I have no shortage of stupid hobbies and audio has been one since I was a teenager back in the early/mid 80s. My setups have been all over the place dependent on my income level at the time, living conditions, WAF/being a Dad, etc. Off for some years and then back on out of the blue with some interest or finding some deal on something. I'm not and never have dumped money into it like some but I think I'm a lower level audiophile...lol. *insert snobbery*
If you're in it you know it's one of those hobbies you can dump money into impulsively at times (sound familiar here) trying to find sound utopia. My 16yo just recently struck up an interest in vinyl and it's ignited my audio bug again. I gave up vinyl years ago but have been having fun going on dates with her to record stores looking for that hidden gem(s). Great treasure hunting fun for father/daughter time. I've found some really cool stuff for cheap (Foreigner 4 for $1.99! and yes I made her listen to Jukebox Hero with me...lol). It didn't take long for me to go from no turntables in 35ish years to 3 in the house within 6 months.
We play vinyl in the house from time to time. My big hobby for a while was laserdisc movies and players. The audio component of the laserdiscs is still right up there but the video quality just doesn’t seem to hold up on newer TVs. It is still about the only way to watch the original Star Wars movies in their unedited format (other than vhs tapes).
Wasabi,
I cannot tell the last time I touched a turntable or vinyl, but I am bit of a snob when it comes receivers, amps and speakers for listening.
Good speakers make all the difference. Good speakers will make a mediocre receiver sound ok, and crappy speakers will make a high end audio setup, sound like crap.
I run speakers by Canton of Germany, small audiophile company. When I first heard them in early 90's, blew me away. My first set driven by Denon receivers and amp, impressed my friends so much they asked if they could buy them from me. Nope.
My current set I have had since the late 90's and I went to Germany to buy them and had them shipped back. While I was there to buy them, a friend had asked me to get him a set of Cantons also. Made that sales guy's day(month), when I ordered 2 sets(12 pieces, mains, rear and center channels) to be shipped back to the States. When my friend wanted the matching subwoofer on my next trip to Germany, I went to the same shop, I walked thru the door and the same guy knew my name and shipping address, even though it was 9 months later.
I run the Cantons for music in stereo, but when in home theatre mode, they have to be dialed back to not drown out the center and rear speakers. Stereo is where they shine, the sound is so clean. I would catch my Dad playing his classical music records on my system when he thought no one else was home.
I have a Denon power amp driving them, with a Denon or Yamaha HT receiver driving it. Funny thing is, I checked the price of that amp and a pristine example goes today for nearly what I paid for it over 20+yrs ago.
Like Neverenough said, laserdiscs' audio is rite up there in terms of quality, but the video quality is pure 90's tech. I still have 2 running laserdisc players with discs I don't want to remember how much money I spent on. I also have the original unmodified versions of Star Wars.
I don't use my system that much these days, but every once in while you just want to hear good clean sounding music, and it is there for me.
Man, I agree on good speakers. Everything else can be good but if your speakers aren't capable of excellent sound quality, you're basically wasting money upgrading elsewhere. I've heard Cantons back in 90s...very nice sounding speakers. I have 2 setups now, one in my family room pulling double duty for HT and audio with early 90s KEF Reference 2s (5.1.2) and in another room a strictly 2.1 channel setup with KEF LS50 Wireless speakers and KEF sub. I've liked the KEF sound since my younger years when I first heard a pair of 104.2s w/KUBE. Blew me away how good they sounded. I'd buy them today if I could find a minty used pair.
We had a lot of laserdiscs back in the 80s and I still have some in the garage somewhere. That was some cutting edge stuff back then...lol. Outside of my renewed interest in vinyl, I've moved away from physical media though. I mostly stream music and video via a Bluesound Node 2 and ATV 4K/Nvidia Shield and am setting up a NAS to have any local digital music/movies available. The family room HT setup has a Yamaha AVR driving my center/surrounds and a Parasound amp driving the mains.
I've been eyeballing those new Klipsch Forte IIIs. I've always liked the Fortes but man from the reviews, these sound like a serious upgrade to the originals and IIs. Wish I could find a pair locally to listen to. They are pricey though. Hmmm, might have to be another stupid impulse buy.
Last edited by Wasabi on Mon Oct 01, 2018 9:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
Check out the JBL 3-series of studio monitors. Self-amplified, $300 for a set of the 5 inch ones. Go demo them at a Guitar Center near you, best speakers I've ever owned. Don't even need a subwoofer, not even kidding. You won't believe me until you hear them.
