WHY are you here in this forum?

[audioguy]

A good, relatively inexpensive AV receiver is not perfect. It's not right up to the highest audiophile standards. But it comes a lot closer than most of us are comfortable admitting.

Tim

And as much as an order of magnitude less expensive!

 

[audioguy]

If you like Jesse Cook, you must check out Ottmar Liebert.

Ron: Any specific album to start with?

 

[Steve Williams]

Ron: Any specific album to start with?

Here is my favorite

Nouveau Flamenco

1990-2000 Tenth Anniversary Edition

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Re: Image - I think something is awry here Steve?

John

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I wouldn't spend a lot of time worrying about the quality of that AVR receiver. Some friends of mine, who own a very good little British hifi company just acquired a Yamaha RX-V667 to test both their active and passive speakers' use in surround sound. Naturally, they wanted to test the Yamaha first. It tested very well in measurements and listening, from the preamp outs and the speaker terminals, both directly and through speakers, the characteristics of which they know very well, to say the least. Push the little blue "Pure Direct" button on the front and it does even better in stereo. I think the law of diminishing returns in audio begins much lower than most audiophiles imagine. A good, relatively inexpensive AV receiver is not perfect. It's not right up to the highest audiophile standards. But it comes a lot closer than most of us are comfortable admitting.

Tim

totally agree.

i mostly watch TV sports in my family room where i have a 5 year old Rotel RSX-1056 reciever powering a set of Dynaudio Audience 52se bookshelf speakers supporting my 50" flatscreen. as i watch TV many times the quality of the sound sneaks up on me and i smile to myself that this modest little combo can get down quite nicely. granted; it's not asked to do any heavy lifting but there are many modest pieces of gear that can rise above mid-fi. i could see this little combo being the basis for an excellent small room system for peanuts.

i have no problem admitting that there are likely many such combo's which attain close to 'state of the art' sound and have posted as much about this gear in the past.

i just got back from RMAF where there were many rooms where modestly priced gear was more musically satisfying than many of the more elaborate systems......which is true pretty much every show i attend. not that i don't enjoy audio jewelry too, who does not like cool stuff?

getting back to the original topic; i post here and on other audio forums because i enjoy reading about this hobby and sharing my viewpoints and learning. i've found the social aspect of the hobby to be sometimes even more satisfying than the music.....i go back and forth on that. i find that typically i relate on many levels to other audiophiles and they are mostly like me. sometimes i'll shy away from a forum for awhile if i sense that the culture evolves away from my comfort zone. as my job is stressful and consuming i look to audio for enjoyment. if it stops being fun i'm gone. that's one big reason i've avoided offers to get into the audio business. it might stop being fun.

 

[c1ferrari]

Indulge an appetite for sound, music, and similarly-inclined people

 

[terryj]

well, as I feared! haha, my initial post did it seem turn out to be more about me than anything more general.

So it seems that I am very much alone when I spoke of 'participation on a forum tends to focus attention on the reproduction gear which in turn takes attention away from purely the music'.

No-one else feels this even on a small level??

Steve, I'm kinda glad you remembered that initial thread of mine! Others have mentioned this, and I did too in the OP...the friendships that have been formed from forums, they are gold. In fact, I am particularly blessed (and honoured, humbled etc etc, truly) by this phenomenon. I happen to live 10 km from (arguably) the most famous race track and race in australian motor sports.

Now, (dunno how true this is over your side of the pool) but it seems that stereo guys in love with 'THINGS" seem to have a great deal of love for motor vehicles!! There ya go.

Anyway, every year now (just had our fourth consecutive) I have very good friends from our local australian forum all travel here and stay over the weekend. I think you all know aus is a big place??

This year we had about 25 guys from 1000's of kms away, all descending here and having one hell of a weekend together. Some just stay and catch up with friends, others head off to the track and take in the atmosphere of the 'great race'..with their sons...and all head back to 'base camp' for the evening. We have taken to people bringing out their systems and set them up in other rooms of the house, diy creations, 'first public release' of commercial offerings, valves and ss, horns and OB's, ...we just wander around the different rooms and chew the fat.

As you can imagine, that is an amazing thing to happen, and we all look forward to it for the entire year between events.

So I second steves thoughts along these lines, foster and encourage the gtg's. AND, you will find that most (if not all) forum animosities simply evaporate face to face, and new and deeper appreciations of alternative viewpoints are found.



Yet, I want to somehow get away from the 'gear'. Again, it seems it is only me here. It does not appear to have the same effect on others.



The thing I DO find fascinating from being on a forum is the 'human psychology' factor. I am very much an observer, and what a fertile field to observe!! hahaha

 

[A9X]

Yet, I want to somehow get away from the 'gear'. Again, it seems it is only me here. It does not appear to have the same effect on others.

Same here. John started a thread on RD about ;'is it ever done?' after a conversation we had at the small GTG at Pauls not long before Bathurst. Basically it was that for several years I had a very simple and modest system of decent components that I changed nothing in for about 10 years. I bought a ton of music through this period and was content and I felt no need to change anything; this is what I'm trying to get to now. I also never 'listened critically' through this time that I recall, rather I just listened.

If I had your system, once the new baffles were made for your speakers, I'd probably rack all the components neatly and tidy up the wiring, and leave it at that. Not because I'm anal retentive (too much Oscar Madison for that) but because with it all neat and bundled it would reinforce the desire to not undo/open up/modify/change anything.

The thing I DO find fascinating from being on a forum is the 'human psychology' factor. I am very much an observer, and what a fertile field to observe!! hahaha

I use the forums as entertainment and amusement, and from a very few posters, new and/or useful technical information and sometimes parts for projects. Audiophiles are an amusing lot.

 

[RBFC]

I became involved because of a long love for classical music and the desire to branch out into jazz and other forms. I'm always learning new things about every form of music from the members here, regardless of the relative "quiet" we have spurts of in the music forums. I've certainly been interested in gear, but not endowed with an unending bank account. I made Steve's acquaintance at another forum and was impressed with his humility (in light of the stupendous system/room he has) and his generosity in sharing music and ideas. I feel that I'm developing some new good friends who share a common interest. There are some truly intelligent folks who post here, and I deeply appreciate all the time and energy that it takes to write a long post with substance.

There will always be some level of "ego" to the ownership of goods, that's human nature. So, I dismiss its importance in these discussions and look for the truths that lie beneath the banter. It's especially rewarding when one post leads to an awakening of a certain artist in the forum's collective eye: Ottmar Liebert (sp?) comes to mind. Sharing great music is a higher purpose in life. There's so much crap in the world, it's a pleasure to have our little corner where we have art and friendship. I'm quite familiar with the other side, from my work.

Regards,

Lee