So what's the best equipment you ever bought? The pieces that have been central to your system and you never want to replace? Audio or video, whatever. You choose.


For me, it still has to be my Krell KMA-160 monoblock amps and my Aerial Acoustics 10T speakers, after all these years. (I've had them for at least eight years now.)

I just got done watching "Memoirs of a Geisha" on my system a few minutes ago, and even though I've got arguably one of the best pictures on the planet, via a Marquee 9500LC with generation II Mike Parker mods, and new Panasonic CRTs in it, it's STILL the audio side of the system that has to reach out and grab me by the heart every now and then and remind me of the glory that it can deliver.

First, this movie is bad news if you have a digital projector. Go home, class dismissed. No digital can yet do justice to a movie that is so dependent on shadows and darkness to tell the tale effectively.

Solos by Yo-Yo Ma (Cello) and Itzhak Perlman (violin) and an incredible soundtrack that makes effective but subtle use of Dolby Digital surround.

I tend to get absorbed in the movie I'm watching if it's a good one. And this is a great movie. But sometimes, the audio quality drew attention to itself even beyond the power of the visuals to keep my attention. After all these years, this is a SMOOTH, detailed, articulate, natural sounding system with no trace of glare, grain, or harshness to it. The intent of the artist is clearly conveyed. When there should be tension, there's tension. When the sound should be relaxed, it's relaxed. It maintains its integrity and character at any volume level I care to go to, and beyond what I consider comfortable. (I don't play loud for the sake of playing loud. Besides, I'd really want a more powerful amp to deliver the 1KW that's what the 10Ts are really suitable for, if I were to go for LOUD.)

After eight (almost nine) years with these speakers and amplifiers, I'm still not
even remotely interested in "upgrading" if such a thing is possible. No, I'm firmly
settled on what I have now because it totally satisfies my ears in all respects.


I've received many comments on my system from guests who've seen it and heard it. All positive. But it gets more wows over the audio quality than the video quality. And the video quality is world class.



So what's your best system component(s) for the long term? What is deeply entrenched in your system and would be the "must save" components if you had the time to save ONLY those components from your system in the face of an impending natural or man-made disaster?



CJ

I felt that way about my Levinson No.32.... until I actually went and listened to a wide range of other SOTA Pre-amps, and suddenly the Levinson didn't sound so special anymore and kinda "dated".

I'm pretty much done building my system, but these days, theres nothing that I would consider as potentially irreplaceable. That said, I simply LOVE my VTL TL-7.5 :)

So what's your best system component(s) for the long term? What is deeply entrenched in your system and would be the "must save" components if you had the time to save ONLY those components from your system in the face of an impending natural or man-made disaster?
My ears (eyes too).

I have a hair brush that I bought when out with a buddy about 25 years ago. My wife still uses it and I haven't seen a need to upgrade it....

My bose Acoustimass is the best thing I ever bought (and then took a baseball bat to)

:) can't beat that thin tinny sound oooooo like nails on a chalk board (shivers)

My Fosgate FAP V1 and 3ea Audion Mono 300B Mk II (front) and 2ea Audion stereo 300B MkII for surround sounds great,not so many watt but the sound is the best I have ever had.
And on top a turntable Opus3 Continuo made of 25kg of concrete and a nuvistor riia from rauna (Bo Hansson) .(my dream option is the 40kg granite turntable )

The sound of musik and film is great from this system.

For the digital media I use a Fosgate FAP T1+ and loop it trough the FAP V1

Koestsu Rosewood Signature cartridge: the sound of big dipole ribbons from the front end.

Closely behind the Aesthetix IO signature with dual power supplies. Quite a bit of tube noise, but grandeur in all other respects.

PSB Stratus Goldi's and a Cinepro 3k6II(which was bought refurbished directly from the company and Eric A told me it was actually one of the last II models and internally updated to a 3K6III but with a 3K6II faceplate)

Hi

I have been in this Audio hobby for as long as I can remember; my father was one so... this could be a long list...

Magnepan Speakers... from the MG 3.5 to the MG 20.1 I am not looking back at speakers and while I have heard better speakers ( Dynaudio Evidence Master, Wilson X-2) , The MG 20.1 still do things that they do not and hold their own where the uber-speakers excel.

Burmester Electronics... Once I got in the Burmester camp that was it... I have not heard much better electronics , yet.. The 911 for example has been there for 15 years and still is one of the best amplifier around, the CD gear are in a league of their own..

Nordost Valhalla again I have had them for almost 4 years and cables (including more expensive or celebrated ones) have been tried in the system , I have given up , none made my system sound better. The Nordost make almost any system sound better

It seems as though not many people are putting anything on the video side. Here goes:

D-BOX Motion Simulator. Adding a new sensation to watching films is just incredible. I heard some A/V dealers (before I was in the business) try to tell me that people get tired of them, but it was always from somebody who spent all of 10 minutes with one and didn't sell them. I have had 1 for almost 4 years now and own four of them (2 in the theater and 2 in the gameroom). I want to get another one for the living room. I think my daughter likes it even more than I do, which is great. They are without a doubt an incredibly big hit with guests.

