For me it was through upgrading my equipment over time. I decided to move from a home theater setup to one focused on music. Went from integrated equipment to separates which made it easier to upgrade. I’ve been working on it for about 3 years and I’m very happy with the sound, ease of use and appearance. I have a 2.2 setup with a streamer, DAC and CD player. I never got back into vinyl after moving on to CDs years ago. I will keep on tweaking my system because to me it’s a fun part of this hobby. I’m enjoying my musical journey and my music.
157 responses Add your response
Read all about it here in Virtual Systems. |
Getting involved with the audio business got me off the typical merry-go-round of buying and swapping well reviewed mid-fi stuff that I was never particularly happy with. Working for Merlin and Paul Heath Audio gave me exposure to a much higher level of equipment, and insights to some of the more affordable sleeper gear. Before long I had a Lazarus tube preamp, modified B&K ST140 amp (Distech), and a nice big pair of Merlin 4 speakers that brought me into a much improved resolution and sound quality. Bobby Palkovic from Merlin inspired me to start building my own speakers. After designing, building, and selling several models, I finally settled on a pair that I’ve kept and loved since 1989. Around that same time, I was given a Dynaco 70 tube amp that my uncle built from a kit in 1964, and discovered that it mated really nicely with my tube preamp and speakers. Those components still comprise the core of my system today. Another Dynaco 70 tube amp got added to the mix, so I could use them in a vertical bi-amp setup. In 2020, I added the VTA circuit board mods to amps, the Lazarus has been refreshed/modified a bit, and an active crossover has been added below 80 hz to the system. Any other changes have been refinements, and I absolutely love how the system sounds.
|
Incremental steps. Appreciating each piece, upgrading it, seeing the design limitations, and making my own air bearing turntable, tonearm, phono/pre, main amplifiers. I am now making my own ESL's, buying everything off-the-shelf that I can. I thought that if Mr. Carter can make his own furniture in retirement, then I can make my own audio system. |
@terry9 Serious stuff! I saw your air-gapped caps. Any more info on your components? |
Well, best components that money can buy. For example, I put a dozen of the best reviewed resistors in a selector switch, and put it in place of the gain resistor. Then chose the best - it was nude Vishay, VAR series, hands down. So every resistor in the signal path is VAR, and that includes the volume control, which made the vc a bit pricey - about 1K - but it's way better than what you find in quarter million pres - IMO. Air bearings in three dimensions from New Way - they call them thrust bushings. Couldn't buy the platter I wanted, so it was machined from a 13" cylinder of cast iron. Platter mat is 1" of charcoal; 45kg including the record weight. I just decide on the maximum I can afford, and build to that. It's always been enough to buy the best components, even if I have to make them myself, like the caps. I'm retired, so it's only time. |
Many years of listening to different systems . Attending axpona yearly as well.Three systems that really I end up basing my systems were the Borensen c1 set up and Wilson and Dan Agostino gear combo this year. At CEs Westin Hotel in Chicago it was the Austin Acoustic set up. All three set has the musicality and live performance.My systems needs a little upgrade to sound like the three systems I mentioned in a small set up I have. |
Skhong 78 and Mike Lavigne system are also amazing systems that I heard that was uploaded by Skhong 78 in YouTube.My one set up sound more like Skhong78 my other set sound more like Mike Lavigne system in a very SMall way.Even on YouTube this two systems you can hear the greatness of this two systems. |
@terry9 Thanks for taking the time to expand a little on your components. I use Vishay VAR in the input of my tube phono stages and agree they are superb. (47k load, 1k stopper) |
| Post removed |
It started over 35 years ago. Had little money, so I would work to earn enough to buy the highest ranked equipment in Stereophile that I could afford. Mostly class C, maybe B. I had three boys and the house was too noisy for any serious listening, so the hobby went on the backburner for many years. We moved about 3 years ago and I now have a better listening environment and no noisy kids (occasionally Grandkids). I now have more disposable income and my components had aged. I began the process of upgrading everything starting with speakers. Then dac, then amp, then preamp. A second upgrade of dac and various cables throughout the process. I'm at a happy spot. Final touch is a new Salamander rack which delivers next week. I'm still using a $100 rack that's 30 years old. |
