Source: M-Audio Audiophile 2496

Headphones: Sony MDR-7506, Sennheiser HD-560, Sennheiser HD-580

Speakers: Tannoy Reveal passive monitors.

Well, you get what you pay for I guess Often I leave my subwoofer off for my family's benefit at night, but during the day its a different story ...

Speakers: B&W 802 Matrix III
Amplifier: Rotel RB-991 / Rotel RC-972
DA Converter: Sony DAT recorder
Soundcard: Terratec EWX 24/96

The terratec has no official coax output but a 5 volt output parallel on the toslink connector. With 2 resistors and a capacitor I have a coax spdif output.
With something more than the standard 0.5 volt output.
Connect it with 12 meter of 75ohm coax to my Sony DAT recorder.

Audigy + Labtec's Pulse 424 give me a very clean, real and transparent sound. Bass is superb.

In fact, below US$150, my great system gives me a far better sound quality than many Sony or Panasonic mini-hifi.

Hi. I had a pair of B & W 602 s2's. They sounded so great I bought a pair of cdm 1nt B & W about three weeks ago.

They are incredible but the nautilus tweeters are a little sharp sounding in my living room, which is why I have been on about equalizers lately.

The imaging ability of these speakers is absolutely erie at times.

yup...


sad.. sad.. sad..

and with some time & effort.. + a small amount
of money... you can get a lodspeaker system.. worth..
between: 1 to 5/8000 $. (real value)


let`s say:
800$ in elements
300 in crossovers (simple 3-way 3-order LR filter)

and that`s a expensive modell..

Mine's a design proposed on the DIY speaker mail list ("Bass" list at the time) that ended up with
some group purchases of compenents, so there are a few of them around. varying a bit in the details of the
baffle and woofer enclusure:

5 foot Carver ribbons in open dipole baffles (as used in Carver Platinum and Genisis I)
NHT 12 inch woofers (as used in their SW3 sub and their top-line speaker)
biamped with an active crossover designed by an engineer at Carver.

A pair of 15 year old Technics. Part of a complete hi-fi system, but I would estimate them to have been around the $400 mark

I hope to build my own pair for ~$200 when I have the time, have learnt a little more and have access to decent software for testing

M-Audio Delta 410 Soundcard (Analog out )

1973 Revox Preamp
1973 Revox Power Amp
1976 3-way Revox Speakers (80W) soon to be changed for Infinity RSII (1983)

BTW: bought all the Revox stuff (I was born in 1979 so these are older than me...) for $300 but wouldn't trade it for $1000 worth be it Technics, SONY or whatever crap like this two I mentioned. Sound better than my friend's setup (HK Amp + Infinity Alpha Speakers - new).

I have a Denon AVR-1603 receiver powering my Canadian-made Energy Take5.2 speaker system (it's called 5.2 because there was a previous Take5) ... I am sure most of you haven't heard of Energy, but they compete with Bose over here. My satellites are quite small, but sound phenomenal, especially considering their size and price range.

i have the front speakers mounted to the wall, the rear speakers on stands behind my couch, and the subwoofer in the corner. I bought a package deal at Bay Bloor Radio in downtown Toronto, which came with a free Panasonic DVD-RV32 dvd player, and 120' of Monster Cable for my speakers.

I connected my dvd player via optical and s-video, my digital cable box is using digital coaxial for digital audio, stereo rca for the analogue, and s-video. my computer has an SB Live Value hooked up using stereo RCA-headphone cable.

Everything sounds fantastic, except I have to boost the subwoofer channel by an extra 3db when listening to music from the computer. When playing CDs in my dvd player, there is quite a bit more bass... not only louder, but deeper in range. It is quite annoying.

Sound Lab Pristine electrostatics or. when I want it LOUD, KEF 104/2's. Drive 'em with two halfer mono bridged 500's generating 1000+ watts per channel. Yes, it does play Funktown, the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony and just about anything else plenty loud. Just look at the bottom of those old Stones record liners where it always says either, "Play it loud" or "Turn it up."