Kaleidescape. Having all my films and CDs available in any room is awesome. The interface did for my DVD collection what TiVo did to my TV.

TiVo. You can come to my house and take my TiVo units. Just make sure you bring lots of guns to help you out in the endeavor. I will NEVER go back to pre-DVR days. The only reason I got rid of one was to replace it with an upgraded model. HD-TiVo is a must.

ISCO III lens. 2.35:1 aspect ratio for films. Yeah, baby! There is no upgrade from this lens. Constant height is the way to go for cinema.

Infinity IRS V. I sold all my Infinity IRS speakers to launch my business to the next level. I still miss them, although I only have one room that is big enough for them in my new house and my theater is there. If I want to get them again, I am going to have to add onto the house. Lots of luck with that one. Selling them was like dropping off your kid at day care for the first time. Your circumstances dictate it must be done, but you still feel like a heel for doing it and wish circumstances were different.

Calibration equipment!! I don't understand how people can be really serious about A/V without any way to quantitatively measure the differences they are experiencing when they do comparisons or make adjustments. Even if you have great eyes and ears, it is comparing moving around in the dark to turning the light on.

Definitely my TACT gear. Without the room correction it provides my setups just wouldn't sound right. I use 5 Eggleston Andra IIs in my 5.1 setup and run them full range. There is simply no way I could do that without the TCS MKII. Likewise, in my 2.2. setup, I use corner load subs, which would not be possible w/o the RCS 2.2.XP.

Nordost Valhalla power cords.

My Waveform Mach 17 speakers + 5 Waveform MC surrounds.
I have been a gear-aholic on a lot of things, but not my mains speakers that continue to serve me well after 5+ years.

My EAD PM2000 amp was my first intro into "real good sound, power, & control".
I was first shocked as to the sonic improvements to my NHT VT2 speakers at the time.

For digital front-end, I "peaked" at Altis CDT-3 -> DCS Purcell -> Wadia 27ix combo.

But bar none, the best money I ever spent is for a Squeezevbox v3.
It is not sonic excellence, but sonic accessibility excellence.

- Andy

Guys!

HTPC with a Radeon card and TheaterTek player, built on his kitchen table by Mark Macleod, phenomenal DVD playback quality for $1200..............ran circles around the Faroudja DVD player/scaler combo two years ago here........

I am nowhere near the point where I can say that I don't want to change anything about my system. I would say that the "best" gear I ever bought was a pair of Paradigm Reference Studio 20s. I have long since sold them and moved on to bigger and better things, but they were the speakers that truly drew me into this hobby. I was a junior in high school and had made about $800 from selling some stock. The Studio 20s replaced some cheap Infinity speakers from circuit city. They were my first taste of good sound. That was almost ten years ago and I have never looked back.

Tim,

I am somewhat astounded that the "Blendzilla" is not your choice here? After all, it almost fits in our over $20,000.00 category.

And to all those people that disparage the Kaleidascape for its price, I wonder how many have had a chance to sit & test one? What an awesome piece of gear!

For me, it's definitely audio gear:

MBL 101E speakers, MBL 6010D preamp, and a pair of MBL 9008A monoblocks. This moved both my digital and analog setups worlds ahead of where they were.

Also, the Sennheiser Orpheus headphone system (HE90 headphones and HEV90 amp).

Sony G90 stack and Faroudja 5000 video processor. Have yet to see a picture as good .

Art

What do you think of my system
Amps 2x mark levinson dual mono one for each front speaker revlon proforma f50a
Centre speaker proforma c50 rear and side speakersrevel m22
Preamp mark levinson 326s also preamp Lexicon mc12 with amps for rear and sides lexicon 312. Suwoofers 2 Rel Q100.
DVD/SACD Player Esoteric UX-1
Plasma monitor Pro fhd1

And to all those people that disparage the Kaleidascape for its price, I wonder how many have had a chance to sit & test one? What an awesome piece of gear!

I wholeheartedly agree. I just had my first drive issue. I received a voice mail and an email during lunch that I was getting I/O errors on one of the drives (I have 17 drives in my system) and they are sending out an advance replacement drive for me today.

Could you imagine how much more enthusiastic the Wilson group would be if they received emails from Wilson every time a driver got fried just a little and that a new driver was on its way.

THey would have Tzucc on speed dial :D

I guess Dave Wilson would get to call him on the red phone.

"revlon proforma f50a"


Gee, I didn't know Revlon, the cosmetics company, made speakers!

Do you maybe mean Revel Performa?


CJ

My ears (eyes too).


You bought your ears? Well, that explains a lot about how you look. :D

Don't laugh, mine was an Akai GX 630 reel to reel tape recorder. I bought it in Grade 11 for $1000.00 with money I made selling TVs that I fixed in my parents basement. That was in 1979.

I sold it once for $800 when I really was broke, but managed to buy it back for $250 a year later..:)

It's never needed service except when I managed to send 40 volts through the output level control (I repaired it myself).

Maybe it's not state of the art any more, but it still runs fine, the glass heads are still perfect, and I still have 400-500 reels of tape ranging from the 1950s to the 1990s, most of which I recorded myself on that machine.