with me at 73 yrs old it started in 90's and purchasing first set of speakers from Bryn Mawr Stereo and going back and forth 3 times until salesman realized I was serious about speakers and needed up with Mirage M3..and had them for 23 years..And buying 4 Solid State Amps from 90's till 2019...Then saw a ad for Raven Audio and I know from speakers you can not listen in showroom and come home and hear what your heard in showroom with acoustics of your home..So did the 45 day trial and never heard so much musical details in music from any solid-state I owned previously..And my old Mirages needed to be replaced and tried Raven Audios Speakers.. This was a whole new world of sound for me... So since 2019 I have steeped up from a Black Hawk test Amp to Osprey owned for 5 yrs to recently purchased the Reflection and Corvus Speakers and I am set for rest of my listening days ...Wish You well into your finding your musical happiness.. |
Do any of us really have the end game dream system? At least for me, it's an endless upgrade. Every tweak leads to yet another tweak, or new part. Feel like our systems are just a moment in time, are always evolving. My system started very modestly, mostly at the time interested in the overall look to fit the room. After a couple months, sound became much more important, the deep dive started with searching for the next best piece, and so on and so on. My system today, will not be the same system next year. But very happy with my current system, but always looking for "more". |
calvinj I finally decided I wanted to listen more to my music, and it GREATLY helps with my mental health (I'm bi-polar)....along with the proper medication, meditation, etc. My wife consented to giving me the living room for a listening room. I had been out of touch with audio for about a decade, I joined several forums, found members that have similar tastes I do, and read silently for about a year. I found a handful of reviewers I liked (and their reviews matched my taste), and followed their reviews. I talked to as many of my music loving and/or audiophile friends as I could, and listened to their systems. We ended up with an informal private audiophile group of some music lovers, and 5 years later it now has around 20ish people.....and it is great because a good number have or were/are purchasing "aspirational" systems I didn't buy anything until I researched it thoroughly and listened to as many of my options as possible. My existing gear at that time: Tubes4hifi VTA ST-120 KT120 tube amp, Thiel CS 2.3 speakers, and a Denon C-7030 CD player. I had crap for cables all the way around except for some OG Vampire Wire speaker cables My purchases have mostly been direct to consumer brands (Denafrips DAC, DDC, preamp, and amp (the amp and preamp are since sold) Buchardt Audio speakers, Clayton Shaw speakers, Aric Audio amp and preamp, Anti-Cables-Morrow Audio-Zavfino-Veritas-etc cables. I bought a CODA S5.5 from Audio Archon dealer this year. The Buchardt S400 KI and Clayton Shaw Caladan speakers, Aric Audio Motherldoe XL pre and Transcend "Push Pull" EL34 amp, CODA S5.5, Denafrips Pontus II DAC and Iris DDC have all been home runs and ridiculous values for their purchase price. No, I am nowhere near at my end game system. In 2025 I will finish my dedicated listening room in my basement. I will (money dependent) upgrade the Pontus II DAC, add a very high end streamer, and add another pair of speakers. I will also be building a LOT of DIY cables that I've bought parts for over the last 18 months. Golf and my audio system, make me very happy.....have a few years left until retirement |
Oh no! I was close to it too. Then I rethink "is anyone really achieved what I want?" I concluded that I can’t be there whatever I do because no one ever was there in audio history. It was a good decision that I gave up. I have the world’s best sound audio system now. As I concluded that no one was there was correct? Why? Because every things are wrong in audio from start (recordings) to end (reproduction=speaker). I say this because I only know answers. This is like the one-eyed man in the country of the blind. I’m just a frontier. Nothing more. Below (recording & reproduction) is the best in audio for now. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9couuLwOYLs Reproduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ru4D-mOMdo There are few recording studios are recording with my microphones to make right recording now. This is a start to make recording right. And the right reproduction will follow. It will take few years to take off, but it will happen because as recording studio staffs said that’s no match between natural and Hi-Fi sounds. I’ll say I don’t know how fast the world’ll change if you know what I mean. Alex/Wavetouch audio |
