What New Stuff Have You Bought? If You Care To Share Thead! :)

[Drunkpenguin]

I would give up my HT to live somewhere like that. Very nice!

 

[haraldo]

Very nice. How is the weather there? Or better question, how long is summer?

As far as I have heard climate is more or less similar to what there is in Vancouver, which means it can be some fair share of rain, and they say .... if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes and see.

Late fall is pretty bad with weather ....

This summer has been spectacular and unusual, with a majority of nice sunny days from April up until recently, although summer is not here anymore... This summer peaked at 33c / 91 degrees F, although that is above what would be considered normal. The best thing here though is the white nights. At midsummer, the sunset is around 11:30 pm. That means, through a long period of summer it doesn't get dark at night. I love that and don't think I could ever move to a place without this.

It is just recently that I moved to an apartment at the seaside and to me it is amazing, the salty air, the freshness from outside, sound of seagulls, sound of waves.... wherever you go, there may be the sun mirroring in the waters outside... life quality is simply better to me in a place like this .... but I will need to find a way without large subs, so I am looking at moderate large floorstanders that can go really deep, but not necessarily that loud

Throughout all of summer there is something like 4 cruise ship arrivals every day, and then I mean major cruise ships, like queen mary 2 ....

I tried South Australia... and got back here again...
I have been travelling lots through England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, East Europe, Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Switzerland, Austria .... but it's always special to get back to west coast of Norway, feels better to me...

Feels better than US, although I only been a few trips to Orlando area and Seattle

BUT: Everything is insanely expensive here

I would give up my HT to live somewhere like that. Very nice!

Thx, nice to hear

 

[haraldo]

Sorry about derailing thread ..... here is some photos from where I live now .... the move to new flat is mid October

 

[fuzz092888]

Minidsp umik but purchased from CSL for some additional calibration files

 

[WineOfTheVeins]

Thought you already had an RP6 or something?

What cartridge came with it? Looks really nice!

Nope. Was my first turntable actually. Now sold!

 

[Drunkpenguin]

I just ordered 4 more Amazon Echos to complete the house. I have smart switches on everything so the more rooms the better for turning things on and off. I ordered 1 more of the full size so all the main rooms will have the bigger ones, then a 3 pack of the dots for kids rooms and office.

 

[WineOfTheVeins]

Sold the Rega RP3 for a profit. Picked this bad boy up for $1650CDN, reg $2500.

Rega Planar 6 w/ Exact

 

[haraldo]

I just ordered 4 more Amazon Echos to complete the house. I have smart switches on everything so the more rooms the better for turning things on and off. I ordered 1 more of the full size so all the main rooms will have the bigger ones, then a 3 pack of the dots for kids rooms and office.

Very interesting, how does that work for you?

 

[haraldo]

Sold the Rega RP3 for a profit. Picked this bad boy up for $1650CDN, reg $2500.

Rega Planar 6 w/ Exact

This is a classic

 

[3db]

I bought the following albums...

 

[Joe B]

Just over a month ago I picked up a Marantz HD DAC-1 and AudioQuest "Carbon" USB cable. I'm using it paired with my Oppo PM-2 headphones and computer to listen to downloaded FLAC files and CD's played on the optical drive of my computer while doing school work. I've downloaded files from "HiRes Download - test bench" available in different file formats for direct comparison, and I must say the sound is very nice. 24/96 files sound great.....24/192, 2.8 & 5.6 DSD files sound amazing. The headphone amp has plenty of power. When cranked, the volume control is still short of the 11:00 position.
I've been collecting CD's since the mid 80's, and it is my preferred media for playback. That said, I'm now enjoying downloading music, classical FLAC files, that are no longer available on CD. Because CD's are my preferred media, I'm going to invest in a good front end for playback on this desktop audio system. I've got a Cyrus CDt transport on order now from their only distributor in the USA (down in Atlanta):

The factory in England is waiting for the investment castings for the case to come from Switzerland. Feeding the digital info from this transport into the Marantz should make for a very nice CD desk top playback system. I was told I should have the unit in about a month after they get the castings. Since the Marantz can also function as a preamp, I'm now eyeing up a pair of Focal Shape 50 Monitors (active) to complete the system. I think this desktop system will give my main system a run for the money.

 

[KEW]

Just over a month ago I picked up a Marantz HD DAC-1 and AudioQuest "Carbon" USB cable. I'm using it paired with my Oppo PM-2 headphones and computer to listen to downloaded FLAC files and CD's played on the optical drive of my computer while doing school work. I've downloaded files from "HiRes Download - test bench" available in different file formats for direct comparison, and I must say the sound is very nice. 24/96 files sound great.....24/192, 2.8 & 5.6 DSD files sound amazing. The headphone amp has plenty of power. When cranked, the volume control is still short of the 11:00 position.
I've been collecting CD's since the mid 80's, and it is my preferred media for playback. That said, I'm now enjoying downloading music, classical FLAC files, that are no longer available on CD. Because CD's are my preferred media, I'm going to invest in a good front end for playback on this desktop audio system. I've got a Cyrus CDt transport on order now from their only distributor in the USA (down in Atlanta):

The factory in England is waiting for the investment castings for the case to come from Switzerland. Feeding the digital info from this transport into the Marantz should make for a very nice CD desk top playback system. I was told I should have the unit in about a month after they get the castings. Since the Marantz can also function as a preamp, I'm now eyeing up a pair of Focal Shape 50 Monitors (active) to complete the system. I think this desktop system will give my main system a run for the money.

