Hi-Fi Nerds?

[theetruscan]

I've never heard a difference on hardwood. Maybe my ears aren't good enough. I know I like speakers better when the stands are on spikes on carpet, but I can't articulate why.

[poopie boy]

You can hear a big difference with spikes.. its not in the "sound quality" so much as in the imaging and bass articulation. In other words.. if you are listening to someone playing an acoustic guitar, it isn't going to sound significantly clearer or more dynamic, but what will happen is the guitarist will be imaged perfectly in the center, if he moves you'll be able to hear him move, and you will be able to feel him picking every string a lot better. Spikes give a much more focused image and a soundstage with more depth. Always spike your speakers and spike your subwoofer if it came with spikes. With respect to imaging and bass articulation, I've heard huge differences between spiked and non-spiked on hardwood and carpet flooring to say it doesn't make a difference.. but if your speakers don't image very well or do not go down very deep in bass, then you probably won't hear a difference anyway..

Just like speaker positioning is critical for good speakers, but if you have a Sony Home Theater in a Box system that you got at Frys for $399 and you setup the speakers in a couple different ways it won't really make a difference because the speakers suck to begin with...

In other words, the better speaker the more it will be able to reveal about its positioning, spikes, speaker wire, amp, etc..

[gimmegimme]

I don't see how lifting something 1" will enhance sound imaging? I can see the benefit of using them with carpet...so that the spikes touch the surface below the pile. The only thing I see it doing on hardwood is scratching it.

[tmadd]

I can't believe I have missed this thread up until this point...Superfuture really is a one stop shop as far as the things I am interested in/spend my money on. My home setup right now is an older rig I scored last summer for what I consider to be a pretty good deal:

Rega Planar 3>Adcom GFP-555(I would consider this, along with the crumby hardwired cables from the Rega as the weakest link in the system)>Aragon 4004>Thiel CS2s

I really like the system, but it could use some touching up (cables, preamp, dedicated power source, a decent hi-fi rack/shelf unit) that it won't receive anytime in the foreseeable future.

Earlier this week, my girlfriend went in for the first time at a Berkeley hi-fi speaker maker that she is keeping books/doing taxes for...I am so fucking jealous, because this place is nextester-level: www.magico.net

First day on the job, she got to listen to Feist on the Ultimates, and spent the whole day working in an office equipped with the Mini II's...who gives a fuck that she was crunching numbers all day, I would do that shit without getting paid in an environment like that.

[gimmegimme]

I think you forgot to mention those minis are like $25,000!

[kiya]

I just went my panties when i hit this page:

http://www.magico.net/?d=03_Products/04_Ultimate

[gimmegimme]

I just went my panties when i hit this page:

http://www.magico.net/?d=03_Products/04_Ultimate

Doesn't even look real...trippy shit.

[tmadd]

I just went my panties when i hit this page:

http://www.magico.net/?d=03_Products/04_Ultimate

That's funny, because right after she finished bragging about listening to "a pile" of the minis, she said something to the effect of: "You should tell Kiya about this place, he would probably piss his pants." As much as she likes to sit in your store with her arms crossed while shaking her head at the uber-nerdiness I am generally engaged in, its obvious she "gets it."

And on the 25k tip for the minis...I wasn't kidding when I said nextester-level...its the 220,000ish Ultimates that take the cake though. The fact that she was in the same room as those, not to mention was able to listen to a fantastic sounding recording on them makes me more jealous than if she had test driven a hand-built Ferrari while on the job.

[gimmegimme]

$220,000...you could probs hire famous bands to play for you live.

Very cool though...next level shit.

[poshpol]

I like the design of the Acapella stuff:

http://acapella.de/

[kiya]

Magico is beautiful and classy.. Acapella is straight 80's mod.

[poopie boy]

I don't see how lifting something 1" will enhance sound imaging? I can see the benefit of using them with carpet...so that the spikes touch the surface below the pile. The only thing I see it doing on hardwood is scratching it.

Spikes aren't for lifting the speaker, it is to give it a more firm and less resonant placement on the floor. The bare base of the speaker on the floor will move more than if all of the energy and mass is focused down to 1 point, ie. a spike.

[theetruscan]

Magico is beautiful and classy.. Acapella is straight 80's mod.

Ugh. I really don't like the look of Magico Ultimates. They look like the worst of art deco meets the worst of mod.

Egglestonworks, Nearfield, Rockport and many others are quite pretty, or at least awesome:

And for the hardcore Stanley Kubric afficionados:

[gimmegimme]

Has anyone heard B&W's CM1 in person?

...sorry for bringing things back into reality.

[poshpol]

Anyone interested in home theaters should check out this INSANE 6 million dollar setup:

The Greatest Show on Earth!

Anyone with some electronics background might be interested to know that this is powered by two 13,800-volt/800-amp step-down transformers...

[kiya]

Poshpol.

Thread over.

Must sell more jeans...

[poopie boy]

DAMN. Look at all those McIntosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is incredibely insane!!

[swooc]

that is way too excessive.

are there any cheap chinese tube amps that is equivalent to the little dot series but for speakers?