@jayctoy after 17 years of chasing. I met Hans Looman we did a show together. Infigo Audio had not been born yet he was with another company. We had a room together at a show and initially using the equipment that was there it didn’t sound right. I travel with a bag of cables and my cables literally fixed it all. He was surprised told me about this amp he was building. I brushed it off then he decided he was going to fly to Dallas from Canada with his amp and put it up against my KR AUDIO. Well I invited my friends over and he blew my amp away in front of 15 friends at my house. I decided that day I was gonna work with him. Infigo Audio was born and the next thing you know. I got the Dac, amp and now streamers. I was actually the ear for our cables. The combination has me in heaven. I guess because I got to play an active part in getting to this happy place I’m in it’s been great. Working with someone who,is as ocd about sound as I am has been great. Then we both listen to a wide range of different music. I had learned so much before I met Hans then to by chance run into him while creating amazing gear has been great. I’m happy. I’m listening as we speak. Saturday night relaxing listening to some sweet sounds. Lot of time and money I spent getting here but it’s worth it. I learned a lot over the years. Right now I’m in a great place. |
@vthokie83 music is my medication. Keeps me calm. Allows me to think clearly. Takes the stress of practicing law away. It allows me to reflect. It allows me to put life in perspective. It’s not just gear and songs. It’s an escape. |
@harleyujoe i understand. I been in 24 years now at 52 and it is a journey. I’m in a good place. I’m finding music and trying tweaks and doing little things. I’m enjoying it. |
@sls883 i get it I started out with some cm9 and some def tech. I flipped sold and spent over the years while learning. Now I have great gear along with the knowledge to understand how good and how to use it all. I’ve made more money now so I could get whatever I wanted. But the knowledge to get right stuff has been priceless |
@knotscott got in doing collections for high fidelity cables 15 years ago. Then I got slowly introduce to more and more folks and systems in the hobby. I was blessed to hear super high priced gear before I could afford it. I learned and by chance met Hans Looman at Infigo. Who is about as more sound obsessed than I am which I didn’t think was possible. Man I look back I’ve met great guys and people in this hobby. Great listening sessions too! |
@bassbuyer its been a slow process of upgrading. Learning then upgrading again |
@mswale i think you gotta enjoy awhile before the next upgrade. I’m at a point where I will not be changing components for awhile. I might tweak. But I’m in a great place. |
@terry9 i understand. I also a guy Bob Spence. Showed me a lot of tweaks along the way with getting great gear. It’s been great. |
@calvinj I enjoy my system every day! Listing right now as I type this. Good sound is like a drug. You don't know what you are missing until you try it, then you get hooked and want more. Every time something gets changed for the better, just want more, the goal is to get to the next level. When I started it was very easy to get to the next level (not much money). Now I'm at the point that big upgrades will cost big money. My journey now is better cart (going to try a MM), maybe a dedicated phono stage, steep slope crossover for my speakers, better cables, better streamer, dedicated AC line. Some isolation for the entire system. It will just never end, as there is always another step to go... |
@mswale we give free trials on Infigo cables. Let me know. I’m glad you are enjoying your journey. Keep building. Yes good sound is like a drug. I’m now tapping my vein as we speak. Lol! |
@bassbuyer i understand. Right now I’m listening and I’m in a great place. |
Having been retired for over 4 years now, I recently just decided to go for it. My reasoning is that life is way too short, and my hearing is still good enough to enjoy and justify the financial investment. This year I upgraded my speakers, integrated amplifier, CD transport, power conditioner, audio rack, and also added bass traps. My “End Game” system is not my dream system and is modest when compared to many of the amazing Virtual Systems on Audiogon, but I feel that I have finally achieved sonic contentment which has been eluding me all these years. I can’t peel myself away from my system and it’s paying huge dividends right now during our typical dark and damp Pacific Northwest winter.
