HOW DID YOU END UP WITH YOUR DREAM SYSTEM?

@mglik i definitely understand. I went from tubes to to my solid state all Class A Infigo gear and I have never looked back.  I get the speed and clarity of solid state with the musicality of tubes. Yes it was very expensive but it’s worth every penny. Hearing every foot tapping note in clarity and musicality.  Enjoy my man! If it makes you smile do it. 

@gordon It's a good one 

I got into the audio insanity early, in High School. Worked during High School and college and bought the nicest system I could at the time that included KEF 104/2 speakers, Adcom and Denon components .  Held onto that system for 30+ years doing life stuff.  Now that I’m about to retire, and we sold our second home, I have spent the past two years feeding the audiophile habit researching, buying, selling to get to my 90% system (it’s never 100% in this hobby!).  It a fun, rewarding, frustrating and sometimes infuriating hobby, but there is nothing like listening to fabulous, high quality music while having your favorite cocktail in your comfortable listening recliner 😎

I finally got my dream system which is the world best sound system, but I am not happy. Why? Because it sounds bad and unlistenable. What? The world best sound and "unlistenable" don’t make sense.

The sound is a relative thing. Like all house wives, they don’t like your expensive and beautiful sound system. Why? because they are used real natural sounds only. They even love noisy music (but natural sound) at a local live-band cafe. To your wife, your un-natural audio sound (like a left speaker sound in below video) is worse than dog’s barking sound.          Compare natural and unnatural sound.

Like above, this is my situation.

Listen to my video at 2:30 (my voice).

Then listen to PINK at 4:10.

Then listen to my voice at 2:30.

Then listen Holy Cole at 5:40.

Listening Pink and Holy Cole (recorded w/ unnatural sound mics) hurts my ears. Yes. I can concentrate and listen those music like I did 10 years ago, but I have to almost destroy my brain, my eyes, my ears, my nose, and even my clean conscious too to hear them like before. You don’t know what those unnatural hi-fi sounds do to you. I don’t want to do that again. It’s a health hazard.

I’ll only listen my recordings until more natural sound recordings using my Wavetouch microphones are available. Alex / Wavetouch audio

I understand why you are hurted because the recording you used sound also atrocious on my system...

Your wavetouch is better in my system too ...

But none of my music sound unnatural anyway ...

I control the speakers/room relation with my acoustics devices...My speakers are also modified for the best...

Acoustics is key...

I own my dream system because my low cost system is optimized and it work at its best for my needs ...

As you are i am proud of my creativity...

You are right, bad sound is a health hazard...

You don’t know what those unnatural hi-fi sounds do to you. I don’t want to do that again. It’s a health hazard.

I’ll only listen my recordings until more natural sound recordings using my Wavetouch microphones are available. Alex / Wavetouch audio

@troutstreamnm thats what I’m talking about.  It’s fun.  Getting just right gives you additional purpose to chase and the listening sessions are amazing when you get it right. 

@mahgister thanks for the reply.  Man your journey is your journey.  Please enjoy. 

I understand your experience...

I take my own road to adress it...

Happy new year...

@mahgister thanks for the reply.  Man your journey is your journey.  Please enjoy. 

@mahgister enjoy. Get all you can out of what you have.  

Slow and steady, and curbing my expectations. Learning when I have had enough. That's how I have the system I now have, which with the exception of having added streaming, is pretty much what I had 10 years ago. 

@zavato man I’m here and happy.  I got a pretty expensive rig but it’s not the cost that made my system. I got synergy throughout.  I’m happy as ever and I’m calling it a day. We have to learn when to hold em. I’m holding!

I assembled what I thought was the perfect digital system as the culmination of nearly half a century in this wonderful hobby from vinyl to CD to digital files to streaming. There were many twists and turns along the way, but it took the reintroduction of a vinyl source last year to get me to where I want to be.

My upgrade path was the same as bassbuyer, I did it over time as well and my system is now worth $85,000 Canadian just upgraded my amp to the SIM audio 861 amplifier which just beat the dagostino momentum MVX-S250 in head to head testing for a month by a customer who owned the D'Agostino he said that the 861 was better in every area and he sold the dagostino and bought the 861, the D'Agostino is $44,000 US and the 861 is $22,000 US, just goes to show you how good SIM audio amplifiers are they will beat other amplifiers at double and triple the price.