I have plans to put together a 1970s stereo system for the living room c/w turntable and 1970s amplifiers, probably some Phase Linear stuff.

:)

I love reel-to-reel tape recorders!

It's partly family nostalgia, but it's also partly because I love the "mechanicalness" of an R2R player slowly chewing its way through a 10.5" reel of Maxell UD tape at 30 IPS and delivering a distinctive presentation of familiar music.

Tape doesn't sound like vinyl. Or like CD. It has its OWN sound. And I've always loved it.

I own four R2R decks at this moment. Two run, one's a parts spare, and the fourth is being restored. (Pioneer RT-909)


CJ

Slimdevice's squeezebox (modded and unmodded versions). I have two, one modded and one unmodded. These provide me instant access to any CD, artist, song, etc., and provide random play. Moreover, I can like them and provide the same sound throughout the house. The modified version is better than my Proceed PMDT fed into either my Proceed AVP as DAC or my Ack Dack (though I currently have the modified Squeeze Box's digital output put into my Ack Dack). I can't and won't go back to CDs.

I also like my Jeff Rowland #10, though I think there are better amps for less money. Nothing is as nice looking though. I also like all my Proceed gear and am still peed that Lexicon bought them.

The original Oracle because it was a sight to behold (and much better than anything else at the time), and the Lectron tube amps because they introduce me to the "value" of euphonic (WARM) sound.

I still keep an eye open for a cheap Oracle (especially a Premiere) because I would just like to have one again (its visual appearance appeals to me greatly). As to tubes, maybe I shall revisit them a few yrs from now.

Clearly the best "equipment" I ever purchased was a new room designed by Rives. I had a very good room before they started but the differences from the lower mids all the way up were breath taking.

Could you imagine how much more enthusiastic the Wilson group would be if they received emails from Wilson every time a driver got fried just a little and that a new driver was on its way.

I am not sure I want to know... it's no small work order to replace a wilson driver. They have 'em in there pretty good.

Theta Six Shooter. Best bargain I ever made for a performance to cost ratio.

TiVo, Fuji P63xha51

Boy...Hard to say....I have some good stuff.

But easily, it is my new RTI T3 remote. I have been so happy this remote control, It is right up there in importance with my more sophisticated electronics.. It has beautiful graphics, RF that is bullet-proof (does not mess up or miss a command in a macro), it is easily programmed, RS-232, and can control my system without a hiccup. Crestron for a fraction of the cost and you can program and tweak yourself. In fact, my remote has 40 pages of commands and a 'locked' area that only I can get into for those rarely used commands....

In fact, one button press can open the drapes, resets the screen masking, turns on the projector, switches to proper input, fires up the Lexicon, trips the amplifiers on, goes to the selected source input, bring down the lights, turns on the DVD player (or what ever you selected), switches the HDMI switcher to the right source, turns up the bulb brightness on the cable input if watching with over-head lights on, etc., etc... In fact, my 9 year old can maneuver and manipulate my super sophisticated system with aplomb. Macros incorporate delays on the touch screen (shows an hour glass) so you can't start another macro until the first is finished - keeps the novice (and expert) from screwing things up. Shutting down the whole system is just one button press (in fact, I have it programmed to prompt you with a 'Are you sure you want to shutdown the system?' message to avoid accidentally powering down the system)..

Just a great piece of equipment that works as advertised. Turning on my system is no longer a hassle and best of all, you don't have to point and hold the remote towards an IR eye....

Sure sounds like you like that remote Jeff ! Did you say it will have two way upgradability down the road ? I look foward to seeing it at your meet this fall. :)

Art

Sure sounds like you like that remote Jeff ! Did you say it will have two way upgradability down the road ? I look foward to seeing it at your meet this fall. :)

Art

The two way upgrade is coming at CEDIA.

Yeah, I'm a big fan. Works consistantly as advertised... A rarity in electronics.

So how does one go to CEDIA if they are not employed in AV?

1/ Meridian 565 processor in 1994; this product was 6 years ahead of the competition.
2/ My first htpc with the 3Difusion card, 720p for $900... in 1997-98. Faroujas were selling for $20,000! Then the htpcs with the Radeons; 16.9 @864p.
3/G70. Much much better than the low bandwith Runcos at a fraction, better than the Barcos.. Much better than any 7" projector except the Electrohome which was sensational.
4/61" HLN Samsung; better than the Ps and the Rs. With that the 720p Momitsu CD player.

Meridian 861. Boy is it good!!!

RTI T3 Remote and K4 touchpads here as well: I became a Level Two programmer just so I could do my whole house myself

My other choice would be the much criticized Toshiba HD DVD player: even with all its quirks and faults, the video and audio this thing produces is stellar: and at under $500.00, it is a steal

(I have the XA-1 which sells for $800.00)

forgot to add:

Impressa Z5 coffee maker thanks to OB :)

Boy...Hard to say....I have some good stuff.

