Budget semi audiophile amp

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: It's not the last word in audio, but it's entirely adequate for what he's using it for at the moment. Garbage in, garbage out, and that Sony DVD player is likely garbage.

I don't think it is garbage, and I don't think you'd see any difference unless you spent big money on a real quality cd player, and then maybe not with that setup. I have a 3020. It's a good little amp for what it is.

Well he won't know until he tries.

darkbuddha wrote: With regard to systems revealing poor/mediocre recording quality, I find such complaints to be a bit pointless....etc etc

of course we know its all about comprimises one makes for expediency.

but there IS skill involved in correctly mastering that survives the processing for distribution, for broadcast, for production runs.

I appreciate that skill because i dont have it behind a mixer board yet. ;p So I also appreciate equipment that can handle such reproduction standards that shows me how good the engineer was. (and therefore how good the artist was)

I agree with everyone tho. If not buying new, you can get some mean stuff used for a cut rate.

Does anything lose value faster than stereo gear, other than cars?

madmallard wrote:

darkbuddha wrote: With regard to systems revealing poor/mediocre recording quality, I find such complaints to be a bit pointless....etc etc

of course we know its all about comprimises one makes for expediency. but there IS skill involved in correctly mastering that survives the processing for distribution, for broadcast, for production runs. I appreciate that skill because i dont have it behind a mixer board yet. ;p So I also appreciate equipment that can handle such reproduction standards that shows me how good the engineer was. (and therefore how good the artist was) I agree with everyone tho. If not buying new, you can get some mean stuff used for a cut rate. Does anything lose value faster than stereo gear, other than cars?

Nope. And my $1900 5 year old Paradigms purchased for $200 in minty shape are proof of that.

Well, maybe jewelry. Jewelry depreciates pretty quickly.

I picked up a pair of JBL L100 Century speakers (along with about 10 random speakers) for $90 off craigslist, threw the randoms back on craigs which netted me the Centurys for ~$50 Those things go for $500-900 still, I got extremely lucky.

In reply to madmallard: The magic of mastering should not be underestimated. It is absolutely AMAZING what a great mastering engineer can do to make even mediocre recordings sound amazing. But the better the original tracks and mixing, the easier and better the mastering turns out. And ideally I'd love to say that a great mastering can preserve the best of the recording, but certain compromises are simply unavoidable in production for distribution. Certainly modern technology certainly has had an effect...hell, seems like almost every device comes with some sort of built-in EQ presets wizardry now. But when a CD has to sound "pretty good" through everything from ipod earbuds to base model Kia Optima speakers to consumer stereo gear, there's no avoiding compromise somewhere in there. There is a reason that horrid sounding Yamaha NS10Ms and Auratones (aka horrortones!) were (are?) an industry standard for mixing studios, and it wasn't because of the evenness of their frequency response or clarity ('cause they ain't got none). In the end, ya just gotta know how the tracks are gonna sound coming out of complete trash systems as much as the good stuff.

Besides, I'm sure we'd all agree that how it sounds is more than just how "accurate" or "detailed" it might be... if it's got that magic quality, whatever it is, we'll quickly forgive inaccuracy and lack of detail, we'll forgive distortion, noise floor, and clipping, and we'll even forgive how crappy the system that it's coming out of is. And that's what really matters.

BTW, I was talking to my father over lunch and mentioned this thread, and he said he was just wondering about what to do with his old "hi-fi" stuff... Kenwood KR6170, original pair of Bose 301s, and a pair of Pioneer CS-O6s. I told him I'd be over this coming weekend. It'll be the perfect compliment to the Akai 1800L he gave me years ago. I need to make room.

In reply to darkbuddha:

You may be dissapointed in the 301s. I've never been impressed with them. I always flip them. Easy to ship and sell for decent money.

I went through a phase where I made the rounds at the thrift stores a few times a week. Ended up with a mountain of stereo gear. I was able to do simple repairs- mostly cleaning, lamps and speaker surrounds. I sold a lot of stuff and I'm well in the black for my efforts, even counting the gear I kept.

It's fun and you can play with lots of audio gear for cheap money. But I got close to "hoarder" status there for a while. It's all whittled down to a couple of set ups and a couple of speakers in the storage locker now. But I stay away from the thrift stores for the most part now.

301s are the closest Bose ever came to a traditional design and halfway decent drivers.

the woofer surround was poly, where most bose products are always paper. It was also 8", and mos current products dont have a driver bigger than 6".

It stands out to most folks, but I'm with eddie, nothing to write home about.

madmallard wrote: 301s are the closest Bose ever came to a traditional design and halfway decent drivers.

The best Bose I've heard is a 501. I've heard 901s that don't sound bad with the right music, but I'm not a big fan of any of them. I could live with 501s if I had to. But I don't have to.

I want a set of 901s for the garage. Just because.

I'm looking forward to 'em more for the family heirloom and vintageness rather than quality. But the CS-06s are what I'd really like to have... they're like pieces of furniture and served as end tables (with a piece of round glass on top) for most of my youth... I love the way they look, they take me back, and they're just plain neat:

BTW, am I the only one that is lusting after a set of Magnepan MGs?

A buddy of mine had those Pioneers! They were cool.

I grew up listening to my dad's AR-3 speakers driven by McIntosh tube amps. I don't think he's going to part with then while he is still alive. I do have a matched pair of 1955 vintage MC60 mono tube amps were part of his collection. (He got 4 of of them from an estate sale back in the 70's). I keep thinking about selling them since I don't use them any longer. However, they are sort of heirlooms at this point.

I want any Magnepans. Just for the looks, I don't even care about sound quality for those particular ones.

Maggies are cool.... very different sounding. Hard to drive properly, but when done right, they're RIGHT.

What about leaving your amp on all the time? I left it on overnight, and I swear it sounds better this morning. Thoughts?

I leave the Onkyo on 24/7. As gear gets older, the caps leak and even solid state gear will take awhile to "warm up." This Onkyo sounds like utter crap if i listen to it on "cold start" for about 2 hours hours.

I don't know exactly how hold the 3020 is, i never followed NAD gear that close, but that may be what's going on?

I bought this a few weeks ago for the tuner on eBay from a local guy in Toronto. I was feeding the output into the NAD. Well just for chuckles I hooked the speakers up to the amp section. Oh my goodness, this thing sounds sweet. The NAD may have to go on the trade block.

I learned this awhile ago, but sometimes you have to re-learn. Tubes are cool