[DaBestSpoona]

I remember seeing one of Nigo's rides and he had all mcintosh amps, thats balling!!

[gimmegimme]

I love all the nasty comments the nerds left. hehe. I like how the amps aren't actually connected to anything!

[theetruscan]

Has anyone heard B&W's CM1 in person?

...sorry for bringing things back into reality.

On a serious note. No, I heard their predecessor, which I think is now the 7 series, and it was nice. Little less of a tendency towards dry than the 6 series, similar character though.

That big home theater is the dumbest shit. I've visited some (2) friends with 500k+ home theaters, and they seat more people more comfortably, look better, and probably sound better. The glow from that many tubes would ruin the movie, and the ridiculous "ENTER THE GLADIATOR RING" bullshit with the amps is just stupid and dangerous. Ah well, another dipshit with his toys.

[gimmegimme]

Boredom bump.

My latest speaker finalists:

1. Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1

2. Dali Ikon 1

3. RBH MC-6C

4. B&W CM1

And what's up with integrated amps that don't offer tone control? That's whack.

[gimmegimme]

(as if anyone cared)

I had continual sibilance problems with my Pro-ject turntable...Shally ish shuper shexy. I tried my best to live with it...brought it to the dealer, had them look at it, listened to another new model...same problem. I think I'm jaded by how digital music sounds...it literally drove me crazy.

Anyhoo...managed to get the store to take it back, and picked up a pair of Totem Rainmakers in maple with the credit (yes I realize they weren't on my shortlist). Much happier now.

[readytoignite]

hmm.... sounds like the speakers were emphasizing sibilance? i'm assuming you checked stylus condition as well and made sure it wasn't just the recording?

tone control on any pre-amp / integrated would make me suspicious about the manufacturer, just like if i went into an haute cuisine restaurant and they had salt and pepper shakers on the tables

[poshpol]

(as if anyone cared)

I had continual sibilance problems with my Pro-ject turntable...Shally ish shuper shexy. I tried my best to live with it...brought it to the dealer, had them look at it, listened to another new model...same problem. I think I'm jaded by how digital music sounds...it literally drove me crazy.

Anyhoo...managed to get the store to take it back, and picked up a pair of Totem Rainmakers in maple with the credit (yes I realize they weren't on my shortlist). Much happier now.

I was gonna mention the Rainmakers earlier in the thread. I listened to them extensively at the Hi Fi expo a couple years back and they are jewels. I met the owner and all, very nice guy who shares a lot of the manufacturing process.

PS, if any of you could get your hands on a Totem catalog (hard copy) they are really snazzy.

[polishmike]

Maybe someone here can help me.

I'm looking for a very solid, high quality portable tape player. I need it to have a very good speaker and a line out for headphones. I really need something very reliable and well made. This will be used for listening to old tapes with interviews for the purpose of making notes. No need for fancy recording features, just good playback. Budget moderate to high. Any ideas on what brands I should look at?

This is what I need (random picture)

[gimmegimme]

hmm.... sounds like the speakers were emphasizing sibilance? i'm assuming you checked stylus condition as well and made sure it wasn't just the recording?

tone control on any pre-amp / integrated would make me suspicious about the manufacturer, just like if i went into an haute cuisine restaurant and they had salt and pepper shakers on the tables

Its funny...once I got the new speakers, I realized why you don't need tone control. Shitty speakers merit the need for adjustments....so point taken.

I'm not sure what caused the sibilance problem, but it was fucking annoying, and I couldn't live with. If you (I) spend $700 on a turntable, it should sound better than iTunes. I know there are many more expensive models, but still...shit ain't right.

I was gonna mention the Rainmakers earlier in the thread. I listened to them extensively at the Hi Fi expo a couple years back and they are jewels. I met the owner and all, very nice guy who shares a lot of the manufacturing process.

PS, if any of you could get your hands on a Totem catalog (hard copy) they are really snazzy.

I'm quite happy with them thus far. I did compare them with some other models, and although the Arros are quite sexy, they lacked a fullness of sorts. The Mites were quite nice as well, but they lacked in the bottom end, and I found super high frequencies to be very sharp and piercing...which is strange, because the Rain's have an aluminum tweeter, so I would have thought they would have suffered from this problem, but it was worse with the Mites.

Regarding the owner - someone with hair like this has to be a genius...

[poshpol]

hahaha yep that's the guy i met. he is some sort of indian and knows his shit. i've been listening to aluminum tweeters for years and i find few of them to be that piercing in the highs. ribbon tweeters are what i find fatiguing after a while.

[gimmegimme]

hahaha yep that's the guy i met. he is some sort of indian and knows his shit. i've been listening to aluminum tweeters for years and i find few of them to be that piercing in the highs. ribbon tweeters are what i find fatiguing after a while.

I found most metal tweeters to be that way (from what I listened to), but the soft domed tweeters seem to lack sparkle to my ears. The Rainmakers seemed to be a good compromise...not too sharp, but still a bit more so than the softies.

Now for an amp....Arcam, here I come.

[RobotRock]

Before you drop cash on that Arcam, I think you should audition the entry level Sim Audio integrated, it's Canadian made just like your Totems.