But easily, it is my new RTI T3 remote. I have been so happy this remote control, It is right up there in importance with my more sophisticated electronics.. It has beautiful graphics, RF that is bullet-proof (does not mess up or miss a command in a macro), it is easily programmed, RS-232, and can control my system without a hiccup. Crestron for a fraction of the cost...
Now now Jeff, I have seen you become a tad sarcastic when seeing other people making such claims ("as good as a Qualia for a fraction of the price") ;) :D.

The T3 is a nice handheld remote control:

http://rticorp.com/images/t3_lg.jpg

Not my cup of tea for a *handheld*, but nice. If you want to make that comparison you should at least purchase their upcoming T4:

http://rticorp.com/images/t4_lg.jpg

p.s. Since you've been accused of others here at times if being arrogant, hopefully you'll appreciate my (arrogant) sense of humor when I tell you that you went the poor mans route :D.

Well that would be my Lotus Elise.

On the video/optical side she's the curviest and sexiest thing on 4 wheels.

On the audio side, the little 4 cylinder screams (right behind your head) an 8,600RPM song that is addicting and mesmerizing. Add to this the cold air intake that resides right behind your left ear and threatens to suck your brain through your earhole :)

On the feel sense, the tiny MOMO feels perfect while hugging the curves at insane speeds. This puppy grips like a fiend and will let go if your foolish enough to get scared mid-corner and let off the throttle. Mid engine setups will do that. The suspensions is taut and 'huggy' without being harsh and the brake feel of the Brembos will detach your retinas.

Most fun with clothes on bar none. ;)

Best purchase - my Genesis 200 speakers. They are about as room friendly as a Sherman Tank, but boy do they sound great!

Simon

Andrikos, your well written spiel motivated me to learn more about the Elise.
What is your two cents on the Exige vs Elise... ?

It's a personal call really.
The Exige is a bit heavier (1985 vs. 1925 lbs) and has better aerodynamic aids (splitter/wing) to give it more downforce at high speeds. It also comes with the optional (for the Elise) sport package as standard. It definitely looks more aggressive.
It has a fastback design which makes rear visibility even harder.
Plus it has a 'fixed' roof while the Elise is a Targa with an optional hardtop.


The bare bones phisolophy is apparent on both. Don't expect luxury, cold A/C, (afterall, it's British :D) sound insulation, massaging seats or a decent radio (I'd like to remove mine, the engine sounds so much better). It's noisy, low, small, fragile (no DOT approved bumbers!!!), the factory lights suck (Euro light pattern, another DOT exception).

It sounds like a terrible car on paper, but drop in (literally!) racing style into the pefect (for my 6'2" 185lbs) seat and all is forgiven.
The palms sweat, the heart starts racing and the breathing is fast and shallow.
Push the start button and the little 4banger has a surprisingly bassy song at idle.
Putt around the neighborhood till the engine warms up or it won't let you go past 6,000RPM.
Once the Engine is warm, the standing start is one of the fastest due to its mid engine design (rearward weight bias), sticky tires, and low engine torque.
It will leave pretty much every supercar behind it... for a while until the torque monsters stop burning rubber and dig in. Of course, 190HP will not get you past many fast cars on a straight line but find a curve and you make up for a lot of ground. Plus you can outbrake pretty much everybody. The Brembo brakes have retina detaching powers, very impressive.

Do all that in the Lotus, climb aboard any other car and you'll think you just boarded a bus. That's how I felt when I traded cars with my friend's 993 911.
A truly special experience that requires different thinking (i.e. sacrifice creature comforts) but rewards you in so many ways. I love my little car!

If you're intrigued, I'd recommend a test drive.
You'll either LOVE it or HATE it.
There are not many people in between.
There are plenty of Lotus dealerships in Cali.

For you High-End guys, a Lotus is barely pricier than a set of interconnects... ;)

Salk HT3a's. Not 20k but by the time I added 6 channels of amplification, well we are starting to get there plus I know Jim Salk way underprices his offering because he is getting established.

My cables. Definitely my cables.

Probably all my gear for the new HT. YES, I WILL POST PICTURES SOMETIME IN ANOTHER THREAD, I DON'T KNOW WHEN. I KEEP FORGETTING MY DIGICAM @ WORK.

After reading all this car talk, now I'm thinking maybe I should've settled for something a lot more economical and just put the money towards a 997 Turbo instead or maybe trade in the 04' Cayenne Turbo for a Turbo S... decisions decisions.

I wonder what would happen if we bolted the Cayenne Turbo's engine to the Elise... 450hp, 460lbs/ft torque, can't be all that bad. Weight distribution will be a problem though. BTW, out of the vehicles in my driveway, the CT is my favorite even though I'm not too big on SUV's as a daily driver. But it goes and handles like a performance sedan (RS6 anyone?) and it is the all-season supercar, I can vouch for that. Cheers everyone.

Best regards,
Chris

Boy...Hard to say....I have some good stuff.

But easily, it is my new RTI T3 remote.

Jeff -

You have a PM.

- Jim

Question:
I ordered three stereo preamplifiers (with RS232) for true (IMO) high end multichannel sound. Do you think the T4 can organize volume control for these 3 units in such a way that they all simultaneous go up/down in equal steps and even might be preset (if needed) to a fixed volume difference between front and rear amps?