Huh?

does anyone know anything about the brand dahlquist? i have some dahlquist dqm-9's that were given to me but i don't know much of anything about them. same goes for the NAD 7140 receiver i was given.

yup...


nope.. not realy... but dahlquist was the first
brand to prove the genious of the open baffle...
to the consumer marked..

and thereby opend up.. for Broadband loudspeakers..

when it comes to nad..
well. 7140.. sounds old..

i got a 3240.. in 88-89 i think
2x40.. but with there power envelope
circut... i calculated.. that it gives around 2x120
dynamic power.. in 4ohm..

and the sound.. was/is typical.. english..

I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place at the moment. I have both the Monitor Audio S8's and S10's on trial and can't decide which I want to go for yet. Some music sounds better on the S8's, other music better on the S10's. I'll vote if and when I make a decision.

Audiophile 24/96 > Arcam Diva A85 > MA S8/S10

I did try Kef Q7s too, they went back within the week, the S10's were alot better.

Find a speaker that sounds best with both classic music or the latest Dr Dre hit (sorry, don't have anything else in mind). But having in mind that almost anything these days is able to boom and melt the wax in your ears with treble, look for tight bass, clean highs and MOST important - MIDS - the music has to have presence.

So if one speaker performs better in vocal range or the instruments in a classical piece 'come out' nicer than the other then pick up that one, you'll get used to the sound in time.

yup...


something is missing.. in the marked.

some manufacturers.. (hi-end) usualy give you
a certificate with the speakers.. + a pampflete
over the components, design, building material..
and the benefit from it.
(ex: sonus faber) who actually.. build cabinets..
after the "instrument" method..
(a loudspeaker IS a instrument..)

if all serious loudspeakers in the store..
had something like that..
you could easely have filtered out 60%
of the sheap builds.. on the marked.

does anyone know where i might be able to get some info on the dahlquist dqm-9 and/or the NAD 7140? i've looked, but can't seem to find anything

Audigy 1 -(cheap cable)> Yamaha AX-396 -(cheap 2.5² cable)> JBL MK1000

I bought the speakers some years ago, and I think they are worth the money, but I as soon as I've got enough €€€ I'll spend them on a pair of better speakers...

Regards, fileman.

After insulting my ears with Heco speakers until 1980 I built a pair of KEF Mini Transmissionlines which are still providing very good and neutral sound quality. Around 1990 they were replaced by TDL Monitor Compact, also transmission line, but a bit bigger

edit: typo

I have used for almost 7 years B&W P-4 (IMHO superb value for money), but have switched recently to Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Piano. Expensive for sure, but really classy stuff, and not picky on the program- a real allrounder. My wife just LOVES the looks of it too!
On my puters I have Acoustic Energy Aego 1 (+Echo Mia soundcard) on the "good" puter, and Microsoft Soundsystem 80 (+Turtle Beach Santacruz soundcard) on the second one. Both perform quite well- regarding their pricetag.

Very nice. And yes, they are pretty.

I use the following:

Speakers: Definitive Technology BP2000tl
Amp: Sherwood Newcastle AM-9080 (120w x 5)
Preamp: Acurus Act-3 (sold my beloved Anthem AVM-20 )

DefTech speakers are known more for their abilities in a home theater applicaton. Their bipolar design (3 drivers fire forward, 3 identical drivers fire toward the rear, plus a 15" 500w sub in each tower) creates a very wide image. They do work well with music but you need to spend some time with the set-up as they need a lot of room to really sing.

I am using Sony ss-535 AV speakers connected to a Jolida integrated tube amp. I know this combination sounds rediculous but I have yet to find a set of speakers I enjoy more. I am working on building a computer to connect to the amp but I have yet to learn enough to get LAME work automatically with EAC. I am waiting until I can make better hardware and configuration choices to make the connection. Personally I think my ears are turning to tin but I guess you have to use what works.

