Nerdicus

Heading there this afternoon!

When have you ever come out of a concert saying "Wow, loved the singer's mid-bass response," or "Hey, Pavarotti's upper midrange was really nice and level tonight"? This makes complete sense - it just seemed that the book made it sound like if I happened to mix amp A with speaker C I might just end up with horrible sound, and if I were to purchase without auditioning... you get the point. What your saying then is that system matching really is primarily a technical aspect, and probably some with serious ears could discern major problems. I have a feeling I'll be safe with just about anything I move on to from this point since it's a major upgrade for me. I also took the advice of someone earlier about asking local audiogon people for audition, and I got one! A gentleman here in Orlando is selling some B&W 705s, I'll be hearing them Saturday.

I've been watching for at min 4 months and knowning NOTHING of what high end audio is, I'd say watching SR17.5s going for $1660, and occasional Von Schweikert's for half retail as well is a pretty good deal. But you are correct, many of the 'deals' are no greater than MSRP and are from shops getting rid of demos, inventory, etc. At least that's been my observation for awhile - and I mean like serious observation. I only work 3 days a week, the rest of the time I've been reading and research audio equip.

To clarify slightly, while it would be nice to purchase a pair speakers on par with the SR17.5s I mentioned, I was using them more as an example - it seems audiogon has some great deals, and for someone building a first time system this is ideal. In my mind if you can get more for less, and if the initial depreciation has already taken place, you can turn gear around if needed for frequent upgrades until you find what you want to keep. But the fear remains over buying used or new without auditioning. I considered a trip to Miami, or Tampa, but then I'm not hearing it in my own home as some have already mentioned - although at this point, starting out, ANYTHING would be better. This was just a frustration I realized I had while researching equipment. It's my first build, and when I say first I mean like I'm upgrading from Klipsch 2.1 promedia for the last 10 years on my macbook to REAL audio equipment. I've been reading and researching for the last 4-6 months, and this last week I read The Complete Guide to High-End Audio like a textbook, which brought this frustration to the surface after the section on "System Matching" in the beginning chapters. I think I'm going to try contacting some of the people selling some stuff locally on audiogon, as someone mentioned, and maybe a trip to Tampa/Miami after all.

Recently I saw a pair of Silverline SR17.5 speakers go for half of their retail price on audiogon. I'm new to both this forum and audiogon, but seeing that they sold in less than 48 hours, and the raving reviews about them lead me to this question... what if you can't audition? For me, I live in Orlando, and the only local dealer has been closed for a year (Absolute Sound). How do those of you more experienced know if some pair of speakers will match your system? I'm setting up my first system and have this possibly paranoid delusion that I'm going to drop $2k on some speakers and find out I'm in trouble.

Wasn't sure which place to post this, but since it's really the DAC I'm unsure of I thought I'd put it here. I've been reading for awhile, and can tell my budget is definitely limited for right now, I want a system I can build up on a bit later (as many others seem to want as well), and generally have read nothing but positive comments about the A5s. So I settled on the A5s, but really like the m2tech Young for my DAC since I would also want to use it later on for a separate system. Is this overkill for a desktop bedroom system? Should I stay cheap on the DAC now and then when the system grows upgrade it? Right now I realize just about anything is an upgrade - I might as well admit my system for the last 10 years has been macbook/powerbook to Klipsch 2.1 setup which has served me well, but finally blew. RIP. I made the mistake of walking into Absolute Sound in Winter Park, FL and was given a tour of this room I swear god himself lives in... it was all Mcintosh... the song was AC/DC Hells Bells... and while I couldn't and probably won't be able to ever afford it the experience left me wanting more after an aurgasm like that. So here I am. Thanks in advance.