Regards, Rene-L

Hi Rene..

Sorry I don't know anything about the T4 - My head is spinning wondering how you will pull this off doing surround with 3 preamps..

Can't say I have ever heard anyone attempting this before..

All I can say is good luck!

How about starting a new thread and sharing what preamps you are using and your plans?

I'm intrigued for sure..

:)

Hi,

Besides the costs of Crestron or AMX also the complexity and dependency on experts is what I don't like about it. Your RTI T3 story was the first time I saw such alternative, so thanks!

The T4 looks good, hope not too 'plastic' in reality. Functionality seems great.

Question:
I ordered three stereo preamplifiers (with RS232) for true (IMO) high end multichannel sound. Do you think the T4 can organize volume control for these 3 units in such a way that they all simultaneous go up/down in equal steps and even might be preset (if needed) to a fixed volume difference between front and rear amps?

Regards, Rene-L

You can control the volumes at one time. However, unless your receivers have a serial command for specific volumes, you will not be able to easily do the second part.

CJ

Hi, can you pls have a look at my post #49 (see above)...
Look forward to your reply, thanks :)

Rene-L

you should be able to do this : currently RTI only supports one-way RS232 so you will not get any confirmation back: they have a new processor (XP-8 is the model ) that will do two way by the end of the year

look at CJO's post above as well for more comments



I use T3 remotes with RP-6 processors with a combination of RS232 and IR control; and K4 and RK-3 Touchpanels throughout the house (also a U1 waterproof remote for outdoors)

the T4 is just being released this month: I have one on order: this involves level III programming training

RTI provides web based training to dealers as well as classroom training

feel free to PM me for any help

Hi,


End result, verrrry nice, but cost you some rrrreal coins... :rolleyes:

Regards, Rene-L

Thanks for the explanation...hope you are happy with the end results..

Wilson Whams.

Electrohome 9500LC Ultra

4 way Electromask Stewart Screen.

My three favorites.

My Ex's boobs, god I miss them...

I've bought and sold quite a bit of equipment (mostly Linn) and I recently acquired some Aerial 10T's. These by far are the nicest items that I've had the pleasure of owning (got a great deal on them too!). I plan on keeping these for a very long time.

I really liked my Lexicon MC-1 too.

there's a euro version of the elise/exige with >260BHP and also a shop in california that does lotus tuning - I think they have a ~300HP version of an elise.

If you haven't seen an elise or exige in person - you're missing out.

For the more "hands-on" types, there's usally a salvaged elise or two on ebay for around $15,000.

google "exige vs. apache" for a good video clip

My Ex's boobs, god I miss them...

Haha. Very funny. :D

Well, this is tuff. I would say that these three are the BEST equipment I have ever bought.

http://blog1.musicfield.jp/du_ss/archives/HLDX0.jpg
1. Pioneer HLD-X0. A 80 lbs heavy, single side laserdisc player with a pricetag of 7000$ :D
Truly the best made equipment I have ever had, with much superior picture quality over every other player. So good I bought a second one as back-up :cool:


http://hififorum.knaak.dk/NIN/synergy.JPG
2. Tube Technology Synergy. A 110 lbs, 2x150 watt tube amplifier that are as good sounding as it's looks (to me). The price? Well, it was worth it


3. Sony VW-100. Finally a digital projector I can look at and gives a damn good picture. A little sharper, more native CR and higher ANSI CR, and I would say it is perfect, not just almost perfect.


/Mattias

b&w 603's with their 1000 sub and their thx rears (cant recall the code)...couldnt fit the sub into the car! never realised how big it was. when i played SPR on it the doors rattled LOL!!!

and the primare dvd player...v25...great great player....

i had the chance to listen to the B&W shell speakers and they were a friggen fortune ...and i have to be honest i was so so disappointed, coupled with they were ugly IMHO

still if i won the lottery, it has to be done....doesnt it...

I've bought and sold quite a bit of equipment (mostly Linn) and I recently acquired some Aerial 10T's. These by far are the nicest items that I've had the pleasure of owning (got a great deal on them too!). I plan on keeping these for a very long time.




I don't doubt for a moment that you will indeed keep them for a long time to come.

It's hard to believe, but I've had my 10Ts for about eight or so years now.
And they still can surprise me.

There are a lot of speakers I haven't heard, but the 10Ts certainly are a type that
can create a great deal of dynamic tension in the room when you turn them up,
and, at least if you have an amp that's got the beef needed to play them loud,
they'll have you with your jaw hanging open with the right material playing.
And they are very, very good at conveying emotional content as well.

Whether it's Disturbed's madman drummer trying to beat his way out of your
stereo system and literally scare you in the process, or Itzhak Perlman using his
violin as a deadly emotional weapon, the 10Ts can deliver...if you've got amps
that are up to the task at hand.

I could sell my Krell monoblocks. Provided I upgraded to another Krell, like an
FPB-600. I could sell every piece of audio gear I have and replace it all with
something else, and not miss what I sold. But my 10Ts aren't going to be for
sale for anything less than a set of 20Ts to replace them. I have yet to hear
any other speaker that I like better.

