electric beach
24-06-2009, 00:09
Hellooo new friends!
Steve and Valerie with a postcard from the seaside here, home being near Southend, Essex.
We found the forum through Google whilst trawling for the answers to life, the universe and everything, a.k.a. music and it's reproduction.
Look forward to sharing experiences and opinions with you and a leetle banter on the way.
We don't do vinyl. Or classical much. It's not that we don't value it, we just don't have it. And we're consumers not techies, couldn't tell an home from a wot, a vault is what you jumped over in PE at school and resistance is the futile attempt to avoid upgraditus.
I lovingly developed this pride and joy over many years, with a few speaker and solid state amp progressions, mains and room treatments:
Spinner: Pioneer S703 with Trichord mods, feeding bits to a hot Dacmagic2
Loudness button: Roksan Caspian
Megafones: TDL Studio 1.0M transmission lines
Although the system was impressive when played to it's strengths, I was always fighting the compromise between bass and clarity, weight and speed, control and flow. Each change or upgrade was giving a better version of the same thing but the negatives remained constant. I made changes that should have radically altered something, but never salved that inherent, nagging dissatisfaction. Time for a new direction.
I wanted to try a sub/sat combination, despite the warnings regarding the difficulties in obtaining a seamless join. Well, I never had that in a single box anyway!
I wanted to try one of those luverly glowing valve thingies. How much??!!!!
I wanted the impossible apparently - the convenience of a digital player that actually made music.
And a new room.
And so the road to AOS began. I met Valerie on the internet and that seemed to work out pretty fine, contrary to conventional wisdom. So casting around the net I found some interesting reviews and owner reports of 'giant killer' bargain kit from around this shrinking globe - problem was, purchasing was a leap of faith based on the advice and opinion of others. But I've mostly been eating humble pie, disappointed that the equipment I've 'invested' in after agonising comparison demonstrations has once again fallen short of it's promise and system potential. The journey's not over (is it ever, that's part of the hobby) but I'm definately on a path that's working now and that I'm more than encouraged to develop.
90% of the system has been purchased without hearing it!
I think the crucial part has been that 1. the sum of consistent comment from many can counter elements of personal taste or system dependency, or expose it and 2. that unbiased reviewers with the experience of repeated comparison and a system context that exposes core character, limitations and strengths, can deliver an informed assessment better than me!
The result? A domestic stage bursting with life, musicianship and the suspension of disbelief. There's better, I've heard it, but not at a price I can afford. It will get better too, but with more of the same rather than a frustrated chase after some elusive hi-fi butterfly panacea.
Current status:
Consonance CD Linear 120 feeding Musical Fidelity DAC21
Mapletree Audio LS2 preamp controlling AOS Classic Yaqin MC100B dual mono power (all hail Anthony!)
nOhr 9.0 marble (that's solid marble housing Scanspeak's finest)
REL Strata2 subwoofer
Vertex Jaya and Taga mains conditioning
Anticables IC's, transformer wire speaker cables, homemade/RDC support platforms on target wall racks, an open 'live' room.
Patience dear fellows, the pics are coming....
Steve and Valerie with a postcard from the seaside here, home being near Southend, Essex.
We found the forum through Google whilst trawling for the answers to life, the universe and everything, a.k.a. music and it's reproduction.
Look forward to sharing experiences and opinions with you and a leetle banter on the way.
We don't do vinyl. Or classical much. It's not that we don't value it, we just don't have it. And we're consumers not techies, couldn't tell an home from a wot, a vault is what you jumped over in PE at school and resistance is the futile attempt to avoid upgraditus.
I lovingly developed this pride and joy over many years, with a few speaker and solid state amp progressions, mains and room treatments:
Spinner: Pioneer S703 with Trichord mods, feeding bits to a hot Dacmagic2
Loudness button: Roksan Caspian
Megafones: TDL Studio 1.0M transmission lines
Although the system was impressive when played to it's strengths, I was always fighting the compromise between bass and clarity, weight and speed, control and flow. Each change or upgrade was giving a better version of the same thing but the negatives remained constant. I made changes that should have radically altered something, but never salved that inherent, nagging dissatisfaction. Time for a new direction.
I wanted to try a sub/sat combination, despite the warnings regarding the difficulties in obtaining a seamless join. Well, I never had that in a single box anyway!
I wanted to try one of those luverly glowing valve thingies. How much??!!!!
I wanted the impossible apparently - the convenience of a digital player that actually made music.
And a new room.
And so the road to AOS began. I met Valerie on the internet and that seemed to work out pretty fine, contrary to conventional wisdom. So casting around the net I found some interesting reviews and owner reports of 'giant killer' bargain kit from around this shrinking globe - problem was, purchasing was a leap of faith based on the advice and opinion of others. But I've mostly been eating humble pie, disappointed that the equipment I've 'invested' in after agonising comparison demonstrations has once again fallen short of it's promise and system potential. The journey's not over (is it ever, that's part of the hobby) but I'm definately on a path that's working now and that I'm more than encouraged to develop.
90% of the system has been purchased without hearing it!
I think the crucial part has been that 1. the sum of consistent comment from many can counter elements of personal taste or system dependency, or expose it and 2. that unbiased reviewers with the experience of repeated comparison and a system context that exposes core character, limitations and strengths, can deliver an informed assessment better than me!
The result? A domestic stage bursting with life, musicianship and the suspension of disbelief. There's better, I've heard it, but not at a price I can afford. It will get better too, but with more of the same rather than a frustrated chase after some elusive hi-fi butterfly panacea.
Current status:
Consonance CD Linear 120 feeding Musical Fidelity DAC21
Mapletree Audio LS2 preamp controlling AOS Classic Yaqin MC100B dual mono power (all hail Anthony!)
nOhr 9.0 marble (that's solid marble housing Scanspeak's finest)
REL Strata2 subwoofer
Vertex Jaya and Taga mains conditioning
Anticables IC's, transformer wire speaker cables, homemade/RDC support platforms on target wall racks, an open 'live' room.
Patience dear fellows, the pics are coming....