My Bose Wave Radio is AWESOME!

In my dreams of course! 😴

@newton_john we all have. Different sound we are looking for. I found mines in digital and you found yours in VINYL

@zuesman I am confused. If the D’Agostino sounded better why didn’t you keep it?

And why do you think the Infigo is even better than all of them?

(Also, can a system sound good if it only cost $84,000?)

grislybutter,

Yes you definitely are confused and you don't know how to read very well, I said that the 861 sounded better in every area that's why the guy that owned the dagostino after one month comparing the 861 to the dagostino sold his D'Agostino and kept the 861. I never owned the D'Agostino but I also bought the 861 and it is absolutely phenomenal it will beat amplifiers twice the price. The D'Agostino is $44,000 in the US 63,000 in Canada, the 861 is $22,000 US and $29,000 Canadian. that's how good the SIM audio amp is.

@zuesman thank you for clarifying. So the guy bought the D'Agostino in the US and then returned it in Canada? Did he do it for Canadian dollars? I might still be confused. 

I thought 85K was the magic number. A lot of zeros are being discussed here. You people must have excellent hifi equipment. 

I like your style @zuesman ! You have good people skills. I am sorry if I annoyed you with my not so intelligent questions.

@zuesman listen I know who you are you have been kicked off of my threads and you come back again and again. I’m not going to argue with you. Take care. Be respectful to everyone on this thread.  Have courtesy. If not please leave the thread. 

@grislybutter he comes on to any thread I create then starts dissing my system. He has been removed several times. I would not respond to him. He comes on to all of my threads and others and destroys the real conversations that people have. He probably doesn’t have the simaudio gear he says he has. He dants about occ copper this and that. Don’t engage with him.

@grislybutter if you notice he has been the only one being rude after all the responses up until now. 

@grislybutter 

he has never heard our Infigo cabling because I know everyone it has been sold to or has demoed it. He isn’t one of them.

@calvinj I wonder what motivates him

@grislybutter 

I have no idea what motivates Zeusman he comes on my thread and disses our equipment and brand. He even went as far as trying to trick the owner of our company then taking the conversation to use it against me on Audiogon. He is the reason why some people leave the platform. He doesn’t actually own the equipment.  He might not even live in Canada. It’s sad. We come here for serious conversations and to share things and people like him come in and destroy the real knowledge and the brands that people work hard to build. I doubt he even owns simaudio that he speaks of. 

@grislybutter dont take him seriously. If you listen to what he was saying about the d’agistino and simaudio it doesn’t even make any sense. He just trolls everyone. 

calvinj,

Unfortunately the wire that you're using is not that good and extremely overpriced, I was on the website and to charge $4,000 US for 2 m speaker wire that's made from the cheapest wire out there which is OFC is criminal, OCC single crystal wire is far superior to anything OFC at any price that companies are ripping people off for and the rectangular OCC single crystal wire is even better than the round OCC and I talked to Hans about this and he said he was using OCC single crystal wire, well obviously not because I looked up all your cables on your website and everything is cheap OFC wire, shame on you for ripping people off for so much money for inferior wire, I have no doubt that my system would leave yours in the dust because of the cabling  and The electronics I'm using.

@zuesman , Color me this ...Let us suppose you were gleeful one day because you bought some great OCC.....but, what if the sales guy said it was OCC (wrote OCC on the packaging) and sold you some peasant class OFC or pauper class tinned copper instead, how would you find out? You wouldn't be able to find out, would you?

@deep_333 , he comes on threads to troll he doesn’t have the cables or equipment or the knowledge he speaks of. He comes on to destroy serious thread conversation.  BUT YOU ASKED AND EXCELLENT QUESTION THOUGH. HE WOULD NOT KNOW! 

@grislybutter the people from stereophile came to our Infigo and Alta Audio room last year at Axpona we had all Infigo cabling and electronics in the system. Out of more than 100 rooms of audio he heard in 3 days he named our system one of the top 5 at Axpona then used our hear and set up picture as the landing page for their Axpona reviews last year. 

@calvinj he keeps pushing the 861 like a salesman.

