How to transition from "stereo components" to modern means for listening to music? (Page 5): It's a medical fact hearing loss is inevitable. Yes and you DO lose low frequency (although...

Ollieboy

TriX wrote:

Your loss of high frequency hearing has no effect ... (show quote)

It's a medical fact hearing loss is inevitable. Yes and you DO lose low frequency (although not as much) as you age along with high frequency. I also said IMO. Everyone here is free to spend their money as they wish. I find that older audiophiles get defensive quickly and have a problem admitting their hearing loss, as that's something to be ashamed of. (Add tinnitus to the mix too.)

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

Seems like the magic word nowadays is " Streaming ". Like the song goes, Everybodys doing it, doing it.... All except me as I am still tied to CDs. Interesting how many folks got their start by owning or listening to L-100s. Sitting around on a friends floor with compadres and listening to the JBLs driven by a Fisher amp was the catalyst for me... I had to go on the cheap with Dynaco amp and preamp, AR turntable with Empire cartridge and Marantz speakers...Ah, the OLD DAYS. Nowadays my Martin Logan Electrostatics are driven by a Cambridge system. Audio is still one of my 2 passions and I am currently venturing into 2-3 watt tube amps and OB high efficiency speakers. You all think Photo gear will put you in the poor house ? Some of the gear mentioned by fellow members here will make your wallet run and hide. Its all good though. I wish I had held on to some of that vintage gear; maybe thats why I can't seem to sell ANY of my photo gear and wind up supporting multiple systems. Crazy is as Crazy does.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

TriX wrote:

Those Dynaco Tube amps were classic. Some years ago, I wanted to investigate the idea that tube amps sound better than solid state (which is classic audio lore), so I built a quad KT88 monoblock amp with separate power supplies for the (DC) filaments and plate/bias so there was no AC on the amp chassis. After listening it in mono for awhile, I liked it so much, I built a second for stereo, and that’s all I listen to now. And yes, they do sound different (and better to my ears).

That is gorgeous ... I am impressed. Currently building a pair of OB Betsy clones to use with a Decware Zen amp. Got to save a few more $ and have not decided which Zen to go with yet... Kind of like camera systems and lenses; so many choices and so little dinero !

andesbill

Beginning at the turn of the century, for the next few years, I ripped every cd available from 5 libraries in Queens, including the second largest library in Queen in Flushing. 25 cd’s a night, for years. 250,000 songs. I also spent at least $30/month buying cd’s (& ripping them to hard drives).
Now, it doesn’t matter, I haven’t listened to them in years, because Apple Music (or Pandora if you prefer) has more music available at a cheaper cost than I was spending then.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Ollieboy wrote:

It's a medical fact hearing loss is inevitable. Yes and you DO lose low frequency (although not as much) as you age along with high frequency. I also said IMO. Everyone here is free to spend their money as they wish. I find that older audiophiles get defensive quickly and have a problem admitting their hearing loss, as that's something to be ashamed of. (Add tinnitus to the mix too.)

Of course there is some low frequency loss with age (there is loss in overall sensitivity to ALL frequencies), but it's the high frequencies that are the most affected. I'm not being defensive, I'm just stating that you're wrong if you believe that there's no audible difference between bluetooth earbuds with an MP3 source and a serious system playing uncompressed CD quality music. Maybe YOU can't hear it, or maybe you've never listened to a good system, but others here know better. You're not hearing all the music and dynamic range. you're being reminded of how it really sounds, and you've become so accustomed to it, you think that"s how it actually sounds live - it isn't. Here's an image of the Euphoria series of loudspeaker that I designed and we produce. Want to tell me some more about audio?

(Download)

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

MrBob wrote:

That is gorgeous ... I am impressed. Currently building a pair of OB Betsy clones to use with a Decware Zen amp. Got to save a few more $ and have not decided which Zen to go with yet... Kind of like camera systems and lenses; so many choices and so little dinero !

Thank you and good luck with your project Bob, I think you’ll like how tubes sound (and that warm glow isn’t bad either). There are lots of sources for tubes, but I’ve had got luck with Electro Harmonix.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

srt101fan wrote:

I've always liked having music playing in the back... (show quote)

If you don't mind a little expense, it would be hard to beat The Bose system. I have an alarm clock with a CD drawer and the sound is amazing for such a small box. It also has an input in the back so if you have music stored in your phone, you can play that through the clock radio as well. Another great sound is from a pair of Sonos One SL Shadow Edition. They are sold in a pair at Sam's Club and they too are expensive -- 329.95 for the pair. If you have a Sam's close to you, go listen to these. You will most likely find the sound is as good as the big old speakers from days past.

BassmanBruce Loc: Middle of the Mitten

Longshadow wrote:

Unless the sampling rate for the digitization is really high, analog is purer.

Yup, I listen to digital, I Bathe in analog.

loperR Loc: Medina ,Ohio

Alexis

SHUTERED Loc: SO. CAL.

sorry I also have "down sized". But not to that extreme. Try a JBL 9 X 1 WIRELESS system, T.V. soundbar. DVD and CD's go through my Blue Ray. Other streaming sources for music etc.- Siriusxm and online.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

TriX wrote:

Thank you and good luck with your project Bob, I think you’ll like how tubes sound (and that warm glow isn’t bad either). There are lots of sources for tubes, but I’ve had got luck with Electro Harmonix.

Thanks a lot... I appreciate your comments as I realized from previous exchanges where you had mentioned David Hafler, Dynaco etc.... you were walking the walk and not just the talk. I will let you know how the Betsys turn out.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

philmurfin wrote:

We have 4 Alexa's around the house, there is always 1 on during the day. It's well worth investing in the large studio version as the sound is so much better.

There is no privacy in your home! Alexa is always listening!

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

TriX wrote:

It’s not so much a question of “modern” as a question of size/cost and how critical you are in your listening. I’m not a fan of MP3 music, both for the loss of DR and the top and bottom octave, but for your application something like one of the Bose Soundlink products with a blue tooth link to your music library on your computer or tablet might provide what you want with minimal size.

I know what you mean about MP3 sounds. The sound seems sterilized. Hard to replace the sound of new vinyl. Back 35 years ago when I lived in Bloomington, IN, I would go to a yard sale a guy held every year. He always had a dozen or so vinyl albums for sale. They were as new. He only played them one time. He had a digital cassette player -- a Nakamichi Dragon, which was state of the art back then. He would record to that and retire his vinyl.
I always enjoyed his "discards".

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Bridges wrote:

There is no privacy in your home! Alexa is always listening!

Not in my house! I am very leery of IOT devices, both from a network security and a reliability perspective. I can still get up from my chair to turn on a light switch, change my thermostat or pick out music. I learned as a system designer that designing complex systems creates more points of potential failure.

srt101fan

Bridges wrote:

There is no privacy in your home! Alexa is always listening!

Anybody else concerned about Alexa privacy issues?

Can't you turn the microphone off?