I heard a set of JMLab Utopias, which cost 30K a set when I listened to them,
and at the time, 10Ts were 7700 a set and still current. I was not impressed
much at all by the Utopias. I found the 10Ts to be a better speaker in EVERY way.


CJ

If I got the 20T's and move the 10T's to the rears for surround!

Thankfully I haven't heard the 20's... I'm sure if I did it would be bad for my savings plan. :)

CJ - you summed it up very well. I played some Tool the other night - and even with 250W I was blown away (again) by what they can do. The bass is so damn good - controlled and detailed. Everything is really that good - it's amazing.

250 honest watts is enough for the 10Ts unless you listen at insane volume levels. I've never pushed my KMA-160s to the point that I thought they were getting near their limits, and they're capable of 240 watts into 8 ohms at their extreme limit. Or 480 into 4 ohms.

10Ts sold well. But they're hard to find on the used market. Now you know WHY. :)


CJ

Janszen Z-30 Electrostatic hybrids. Bought in 1982 for 3 months salary.

I wouldn't part with them now for a years salary.

[QUOTE=Andrikos]Well that would be my Lotus Elise.

[QUOTE]

I envy you and Tony , I had a 1975 lotus Europa in 1977-82 I miss the mid engine feel, lots of good memories (from when it ran).

I hear they are going to bring the Europa back.

As far as recent av equipment that is notable I will say that the latest Hitachi 55 director series is a steal, outperfoming last years fujitsu 55, while 95% as good as the new fujitsu 63. It is better when fed hdmi from a set top box than the internal atsc tuner though.it has 40 watts per channel on its decent sounding side speakers. This is my recommended bedroom set, for sure.

Hello All
I am relatively new to this forum, but my desire for audio equipment has always endured.
The most memorable equipment I have ever purchased. "Sorry but I have a few"
Nakamichi Dragon "The last NIB unit at Cubi Point Philippines early 90's"
Sony Walkman D6 "Purchased AFSOUTH base in Italy early 80's"
Sony D555 CD Walkman "Purchased in the Persian Gulf Dubai"
Akai 635 Open Reel "Second Hand in Japan"
Akai 646 Open Reel "Second Hand in Japan"
Still have these units, as they were all recently overhauled at their respective World Headquarters while I was in Japan. The most inportant point to mention is OEM parts were available for all my most treasured units in late 2000.
Now obviously my equipment is not up to the standards of some, but I must ask a question of this community. If you were developing a World Class Amplifier to satisfy the needs of this special group of talent which speaker would you choose, and why?

Thank You
Kevin Kimbrough

Oracle Delphi turntable with SME-V tonearm and a Kiseki Purple Heart Sapphire.

Campagnolo-equipped Look 585 carbon road bicycle, 14 lbs., at only $650 per pound!! (I have two identical ones.) We race...you lose.

2005 Corvette Coupe, Z-51 6-speed. Ferrari performance for the price of an Escalade.

9100 bucks for a single bicycle?

If you're not using it to win races that bring in more money than that....WHY???


Gee, and I thought POWER CORDS were funny!



Oh well...it's not hurting me, anyway. :)


CJ

Swiss Army Knife
McPherson .50 Cal
Ferrari 330 GTS
Aerostar 601P
Master lock pick set ;)
Triad Gold Monitors
JVC WVHS


PS: If your name isn't Lance, don't get near Paul on a bicycle!

From the Revenue generation side or as a cost center. :p

The most fun thing I bought this year was a Porsche 997, which replaced a turbo 996.

PS: If your name isn't Lance, don't get near Paul on a bicycle!

Sounds as if you couldn't if you tried!

McPherson .50 Cal
Ferrari 330 GTS
Aerostar 601P
Master lock pick set ;)



Either the HT design thing is going well, or the the gun and lock pick was a good investment. :D

9100 bucks for a single bicycle?
Yeah, and I have several, and they aren't trailer queens. They get ridden and raced.

If you're not using it to win races that bring in more money than that....WHY???
All I win are cheap medals and ribbons, but that's not the point. Good amateur golfers shouldn't have great clubs? You shouldn't have a spectacular theater unless you're a Hollywood producer? Dewd... :o

Gee, and I thought POWER CORDS were funny!

Unless you rewire from your wall plates all the way back to the line outside your house...they ARE funny. ;) :p

Life is short. Pick your toys wisely and enjoy the hell outta them.

Either the HT design thing is going well, or the the gun and lock pick was a good investment. :D
When Dennis listed the lock pick set and the .50 caliber, he failed to mention the ski mask...

9100 bucks for a single bicycle?

If you're not using it to win races that bring in more money than that....WHY???


CJ

Us cyclists love our bikes. I would love to spend this much on a bike but... I race masters in the mid atlantic region and the risk of wrecking a $9100 bike is too high. So I ride a team Torelli. Us racers spend less but we are envious of the guys with the fancy rides.

A fine bicycle gives back so much pleasure. You would have to be a rider to know.

Peter Breuninger

Us cyclists love our bikes. I would love to spend this much on a bike but... I race masters in the mid atlantic region and the risk of wrecking a $9100 bike is too high. So I ride a team Torelli. Us racers spend less but we are envious of the guys with the fancy rides.

