Who or what is a Audiophile?

[Raj J]

Hey Ajani,

What kind of system do you have?

I never seemed to get exactly what you've got. Would be interesting to know since most of the others have listed theirs in bold. would be nice to learn something new and compare notes.

Are you using a tube pre or solid state? What amps are you using? Do you prefer tubes over SS? and what source are you using? I bet it must be some classic turn table hence the reason why you have a deep passion for music...

What do you think about the DHLabs cables & interconnects vs. the Nordost range?
Cheers,
RJ

[Ajani]

Hey Ajani,

What kind of system do you have?

I never seemed to get exactly what you've got. Would be interesting to know since most of the others have listed theirs in bold. would be nice to learn something new and compare notes.

Are you using a tube pre or solid state? What amps are you using? Do you prefer tubes over SS? and what source are you using? I bet it must be some classic turn table hence the reason why you have a deep passion for music...

What do you think about the DHLabs cables & interconnects vs. the Nordost range?
Cheers,
RJ

The system I currently use is in my Signature: a computer based headphone system... I have some other gear lying around, but since I don't use any of it, I don't list it...

I'm not a TT guy as Vinyl is hard to source locally, so no point catching that bug + I truly enjoy the convenience of music servers for accessing and finding new music...

Also, I have very little interest in cables... I currently have an assortment of Audioquest and Anti-Cables, but in the future I'm likely to replace them all with simple Blue Jeans Cable...

[Raj J]

Hi there,

Yes, I agree with those out there using music servers or digital devices - I can cleary see that this is the way the audio world is heading. Even Bryston has put out an all digital device with capability to accept USB and other digital inputs for play back, this could then be hooked up directly to the preamp.

My trusted dealer buddy is trying to steer me away from CD players claiming that these things are in the past now, and wants for me to invest in a highend DAC and go for one of those Mac books or HP music servers... I am still not yet fully convinced about the overall sound quality (although quite natural) but then again not so natural as vinyl...

Anyway, I stopped my quest for the ideal CD player, because in Australia they are an absolute rip off! Any highend CD player over here would cost well over 10 grand. Turn Tables on the other hand are not that expensive, I came across a few Rega models starting from the P3 to the P9, price was in the range of $1300 to $5000 including the cartridge & phono stage. now that's an investment! The music stores I regularly visit also have plenty of vinyl and keep adding new labels / albums all the time, hence I don't see this diminishing any time soon.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Ajani, and the rest of the team. Enjoy your music!
Cheers, RJ

[Ajani]

Hi there,

Yes, I agree with those out there using music servers or digital devices - I can cleary see that this is the way the audio world is heading. Even Bryston has put out an all digital device with capability to accept USB and other digital inputs for play back, this could then be hooked up directly to the preamp.

My trusted dealer buddy is trying to steer me away from CD players claiming that these things are in the past now, and wants for me to invest in a highend DAC and go for one of those Mac books or HP music servers... I am still not yet fully convinced about the overall sound quality (although quite natural) but then again not so natural as vinyl...

Anyway, I stopped my quest for the ideal CD player, because in Australia they are an absolute rip off! Any highend CD player over here would cost well over 10 grand. Turn Tables on the other hand are not that expensive, I came across a few Rega models starting from the P3 to the P9, price was in the range of $1300 to $5000 including the cartridge & phono stage. now that's an investment! The music stores I regularly visit also have plenty of vinyl and keep adding new labels / albums all the time, hence I don't see this diminishing any time soon.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Ajani, and the rest of the team. Enjoy your music!
Cheers, RJ

The sound quality debate of music server versus CD is not likely to be resolved anytime soon (if ever) as there are persons who claim music servers are clearly superior to CD, others who claim CDs are better and some (like me) who have yet to notice a difference between the two...

[Feanor]

The sound quality debate of music server versus CD is not likely to be resolved anytime soon (if ever) as there are persons who claim music servers are clearly superior to CD, others who claim CDs are better and some (like me) who have yet to notice a difference between the two...

I don't hear any sound differences vs. my CDP when using the same DAC. (My external DAC is superior to the CDP's internal DAC.)

I use a semi-dedicated Vista computer as my server. I have unfrequent "glitches" -- mostly burps and studders which don't effect the basic sound of playback. I attribute these glitches to the OS' background operations, to sound drivers (e.g. WASAPI vs. the M-Audio ASIO), or maybe to the external eSATA drive that I'm using. Maybe a true, purpose-made music server would elimniate these problems, or maybe not. In any case they are infrequent and minor in the big picture.

[E-Stat]

I am still not yet fully convinced about the overall sound quality (although quite natural) but then again not so natural as vinyl...

How do you think all digital masters are created, stored and played - before they go to the CD replicators?

rw

[JoeE SP9]

Hey Ajani,

What kind of system do you have?

I never seemed to get exactly what you've got. Would be interesting to know since most of the others have listed theirs in bold. would be nice to learn something new and compare notes.

Are you using a tube pre or solid state? What amps are you using? Do you prefer tubes over SS? and what source are you using? I bet it must be some classic turn table hence the reason why you have a deep passion for music...

What do you think about the DHLabs cables & interconnects vs. the Nordost range?
Cheers,
RJ

I use DH Labs Q-10 Signature speaker cable and a mix of Revelation and Air Matrix IC's. The IC's are all Revelation except for the 6 meter long Air Matrix IC's that connect my preamp to my electronic crossover and power amps. The crossover is between my speakers and the amps are next to or behind each speaker. I cut a six foot pair of the Q-10 in half, added some Kimber postmaster spades and have 2 pair of 3 footers now.

IMO Nordost products are way overpriced. They perform extremely well and look good but I believe the cost should be about one quarter what they charge. Cables (IMO) are generally the most overpriced products I've ever seen or heard of. Nordost is no different than most cable manufacturers. Charging as much for a pair of speaker cables as a very good amplifier is something I don't understand. Materials and labor costs can't possibly be that high.

To a person with my budget (I'm retired) DH Labs offers a very good product at a very (IMO) reasonable price. I prefer the sound of Silver plated Copper and all DH wires and cables are just that.

I switched from Kimber TC-8 and Silver Streak to the DH Labs stuff. I had a mild RF problem caused by a CB'r with a illegal linear amp. The Silver Streak being unshielded was sometimes prone to RFI. Fortunately a big blizzard with 60+MPH winds blew down the offending CB antenna a couple of years ago. I had already started replacing the Silver Streak so I just continued. I was able to sell all the Kimber stuff to a couple of buddies.

I highly recommend DH Labs products. It's true "high end" wire and cable at mid-fi prices. It also looks really good.