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Still using the Realstic speakers I purchased circa 1973-
37 pounds each!
"yeeeeeeeeaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
BRUCE
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Or YOU no longer work!
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Posted: |
Sep 28, 2013 - 3:15 PM
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By: |
John-73
(Member)
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Owning a decent stereo really can enhance one's enjoyment - further than perhaps many would think - of their favourite music. It's easy to test this (if you've never heard one) simply by taking a couple of your favourite soundtracks to a hifi store & asking for a demo... High quality music systems are fortunately available for relatively little these days, but I always take people's (on here) opinions on the sound quality of a release with a huge pinch of salt, unless I know what they've been listening to it on. Can make a huge difference!
Soundtrack labels take a LOT of care over the mastering of their releases. Unlike most modern Rock or Pop etc. releases, which are often mastered to sound fab and loud 'on the move' (to cut through outside noise, or engine noises) in either cars or ipods whilst walking/travelling around, they can sound shite on home equipment/quieter environments. Soundtrack labels usually master for decent stereo systems and better listening environments. It really shows too! Must break their hearts when they hear of some of the gear people listen to their work on, and then have the balls to comment on the sound quality...
On a side-note, I like the policy over at the Steve Hoffman forums where people have to list their audio equipment in their profile section. A good way of seeing whether their opinions are worth listening to or not about releases.
High bitrate MP3s may sound better than ever before now, but you're still literally throwing away musical information/data when disc storage is now cheaper than ever before. Always start with the source for high quality reproduction - stick with lossless (FLAC or ALAC) or play the CD or vinyl itself on a decent rig...
Vintage hifi systems can also bring huge leaps in musical enjoyment, for very little outlay. Often look very cool too. A quick glance around www.audiokarma.com or www.pinkfishmedia.net can be enlightening (if you put your BS detector on high when it comes to the inevitable cable arguments  ) when it comes to sifting through short-lists of vintage gear, which you can then peruse Ebay or car boot sales for.
Happy listening! 
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Well, the home stereo system is still alive and kicking at MY place. That's all I care for, really. Everyone else is free to stick to music from their laptop!
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I had a glimpse of the current state of things recently when I went to my local Best Buy (a fact that should tell you something about how "audiophile" I am) to purchase a pair of floor speakers to replace the Advents (that should tell you something about how old I am!) in my "second" system (my "first" is set up for surround). The young salesman explained they didn't have a CD player hooked up to their floor models, but what kind of music did I like? "Classical?" he said. "That's easy." Then he whipped out his PHONE, connected it to an amplifier, and proceeded to play a bland-sounding stream of some Baroque piece or other. It was not impressive-sounding, and you couldn't hear any difference between the $300 and the $500 speakers. As you're supposed to do when shopping for audio equipment, I had brought a CD I knew well with me (Tadlow's QUO VADIS). I suggested that we could sample it through the Blu-Ray player connected to the models. "Sure, whatever," he said. We did that, and suddenly there was a rich sound coming out of the speakers -- and you could hear considerably more bass from the $500 model (which, fortunately, made my wife approve of the more expensive speakers)!
Streaming music over one's phone is not my idea of "hi-fi," but I'm happy to let people listen to music however they want. Don't expect ME to be happy with just an iPod, however! 
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Mr. Shark: Retire in 50 years? Wow! I'll certainly be lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng gone by then!
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Maleficio:
Re: There's quality sound at all price points, don't just settle with the stuff that comes in the box. I remember in high-school saving up for a pair of Sennheiser HD201 (these were $20 headphone) and a small external sound card and the sound was just great.
And some of that stuff sounds so awful that I wonder how they can stand it! Incidentally, in reference to your comment about the Sennheiser headphones, 3 or 4 months ago I spent about $300 for both a very well-reviewed pair of Sennheiser HD598 headphones and an iPod-sized amplifier, but found that I was mainly using an old $15 pair of Sony MDR-ZX100. It was summer, quite hot, and the Sennheisers were bulky and seemed to clamp down too snugly on my ears. So I've not used the Sennheisers in months and a few days ago bought a second pair of the Sonys to give to the friend I bought an iPod for. Since I bought the Sonys through Amazon, I posted a brief review, and was startled by the great disparity in reviews of those headphones -- people either thought they were great for the price or an utter waste of money. I lean strongly towards the former!
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