A fine bicycle gives back so much pleasure. You would have to be a rider to know.

Peter Breuninger
Right on, my two-wheeled bruthah!! Incidentally, go to the Torelli website www.torelli.com and do a search of my last name. Chairman Bill is a dear friend of mine, and he skewers me pretty bad a few times on the site. When I lived in Camarillo, he was my main training partner. I've owned three Torelli bikes, and I plan on building up a sub-16 lb. steel Torelli next year. And what makes you think I don't race just because I have nice bikes?? I'm 60 years old, and still a Category 2 on the road and the track...but fading fast.

Well my best purchase was the 2 carat diamond on my Wifes finger. Best investment I ever made. Now the best purchase for my own selfish pleasure are my 5 Silver Bryston 7BST THX mono blocks w/handles. 5 years and still happy! :D
-Hammer

For me its the Rotel RMB 1077. I needed to get as much punch in the smallest sized possible (and still have it look good).

lol...sorry if its not up to par with you guys, i just wanted to post in the 20K+ forum. :p

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l269/vancouver_03/3.jpg

Right on, my two-wheeled bruthah!! Incidentally, go to the Torelli website www.torelli.com and do a search of my last name. Chairman Bill is a dear friend of mine, and he skewers me pretty bad a few times on the site. When I lived in Camarillo, he was my main training partner. I've owned three Torelli bikes, and I plan on building up a sub-16 lb. steel Torelli next year. And what makes you think I don't race just because I have nice bikes?? I'm 60 years old, and still a Category 2 on the road and the track...but fading fast.

Hey Paul!

Its great too see another top rider in audio. I was going for the PA BAR last year when I crashed out on training ride and blew up my season (four fractures). I did pull down a 10th place USCF state ranking on the road for 50+.

You may know riders I race against like Bill Care, National Champ, Chip Barenzy...yada. Racing is big here. I'm an hour from Trexlertown.

BTW, my fav toys: MBL101Es, Luxman PD555, Goldmund Studio/T3F, Threshold SA/1s, 01BMW 540iS6 speed.

Peter

New addition - after the 10T's it was painfully aware that I didn't have enough power to drive them.... so I had to pick up a very nicely pre-owned Levinson 336. This amp is a beast with finesse. I really really am happy with it - I don't see parting with it nor the 10T's anytime soon.

Theta Casablanca III - from - Theta Casablanca II - from - Theta Casablanca.

Can't wait for the Theta Casablanca IV!

for Audio; Rockport Sirius III Turntable.

for cars; back in 1971 i purchased a 1966 Jaguar XKE 4.2 Roadster......cost me $1600. I was on top of the world. Simply amazing car and ahead of it's time. When i got married 2 years later i sold it (and i'm still married 33 years later).

It was a great car indeed. I had myself an Aston Martin DB5 in the 70s, the so call James Bond car. At that time the brand Aston Martin had even more cachet than Jaguar. Now Aston Martin is a hair dresser car :D

Hey Guys
This is my second post in this forum, and I forgot to mention the most memorable piece of audio that I have purchased. A pair of NOS Warner Imaging ER300's. After doing a few years serving Uncle Sam travelling the world seeing how systems are built in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong as well as visiting CES 2002 Alexis Park, I thought I had heard and seen it all. Tucked away in storage I had a pair of NOS JBL S3100 two way horn loaded speakers that I purchased in the Gulf a few years earlier. Needed smooth not in your face power that would take control of those large format horns and just sing music. Boy did I get what I expected and more, in my mind the Warners are the best amps ever made with a sound that cannot be marked solid state even though they are. Funny story that I ended up going into the world of RF and met a gentleman named Emil who I thought just knew his stuff. Later we discovered we both had a passion for equipment, and during one of our conversations I discovered he was the original designer of the Warner Amps. True after falling in love with a pair of amplifiers, then meeting the designer whom I worked with for two years and never knew. It is truly a small world!

Thank You
Kevin Kimbrough

My favorite 2 channel amp/preamp so far, which I still own , is the Pass Labs Aleph P single ended preamp and the single ended 60 watt per channel class A Aleph 5 . It drips with detail and my second favorite is a home theater amp the 100 watt per/channel Krell KAV-500 and the Krell AV standard preamp with the DTS option . But without a good 8 or 9 inch CRT projector much would be lost . ;)
Love both music and movies ! :D

...Aerostar 601P...


Sweet... They are HUGE on the tarmac. I'm lusting after the Eclipse jet now though but I would gladly "settle" for an Aerostar. :cool:

While certainly not the best, but definitely the most memorable:

I had a set of Polk bookshelf speakers that got me through college and grad school. With my first real paycheck I bout a pair of Paradigm ref20 bookshelf speakers. I remember staying up all night listening to my favorite CDs and just being, well..., in love with the music. That was 15 years ago... man how time escapes us huh?

Sweet... They are HUGE on the tarmac.
Thanks. Mine is often seen on the Tarmac at Eagle Creek.

