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musicargyle

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  1. Audience AU24 SE is my favorite at any price but it cost $800. Very detailed and musical.
  2. Ritual: I am a music loving soul but find describing my listening habits may sound like a form of ritualistic behavior. Over the years my tendency is to dedicate a time of day, setting up of the room, mental exercise of relaxation, selection of music and then listen to entire albums start-to-finish. Maybe not not as rigid as it sounds but basically consistent and even educational. I am a professional artist (a painter of the contemporary kind) and always find music keeps me honest and puts me in my place. The shear emotional and expressive power of music reminds me of the depth of human creative potential and reaffirms the role of art in our daily life. I sometimes forget that we are such gifted creatures and able to invent and reinvent ourselves in endless variants. I think music is a kind of reminder of whats really important in life: To live in a way that each day is a fresh page in an ongoing narrative. We do tend to get caught up in ourselves and listening to music is a path beyond the singularity of self. It creates a moment and pathway that links & connects . Thanks for making me ponder this. Mark
  3. Yes- I find this true of many of the EMC CD's I own & love. A bit of haze, compression and maybe phase(IE) stuff in the mix. I put up w/ it because I enjoy the music but discovered that my digital cables ) transport to DAC) and make it better or worse. Audience AU24 SE new cable is very very good.
  4. I have always had a silly rule about my audiophile hobby. I call it the "car-to-music system cost ratio". A proud, old and odd notion I have that at some point along the way ones car should be worth less than ones music system, as if this “proves” the level of dedication and music loving zealotry that propels us deeper into the game. It’s really pretty amusing on some level. The other day I got the last bit of equipment for my new and likely last music system. After years of loving and listening to music I realized my new system now cost 3.8 times the value of my car (a 2011 VW GTI DSG w/ many aftermarket APR performance mods) It cost several times the value of our first home and 1/7th the value of our current home. People who do not know this are horrified when they figure it out and many wives' of our friends think of me as a corrupting figure. Oddly I am kind of proud of it. After all, it’s a pretty private thing and many people don’t see the $-$$$ written all over the equipment. My wife in a satori moment said “My god this sounds good. Better than anything I have ever heard”. Then said, “How much does all this stuff cost if you had to replace it? More than all of our cars I bet”. She paused and said “We need a better DAC”. I was speechless. A Better DAC? Wonder what other think? Ratios.
  5. I have had the newest Berkeley Alpha 2 for several months and like it a lot. In my system it sounds a bit better w a preamp as opposed to direct. FYI I am selling my 7 month old Berkeley Audio Alpha 2 DAC (silver ) so I can get the Rowland Aeris (which I prefer because it mates so well w my other Rowland gear) It's a great price at $3600 if you know someone interested.
  6. In my own experience speakers are the waveform launch pad & "last chance" the signal has to get out & express its soul in the audio chain. If it can't be transmitted in the full glory (or raw truth) of its potential musicality then somehow the whole is diminished. Personally I recently built an entire $$$ system from the top down and when I heard the same components w/ a good vs. an excellent pair of speakers I realized my top end had languished the whole time. My advice to my friends is to get the best speakers they can muster for space and budget and then start working at the other extreme. My biggest surprise over the years has been cabling: Right now 30% of the value of my system is in cables and this experimentation and investment has transformed my gear from very good to spectacular. I try to buy show cable, barely used stuff, and find dealers who are willing to loan & discount. What a wonderful hobby we have that has at times saved my heart & soul. Music is our life partner (thankfully my Life partner feels the same way) Side bar: My silly rule in audio life is the car cost-to-audio system cost scale: Ones car should cost a lot less than ones audio system. I have a tricked out 2011 VW GTI w/ fullbore APR stuff (and I am not a young person.)
  7. I don't think the oppo has 110ohm digital out. I have a pricy shunyata aes/ebu cable I'd like to use. Interesting to see that Jeff Rowland uses RCA 75ohm digital input on his Aeris DAC . M fidelity I need to look at . Mark
  8. Hi- I have a very big CD collection (8000+) & will not get them all ripped anytime soon so I use a transport a great deal. I need a new transport and would love to have your advice. FYI: My CD playback equipment is: Bryston BCD-1 used as transport (Phillips based transport w/ rigid & heavy components) via Shunyata Python Zytron AES/EBU 110ohm IC to Berkeley Audio Alpha 2 DAC, Audience balanced AU24 SE IC to Rowland Corus, Audience AU24 SE balanced IC to Rowland 625, to Revel Salon 2's using Cardas Clear Beyond Sp.C (amps will be 725's in a week.) Digital is Berkeley USB/Amarra/Mac I would like a good transport or CD player w/ AES/EBU digital outs that is mechanically solid and hopefully able to perform it's job well. I do like the idea that a transport, if you are going to use one, should be a good design and perhaps a unit that contributes some some small sonic advantage over lesser designs. The Bryston only reads redbook CD's so it's limiting. The beautiful top tier transports designed by Esoteric seem a model of substantial mechanical design and engineering but they are pricy. Your advice would be appreciated.
  9. In my case I was very fortunate to be build & design a home based around our audio lifestyle. It is large & very sympathetic space for our needs. I do find that slightly more "near-field" seating positions solve multitude of problems and so blue tape, sliding a chair a bit forward & red wine works wonders.
  10. As I see it, there are objectives to attain over time: 1. Attaining a good synergy between elements/components 2. Play the room: Understanding relationships of placement, basic acoustics, treatments and seating. Lots of experimentation & patience. 3.Value music above technology 4. Trust you ears 4.Make Goals: Finding paths/budget to improve the system over time. 5. Awareness of the wiring "harness" effect: The crazy magic good wiring top to bottom can have. Again this is hard to do & can be pricy but when it comes together!! I really think the whole is greater than the sum of its parts in audio BUT I do know "wholes" can be really expensive sometimes ( IE: I just replaced my entire system more or less w my dream equipment & it was breathtakingly expensive but very synergistic to my ears.)
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