I’m glad to find some other people in the Philadelphia area who share my interest in good audio reproduction. And I look forward to the opportunity to get together to share some music, sound systems and experiences.
A little bit about me: I've been on the "lunatic fringe" of our shared passion for 30 years. My system is geared to vinyl playback, and I'm addicted to tube electronics because good tube gear always sounds to me most natural and true to the harmonic overtones of acoustic music. Did I say I prefer acoustic music? Yes, 98% of my listening is to acoustic music -- primarily classical (from ancient music to contemporary), with a good dose of folk, blues and Celtic. But I do also enjoy a sojourn with rock, even if my musical awareness may be somewhat dated and represented by Pink Floyd, Queen, Janis Joplin, Moody Blues, Rough Trade, Dire Straits, et al. My dedication to vinyl for my personal listening is evident by the record collection... With over 4,000 LPs and less than 50 CDs, I think you might get the picture. Also, I'm committed to the school of "high quality, minimal conveniences" in my equipment -- no remote control, no linestage, no tone controls or signal processing -- turntable direct-in to dual mono phonostage, direct to mono amps.
Did I say I like tube equipment? Hmmm, tube phonostage, all tube power supplies, all tube amplifiers. Does it sound warm, rich, sweet?? Nope, not a bit. The wonderful old Marantz 9 tube amps I lived with and loved for many many years sounded warm and sweetly euphonic. But contemporary high quality tube equipment has none of that classic euphonic signature -- just incredibly quick with wonderful ability to recreate the full shadings of harmonic overtones that, for me, the best solid-state gear just never manages to match. But, of course, system synergy is ultimately what counts -- its never just the individual components, it's all about the interaction and balancing of those components to create a system.
So, these are my biases based on my years of enjoying this shared passion of ours. We all have our own based on our musical and listening priorities. I look forward to getting to know some of you who live in or near the Philadelphia area and who share my love of well reproduced music.
A little bit about me: I've been on the "lunatic fringe" of our shared passion for 30 years. My system is geared to vinyl playback, and I'm addicted to tube electronics because good tube gear always sounds to me most natural and true to the harmonic overtones of acoustic music. Did I say I prefer acoustic music? Yes, 98% of my listening is to acoustic music -- primarily classical (from ancient music to contemporary), with a good dose of folk, blues and Celtic. But I do also enjoy a sojourn with rock, even if my musical awareness may be somewhat dated and represented by Pink Floyd, Queen, Janis Joplin, Moody Blues, Rough Trade, Dire Straits, et al. My dedication to vinyl for my personal listening is evident by the record collection... With over 4,000 LPs and less than 50 CDs, I think you might get the picture. Also, I'm committed to the school of "high quality, minimal conveniences" in my equipment -- no remote control, no linestage, no tone controls or signal processing -- turntable direct-in to dual mono phonostage, direct to mono amps.
Did I say I like tube equipment? Hmmm, tube phonostage, all tube power supplies, all tube amplifiers. Does it sound warm, rich, sweet?? Nope, not a bit. The wonderful old Marantz 9 tube amps I lived with and loved for many many years sounded warm and sweetly euphonic. But contemporary high quality tube equipment has none of that classic euphonic signature -- just incredibly quick with wonderful ability to recreate the full shadings of harmonic overtones that, for me, the best solid-state gear just never manages to match. But, of course, system synergy is ultimately what counts -- its never just the individual components, it's all about the interaction and balancing of those components to create a system.
So, these are my biases based on my years of enjoying this shared passion of ours. We all have our own based on our musical and listening priorities. I look forward to getting to know some of you who live in or near the Philadelphia area and who share my love of well reproduced music.