Perhaps we should stick with midfi...

The concrete in the drive way is old and pitted. It has been patched in several areas. There are some stains on the concrete. The garage door is just standard aluminum; nothing special. The bike has dirt on it and shows signs of use and wear. So, what part of the country are soltio tiles popular? Southwest? Also, I'd guest that the house is in a subdivision, and a lower end one judging buy the untrimmed window (drywall jams).

Having said that, when I purchased a home in a subdivision about ten years ago, I requested drywall jams because the builder wanted $400 to trim each window. It cost me less that $40 a window and took less than two hours which including installation of the sill, jams, trim and prime and painting. There are 14 windows in my home for a savings of over $5000. Also, from the road, my home looks like an unassuming saltbox colonial; inside it's a different story.

The pictures of the bike are taken with the same camera as the two audio systems.

I think Gonglee3 needs to chime in and shed some light on the details. It's been a pleasant distraction playing detective.

Trained observers come one come all. Someone must have an inside track to solving this riddle. Is it real or is it McIntosh?

That was really funny you all!
Thanks for the laughters (which we all need, don't we?)...

Since someone asked me to chip in, I will upload another picture proving that the 2 systems are indeed in the same room - I don't know what that accomplishes, but since some of you asked, I will oblige...

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vdone&1283411725&view

I am coming to like the hifi system even more everyday - perhaps the system needed burning in period, or my hearing is becoming more audiophile.

I know I don't have the golden ear yet for sure, but the higher end system sounds better than the midfi system in some ways - more liquid and transparent.

For that reason, I haven't mixed / matched the system yet, thinking it might get even better as time goes on.

Is it possible that the cables were installed in the opposit direction when it was moved, requiring a burning in period ?

I don't know for sure, but it's clearly begining to sound better - I am pleasantly surprised... I like the dynamic power of 250 watts per ch. Krell amp, and the sound just hovers in the air in a pleasant way...

But still, I would stop with the midfi if I had a chance to do it all over again. The difference is minor, and the cost is too high for me ...

AS someone mentioned, I am begining to believe that you can assemble a pretty good sounding system for not much money, if you know what you are doing - especially if you buy them used on sights like this...

I wish you all can hear my midfi system, and you might agree that it does 90% of the new hifi system, if not better it in some aspects...

I am still seduced by the wide soundstage of the bigger woofer ADS speakers - the B&W 802D has smaller woofers - almost sounds like a bookshelf with subs to me.

Anyway, thanks for playing detective with me - your intellectual curiosity is sparkling, and we all need a pinch of skepticism now and then, don't we - to go through life succesfully...

------------------------------------------- *** ---------------------------------------------

By the way, someone mentioned that since I rave about a $79 sony sub, I must be happy with a boombox. The sony sub, SA-WM500 is recommended by the pros in hifi magazines.

Hear it for your selves at the Bestbuy (of all the places!), and you too might be pleasantly surprised... It has a nice smooth amp section - perhaps a class D digital, and it has an echo button which is good for movies.

I was so happy with the sound - had me dancing for an hour.

Also, there are pretty decent sounding boomboxes out there - since this sight is really hi end, you might not be familiar with it.

JVC Kaboom has a sub built in, producing pretty full warm sound, with mid and highs that are pretty decent as well - if you want to have music at a barbecue...

If you want to introduce your loved ones to this exciting hobby, you might want to consider these, and other affordable good sounding gears.

Gong,

Shh, ixnay on the don't have to spend a lot thing. We don't want that to get around!

You'll spend more than for a boombox and less than for Carnegie Hall with booked acts hopefully.

Stick around here for a while and then let's see what happens. Heck you already have some pretty nice toys to play with!

This site is a nice tweak that tends to lubricate your ears and wallet together by design. You're off to a good start.