What a time to be alive! £42.49 gets you a pair of phenomenally good earphones, the TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero:RED, delivered next-day! Kinda unbelievable really!

They just sound properly “right” to me!

#Audiophile #Stereophile #HeadFi #HiFi

Morning Meditation: Talk Talk - Laughing Stock (Polydor, 1991)

Not much I can add to describe the revelatory music here. Perfect for a soggy, cool autumn morning.

This is the first hard copy I’ve owned after years of lossy sound. Original UK bought cheap online. Also looking to upgrade my CD playback, curious what people are using. Need digital out for DAC fidgeting. Looking at new Audiolab or Cambridge… #hifiaudio #stereophile #cdcollection #audiophile #audio

I had an appointment to listen to #GoldenEar speakers today, but the shop hadn't yet brought them out of their warehouse. So instead, I listened to some sloppily set up #Sonus Faber Nova 5. The bass was unbalanced and swimming around. Perhaps the McIntosh 275 tube amp (75wpc) was partly to blame, but bass notes were late to arrive and late to leave. During warble tones at about 8ft away, the db meter jumped from 70db to 80db near the bottom frequencies. How did the rest of the music sound? I have no idea; the bass was too disconcerting. Why did they pair this amp and speaker? Maybe they knew something I don't, but to my ears it wasn't working.

(end of #audiophile and #stereophile rant)

#audiophile #stereophile

I'm auditioning a possible trade-in of my lB&W 702s2se for some #GoldenEar #speakers (Triton Reference). I'm ready for some bass. I have many thoughts & feelings in advance of my listening appointment. I have the #schiit Tyr monoblock amps, the schiit passive stereo Freya preamp, and a high quality streaming box.

i am excited about the speakers. But: The hard things to get right with the #AMT tweeters are the angle of listening height, and the crossover (typically around 500hz). I've had good and bad experiences with both sticking points before, but inside its range the AMT is absolutely amazing and beautiful to my ear. I'm also concerned that the built in subwoofers are self-powered, with 1500w of class-d power. This is an amplification downgrade from my monoblocks, and even though it will be able to go louder, I don't need or want it louder than my 200w.

Another weird woofer issue: In order to amplify the signal, it takes the speaker-level signal, and converts it (attenuates) down to line/signal level, then puts it into a 56bit DAC, then performs the crossover filtering in 56bit digital, then converts it through another DAC to analog. I guess it doesn't matter a lot for low frequencies that it goes through a 360 A->D->A path? But yeah: all this to re-amplify the already perfect signal from my monoblock Tyr amps.

The only alternative they provide to that chicanery of a signal path is to use an "LFE" cable which is just an RCA plug (not even XLS) with the crossover filtering already having been done. This is not available in my stereo-only Freya preamp. Even just getting an RCA would require switching from passive to active preamplification, and even then it'd be full spectrum. The LFE crap is all surround sound receiver stuff.

Despite the bass amp quirks and potential tweeter dangers, these speakers are listed in Stereophile's top class (Class A) of recommended components, and it's by far the cheapest.

So I am excited but concerned but mostly excited. Regardless, they'll have some other speakers set up for me (and probably a buddy) to listen to as well. I'm crafting a fresh public #Tidal playlist which they said I can use in the store. It tests the bass amplification, the bass range, with some midrange & staging stuff sprinkled in. The midrange should sound absolutely amazing, but I'll have a keen ear to hear whether they blended the crossover with that heavenly AMT correctly.

of course i know (the works of) #bobludwig! and this a fascinating read: “the #mastering master bids farewell” by #tomfine.

#music #masteringengineer #audio #audioengineering #vinyl #cd #streaming #industry #interview #story #history #retirement #stereophile https://www.stereophile.com/content/bob-ludwig151the-mastering-master-bids-farewell-part-1

More #spring cleaning with a little @duranduran :-) Nice little #Nikko kit ready for new #adventures . Enjoy your #sunday

#hifi #hifiaudio #vintage #vintageaudio #vintageaudiogear #stereo #stereophile #audio #hifiporn #hifisound #hobby #retro #music #vinyl #vinylcollection #vinylcommunity #vinylove #vinylcollection #thorens

One more completed #project on this #snowy #saturday . This #harmankardon Twin 730 #receiver is an absolute beast. The #cheviots are singing. One of the best I have tested recently in that power range.

#hifi #hifiaudio #vintage #vintageaudio #vintageaudiogear #stereo #stereophile #audio #hifiporn #hifisound #hobby #retro #music #tannoy #aylmer #gatineau #ottawa #hifiporn #vinyl #vinylcollection #vinylove #vinylcommunity #listeningroom

Testing a fairly rare #realistic RD-8100 #turntable I just finished #restoring . Spinning some early @chameleonsbandofficial on this fine #sundaymorning . Enjoy your weekend!

#hifi #hifiaudio #vintage #vintageaudio #vintageaudiogear #stereo #stereophile #audio #hifiporn #hifisound #hobby #retro #music #vinyl #vinylcollection #vinylcommunity #vinylcollector #sony #tannoy #nad