Cellcbern
Listening Biases and Music Preferences:
The musical attributes of an audio system are more important to me than the sonic ones. While there is a minimum threshold for resolution, spatiality, and transparency to source that my system must meet, timbral accuracy and tonal color and density are more important to me than pinpoint imaging, soundstaging, or mining every detail in the media. If a system gets the gestalt of the music right I can live with less than state of the art resolution. I am not a stickler for "neutrality" which too often describes a cool to clinical sonic signature. I seek natural musicality and emotional engagement with the music, free from electronic artifacts, from the components and accessories that I purchase. For me this has always meant components/equipment whose sound is a little on the warm side of "neutral". I prefer vinyl over digital and require tubes in the chain in order to get the level of musicality I desire. While I was very late to add cd's to my collection I have been able to achieve natural, musical playback of sacd's and well recorded cd's with the Modwright modified players (and nothing else to date) featuring analogue tube output stages and tube rectified power supplies. I am particularly sensitive to a bright treble range and would prefer that it be slightly recessed rather than slightly shrill. I have yet to hear sliver conductor cables that didn't sound a little tipped up and thin, and detest the sound of Rhodium plated connectors which I have purged from my system.
I listen mostly to jazz and female vocals, blues, the R&B (e.g. Motown) that I grew up on, soundtracks, and a little classical. Luckily for me, since I have a small listening room, I prefer the intimacy of the jazz trio and string quartet to the complexity of the full orchestra and big band.
Background
Born and raised in Philly - lifetime Eagles/Sixers/Phillies/Flyers/Wildcats fan no matter where I live. Villanova BA/Princeton MPA. Living in DC since 1992. Married - no children. No training or experience with electronics nor any affiliation with a manufacturer or retailer of audio gear. Not a DIYer! Made a concerted effort over more than four decades to learn about high end gear and educate my ears. My audiophile journey started when I used to ride my bike from West Philly to Villanova every day. There was a high end store on Lancaster Ave. that I had to pass and I stopped in whenever I could. I had no money to spend but the staff not only let me listen but helped educate me as to what to listen for. They featured IMF speakers, Audio Research electronics, and Thorens turntables. The big Magnaplanars were set up in their own room. I spent many hours listening while they were demoed for potential customers. I also discovered The Absolute Sound in the Villanova library. The damage was done - fast forward to today.
The musical attributes of an audio system are more important to me than the sonic ones. While there is a minimum threshold for resolution, spatiality, and transparency to source that my system must meet, timbral accuracy and tonal color and density are more important to me than pinpoint imaging, soundstaging, or mining every detail in the media. If a system gets the gestalt of the music right I can live with less than state of the art resolution. I am not a stickler for "neutrality" which too often describes a cool to clinical sonic signature. I seek natural musicality and emotional engagement with the music, free from electronic artifacts, from the components and accessories that I purchase. For me this has always meant components/equipment whose sound is a little on the warm side of "neutral". I prefer vinyl over digital and require tubes in the chain in order to get the level of musicality I desire. While I was very late to add cd's to my collection I have been able to achieve natural, musical playback of sacd's and well recorded cd's with the Modwright modified players (and nothing else to date) featuring analogue tube output stages and tube rectified power supplies. I am particularly sensitive to a bright treble range and would prefer that it be slightly recessed rather than slightly shrill. I have yet to hear sliver conductor cables that didn't sound a little tipped up and thin, and detest the sound of Rhodium plated connectors which I have purged from my system.
I listen mostly to jazz and female vocals, blues, the R&B (e.g. Motown) that I grew up on, soundtracks, and a little classical. Luckily for me, since I have a small listening room, I prefer the intimacy of the jazz trio and string quartet to the complexity of the full orchestra and big band.
Background
Born and raised in Philly - lifetime Eagles/Sixers/Phillies/Flyers/Wildcats fan no matter where I live. Villanova BA/Princeton MPA. Living in DC since 1992. Married - no children. No training or experience with electronics nor any affiliation with a manufacturer or retailer of audio gear. Not a DIYer! Made a concerted effort over more than four decades to learn about high end gear and educate my ears. My audiophile journey started when I used to ride my bike from West Philly to Villanova every day. There was a high end store on Lancaster Ave. that I had to pass and I stopped in whenever I could. I had no money to spend but the staff not only let me listen but helped educate me as to what to listen for. They featured IMF speakers, Audio Research electronics, and Thorens turntables. The big Magnaplanars were set up in their own room. I spent many hours listening while they were demoed for potential customers. I also discovered The Absolute Sound in the Villanova library. The damage was done - fast forward to today.
- Birthday
- Apr 16, 1953 (Age: 71)
- Location
- Washington, DC
- The Place To List Your Gear
- Modified Pathos TT integrated amp (Dueland Cast PIO Tinned Copper Foil caps, etc.) on Wellfoat board and Marigo Mystery Feet, Upgraded (Eton woofers, Fostex FT96-EX2 tweeters, custom crossover and wiring) Bache speakers with Bybee Quantum Clarifiers on driver magnets, Isoacoustics Gaia footers; PSA Perfectwave SACD Transport on ASI Topline feet and Wellfloat board, with Furutech Flux-50(G); Audio-GD R7 HE Mk. 2 DAC on Wellfloat board and Dalby Lignum Vitae feet; Pink Faun I2S cable; Verastarr GI speaker cables; Shunyata Alpha V2 rca; Allnic ZL5000, Hemingway Z-Core Beta, Echole Omnia, and Lessloss CMARC Entropic AC cables; Bybee Wire Dark Matter Stealth AC conditioner with Lessloss Firewall 640X CMARC, dedicated 20A line and breaker box, with EP-2050 on main panel, Oyaide R-1 w/WPC-Z base/cover; Puritan Groundmaster City signal grounding, Bybee IQSE's, Shakti 'Air' Stones, Quantum Physics Noise Disruptors, Akiko Tuning Sticks, Puron and Furutech Clear Line filters, SR Purple fuses.
- The Place To List Your Reference Tracks
- Soular Energy - Ray Brown, Nordic Noir - Mari Samuelson, Kind of Blue - Miles Davis, Spiritual Nature - Donald Vega, Poetic Champions Compose - Van Morrison, Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie - Ella Fitzgerald, Japanese Melodies-Yo-Yo Ma, Anthology - War
- Gender
- Male
- Occupation
- VP of a Washington, DC based Real Estate Development Company; Planning/Strategy Consultant
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