what are you listening on?

[blink138]

netties "what are you listening to now" has been a great thread, but what are we listening to our faves on?
mp3,cd,vinyl or (more likely) combination of two or more like myself
i will start....... for pure musical pleasure i love my vinyls
pic 1 ortofon kontrapunkt A moving coil cartridge
2 my new table a project 10.1
3 my old 30 year old turntable rega planar 3 and sme 3009r tonearm
4 cambridge audio 740c cd player
5&6 accuphase c1 / p1 power and pre
7 my 'ol faithfuls celestion ditton 66 monitors had for 30 years
pat

[taminga16]

I am listening to vinyl through a pair of B&W 'Time Windows' driven by a 9 series NAD amp a fed with a Technics SL-B21 T/Table (Audio Technica cart). In the living room is a Onkyo 7 series CD player and Amp driving a pair of Accusound speakers (built with solid timber cases and cast alloy baskets). Fat cables in and out.
Greg.
Smiling now, realising how old my vinyl set-up is.

[CJ]

Mostly flac and high bitrate MP3 through a Logitech Squeezebox Touch feeding an Audiolab 8000A Integrated amp performing as a pre amp to a Linn LK100 power amp hooked up to a pair of Linn Keilidh speakers. The Squeezebox has taken the place of a Roksan DP1 transport and associated DAC. The DP1 transport needs fixing. I also have a Mitchell Synchro turntable. Its all rather old now but is still performing well. TV and video hooked up to it as well. The Squeezebox can be controlled via my phone or my wife's new Nexus. All the benefits of digital formats, playlists, instant access to my entire library etc. but with a damn good sound. Perhaps a tad cold sonically, not helped by the tile floor and loads of glass, but no bloody pops or crackles! Nearly all my cd's are now stashed away.

[koputai]

In the loungeroom:

Quad CD player (modified)
or
Pioneer PL-15 turntable
Onkyo 876 7-channel power amp
Kef iQ90 3-way floorstanders, bi-amped (using 4 channels of the Onkyo)

In the shed:
Various Frankensteined Marantz CD players
or
Teac A-450 cassette player
Quad 33 pre-amp
Quad 303 power amp
Harman Kardon S100M speakers

Quiet times:
Quad CD player
Custom built headphone amp
AKG K702 headphones

Cheers,
Jason.

[taminga16]

I forgot about the shed, I have a Marantz PM-310 amp, you know cheap, slim and GOLD and a pair of AKAI bookshelf speakers rescued from the side of the road, different sites. Dusted off, amp repaired (at no cost, as shed music should be)and setup with an iPOD input. No fuss CHEAP music. *note; not sound, thats from whatever engine is happening at the time.
Greg.

[koputai]

There are of course other items that aren't in the main set ups, like media streamers, tuners etc.

Today I added another pair of headphones, the Marshall Major's.

Very beefy sound, and a lot better than I expected. Probably great for heavier guitar rock. At the
right price I might even recommend them, but they have nowhere near the definition of the AKG's.

Cheers,
Jason.

[chrisp9au]

My setup is very simple nowadays.
My study is my haven and I run my audio off my desktop PC which is on all day.
Audio setup is an Asus Xonar DG sound card fed to an old Technics SA-5150 Receiver,
from there to an active Audax subwoofer and a pair of Wharfedale Valdus 200 bookshelf speakers.
Sony MDR-V6 headphones I've had for years, comfortable to wear for hours and clear crisp sound.
I don't listen to anything loud, mostly classical and mostly JS Bach!
I've moved most, 16 GB, of my music to mp3 files and I control everything from my keyboard.
Might not suit everyone, but I'm happy! :D

Cheers :thumbsup:

Chris

[MattT]

Listening on my old Yamaha amp, Lenco turntable, Rotel other parts. Missing is the Luxmann CD player that died a long time ago. Speakers are Tannoy something's that cost a small fortune in 1989 and still sound fantastic.
To get better than this ( an audible difference) I have to spend in excess of 10K...and thats not likely. Other than that the ipod with Pioneer headphones.
Matt

[Bassnut]

In the car, 800w no-name amp, 2 boxed Jaycar 200w RMS 12" subies. Cheap,loud and low. Louder is better,always.

If the rear view mirror isn't blurry, something's wrong.

