Hi. I am a 57 (next week) yr old semi-retired software exec in NE Ohio. I am excited about this forum, as it seems to be a who’s who of experienced amateur and professional audio nuts, getting along, and discussing such things as “is 24/192” enough, and “is tonal transparency an oxymoron”. Very cool.
I am a veteran of audio forums, and am creator/moderator of Audio Circle’s HiRez Music forum. I am a DAC aholic, having demo’d inhouse over a dozen hirez DACs in the past year. That being said, I am needing to redo some of that evaluation since my room acoustic makeover this past month (pics of room in link)
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?2717-My-room-s-acoustic-makeover
I am also a huge multichannel fan, and have invested heavily in every surround format since day one, with a complete full range ITU setup. My plebian Oppo BDp-83 SE is either my ninth or tenth universal player, which has included modded ones, Sony’s earliest SACD flagships, etc. One reason m y listening environment has involved so much work and room treatments is due to the fact that I am successfully marrying a dedicated 5.1 surround signal path with a great dedicated 2.0 stereo listening space (I also run 7.1 with dipole surrounds but that’s for movies only and is separately amplified, etc).
The core of my space is my speaker setup, a set of largely unknown SP Tech Revelation MR-1 mk 2 speakers (with custom external Mundorf crossovers and Aether Audio magic boxes). Bob Smith is the genius behind SP tech 9now Aether Audio) and I’ve become very close to Bob throughout the years. Although a huge favorite of reviewers like Jim Merod, Bob needs one big break to make it to the brand awareness levels of Devore, etc. I own Bob’s full range Revelations, and three full range Continuums (center, music surrounds) which are the MTM portion of the Revs (without the t-line).
Sources:
Macbook SSD with external USB/FW music (16/44 through DXD 24/384)
Weiss DAC2 (firewire, etc)) DAC
M2Tech Young (USB, etc) DAC (on loan)
Rega P5/Rega/Dynavector vinyl (seldom used)
Oppo BDP 83 SE (SACD/DVD-A multichannel, BluRay)
Atlona HD570 HDMi de-embedder (for 2 channel SACD and blURay decoding to 24/192)
Amplification:
Concert Fidelity CF-080 tube hybrid stereo preamp
Modwright KWA-150 monoblock amplifiers
McCormack DNA surround amplification (various)
Cabling:
ASI Liveline (sources to pre)
Furutech Reference III (pre to amps)
ASI liveline speaker cabling
Cardas/ASI/Kaplan power cords
Audience Adept Response AR12 power conditioner
UberbUss power conditioner
whole house ground and RF products from EPNA
The room is also home to side and rear Alon movie surrounds, a DLP projector, Stewart 130 screen, and some movie amplification. My room is heavily treated with over twenty (22+) of Ethan’s wonderful Realtraps, Mondo Traps, Minitraps, Difffusors and RFZ’s. I am one of Ethan’s monthly Stereophile testimonial ads, as I love his products and their value prop. I also have two GIK art panels, and of course the whole room centers around the room acoustic system designed by Jeff Hedback (HDAcoustics) and completed last month. I have discovered that the room is everything; it is more significant than any piece of gear, even $100k speakers. And once it is “fixed” the value of you audio investments skyrockets, literally.
My listening is eclectic. Beatles to Beck. Radiohead to Rickie Lee. Cassandra Wilson to Cowboy Junkies to Charlie Haden. Steely Dan to Suzanne Vega to Shostakovich. Miles to Monkees (just kidding, hoping you’ve read this far).
Thx
Ted
I am a veteran of audio forums, and am creator/moderator of Audio Circle’s HiRez Music forum. I am a DAC aholic, having demo’d inhouse over a dozen hirez DACs in the past year. That being said, I am needing to redo some of that evaluation since my room acoustic makeover this past month (pics of room in link)
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?2717-My-room-s-acoustic-makeover
I am also a huge multichannel fan, and have invested heavily in every surround format since day one, with a complete full range ITU setup. My plebian Oppo BDp-83 SE is either my ninth or tenth universal player, which has included modded ones, Sony’s earliest SACD flagships, etc. One reason m y listening environment has involved so much work and room treatments is due to the fact that I am successfully marrying a dedicated 5.1 surround signal path with a great dedicated 2.0 stereo listening space (I also run 7.1 with dipole surrounds but that’s for movies only and is separately amplified, etc).
The core of my space is my speaker setup, a set of largely unknown SP Tech Revelation MR-1 mk 2 speakers (with custom external Mundorf crossovers and Aether Audio magic boxes). Bob Smith is the genius behind SP tech 9now Aether Audio) and I’ve become very close to Bob throughout the years. Although a huge favorite of reviewers like Jim Merod, Bob needs one big break to make it to the brand awareness levels of Devore, etc. I own Bob’s full range Revelations, and three full range Continuums (center, music surrounds) which are the MTM portion of the Revs (without the t-line).
Sources:
Macbook SSD with external USB/FW music (16/44 through DXD 24/384)
Weiss DAC2 (firewire, etc)) DAC
M2Tech Young (USB, etc) DAC (on loan)
Rega P5/Rega/Dynavector vinyl (seldom used)
Oppo BDP 83 SE (SACD/DVD-A multichannel, BluRay)
Atlona HD570 HDMi de-embedder (for 2 channel SACD and blURay decoding to 24/192)
Amplification:
Concert Fidelity CF-080 tube hybrid stereo preamp
Modwright KWA-150 monoblock amplifiers
McCormack DNA surround amplification (various)
Cabling:
ASI Liveline (sources to pre)
Furutech Reference III (pre to amps)
ASI liveline speaker cabling
Cardas/ASI/Kaplan power cords
Audience Adept Response AR12 power conditioner
UberbUss power conditioner
whole house ground and RF products from EPNA
The room is also home to side and rear Alon movie surrounds, a DLP projector, Stewart 130 screen, and some movie amplification. My room is heavily treated with over twenty (22+) of Ethan’s wonderful Realtraps, Mondo Traps, Minitraps, Difffusors and RFZ’s. I am one of Ethan’s monthly Stereophile testimonial ads, as I love his products and their value prop. I also have two GIK art panels, and of course the whole room centers around the room acoustic system designed by Jeff Hedback (HDAcoustics) and completed last month. I have discovered that the room is everything; it is more significant than any piece of gear, even $100k speakers. And once it is “fixed” the value of you audio investments skyrockets, literally.
My listening is eclectic. Beatles to Beck. Radiohead to Rickie Lee. Cassandra Wilson to Cowboy Junkies to Charlie Haden. Steely Dan to Suzanne Vega to Shostakovich. Miles to Monkees (just kidding, hoping you’ve read this far).
Thx
Ted