My home rig is my pride and joy

Digital Front-end is a Krell MD10 Transport / Studio Dac

Analog Front is is either Rega Planar 3 / RB300 / Sumiko Blue Point MCor Pro-Ject RPM9 / 9c Carbon Fibre Tonearm and Ortofon Rohman MC

Audiolab 8000Q Preamplifier and EAR 834p Phono Stage (3 x ECC83s). The Audiolab was A/B'd against a Musical Fidelity A3cr earlier thois week and it walked all over it!

Power amps are a pair of Tube Technology Genesis Monoblocks with Gold Aero E34Ls running in Superlinear at upto 100watts output. Alternatively I can use a pair of Rotel RB970s bridged into Mono giving upto 180watts output.

Speakers are ProAc Response 1SC on Target R4 Stands. Alternatively I have Spendor SP3/1s, Quad 77-10ls and KEF Q15.2.


Speaker Cables are QED Genesis Silver Spiral with WBT Spades, QED Silver 12 with Arcam plugs. Interconnects are Chord Chorus, Nordost Red Dawns, Van Den Hul D102 III's and Chord Prodac.


Headphone amp is a Sugden Headmaster with Sennheiser HD580/600/25/PX200, Grado SR60, and Stax Lamda Nova Basic



Killer System. I don't listen to much on my computer as I generally just use it for transferring stuff to NETMinidisc for listening whilst out and about.

First post to the Hydrogen Audio forum. I'm using Paradigm Phantom speakers, with my LXI and Pioneer stereo connected to my computer's line-out. While not high-end sound, these speakers are certainly much better than the little ones included with the PC.

*dreams of Krell, Mark Levinson, etc.*

My front speakers are a pair of KLH 609S's (doesn't mean much to me) that I found at a place called Liquidation World, $100 for the pair... they're powered by a 50-watt 'Modulaire' amp that looks c. 1970's (I found it in the basement; it's older than me :P)... the rears are the pair Realistics I found with the amp, and they're powered by (get ready for it) the right one of a pair of reallyreallyreallycheap plastic computer speakers with a headphone-out jack on the front (I just know I'm gonna get flamed for that ;)

And, supplying all that cheap stuff is an SBLive Value. Somehow, it all works out...

I've heard much more expensive systems than mine, and they do sound appreciably different (in some cases very different), but to my ears I wouldn't say they sound any *better* as such, just 'more expensive'. Maybe I'm just too accustomed to this setup? But the nice thing is, it has this weird ability to make some pretty crappily encoded stuff sound good... I compared on some high-quality headphones and on the phones I could easily tell that 128kbps MP3 sucked compared to 160 or 192, but played over speakers it's almost imperceptible, in a good way. I can tell the difference between Ogg and MP3 though (the former sounds much nicer).

I use Meadowlark Shearwater speakers downstairs and Vienna Acoustic Mozarts upstairs. These are paired with Adcom and Naim electronics. I also have a home theater using RBH inwalls with a HSU sub and Denon 3802.

Blaster

A couple of very old (early 70's!) Philips speakers (01RH427/00 , 10W , 8 Ohms), connected to the Philips amp that came with them.Highest frequency response is about 14KHz I think .

Hmmm, big wooden speakes. My father built them in the 70s. My Marantz amp is very old, too. Good quality is all I can say, no idea of the technical aspects...

We have mostly "old but good" equipment about 15 years old.

Yamaha CA-810 amp
Onkyo T-4090 quartz locked AM-FM receiver
Sony NC615 DVD-CD player (got in 2002)
Technics M224 tape deck
ADS 710 22" speakers
Signal Audio Analog Two interconnects (new)
Signal Audio speaker cables (new)

For phones: JMT-built META 42 headphone amp; Senn HD580 and Alessandro-Grado MS-1 phones; DiMarzio interconnects to the Yamaha amp.