Bluetooth streaming from the iPhone in my pocket, doesn't get easier than that :-)

[taminga16]

My beside radio is a Tivoli Model One, my children understand me :). Bless them.
My little car is fitted with a 200 watt BOSE system (factory) with iPOD connectivity and the system in the ute is suprisingly good company, it also has iPOD connectivity, so convienient.
Greg.

[acropolite]

I've always been fond of Yamaha "stuff" so my setup is a Yamaha RX-V3071 driving a pair of B&W 602 series 3's , LR60 S3 centre, ASW 675 subbie (500 watts, I'm with Fred.... louder is better) and a pair of B&W 601's at the back. Sounds good to my somewhat deaf ears.
HRH is totally intolerant of any volume over a whisper, so it's Man behaving badly whenever she's away. The Yammie is controllable from IPhone/Pad and android via an app, which is a bonus as it allows HRH to use the tuner without having to fathom the complexities of the amp and remote.

[Max Vondel]

I love my Single Ended Triodes but use Ultra Linear Push Pull in the office for extra power

Office setup:
EL34B (TADS) Ultralinear Amp (52Watts)...with pre 1970's Philips "Bugleboys"
Marantz CD5003
Technics SL 1210Mk5 turntable with ortofon styli
Yaqin MS-12B Phono Preamp...using Philips ECC83
Warfedale 9.6 Diamond

Warehouse:
All transistor Pure Class A, Single Ended Triode design
Preamp and Mono Blocks weigh in at 80kg! ~ Power output 45 Watts
and consumes about 300 Watts in idle!
Marantz CD 5003
Warfedale 9.6 and home built full range 6" Horns
Graetz Melodia 1957 Radiogram

Home:
ValveMark Nimbus 100 Single Ended Triode
Using KT 88 "Coke Bottles" running at about 20 Watts
Beresford Caiman DAC
Marantz CD 5003
Altair Full range 7" Horns

Valve based head phone preamps....... Sennheiser 595 and AKG K701

Like optics .... buy the best you can afford!

[koputai]

Some nice stuff there Peter, you definitely like the valve sound don't you!

One question, how the hell do you have an all transistor single ended triode!

Cheers,
Jason.

[Max Vondel]

Hi Jason

Unsure of the particulars of the solid state amp
Will try to find documentation lost somewhere on one of 5 computers.
It certainly had the middle and upper liquidity of the SET
and great lower frequencies to boot and real power.
At 20 Watts you can expect a call from the police due to volume
Will keep you posted when I check it out
THX
:)

[rmuhlack]

In the living room, I have a modded (http://www.overclockers.com.au/wiki/DSE_A2760_Amplifier_Modification) DSE A2760 Stereo driving a pair of lovely vintage Wigo 3-way speakers. Also have a Pioneer PL100 turntable with a NAD preamp, but this isn't hooked up at the present.

In the lounge/TV room its a Denon AVR1610 receiver with a 5.1 speaker setup from Athena Technologies.

In the "sound studio" i have a range of rack-mount audio gear, some of it average and some quite nice - dbx EQ, TC electronics effects, Alto compressors, Presonus MP20 transformer preamps (*lovely*), 2xPresonus Firepods (8 XLR channels each with 24bit/96kHz capability) , and selection of Rode/Shure/behringer mics. In this room I just use a couple of Wharfedale Titan 8A actives, which also double for small venue gigging FOH speakers.

[mercedes_sl1970]

A Lenco! I have an L70 which my wonderful father gave me - all original except for a new idler wheel and cartridge, and hooked up to an old Rotel receiver and Petroff Labs Speakers. It must add up to about 100 years of combined stereo equipment age...

Was just listening to Miles Davis and then the Sunnyboys - oh what joy!

Andrew

[Steffen]

Rogers LS3/5a speakers on Linn Kan stands, on a Musical Fidelity A120 (40W class-A). Various sources, but all from file these days (FLAC/ALAC for the important stuff, 320 or 256kbps AAC for the rest). No more jitter from mechanical transports. Also Alessandro MS-Pro headphones and various headphone amps.

Cheers
Steffen.

