Tvad: I know the feeling with tape recorders, they're an excellent medium. I use to transfer my CDs onto Nakamichi tape decks or a nice Pioneer RT-909 reel-to-reel (Mick's got that machine now) and the results were superb! Kind of like the music got 'analogued' along the way...all for the better. I think the same thing is happening with FM's treatment of CD sound, that's why it sounds nicer.
There's no doubting CD's convenience and generally competent sound, so that's the medium for most of us I suppose.
Opus88: Isn't it ironic that we are being sold more and more technology these days, on the basis of number crunching creates better sound(all at high cost), but in all honesty the truth and beauty of music seems to be locked up in the old mediums like the ancient thermionic bottles we all like (a la tube devices like Supratek); analogue tape or vinyl & to a lesser extent FM transmission; good ol' Class A amplification is still hard to beat and electrostatic loudspeakers are still a reference point. Even some of the old point source loudspeakers like the Goodmans Axiom 80 and Coral Beta 10 (now some 30yrs old) are still unsurpassed.
When you've been doing hi-fi for a few decades, it seems to be a common thing amongst older audiophiles that life goes full circle. Some of the good things you heard are still good. I've tried a lot good gear over the years from valves to digital amps, from Accutons to ribbons etc. and the older stuff still competes (and exceeds) in a lot of areas. Its not nostalgia or your imagination either - it just is.
The high cost of Hi-Fi is hard to justify. Non-audiophiles must think we are MAD spending the dollars we do on equipment, for little improvement. I almost puke(Aussie slang for vomit) when I pick up a copy of Hi-Fi+ magazine these days. Don't get me wrong, this is a good magazine displaying dream-like thoroughbred equipment, but come on, you've gotta be kidding! There are small amplifiers with a toroidal transformer and a few circuit boards in that magazine that cost as much as my new Subaru Outback H6 SUV (bristling with the latest technology and a 180kW hi-tech motor), there's just no comparison for value, and they have the cheek to call the amplifier 'a bargain' at $50,000!
Anyway, time for me to go back to listening to some cool music with the mantra ...'I am happy with what I've got' ...'I am happy with what I've got' ...
Cheers,
Steve.
There's no doubting CD's convenience and generally competent sound, so that's the medium for most of us I suppose.
Opus88: Isn't it ironic that we are being sold more and more technology these days, on the basis of number crunching creates better sound(all at high cost), but in all honesty the truth and beauty of music seems to be locked up in the old mediums like the ancient thermionic bottles we all like (a la tube devices like Supratek); analogue tape or vinyl & to a lesser extent FM transmission; good ol' Class A amplification is still hard to beat and electrostatic loudspeakers are still a reference point. Even some of the old point source loudspeakers like the Goodmans Axiom 80 and Coral Beta 10 (now some 30yrs old) are still unsurpassed.
When you've been doing hi-fi for a few decades, it seems to be a common thing amongst older audiophiles that life goes full circle. Some of the good things you heard are still good. I've tried a lot good gear over the years from valves to digital amps, from Accutons to ribbons etc. and the older stuff still competes (and exceeds) in a lot of areas. Its not nostalgia or your imagination either - it just is.
The high cost of Hi-Fi is hard to justify. Non-audiophiles must think we are MAD spending the dollars we do on equipment, for little improvement. I almost puke(Aussie slang for vomit) when I pick up a copy of Hi-Fi+ magazine these days. Don't get me wrong, this is a good magazine displaying dream-like thoroughbred equipment, but come on, you've gotta be kidding! There are small amplifiers with a toroidal transformer and a few circuit boards in that magazine that cost as much as my new Subaru Outback H6 SUV (bristling with the latest technology and a 180kW hi-tech motor), there's just no comparison for value, and they have the cheek to call the amplifier 'a bargain' at $50,000!
Anyway, time for me to go back to listening to some cool music with the mantra ...'I am happy with what I've got' ...'I am happy with what I've got' ...
Cheers,
Steve.
