaim themselves as audiophiles without spending a lot of money. Sure, I think Beats by Dre and Bose headphones are terrible, but when I see so many young people shell out for them, it tells me that each one of those people is a person who wants to care about sound quality and wants to really hear their music. A lot of these people will one day be introduced to vinyl, aren't vinyl sales going up in the past few years? I think those car stereos with exaggerated bass sound terrible, too, but those people with those cars and putting in $3000 worth of speakers in them also love their music in their own way and have spent their hard earned cash to enjoy their music. Just because tower speakers don't really make sense in this day and age until you get old enough to own your own place doesn't mean people aren't enjoying their music, actively or passively. Most people my age I know aren't in a place where they can crank a 200 watt stereo on a regular basis, so it makes more sense to invest in headphones and car stereos and MP3 players than a vinyl setup. How good was your radio growing up? People listened to The Beatles on some crappy ass radios and gramophone units, it never kept them from loving their music. The act of flipping a vinyl is not what makes a listening experience active and engaging. The act of loving the music, covering your walls with posters, tracking show dates, and sharing music with others is what makes a listening experience active and engaging, learning the songs and singing along, etc., and at that, I'd argue we've just become more efficient at it.

 

As for musicians having bad stereos and being poor judges of sound quality, that's definitely been my observation and I don't have to defend it. It's safe to say that something like 80-90% of my friends outside of work are musicians, and outside of the few that have an interest in production, they spend most of their days listening to laptop and phone speakers. It doesn't keep them from being good musicians, though. It's just they have a limited budget and upgrading their listening is hardly their top priority when they feel like they themselves have a need to express themselves.