We like the sound generally, although the speakers aren't very revealing. Wonderful sound through the META42amp and the phones. Thinking of getting new speakers, but my wife isn't very interested, will take some negotiating.

I've been using Dunlavy SC-III's ($4000US) for the past few years and they are superb. Here's a listing of the associated equipment:

Analog - VPI HW-19jr TT > McCormack Micro Phono Drive
Digital - Pioneer DV-525
Pre/Pro - Angstrom 100
Amp - McCormack DNA 0.5
Sub - Genesis Servo 12M

I've been very pleased with this system's performance. I'll most likely update/upgrade some components at some point, but the Dunlavy's are keepers.

I have a full klipsch system, epic CF2's as mains and 1.5 klipsch bookshelf speakers as 4 surrounds, running through a yamaha DSP-A3090 amp. Sub is a sunfire true sub, sound card is a dmx 6fire 24/96 connected to the yamaha on a digital transport. it sounds awesome. That is in my main entertainment room downstairs. Upstairs, I have a Turtle Beach santa cruiz hooked into the Klipsh computer promedia system. It sounds pretty darn good also.

Great "old" amp!

Currently using a Turtle Beach Montego SC,
through an old Sony V-FET TA-5650 Int. Amp,
through Yamaha NS-1000 Studio Monitors.

Can't remember if these speakers actually
sound good, or if I think they sound
good. But then again, I'm the guy who can
hear the difference between pink and green
speaker wires!

(Inside joke: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....hl=wire&st=50&)

Dex

And old, but very good and reliable setup:
A Pioneer receiver model SX850(all analogic), a pair of Technics speakers(3 way, 12" woofer), one CD Player TEAC, a Realistic equalizer, a TEAC tape deck, a Realistic direct drive turntable and a DVD Player Samsung(for mp3 discs).

Reciever - Kenwood VR-505 5.1 with 500w
Speakers - KLH L853B Bookshelf Speakers w/ 8in woofers, 3in mid & 1in tweeter ($20 for the pair )
Center / Surround Speakers - Kenwood KS-205HT's (3in single speaker units, ported)
Subwoofer - Kenwood 8in (Front firing, ported, non-powered)
Subwoofer Amp - Marantz PM325 2-Channel Stereo Reciever
Sound Card - SB-Live Value 1024 w/ Foobar resampling
Speaker Wire - Bulk 16ga
Interconnects - Cheap........

This system is by NO means high end, but sounds surprisingly good for it's total price of under $300. The Kenwood receiver, surround speakers and subwoofer were part of a home theater in a box system . The base system lacks treble and bass of any type (you need tweeters and a powered subwoofer for that.) By adding the Marantz amp to power the subwoofer, the bass is more than sufficient to fill the 12*12 room the system is located in. As for the KLH speakers, I am impressed with their quality. Originally, they had an MSRP of $100 to $200, but when they were at Best Buy for $10 each, I couldn't resist . They have a very strong bass (they are not ported) and pretty good overall frequency response, although the midrange is lacking slightly. I have heard my neighbors system, which cost him around $3000 wholesale two years ago (he sells and sets up professional audio equipment for studios and the like, gets his equipment wholesale, and has a killer setup at his house), and I can assure you that there is not $2700 difference between his setup and my own B) . And he knows what he is doing . In the future, I hope to upgrade my center channel speaker and get a 12in powered sub for the system.

amp: Sony TA-VA777ES
speakers: Canton Karat M50DC + biwiring (and some crappy Sony 5.1 speakers but I just use the center and the rear for DVDs)
soundcard: Creative Audigy 2 Platinum via optical 96kHz to amp
headphones: Sennheiser HD600

A friend of mine just bought a pair of HD580 headphones so we made a listening test: I and he can't tell a difference between those headphones... The HD600 appears more solid .

turntable: rega planar 2 / shure m104 e 18 years old
amplifier: Dual PA 5030, audiophile concept, high current. 13 years old
loudspeakers : Celestion Ditton 2 , bookshield, reflex, 2 way , 17 cm woofer, 10 years old.
cassette deck sansui 3 heads dolby c, 14 years old
cd player CEC 540 12 years old
soundcard Terratec dmx 6fire 6 months old

Correcting my earlier post: Our ADS 710 speakers sound amazing! Got new good- quality interconnects and new good-quality speaker cables. Also discovered the midrange cone in one of the speakers wasn't working, had it repaired, just a rewiring. Sound is great!!!

