Why did you purchase the equipment you have and what do you like most about it?

5 1/2 years of delivering the Washington Post in grades 7-12 gave me the means to purchase my first stereo (Advents, Sansui 2000x, Dual 1215S, M91E). I spent months in stereo shops listening first. Reading the very first edition of The Absolute Sound gave me the idea to purchase a second set of used Advents- double Advents. My first Audio show, where I met Saul Marantz, Jon Dahlquist, and James Bongiorno at the Dahlquist/GAS booth from reading an article in Popular Electronics about building the Ampzilla and another in High Fidelity by Bascom King about the amp, led to my purchase of the Ampzilla kit and building it (I still have it) and my first piece of high end gear. That booth led me to corresponding with Saul Marantz about modifying my Marantz Model 7 pre and purchase of used Dahlquist DQ10’s and adding two Dahlquist subwoofers.

 latest purchase was preceded by reading lots of comments here and happy experiences with my N100H. I just installed an Aurender N200, purchased intentionally new from a terrific store that I wanted to support- Comman Performance AV in Falls Church, VA. Sorry about the lengthy post but my purchases come from lots of homework and from others being generous with their knowledge with me. Thanks, Jeff!

I’ve been listening, reading, building, selling, swapping and buying hifi since the early seventies and almost every move has been an upgrade, or at least a noticeable change.  I will never stop reading and listening, but other than changing my DAC, I’m really happy with my current setup. And speaking of the DAC, it’s a Pontus ll and I really enjoy the sound of the R2R sound and would love to hear others, but it ain’t as easy as it used to be.

Well after all these years of chasing the perfect sound I ran into Hans Looman 6 years ago.  He brought his amp from Canada to Texas for a home demo in front of my grounds and he made my amp run into a corner with its tail between its legs. The next thing you know I’m helping develop his cable line and now have all Infigo electronics to go with my Gato FM6 speakers and and Rel 212se subs. I have no need to search anymore. I just look for music now.  

I researched in English and my wife researched in Japanese. We landed on the Yamaha NS-5000, which we auditioned and bought in southern California. I had sold my late mother's house after a succession of hassles so I charged a tip. All my other gear is refurbished or bought on sale nicer mass market stuff.