Joe, given what nice electronic gear you are buying, I'd suggest you spend more on speakers. The reality is, in the grand scheme of things, a medium-low grade DAC and a very good one do not have very great differences in sound. In the case of the USB cable, I doubt you will hear any difference between the Audioquest cable and any decent cable (especially if the comparison is done blind so you don't which "should" sound better)! This is something you can find lots of arguments over.
However, IME, you will never, ever find anyone who will tell you that you will not hear substantial differences between speakers. I always encourage spending money on speakers even if it means down-grading electronics (as long as the electronics are capable of driving the speakers and not of dubious origin)!
I know it will cost more, but I don't think you'd regret getting Focal Solo6 Be speakers instead of the Shape 50's:

Just a thought!

 

[Joe B]

Joe, given what nice electronic gear you are buying, I'd suggest you spend more on speakers. The reality is, in the grand scheme of things, a medium-low grade DAC and a very good one do not have very great differences in sound. In the case of the USB cable, I doubt you will hear any difference between the Audioquest cable and any decent cable (especially if the comparison is done blind so you don't which "should" sound better)! This is something you can find lots of arguments over.
However, IME, you will never, ever find anyone who will tell you that you will not hear substantial differences between speakers. I always encourage spending money on speakers even if it means down-grading electronics (as long as the electronics are capable of driving the speakers and not of dubious origin)!
I know it will cost more, but I don't think you'd regret getting Focal Solo6 Be speakers instead of the Shape 50's:

Just a thought!

I completely understand your feedback. The USB cable was offered to me at 60% off list. I know they make good cables (over priced), but the owner allowed me several hours in the main listening room auditioning whatever I wanted. Seemed like a fair deal. The speaker choice is up in the air. In fact, I don't know if I'm even going to bother with speakers....I'll probably just use headphones in my office. Thanks for the input.

 

[haraldo]

Just over a month ago I picked up a Marantz HD DAC-1 and AudioQuest "Carbon" USB cable. I'm using it paired with my Oppo PM-2 headphones and computer to listen to downloaded FLAC files and CD's played on the optical drive of my computer while doing school work. I've downloaded files from "HiRes Download - test bench" available in different file formats for direct comparison, and I must say the sound is very nice. 24/96 files sound great.....24/192, 2.8 & 5.6 DSD files sound amazing. The headphone amp has plenty of power. When cranked, the volume control is still short of the 11:00 position.
I've been collecting CD's since the mid 80's, and it is my preferred media for playback. That said, I'm now enjoying downloading music, classical FLAC files, that are no longer available on CD. Because CD's are my preferred media, I'm going to invest in a good front end for playback on this desktop audio system. I've got a Cyrus CDt transport on order now from their only distributor in the USA (down in Atlanta):

The factory in England is waiting for the investment castings for the case to come from Switzerland. Feeding the digital info from this transport into the Marantz should make for a very nice CD desk top playback system. I was told I should have the unit in about a month after they get the castings. Since the Marantz can also function as a preamp, I'm now eyeing up a pair of Focal Shape 50 Monitors (active) to complete the system. I think this desktop system will give my main system a run for the money.

WAH, what an incredible desktop system congratulations ..... and yes ..... forget about the speakers, and I don't understand how you will even get on the same planet of listening experience with some small desktop speakers ... as what you can get through the Oppo's .... way cool

Contrary to what many people say and proclaim here, I strongly suggest and believe there are things that makes a difference that shouldn't. I wish it wasn't like this but if you can hear the difference......????

And one more thing, dac's make an incredible difference, as I was upgrading form an Audio Note dac zero to a Benchmark DAC, difference is enormous, and with some good headphones even more.

The one advice from me: There's one thing I learned, never to trust reviewers or what other people say for that matter, I listen to advice but in the end I trust my own ears and my own hearing, simply.... do I enjoy the music, do I enjoy the experience. That stopped me for 12 years changing speakers as I never found anything more musically enjoyable as what I have.

ENJOY YOUR INCREDIBLE DESKTOP SYSTEM JOE !!!!

 

[Joe B]

Last night I ordered a pair of Beyerdynamics T 1 headphones to keep my Oppo PM-2's company. I've been told they need between 50-100 hours to break in....guess I've got a lot of listening to do after they arrive on Wednesday.

 

[haraldo]

Last night I ordered a pair of Beyerdynamics T 1 headphones to keep my Oppo PM-2's company. I've been told they need between 50-100 hours to break in....guess I've got a lot of listening to do after they arrive on Wednesday.

You are on a roll mate .....
Why don’t you set them on play 24/7 for a couple of days, I did that with the AKG K550s, sparing me the brightness the first days ....

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Minidsp umik but purchased from CSL for some additional calibration files

How did I own a piece of gear before you???...

 

[haraldo]

A friend of mine spent $ 10.500 on a Lyra Atlas pickup ....

I can’t afford to go down that road

 

[Joe B]

You are on a roll mate .....
Why don’t you set them on play 24/7 for a couple of days, I did that with the AKG K550s, sparing me the brightness the first days ....

That's exactly what I had in mind. I'm looking forward to hearing them after the break in period. I know that the treble is overly bright right out of the box. But all of the reviews I've found say the mid's are gorgeous and low end strong even when brand new. Now, let's see.....where did I leave those brochures for those Focal Utopias and the SimAudio Moon 430HA's?

 

[fuzz092888]

How did I own a piece of gear before you???...

lol, actually this is my third UMIK and my 4th mic overall. The first two UMIK's were part of their very first batch that were all messed up. They were calibrated incorrectly or something and there was no way to fix them with just a cal file. The other is a CSL calibrated Behringer mic, but it needs phantom power and I have no idea where the outboard soundcard is and a new one would have cost almost as much as the UMIK. So there's my mic journey