[MattT]

Mine is a Lenco L435 a fabulous turntable. Slowly putting all my vinyl to digital through a free program Audacity. The hard part is having to do that in real time. :D
Matt

[blink138]

compressed digital matt? what do the recordings sound like turned from analogue to digital?
pat

[MattT]

I'm not a techno type but Audacity records at 32 'whatevers' a second compared to 16 for commercial CD's. Sounds just like the vinyl in fact. It does take up a fair bit of room on the computer, and as most records are shortish I have yet to come across an album that doesn't fit onto a standard blank CD.
Well worth the effort and easy to use.
Matt

[el_draco]

Enigma: Principles of Lust...... What can I say? :thumbsup: :D :) :P :rofl:

[blink138]

sounds interesting actually....... may have to look into that one
pat

[CJ]

Depends on the quality of your analogue to digital converter. I did a load of my vinyl a while back using Roland and Tascam usb recording interfaces. It's a laborious process, especially if you split it up by track. Some of them sounded really good but I found worn records and/or the drop in quality towards the end of a side was very noticeable after years of distortion free digital playback.

[koputai]

Yep, as far as quality of sound goes, CD rules. Anyone who says vinyl
sounds better is just trying to justify how much money they spent on
their record player.

As I've said before, vinyl is great, it has a degree of ritual and 'real world'
about it, but CD kills it for performance.

Cheers,
Jason.

[mercedes_sl1970]

Jason

You're a brave, brave person! If this were an audiophile forum, the call would have gone out immediately. Legions of vinyl aficionados across the web would now be awakening, their ire rising exponentially. You, the new blasphemer, would soon suffer unimaginably and hideously at the electronic hands of the guardians of the vinyl god...

Enjoy your last remaining moments of freedom on the web!

Andrew

[koputai]

:D

Too true Andrew.

Having worked professionally in theatre and studio electronics and
production for over 25 years, I think I'm entitled to a reasonably
educated opinion.

Yes, you can get fantastic sound from vinyl. If you spend over $5000
on your record player setup (not including amps and speakers), and
have virgin unblemished $200 a pop records, and not a speck of dust,
then you can get quality of sound approaching that of a $100 2nd hand
CD player from Ebay and a $2 CD.

Hey, I have no problem with people doing so, we all love our toys, and
for some of us the more idiosyncratic they are, the bigger buzz we get
from them.

Cheers,
Jason.

[blink138]

ha ha jason is correct in some way at least, but some of his terminology gives it away somewhat......... since the early 1970's i have had a few record players...... but i do much prefer TURNTABLES! just a word you say? yes it is but really a big difference to some
i nearly started this response with "har har! (nelsonesque) he said "record player!""
however i thought i could never become tired, from a pure technical audio point of view, of the wonderful clarity of digital......... but i do at least, although crystal clear the sound becomes tedious cold and hard.
what i have noticed most is, as clear as a cd is..... i can hear the sound coming out of the two boxes in the corner of my room but a well recorded vinyl fills the volume of the room completely and the loudspeakers become "invisible!"
viva la difference, viva vinyl!
pat

[koputai]

Pat, I was just being a bit facetious, infering turntable is just an upmarket word for record player. A bit dismissive, in jest.

You just mentioned the key words, "well recorded".

I think part of the reason young people today are saying 'wow, vinyl sounds great' etc is because back when vinyl was it, production values were a lot higher. It used to take a team of experts and big bucks to make a record, so it was done properly. Now anyone can make and publish a recording with a couple of hundred bucks worth of equipment and very little expertise.

Cheers,
Jason.

[blink138]

you are absolutely right there jason, recordings have never been worse than they are today
i found an old blues album by lighting hopkins in my collection about a month ago recorded in 1965! and to be honest it is one of the best recorded albums i have ever heard and makes the hairs on my neck stand up
pat

[Kevnool]

Cheap and nasty gear thats easy to replace.
Cant see the need for expensive taste.
I mean gold plated leads...Really.
my 2c

Cheers

[blink138]

i suppose kevin its what you get out of it
a blind person (probably) does not collect art
a person who is "mutton jeff" wont collect music
a person whom has no olfactory knows nothing about wine!
however the topic of the thread is what do you listen to music on?
pat

[CJ]

Why not use a cheap and nasty scope?

[blink138]

check and mate i believe sir!

[CJ]

:thumbsup:

[taminga16]

Hi Kev,
How much did you pay for the last set of HT Leads for that lump that features as you avatar?
Greg.

[Kunama]

John Denver and Neil Diamond sound fine enough for my deaf ears on my Yamaha RX-396 and CDC-585 through four Wharfedale Valdus-500 Midi Towers.

I can, however, understand the need for some to go to proper Hi-Fi standards, I can only turn up the volume when alone anyway.