|
|
|
Some already know my stance in this reverie, but some expansion of my local focal locus in this universe....whichever one it may be....🤷♂️ *laugh* Long ago, I dispersed a rather nice collection of bits so's not to drag them about, doomed to dust in storage for an unknown span. Kept a couple of items that I knew then they'd been and would remain the 'odd but very useful' items that would be difficult if not improbable to replace... Upon reaching a landing more 'permanent', time spent settling the dust and an income stream, it was obvious that to return to that audiostrata would require +/- 2X$ to do so......which has repeated itself in the interim a few times, enough to make SOTA SOOR: " Sota' Out Of Reach." One could consider that a kick in the cojones' , but in stead took on the not-so-lost-'lean can be mean' scheme....likely for less than the lucky few will spend for a cable....yeah, one. In same recent return to the flay, I recalled a fascinating stumble into a pair of new Ohm F's very long ago...about the same time I ran into the fledgling ESS brand prior to the Heils' which happened not long after....own 4 of the large drivers... I make my own walsh drivers these days...spend too much time enjoying than I ought, but whattya say at the end of the day.... ;) Enjoy where you are until you don't.... Watch for those post- holidaze ads...and have a wonderful Christmas. *5's *
|
@calvinj I fully agree with you, music is one thing that has consistently brought me joy and has often gotten me through some rough patches in life. I also feel that I have achieved my "dream" sound within the confines of my modest listening space. My "dream" system would be some financially unattainable system housed in a dedicated listening room that I will never have. Its ok to dream, but I have finally achieved the sonic contentment I have been chasing all my life. My system may have costed a fraction of yours, but it would still be considered an obscene amount of money to spend on music reproduction to my friends and relatives. Its a strange and unique club us audiophiles belong to and I'm glad to be a member. |
@calvinj wrote:
Some 10 years ago I started to resaddle into a different approach with speakers that are high efficiency and at least partially horn-loaded, with the initial intention to use low powered SET amps in conjunction with these. While the combo of all-horn speakers and SET’s offer a sonically alluring and extremely well-sounding solution, I slowly veered into a different direction with dedicated horn-based subs, large format pro segment horns, direct radiating mid bass section, SS amplification (eventually class A/B) and outboard active configuration. Macro parameters were then sought with proper height of acoustic center, smooth power response at the crossover between midbass and horn section above (i.e.: sameness in directivity pattern here, which requires of the mids/tweeter horn to be large to control directivity that low), relatively unrestricted LF extension down to 20-25Hz, virtually unlimited macro dynamic envelope for effortless reproduction at every desired SPL, optimizing the amp to driver interface with active configuration, and finally taking advantage of a high quality digital crossover/DSP for use with horns and the requirements here for delay settings, steep filter slopes (to keep the horn sections within their safe and sonically best operating range), filter notches, PEQ’s, etc. From this physically and acoustically appropriate framework, which is a requirement for me in whatever form or shape a specific setup would take (but which is still somewhat dictated due to these requirements), there’s a fairly meticulous tweaking process that’s ongoing. There are no severe bottlenecks in my setup as is; a some 10-12 old ref. model DAC/preamp that’s still excellent sounding compared to new iterations, a high quality DSP, great studio amps and cabling (mainly Mundorf silver/gold), and high quality pro drivers. Dedicated, some 50 year old JBL Alnico tweeters will be implemented over the next month or two.
Most surely, already have been for some years now, and it will only be better in the following years with further tweaking and smaller modifications here and there. Whatever changes may come down the road will be in keeping with the overall philosophy as outlined above. |
@phusis quite the story. Learn all you can. Get the most out of whatever gear you can get your hands on. Use what you have learned through the fullest and enjoy. |