@invalid he might be. But I think it’s far worse.  The depths that he went to to diss multiple brands. Trying to destroy names and relationships is sinister.  Audiogon gonna have to do smthg about him because it’s not a free speech thing. He is destroying other brands being slanderous and he does not own or even have the gear to try. Nor does he own the gear he speaks of.  The sad part is he has fooled multiple people on Audiogon as well as even calling companies to play like he is interested in gear only to try to use the information to talk the gear down later. Plenty of people have tried our Infigo audio cables. We literally give free demos because we know they perform well. So all of this inferior wire talk is BS. You trying you like them you get them. You don’t you send them back. Zuesman behavior is very detrimental to Audiogon and audiophiles as a whole and it’s a shame 

I think @zuesman is a doing some day drinking. I do not disagree that OCC is a superior product but 3 rambling posts in a row?  Put the 40 Creek down. 

@invalid @grislybutter this happens everytime I put a thread up. If you see all the posts before he came on. We were having a good conversation even when guys disagreed they were respectful.  There is a lot of hard work that goes into researching and producing great gear and products. We tested multiple variations of cables. We spent time perfecting the electronics and addressing design, distortion, chip implementation, design, heat dissipation etc etc.  Then you have a guy that comes on to a thread only to play games and be disrespectful to other members and to play internet identity games with brands and the hard work they put in. Then he bullies and destroys legitimate conversations on threads when he doesn’t have anything to offer. He probably does not even have the gear he is posting about. He hasn’t even heard the gear he is posting against. This is why o left Audiogon about 6 or 7 years ago.  Him and people like him. It’s sad. Now he has started rage posting and it totally destroys the post and turns people away from this post and Audiogon as a whole 

@grislybutter we are back!  Thank god. Hopefully we are troll free. 

@invalid we back up. Thank God 

25+ years ago. Sitting at a picnic table behind a well known hifi shop where the owner and a British elder (magician) were recapping torn up Eico’s and Marantz 8B’s, while customers perused $30K CD Transports (remember them?) inside. We sort of chilled out and had some laughs. Hit it off I guess.

One thing led to another as we all became more friends with the same sarcastic twisted humor. Not sure I actually went into the shop that much, We were all jazz LP collectors. Kind of like the "after school gang" hanging.

So, eventually -- with their help, and fair - not rip off artists. They ran the same stuff at home.

Original Quad ESL 57’s

Marantz 8B restored to spec - man, that amp was/is sublime

Eico monos fully recapped running NOS you know what EL84’s

Sonic Frontiers, or maybe Anthem - right when one became the other -- tube pre with the cage ripped off. That was a finicky beast - I hated dealing with that thing.

Merrill Heirloom/Merch Dp6/Koetsu (insert wood type for that era). Someone came in and traded this $4000 now used analogue rig toward a Krell transport.

The owner called me and said do you want this? I said how much, he said "$750, It’s not perfect cosmetically, I don’t want to deal with it." I said fine with me. There was small dent in the Heirloom lead platter ring clamp, and some pitting on the Merch arm. Who cares. I know now he was throwing me a bone.

MIT cables used.

I don’t remember the rest.

However, I do remember John Coltrane standing right in front of me while an original pressing of Giant Steps played on this rig, and it scared the living crap out of me - not small holographic sweet spot, no, actually his 6" 4 self in front me. Must be as the Quads are angled up, and the room was perfectly wide, whatever voodoo was going on - it happened more than once.

Maybe it was the pot :) Not the amplifier kind ha.

Anyway, had to dump all of it when kids started running around everywhere and f-ing things up, not to mention ungrounded vintage voltage that could actually kill someone. Ended up with an LFD/Spendor kit many years ago still in action.

I have surrendered to the fact that I heard the sublime (for me), and that is good enough.

It was a time and place, with comrades in arms, at a certain age, doing our thing, loving music first, and whatever voodoo my hifi buddies did with those magic caps, transistors, and whatever else we were smoking.

@msbel  love hearing your story.  I lost one of my audiophile brothers Charles about 10 years ago. Was unexpected and I was stunned.  We used to listen to music all the time and talk audio a lot. Me,him and my friend Bill had the best times. Putting systems together and competing against one another. Great  times. Your story reminds me of that.