Who R U?

My equip is ML aerius i, DC-1, bat vk200, b&k amp forgot model # but its a 3 channel for rear(paradigm stylus) and center is ML cinima, pioneer elite DV-07 301cd/dvd, niles ipc 12(dealer said I need one, now I know I could have upgrade the breakers in the box and been better off), nht sub sw2pi great sub for the price, but looking for more now. Looking to get a bat pre to better my 2 channel. Really bat 3i, vk200, ml, pioneer cd(I found surenergy here, for me any how) transparent music wave thru out, except the interconnects betw the dc and bat is rca to balanced from analsyst plus. Dealer told me the analsyst would sound better than the transparent, well I say you should have saved me the money and sold me the analsyst first. Sorry alittle excited there. And thats about it. Looking for a little help here. Thinking of the vmps subs and marchland xcross over. If anyone has any knowledge of this e-mail me at pcc67@mediaone.net I'll try to keep the question short, but probably not. See ya, have fun audio friends. Love this site, some of you really know what your doing and I appreciate all the help I have received. Thanx Pete

Nice to meet all of you. I'm audiogon member msw26, a 43-year-old, single guy with no children living "uptown" in NYC with over 1600 CDs. I work in the computer field for a brokerage firm on the weekends and am pursuing an M.A. in statistical sociology at one of the local colleges during the week. I recently replaced my old Yamaha reciever (given to my cousin, an over-educated, under-employed academic, and her partner) with an amplifier, pre-amplifier and tuner.

The old system had two pairs of bookshelf speakers (Infinity and Paradigm, also with cousin). I wasn't attempting to emulate "surround sound." It was modeled more on the old Bose "direct reflecting" idea that non-destructive signals from several directions would sound superior over a larger listening space than a more "focused" sound originating from only two speakers. I first noticed this benefit when an old college roommate (another amateur audio enthusiast who continues to build his own speakers) and I combined our separate stereos in a small college apartment. Unfortunately, I still live in a small (Manhattan) apartment and really don't have the space to arrange all my possessions around a designated "listening" area with only two speakers. At any rate, the old system (now with the cousin) sounded better when arranged with the "diffused" approach than with the "focused" approach, so I tried to replicate this design using better equipment. This may or may not have been a mistake. I'm still playing with it.

Largely on the audiogon website, I've purchased mostly used equipment and begun to assemble my first real "hi-fi" system (or at least, something approaching it) at a significant discount: a Krell KAV-500 amplifier, (I know it's intended for home theater, but the ancient wiring in my pre-war apartment building really can't support the four monoblocks I'd prefer) a Pass Labs X-0 preamplifier, (2 sets of balanced outputs. When I leave NYC, hopefully I'll own a house where I can have the four monoblocks and long XLR interconnections) and again, two pairs of bookshelf loudspeakers: (1) Sonus Faber Extremas (2) Dynaudio Confidence 3. (I know many audiophiles will think these are a little light on the lower end, but this actually allows me to play music louder in my apartment building without bothering my neighbors!) DH Labs Q-10 speaker cables (internally bi-wired for the Sonus Fabers) and Air Matrix interconnects thoughout.

Currently, I'm looking to replace the ancient CD Onkyo player (circa 1987) with an HBB 850 Plus CD recorder. My tentative upgrade path is to eventually add AES/EBU connections to both an MSB Platinum DAC and a Perpetual Technologies P-1A, the latter for its upsampling and jitter reduction capabilities. After that, perhaps a PS Audio P300 to regulate the power for the pre-amp, CDR, P-1A and DAC. Eventually, I'll add another CD transport so I can actually copy an out-of-print CD or two!

While the 100 watt-per-channel Krell KAV-500 doesn't struggle to drive these two demanding pairs of speakers, it doesn't exactly overpower them, either. Purchased used, the amplifier did not come with all the documentation, although one line of text in one document suggested that if I remove one channel, the power distributed to the remaining four channels will increase. Krell has not been overly responsive to this owner of a piece of used equipment that don't even make any longer, (I think) and I'm loath to damage the thing while trying to "improve" the system, but I toy with the idea. If anyone has any idea, about this or anything else, please feel free to contact me directly: msw26@columbia.edu

Take care,
Mike Watkins

Hi everyone. I've been asking myself the question for most of my 51 years. I'm a retired pension actuary. Yeah, I know, the most boring guys in the world! Well, considering I'm a residential landlord on Long Island, I've got bad and worse covered. Happy that we're married 22 years, we have three children; 12,17,19 who remind us regularly we just here to see them through life.

I re-found music and beauty in my life this past year when I retired. I am astonished how I'm captivated by the presence of music. I built a two-channel system in the living room and an 11-seat theater in the den. The two channel is Levinson/Levinson, Resolution Audio/Dunlavy/PS Audio and the theater is Citation/Citation/Proceed/Panasonic DVD/Hitachi HDTV/with theater seats.

Our family loves the presence of the music now throughout our lives.

Our older son is an electrical engineering major and is into car audio about one tick lower than my interest. His ability is a little smaller than his interest.

We live in northern Westchester County, here in NY.

Other than the expensive nature of this illness, it causes me to seek out additional cd vendors and live concerts I never realized that I needed. I am truly grateful for the added dimension and tranquility audio is/has given to me.

I also want to thank those who have taken the time and interest to help me learn the little I know in order to put the systems together. Thanks. Bill

hey lakefrontroad, tell yer son - i'm into car-audio too - nuttin' like the wail of the 3-litre alfa v6 in my daily-driver at 6.5k rpms! and, w/a commute of 45 miles each way, there's lotsa time for music! :>)

regards, doug

ps-no radio in my daily-driver - *that* kinda music can wait 'til i get home... ;~)

Hey, Doug,

When reading your note, I had the following thought.

When I was a kid, there were a few Ferraris in my neighborhood. One day I was at the pizza joint and there was a 1967 275 GTB4, which in my opinion is absolutely beautiful. I remember thinking, one day... I'm going to save $14,750 and buy me a Ferrari. Well, by the early 80's, I had the $14,750. Unfortunately, Ferraris cost $80K by then! So, smart feller I am, I bought me a used BB512. Now, in 1984 it's about the fastest production car in the world. So, I drive it accordingly. Six years pass and Enzio dies. Too bad. The entire world now thinks that cars which everyone was afraid to start are artwork. People figure they should pay funny money prices for automobiles. Prior to then, I would corner my car in the 130s. Then I started to have images of my house going sideways through the corners. I wasn't afraid. I just couldn't see trashing a car that now was worth what my house was. Now, I know this is off point. But, today, I can buy my car back for less than I paid in 1984 and about 1/4 of what I sold it for.

I remember having ADS box speakers and a ADS power plate installed in the Boxer when others were having esoteric systems put in their exotic cars. At idle mine was perfectly good background music. And at 96 decibles at the top of a gear, you know... I just didn't hear the music. I could never figure out what insanity an owner of a Lambo running 400+ horsepower and 90+ decibles was thinking when he spent 5000 to have the coolest system that couldn't be heard???

While I love beautiful music and great audio, screw the music if the ponies are there! So, maybe this year a used Viper with some speakers behind my ear.

I'll go home or to a concert for music appreciation. In a car it's tire scrub that counts.

Bill