PeterG

The issue is not that the studies are wrong, it is that they are often misused to create nihilistic arguments that people should not spend a lot of money on hifi gear. There are plenty of good reasons not to spend a lot of money, but the idea that attentive listeners will not recognize a change in their system or cannot compare two power cables, just to pick a contentious example, is silly.

You should sell the LPs, the values are quite high right now

I added a turntable last year, expecting one of the downsides to be the manual manipulation, maintenance, and storage of the albums themselves. (The upsides are off topic, so leaving those aside.) One of the pleasant surprises is that all of that "hassle" is actually quite enjoyable. Some of this is probably nostalgia, but if you are of a certain age...

Yes, this is exactly what I meant by the need to define lossless. Separate from the numbers, I lost quite a bit of music

I think part of this needs to include the definitions of "lossless" and "providing". With a Bluesound Node 2 streamer going into my DAC, I have never been able to get sound that matches a ripped CD going into the same DAC. I understand there are different versions, etc; but the overall sonics of a significant number of albums were all second best via streaming. So I am certain I am not able to provide a lossless redbook stream into my DAC with my well-respected, value-priced streamer. My conclusion was that lossless streaming may be possible at a higher price point, but definitely not my price point. Are others here able to stream without sonic compromise vs CD?

Even sillier than numbers is worrying about the numbers and distracting from the important part of the conversation. So back to what's meaningful... Thanks, Chris! I love Ahmad, and just bought this on your recommendation. For those who find certain records tough to acquire, as Chris notes this might be, I recommend Discogs, an excellent online marketplace for both digital and vinyl. Virtually anything is available. For those who purchase used vinyl--both the media condition and the seller rating (ie the trustworthiness of the person who rated the media condition) are very important. CDs are almost always fine, as you'd expect. On this particular LP, it is readily available brand new for <$40 shipped to the US. https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=190545&ev=mb

Please forgive if this is pedantic. Make sure you're backed up on an external drive, then update as others suggest. If somehow the whole thing fails, you are only out a few hundred dollars, and the Mac was not going to live forever anyway

OK, thanks. I still would not bank on that protection being available forever. Also, this is not to say I would avoid genetic testing done at a hospital as part of normal care, it could be incredibly valuable.

Yes, Obamacare prevents pre-existing conditions from being used against a person buying health insurance. But that is not a guarantee for the future. I do not want to digress into politics and personal values, but Donald Trump has said just recently that if he wins he will repeal Obamacare. Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, like Obamacare or dislike it, you should take this as a credible threat with respect to this particular issue.

I'll answer this one...it could be VERY bad. Genetic data has at least 3 common uses they could be turned upon the subject in unpleasant ways: 1) Paternity--a stranger could discover you have a child you did not know about, or that you do not have a child that you thought you did. 2) Healthcare--certain genetic data can indicate an increased risk of disease, which will make you less attractive to insurers, employers, and others 3) Crime--like on CSI, including using your data to identify miscreant relatives Also note that this is an evolving field, more applications are coming on line, many of these will use old data that you gave up years ago, "knowing" it was worthless

Yes, definitely. That's what I meant by more of a sculpture. It is not an audiophile product so much as interior decoration

$25,000...and not made for "everyday" use. So really it's more of a sculpture. The thing that's most silly though is that there are plenty of less expensive turntables that are going to be much better sonically and still look like great modern sculptures

I think it's <1" or so, and wouldn't you expect an equal number of shorter people with speakers that sound worse with the added height?

I don't doubt what you say from a technical perspective (perhaps because I can't follow it all). But I'm referencing the user experience with both BACCH and headphones. The BACCH experience for Darko was clearly not good enough. On super high end headphones, even if a person does not prefer them to speakers and/or finds them unnatural, listening to them will produce superlative descriptions and an understanding that others could find them to be the ultimate.

"Nothing new" is exactly the problem. This is touted by Choueiri as the best thing since sliced bread, yet Darko's socks are definitely still firmly on his feet; and yours appear to be as well. Even if we accept your assertion of the brain resisting (and I don't); we should "demand" a number of "aha!" moments. Just for example--a person who prefers speakers would experience these the first time he heard Stax or Abyss headphones, even if he did not like headphones. If I have misread between the lines of your previous posts, and you have had hair-raising sessions with the BACCH, please let us know