Hello y'all

[jimifan1970]

Ha ha. Just noticed that on joining I'm classified as a Junior Member. I wish. Anyway, hi everyone, I'm Paul from Suffolk, and I was directed here by the good Stan Beresford after buying one of his very nice Caiman DACs. I've never been on any kind of internet forum in my life, so will probably make every mistake going and press wrong buttons, literally and metaphorically. Bear with me, I learn fast.

Is this the place to talk about music and sound set-ups or just to say hello?

[The Grand Wazoo]

Hi Paul,
This is just the place where you introduce yourself to the natives and allow us all to say hello & get to know each other. However, in the meantime, perhaps you could tell us a little about your hi-fi & your taste in music?
The main discussion areas can be found if you click on the banner at the top of the page (well that's one way of getting there). This will take you to a list of all the different fora & each one has a short description of the sort of topic that it's appropriate to discuss there.

For example, we have one dedicated to digital business:
Digital Expressions - http://theartofsound.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=3

....and another for DIY builds and modifications to all sorts of hi-fi gear:
The Drawing Board - http://theartofsound.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=20
........which is perhaps the section Stan had in mind when he recommended AoS to you?

You'll get the hang of it pretty quickly.
There's also a 'How To...' list here:
http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7549

Anyway, never mind all that - here's a warm welcome to The Art of Sound from me. I'm sure plenty of others will be along soon to say hello.

Cheers

PS - Don't be afraid of pushing the wrong buttons - you won't break anything & just ask if you need some help.

[Alex_UK]

Hi Paul, welcome form another Suffolkian - there are a few of us about. :) I too arrived here after purchasing a Caiman from the fine Mr Beresford, a little over 2 years ago, knew nothing about hifi forums (even less about hifi!) and look what happened to me! So, I'm sure you will be fine!

As Chris says, would be great to know a bit about your system and music tastes - other than that, get stuck in, and you will hopefully find us a pretty friendly bunch - just don't feed us after midnight, get us wet, or expose us to bright light and you'll be fine! :eyebrows:

Enjoy the forum. :)

[jimifan1970]

Hi Chris!

Thanks very much indeed for your warm and friendly reply.

I've been interested in this hi-fi stuff since I was a teenager back in the late 60s, and once owned the kit of my dreams (after a lot of wheeling, dealing and a great deal of holiday work and saving up) which consisted of Linn Sondek LP12 turntable, SME 3009 arm with Shure V15iii cartridge, Cambridge Audio P50 amp and Cambridge Audio R50 Monitor speakers, which looked a bit like a couple of Trade Centre - ish skyscrapers. Only vinyl considered hi enough fi back then. How I wish I'd kept it all. But it was all sold and for a good 30+ years (I'm 60 now) many other priorities precluded expensive kit.

However, about 12 years ago I decided to treat myself to some good kit again following a painful divorce and a move to a new house. This is what I settled on, and still have: Pro-Ject turntable with Ortofon 5E cartridge, Rotel RCD-971 CD player, Rotel RC-972 pre-amp, Rotel RB-981 power amp, Rotel RT-955 tuner (no longer in use) and a pair of Linn Keilidhs, which look even more like skyscrapers than the CAs did. But I like the way they sound.

Stan Beresford's DAC was purchased because I'm listening to more and more digital music on radio via Sky+HD box and media streaming (Spotify) through my laptop, plus Sony Walkman MP3s (Amazon downloads) via a cheap Sony USB media player, and the Caiman is doing a fine job of making all that sound great on the hi-fi. Well, maybe the Walkman's MP3s aren't up to much, but that's not the fault of the Caiman.

Musically, I only really listen to Classic Rock and Classical. Jimi Hendrix (big hero of mine), Cream, Pink Floyd, UFO, Pearl Jam, Joe Bonamassa, Foo Fighters when they're not too thrashy ... you get the picture. As for the classical, too much to mention. Big thing is though, a wonderful orchestra like, say, von Karajan's Berlin Philharmonic playing Beethoven, sounds exactly like the sort of thing that a good system should get its teeth into and pull out all the detail you want, whereas some rock recordings just don't have such detail in the first place, and probably don't benefit from expensive playback. There's not too much subtlety in a D chord being blasted at 5000 watts through a Marshall stack. Maybe that's why my MP3s don't sound so good - they're all rock recordings.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to pick up some good advice about how to improve the quality of my MP3 playback, among other things.

Thanks again for your welcome.

Paul

[The Grand Wazoo]

Paul,
That was a textbook introduction!
Now you have become a member, you will find you now have access to the Art of Sound Library which, among other things, is stuffed full of information about almost all of the components of your old system - that may interest you a lot! You'll find a link to each of the library areas in the full list of fora that I mentioned earlier.

I can't fault your taste in music!
I think we have plenty here to keep you entertained, not to mention some of the most helpful and knowledgeable people in the world of hi-fi, so please, get stuck in!
Cheers

[jimifan1970]

Thanks Alex also for your welcome!

[Jonboy]

Hello Paul and welcome from me, a nice introduction, my first amp was a Rotel reciever second hand from my brother many moons ago and later had a 931, very musical amps from what i remember

[jimifan1970]

Hi Jon!

Thanks to you too - nice friendly people to be in touch with.

Yes, I do like the Rotel stuff. The Linn Keilidhs need some oomph to drive them, and the Rotels do that smoothly and without ever sounding stressed.

Best regards.

Paul

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.

Jimi Hendrix:)