Hi-fi systems ?

[MaxM]

not trying to say one thing is better than the other its jsut a completely different process of getting and consuming music

edit: funny ud go for digital and me for CDs, im the youngster lol

[endorphinz]

cd/dvd dye will eventually disintegrate.... nuthin is 4eva

[Dane]

I understand the appeal of physical media, just like print magazines vs electronic. It's nice to feel the paper, see the artists' vision in full tactile form. Even if you get a pdf or whatever of the booklet, it's not the same as something printed.

That being said, and I love music, but I don't love it enough to warrant the physical media. I don't have the room, I rarely look at the literature more than once or twice, so it's really not important for me personally. I'd rather just grab a copy from the library for a few weeks if I wanted the full experience.

If CDs are your thing - you should get an el cheapo home theatre setup so you can grab some DVD audio discs...nothing like your favourite album in high resolution multi-channel.

[endorphinz]

edit: funny ud go for digital and me for CDs, im the youngster lol

but that's my point cds ARE digital. vinyl is not. that's why I can understand collecting vinyl but see no reason to collect cds

[MaxM]

i love music much more than fashion so it makes sense to support the artists i love, for the most part they sell very little so maybe in a sense its similar to relationships some could have to designers on here. i mean no one on here would be satisfied with a PDF of SZ Mag right.

and endorphinz i know cds are digital still i can touch it as opposed to mp3 thats what i meant by physical

[endorphinz]

you can support artists by LEGALLY downloading

hey, it's cool that you like CDs but they never appealed to me. the booklets and art are shit compared to vinyl packaging and the sound is the same as a digital file... but diff strokes.....

[MaxM]

i know i could download legally and in some cases i do but like i said its a matter of preference, you like files i like cds and we both like vinyl it seems so lets leave it at that

[Dane]

so lets leave it at that

Lolz. That doesn't happen round these parts.

[Arcane]

I have a shiteload of CD's I've collected during the years and I don't think I've actually played any of them in the last two years. I've reached the point where I actually took the CD player out of my system and now it's just sitting in a closet.

I just use Spotify and AP Express for digital music and have a 2 channel setup with a turntable to really listen to music. I love digging in the crates anyway so CD's are of minor interest to me.

If you're getting a new system I'd put my money elsewhere, maybe sell rip the records and sell them as Dane suggested and put the money towards a Spotify (or similar) membership.

[lowrey]

keep your cds man i used to keep everything on my hard drive but i had way too much (ultimatley i lost most of it), now i do both and music i really appreciate i buy on CDs and i enjoy listening to my cds much much more also i know i will still have them in 20 years and look back and say hey was same cool/aweful music i was listening to back then

Agreed. even though I have a ton of music on my computer, my cd's and LP's are what I consider my music collection. Actually in many cases I listen to the digital version of something and have the same album sitting on the shelf, but I still like owning it. I download a lot of music and its essential for me when finding new music, but if I really like something I'll buy the physical album.

[gavagai]

My music preference: jazz, free jazz, European Free Improvisation, field recordings, hardcore thrash (whatever this is)...

I used to have 700+ cds and an audiophile system. I used to spend so much time digging through my collection looking to play one track. This all changed when itunes/ipod came out. Most of my CDs are now in some lossless format on hard drives that I wireless access through my phone (remote) and play through my main system. It is an absolute joy to have thousands of high quality recordings at my fingertips.

I still listen to cds and vinyl when I want to listen to a full album and really LISTEN but for standard multitasking listening and being on the go having a digital library is essential.

I will say, if your stereo is crap it doesn't really matter what format you store your music in...doesn't take that much money or effort really to put together a really nice used system.

One could cobble together used rega turntable, Naim Nait5 amp and any decent speaker - this would be a monstrous upgrade to many "home stereos" I see these days which are often times a crap ass bose ipod deal. ABSOLUTE SHIT. No body no warmth and no guts. Spend a grand and enjoy your music properly............................

[lowrey]

springsummer, I would go with a simple budget friendly system at this point, you can always upgrade. if you are just getting into this stuff, theres a good chance you will change your mind, find new things etc..

I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that you can get good quality midrange set ups from Denon, Arcam, NAD, Naim, Cambridge Audio etc.

[Dane]

I will say, if your stereo is crap it doesn't really matter what format you store your music in.

To which I would add, it doesn't matter how good your system is if the recording quality of the album sucks.

Also, I remember reading once that your budget should following this path of priority:
1. album recording quality
2. speakers
3. source components (cd player, turntable, etc.)
4. power component (amp)
5. cables, accessories, bullshit, etc.

There is much debate on whether power components have "sound". Some have said that as long as the power is sufficient to power the speakers, power is power and it should have no effect on sound. Naturally, audio companies and reviewers (who are indirectly funded/employed by said audio companies) beg to differ. All I know is, my amp is itsy bitsy, and everyone I spoke to said it wouldn't be sufficient to power my 87db speakers, that Class-D (digital) amps have a cold, metallic sound, etc. etc. All bullshit. Speakers sound great, just as good as they did in the shop with their $10,000 amp set-up.

Same argument goes for "power cleaning", stupid $$$ cables, etc. etc. fallacies that make you waste your cashmonies. Just my 2 cents tho.

[liberty_of_style]

Hi folks!
This is Jadis Orchestra Amp

Thinking about buying tube amp for my Heco Argon Reference speakers

Did anyone tried/heard such amp?
Or what would you reccomend in price ~$2000?

[comedyzen]

Just picked up a pair of Grado SR225i's. I auditioned them against the RS2's which were 2.5x more, but the jump in clarity wasnt worth the extra $$ as I am not an OCD audiophile.

Been listening to some music I have and am amazed about how crisp the sound is. I actually hear the drummer changing out his sticks.

Going to ignore everyone and everything for a couple hours and just zone out to some tunes. Then I am going to run music through them overnight and all day tomorrow to break them in.