My two postings might confuse. The new interconnects and speakers cables are the Signal Cables mentioned in the first post. Sound great after "break-in".

Sigh...

Polk RT-800i (two mains), Polk PSW350 subwoofer (might be 450, I actually cannot remember right now), Polk CS400i center channel, Polk RT-35i or -25i (really don't remember) for the two rear effect channels.

One of the reasons why I am looking into good headphones with low SNR. I have even been plugging in my headphones into my receiver for movies and TV so as not to disturb my upstairs and across the hall neighbors if I am watching movies late at night.

yep... Cables are kind of like CD's that way...

NHT SB-3, NHT SW-10 connected to H/K 3300.
With cheap 14 gauge interconnect!
My father bought me some monster cable a few years ago, but I cannot hear any difference whatsoever, and neither could anyone else who tried.
I have many more feet of the cheap 14WAG stuff meaning I can route it more effectively.

Dunlavy Cantatas. $6000/pr.

Want accuracy? Get Dunlavys. Objectively the most accurate speakers in the world. Nothing measures better.

Huh . . . Dunlavy has ceased operation???

Dunlavy

Dex

Yeah, I know... Depressing. No one makes speakers quite like them. There are still Dunlavys on the used market from time to time.

Dunlavy@Audiogon

Wow! Someone who likes the 'old' stuff! Refreshing to find someone that doesn't look down their nose at us oldie freaks.

Marantz Imperial 9
Phase Linear 400 Series 1
Pioneer Spec 1
Pioneer TX9500
Technics SL-1100 w/ Empire 1000ZEX
Teac A-5500 (don't use it but it looks neat)
Koss ESP 9
Some new style black front POS CD player

People ask me what it cost and I tell them three years of my life. (Army, S.E. Asia in the early '70's)

Fred

For PC, I'm using an old model Altec which my friend gave me, sounds ok but for gaming or easy listening MP3 only. Some of the frequency was "enhanced", I didn't like that.

I've another serious listening setup with EL34 vacuum tube amplifier which sounds much more fidelity but I don't think I'll connect it to PC. The EMI and RFI will colorize it's sound nature.

Since this a poll that's been drudged up from the past that I haven't voted on, here goes.

The total sum cost of my "good" speaker setup will be in the neighborhood of $1200 (not counting receiver). However, the keyword here is Stereo speakers. I use Ascend Acoustic CBM-170s on the main stereo set, which cost about $330 or so. I've posted on this in other threads, so this should be no big surprise.

The $500 question is whether Christian wanted to know about my subwoofer, which is always in use with these speakers (Hsu VTF-2). I would not consider my speakers to be complete without it, but you get the picture.

Other speakers in the setup are Ascend Acoustics CMT-340 for center and two no-name speakers for surround. One day I may replace them with another set of Ascends (yeah, I'm a fan), but it's not as important to me as my other wishlist items.

P.S. - I have another set of speakers hooked up to my computer made by a company called Design Acoustics (an Audio-Technica company), but I can't find any other information about it. Does anyone know anything about it? Thanks.

Nice to see some B&W owners in the house.

I have the DM602S2s as well. It goes something like this:

PC -> Ethernet -> Xbox Media Player -> Optical out -> Marantz SR5000

I have a B&W ASW500 subwoofer as well...it's 5.1, but I can't remember off the top of my head what model the center/satellites are. One of these days I'd like to use something better than my Xbox to play my music (LAME -aps), but I haven't found anything to throw in my home theater that'll support APE.