# Audiophiles gear- what you got?



## gnatsum (Apr 10, 2005)

all you audiophiles, lets see what brands people are using and what you all are running? and what's your favourite sound check song?


Budget: $0

Audio Source:
PM Quicksilver 733Mhz, analogue out. " the eq. on iTunes is setup)

Power:
Sony- STR-D990 (1992) : Free! (uncle gave it) eq is Flat. 
100 Watts Stereo, 65 Watts into 3-CH, 25 watts into 5-CH. no sub-out . 

Boxes: $120 for the Energy's and Polk was free! (uncle again)
Energy ESM-1 ( late 1980's) in the front, Energy ESM-3's in the rear. and a Polk audio Monitor Series 2 in the centre (lol) 

runs great, 25 watts is okay, the speakers are at like 86 Db sensitivity, and the ESM-1's can take up to 100W and the ESM-3's can take 80W max, both at 8ohms nominal. i can crank up the volume up to 7 or 8 out of 10 and the amp hasn't yet put out any distortion. all speakers i have are 2 way and ported, so the DBFB "loudness" button ruins the sound. otherwise, not bad, the Energy's were re-foamed. and the ESM are rated at a response as low as 35Hz which i must say, it gets down there sometimes. they blow away all those logitech speakers on the floor that all my buddies have with their mid-woofers...which are excuses for subwoofers.


i'm a firm believer in hearing the bass, not feeling it. 


Favourite sound check songs: High Roller by Crystal Method (reeeally low note in the beginning when he says "we've got it" at like 33s. into the song) and Aerodynamic by daft punk for bass. "breaking of the fellowship" from the fellowship of the ring is also a good, in fact, all thee LOTR scores are amazing "Andurill" for high notes, OMG. and Gladiator soundtrack is also good for testing the sound. 

yeah.


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## ArtistSeries (Nov 8, 2004)

Sugden Class A amps A21
Musical Fidelity CD player (A3.2)
Oracle Alexandria Turntable
Roksan Tuner

Dynaudio Audience 62
Cardas cabling
Prisma for speakers

Everything wall mounted (Target), line conditioner (Panamax), various headphones (Grado, Beyer and Sennheiser)

Sound Check music:
Mofi version of U2's Joshua Tree (Where the Streets Have No Name, With or Without You)
Johnny Frigo featuring John and Bucky Pizzarelli - Live From Studio A 
Elvis Costello - Blood and Chocolate, I want you (Rhino and Rykodisk versions)
And a few female voice recordings....


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## gnatsum (Apr 10, 2005)

hey, which Grado's do you have? the local audio store on bank St. here sells only that brand, are they really that good?

i Have sony, MDR-V300's which are not bad for the price i must say. could be brighter sounding though...

i also have an old pair of Ravel headphones, which i paid 5 bucks for?


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## ArtistSeries (Nov 8, 2004)

The Grado's are my "cheap" headphones - SR60. For the price they are good but I prefer the other brands (DT990 Pro, HD600)


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## 9mmCensor (Jan 27, 2006)

I got a pair of Senhieser PX-100s for on the go and computer.

At home we got a Bryston B-60 integrated amp, a sony cd player, and a pair of Energy C-3s on the way, after I blew our old homemade speakers.


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## anal-log (Feb 22, 2003)

Energy 22 Pro Monitors front/Definitive Technolgy CLR center,
NHT ONE's for surrounds, VMPS Sub with 12" driver and 15' Passive.
Richter Scale electronic Xover.

Sony Surround processor.
Oracle Delpi TT/Denon MC cartridge.
Sony CD player.
Pioneer Tuner
Philiphs DVD player
Harmon Kardon Cassette deck.
Sumo Ulysses amp for fronts. Carver Mono M400T amp for Sub. Kenwood M2A power amp for Center, and JBL amp for surround.
Mostly wired with home-made interconnects mixture of mogami/canare cable.

Most of this stuff is 10-20+ years old except for the dvd player and surround processor.
Sound check stuff: 
Jennifer Warne's version of Bird on a Wire
Telarc's Time Warp
Sheffield Lab's Drum and Track disc
Sheffield Lab's KODO: Heartbeat Drummers of Japan


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## ArtistSeries (Nov 8, 2004)

anal-log said:


> Sheffield Lab's KODO: Heartbeat Drummers of Japan


I used to love that album -


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## gnatsum (Apr 10, 2005)

woah.... that's a huge mix. you have a separate amp for each channel? all take a signal from the sony surround processor?


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## anal-log (Feb 22, 2003)

gnatsum said:


> woah.... that's a huge mix. you have a separate amp for each channel? all take a signal from the sony surround processor?




There are seperate amps for fronts,center,sub and surrounds. I never planned on it but it just turned out that way. When surround (pro logic) first appeared I didn't want to replace my existing stereo amps/pre amp/Xover system with a cheap receiver so I just added an outboard processor that had built in center and rear amplification. 
Then when Dolby digital came out I replaced the the processor with the sony processor that only had line level out. So I had to pick up a couple of amps for the rear and center.
One day I plan to replace this all with a decent All in one but it's really hard to find a good receiver phono stage.


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## Ants (May 6, 2003)

I am still old school...2 channel only. Current set up is essentially Naim gear with a Linn turntable, which is well over 10 years old but still sounds amazing.

