ghdprentice, +1
Oh, yeah, NAK deck. Still have my CR-1A, which was down the line, but WOW did that deck destroy the other purportedly great competitors! At times I think I should pull it out and experiment with recording CDs on cassette again. I find it hard to justify the time involved to do so. I already know that I can’t get superior sound from it. Years of mix tapes making couldn’t outperform the straight CD sound. Close, but not quite.
elliotbnewcombjr,
You keep going cheap, so you are not close to higher end sound. You’re not getting close to what is attainable from CD. On the spectrum of performance you keep wasting your money playing on the low end. If that’s your goal, fine. But don’t think you’re really getting somewhere. At least in regard to your source, you’re not doing HiFi, but MidFi.
You shared this:99.9999 copper speaker wires and interconnects, locking rca connectors, mx110z tube tuner/preamp overhaul by Audio Classics; cayin a88t bias by VAS; 16 ohm L-Pads replacing 8 ohm pots; and finally a I bought a sound meter to balance/refine the speaker’s L-Pads (it ain’t easy) for the best sound ever.
Ok, fine. Won't get you supreme CD sound when your source is so compromised. All those changes may be efficacious, but don't fool yourself that you're close to what can be done with digital.
Are you trying to be cheap about this because you have no money for it, or are you thinking you’re smarter than everyone else and will get supreme sound for a dime? If it’s the first, no issues and have fun flipping gear! You realize you have limited resources and are having fun with it. If I were constrained thus I would do the same. However, if it’s the second, you are fooling yourself and would be an example of my principle; the greatest impediment to advancing an audio system is the audiophile.
Do you have any idea of what it takes to get into better digital sound? I owned that Denon 2910 at some point in my history of digital. Several people politely have tried to tell you that you should add a DAC. Translated that means you are using MidFi gear and need to completely change your approach, i.e. PUT MORE MONEY INTO IT! Those old players and changers would be awful transports relatively, but at least getting an outboard DAC with them would help. My transport is a Musical Fidelity that I got for $700 and it gets paired with DACs costing thousands. I ran comparisons to CDPs up to $10K. I suspect that if you are using sub-$100 components, you are using stock cables. Oh, man, you are slaughtering the sound, just ruining it with your methods. If you have the means to do better and are being "thrifty", I will be blunt. Keep it up and you will have excluded yourself from the upper end of the spectrum permanently. :(
You are a long away from excellent CD sound. Unless someone tells you candidly, I suspect you won’t believe it. You likely won’t believe me, even though I have been an audiophile using the discs for 30+ years and reviewing, comparing first CDPs and then transports and DACs for 14 years, building systems from about $10K to $100K. Perhaps someone brainwashed you into thinking you’re getting all that with cheap gear and digital. Not even close; you’re pretty far down the performance spectrum. Make no serious move and you will spend the rest of your life hearing mediocre digital sound.
Perhaps I missed it somewhere in discussion; if you are budgetarily constrained, no problem. Work in your zone of system building capability. But, if you could do better, stop wasting your life and money on bargain bin components! I used to be like that, thinking I could cobble together an awesome result that way. It was ridiculous, and shop owners from whom I scavenged bargains knew it. But, it’s almost impossible to convince someone who thinks they’re genius by being thrifty.
As for our hard core objectivists who may wish to argue with me. Don’t bother; I do not care about your opinion on this matter. :)
Oh, yeah, NAK deck. Still have my CR-1A, which was down the line, but WOW did that deck destroy the other purportedly great competitors! At times I think I should pull it out and experiment with recording CDs on cassette again. I find it hard to justify the time involved to do so. I already know that I can’t get superior sound from it. Years of mix tapes making couldn’t outperform the straight CD sound. Close, but not quite.
elliotbnewcombjr,
You keep going cheap, so you are not close to higher end sound. You’re not getting close to what is attainable from CD. On the spectrum of performance you keep wasting your money playing on the low end. If that’s your goal, fine. But don’t think you’re really getting somewhere. At least in regard to your source, you’re not doing HiFi, but MidFi.
You shared this:99.9999 copper speaker wires and interconnects, locking rca connectors, mx110z tube tuner/preamp overhaul by Audio Classics; cayin a88t bias by VAS; 16 ohm L-Pads replacing 8 ohm pots; and finally a I bought a sound meter to balance/refine the speaker’s L-Pads (it ain’t easy) for the best sound ever.
Ok, fine. Won't get you supreme CD sound when your source is so compromised. All those changes may be efficacious, but don't fool yourself that you're close to what can be done with digital.
Are you trying to be cheap about this because you have no money for it, or are you thinking you’re smarter than everyone else and will get supreme sound for a dime? If it’s the first, no issues and have fun flipping gear! You realize you have limited resources and are having fun with it. If I were constrained thus I would do the same. However, if it’s the second, you are fooling yourself and would be an example of my principle; the greatest impediment to advancing an audio system is the audiophile.
Do you have any idea of what it takes to get into better digital sound? I owned that Denon 2910 at some point in my history of digital. Several people politely have tried to tell you that you should add a DAC. Translated that means you are using MidFi gear and need to completely change your approach, i.e. PUT MORE MONEY INTO IT! Those old players and changers would be awful transports relatively, but at least getting an outboard DAC with them would help. My transport is a Musical Fidelity that I got for $700 and it gets paired with DACs costing thousands. I ran comparisons to CDPs up to $10K. I suspect that if you are using sub-$100 components, you are using stock cables. Oh, man, you are slaughtering the sound, just ruining it with your methods. If you have the means to do better and are being "thrifty", I will be blunt. Keep it up and you will have excluded yourself from the upper end of the spectrum permanently. :(
You are a long away from excellent CD sound. Unless someone tells you candidly, I suspect you won’t believe it. You likely won’t believe me, even though I have been an audiophile using the discs for 30+ years and reviewing, comparing first CDPs and then transports and DACs for 14 years, building systems from about $10K to $100K. Perhaps someone brainwashed you into thinking you’re getting all that with cheap gear and digital. Not even close; you’re pretty far down the performance spectrum. Make no serious move and you will spend the rest of your life hearing mediocre digital sound.
Perhaps I missed it somewhere in discussion; if you are budgetarily constrained, no problem. Work in your zone of system building capability. But, if you could do better, stop wasting your life and money on bargain bin components! I used to be like that, thinking I could cobble together an awesome result that way. It was ridiculous, and shop owners from whom I scavenged bargains knew it. But, it’s almost impossible to convince someone who thinks they’re genius by being thrifty.
As for our hard core objectivists who may wish to argue with me. Don’t bother; I do not care about your opinion on this matter. :)