Anyone here an audiophile?

Started by ab5000, June 18, 2012, 07:05:59 PM

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ab5000

I got some ideas I want to bounce of you guys if you are..


I gotta replace my receiver (an Onkyo HT-RC160), I tried to get cute and cheaped out and now I'm paying the price. I push the amp too far watching movies with a lot of "noise" and it drops into standby.

So I have a couple of questions:

Should I spend a s.. load of money and buy a pre-amp and seperate amplifiers (which is a whole other architecture than I'm used to) or get a really powerful all in one? Does anyone have this kind of setup?

What are your preferences for receivers? Onkyo, Denon, Sherwood, Yamaha? Which model?

What's your setup? Tell me what you got...

Barthheart

Get a Pioneer Elite Series all-in-one. They are by far the best for home theatre and music. Which model depends on how much you want to spend. Get as much unit as you can afford and it will last you for the next 15 years.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.ca/POCEN/Home/AV-Receivers/Elite-Receivers

Me, I have a Sony all-in-one thats approaching 15 years lod. Was the best in it's time but Pioneer has really out shone everyone else for the last 10 years or so. I just can't seem to convince my wife that we need a new unit when this one works perfectly well.

If your are looking for just a music machine then go the separate pre-amp, amp combo. And spend lots of dough on the speakers in that case.


LongBlade

The only thing I know about audiophiles is that the sky is the limit in terms of budget.

I briefly worked with a guy who was a huge audiophile. He had also served in the Navy on a sub. Putting 2 and 2 together, I figure he was a sonarman.

...

In any case, he would describe his setup at home. Some 15 years ago he told me he had bought these huge blocks of granite at the tune of like $1000 a piece in order to rest his speakers on them so he could get the highest fidelity possible. I took it as gospel that he knew what the best setup was.

Personally, I'm not nearly so talented to hear with that level of clarity (or care). Nor am I wealthy enough to consider dropping $2k on rocks for my speakers. We went down to our local electronics shop and dropped about $350 on a Samsung surround sound blu-ray player. It's plenty loud for what we need and the sound is adequate to my untutored ears. That's probably heretical to a true audiophile and for that I apologize, but that's about the sum of my audiophile knowledge.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Barthheart

I shared a house with an audiophile. His system easily cost 5x what mine did and mine was about $8000. When all was said and done I couldn't hear the extra money he'd spent. And he even admitted that my system sounded just fine for what I was doing with it, which was mostly surround sound movie watching.

It really comes down to what you believe you hear or want to hear for the source material. Most movie sound tracks, while high tech and surround encoded etc., are not meant to give you the same crystal clear audio that someone listening to classical music is looking for.

The best advice I have is go to an audio trade show. All the manufacturers are more than happy to demonstarte their wares. Bring your own source even. I usually bring a CD and a DVD of my favourite type of each source. Then listen to each system for what you are looking for. Listen to cheaper systems and get more expensive until you can't hear the difference. That then is your level of listening decernability (is that a word?). There is no sense in paying more for something you can't percieve.


LongBlade

Quote from: Barthheart on June 19, 2012, 08:49:30 AMListen to cheaper systems and get more expensive until you can't hear the difference. That then is your level of listening decernability (is that a word?). There is no sense in paying more for something you can't percieve.

Back in college marketing it was called the Just Noticeable Difference. Same deal on your car stereo with notches - one click should just noticeably increase the volume. Everyone is different. If you're an ex-sonar guy listening to the third seat violinist to see if she's up to snuff, you may need a better system than if you're just looking for your ass to rumble when the Transformers rocking and rolling. ;)
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.