Linn LP 12 (w/ Ekos tonearm & Troika cartridge)
Linn Lingo (power suppply for turntable)
Naim CD 2 (CD player)
Naim 72 (Pre amp)
Naim Hi Cap x 2 (power supplies for the pre-amp)
Naim NAP 135 x 2 (mono amps)
Naim SBL (speakers)
Naim NAC A5 speaker cable

Power supplies sit on a Quadraspire rack, the rest of the hi fi on a Naim Fraim rack. I do not use any power line conditoners.

Sound check stuff:

LPs: 
Johnny Horton - The World of Johnny Horton - "whispering pine" and "lost highway" sound so sweet.
Ventures - In Space - "twilight zone" awesome sounding botton end
John Lee Hooker - The Healer - great production values
B- 52's - "planet claire", still sounds great considering it was recorded in 1979
Jazz Samba - Stan Getz/Charlie Byrd - WOW!!!

CDs:
Beck - Sea Change - what an amazing recording!
Massive Attack - Mezzanine - the entire damn record.
Ray Condo - High & Wild - live off the floor - sounds fantastic

and so many more...but I will usually plays these as reference material


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## oryxbiker (Nov 29, 2001)

Crown XLS 402
Stanton RM402
Tascam CD-RW750
Tascam Tuner


Thats all I got at the moment. And custom speakers and some Sony headphones.


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

Nothing too special here:

Marantz SR-7000 A/V receiver
Paradigm Monitor 4 (front)
Paradigm CC-350 (center)
Paradigm Mini Monitors (rear)
Paradigm PW-2200 (subwoofer)
Toshiba SD-2109 DVD player

Sound check: anything by Telarc Digital (Time Warp, et al), Beastie Boys Video Anthology DVD, anything by Jewel, etc.

Hoping to build a nice 2 channel setup in the future when $$$ permits.


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## gnatsum (Apr 10, 2005)

paradigm is cool! and Canadian! they are really popular here in Ottawa in stores and restaurants... zaks uses them!


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

I've always been pleased with the performance/value of my Paradigm speakers... they're far from high end and are usually talked down by 'true' audiophiles. I'll be looking into the Studio series when it's time to upgrade.


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## ArtistSeries (Nov 8, 2004)

I like some Paradigm models - for inexpensive you get a lot...


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## mac_mark (Apr 19, 2004)

While living with my parents I get to enjoy their home theater setup (which I mostly picked out anyways) 

NAD T762 Reciever
NAD C513 (Crummy 3 disc CD player...the only digital equipment I've ever owned that needs to 'warm-up'...otherwise it has terrible jitter.
PSB 6Ts (Front)
PSB 9C (Center)
PSB 3LR (Rear)
Sunfire True Subwoofer Super Junior (Tiny, but sounds amazing)

For video they have a Panasonic AE700 projecting onto an 82" Stewart Firehawk 16:9 screen. Bell HD looks really nice 

Overall a very nice setup...but it was a multi-year project. One of the nice things is that the speakers are all more-or less matched so a very even sound.

The NAD sounds really nice, but I'm not thrilled with the setup/interface/remote.


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## mac_mark (Apr 19, 2004)

I guess I should post my student-budget setup...its small but sounds sweet.

Heathkit Model AA-151 2 channel all tube amp (no transistors at all! - not even the powersupply). I think its 15W/channel. Got it for nice and cheap off eBay.
PSB Alpha (?) Speakers. Got them on sale cause they had scuff marks. 
NAD C521 CD Player
NAD c420 Tuner

I absolutely love the sound I get out of it. Its really sweet yet still has alot of detail. I'm a big fan of tube amps.


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## Derrick (Dec 22, 2004)

Most of the components I have are older ... however, I have rarely been tempted to change anything.

Sources:
Sony DVP9000ES DVD Player
Sony XA777ES SACD Player
Pioneer Elite CLD-97 LD Player
Mac mini (Core duo)

Preamp/Processor:
Nakamichi CA1

Amplifiers:
Nakamichi PA5AII (3 of them - 1 each for front, centre and right channel)
a/d/s/ PH6 (for rear channels)

Speakers:
a/d/s/ M20 (main channels)
a/d/s/ MV10c (centre channel)
a/d/s/ Sat 6 (rear channels)
a/d/s/ Sub 10


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## draz (Jun 13, 2005)

Harmon Kardon 320 AVR
Bose 6.1 III (cube speakers for small room)
Panasonic 32" LCD tv all plugged into an airport express...

Harmon Kardon 240 AVR 
Totem Towers,

Bang & Olfsen sound dock...


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## dwp (Aug 12, 2003)

Current set up includes...

Yamaha RX-V650 H/T Receiver
Yamaha DVD-550
Tannoy EFX 5.1 Speakers

Two Channel...

Bryston B-60 SST Integrated Amp (For Sale by the way)
Yamaha T-1020 Tuner
Panasonic DVD-S35
Mission Leading Edge 700 Speakers
Kenwood Turntable w/ Grado Red Cartridge

From days gone by...

PSB Stratus Gold (the best speakers I've ever owned)
Paradigm 5se (excellent)
Denon PRE-1500 Pre-Amp w/ POA-800 Amp
Bryston 3B/3BST/2B/BP-20
ADC Turntable (wish I had kept this)
B&O Turntable
Technics SP-10Mk2 Turntable w/ Stanton 881 Cartridge (sold to ehmac member)
Various Pioneer gear

In the process of purchasing a Dynaco Integrated Tube Amp:love2:


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