Not my cup of tea for a *handheld*, but nice. If you want to make that comparison you should at least purchase their upcoming T4:

http://rticorp.com/images/t4_lg.jpg



I have the T4 as well as several other RTI remotes: with the upcoming XP-8 processor I think it no longer should be described as a 'poor mans remote'

Hi Mark,

They have a very nice handheld coming out early 2007 as well. It's on their web site.

Thanks. Mine is often seen on the Tarmac at Eagle Creek.

You are in Indy often I assume?

I'm at EVV.

I'm at EVV.
Seems I'm near you frequently. I'm at LEX on Monday and BLV the following week. :)
What do you have at EVV? Maybe worth a stop for fun.

What do you have at EVV?

Would love to have you over sometime. I'm actually still working on my Private. I grew up flying right seat in my Dad's Commander 114 and my Uncle's Mirage.

I must admit, if purchasing an aircraft today on the used market, the Aerostars are very attractive given their size and of course SPEED! The new VLJs are going to shake things up at the top of the market though...

I train in a Diamind DA40 with Garmin glass... fun to fly with the stick and all. Plan on finishing this fall and then start building hours toward my instrument rating.

Would love to have you over sometime. I'm actually still working on my Private. I grew up flying right seat in my Dad's Commander 114 and my Uncle's Mirage.

I must admit, if purchasing an aircraft today on the used market, the Aerostars are very attractive given their size and of course SPEED! The new VLJs are going to shake things up at the top of the market though...

I train in a Diamind DA40 with Garmin glass... fun to fly with the stick and all. Plan on finishing this fall and then start building hours toward my instrument rating.

I will log my 10K flight hour sometime next year. I'll trade lessons for some acoustic treatments! ;)

DA40's are nice. (I do G-1000 FITS and transition training in them at LZU). The DA40 XL is going to provide a great x-country airplane.

Speaking of more mundane things that are the best equipment we've bought, last year I bought a Herman Miller Aeron chair, of which my ass is not worthy. :cool:

I just ordered an all black "B" HM "Posture Fit"; my ass can hardly wait!

Us cyclists love our bikes. I would love to spend this much on a bike but... I race masters in the mid atlantic region and the risk of wrecking a $9100 bike is too high. So I ride a team Torelli. Us racers spend less but we are envious of the guys with the fancy rides.

A fine bicycle gives back so much pleasure. You would have to be a rider to know.

Peter Breuninger


You road guys kill me, $9000 for a road bike, sounds about right.... best purchase this year was
#1 Titus exogrid racer-x, titanium and carbon fibre full suspension mountain bike, @ $7500 a bargin

#2 denon 4306 and building the theater to support it and rest of the new HT equipment

Speaking of more mundane things that are the best equipment we've bought, last year I bought a Herman Miller Aeron chair, of which my ass is not worthy. :cool:


I bought one of them this year..... Great chair.

Best equipment I purchased was a Denon AVC-A1XVA which here in Australia I paid $15000.Personally I have never seen an amp that offers that many features.

Without a doubt. They are truly a class above. Any doubt about their price and the fact that they are just a 'two-way' will be gone after an audition:

http://photos.lam.ws/photos/87769562-L.jpg

A bad day MountainBiking is still better than a good day working

Unfortunately, a bad day mountain biking can include a Medivac helicopter flight to the ER... :D I've broken every fnorkin' bone in my body, and some twice.

Jadis JA30
http://cgim.audiogon.com/i/vs/i/f/1106601343.jpg

http://www.tomheroes.com/images/COMICADroman%20toy%20soldiers.jpg

Unfortunately, a bad day mountain biking can include a Medivac helicopter flight to the ER... :D I've broken every fnorkin' bone in my body, and some twice.


But is there a better way to get hurt than doing something you enjoy??
(I've actually broken a few myself, but I'm not about to let that stop me yet)

I see this thread is still alive :)

RE best gear bought..lets add; Eknornes low back sofa. The best darn seat I've ever sat in, and its on its way to me...the Onkyo M510. Perhaps the rarist vintage SS beast on the planet!

Peter

Cineramax . . LOL

Koss ESP-9 Electrostaic headphones, a long time ago.

Cineramax . . LOL

Koss ESP-9 Electrostaic headphones, a long time ago.

Darn - I had them too. That's how I got through law school I was electrostatically charged the next day from listening an hour before
going to sleep. :p

My Polk Audio "Super" SRT Theater System. Purchased straight from Polk with some 65 drivers in all. The whole system is powered by Cinepro 3k6SE3 amps. This system literally scares you the louder you push it! The amps are the latest upgrade to the system, but I'm not sure if there will ever be a day that I could say goodbye to them.

Mike

How about the best HT system YOU COULD BUY????

http://cineramax.com/images/Prometheus-elevation-cross-.jpg

http://cineramax.com/images/Prometheus-fp.jpg

Max - the FBI is coming to get ya. Offering your daughter for sale on the internet is a crime punishable by sex three times per day with your wife. And each time you have to fully watch "Borat" again and again! :D

Don't have a lot of gear, but my best purchase was my B&W 602 S2's. I pine for the 802's, but my 602's will do for now.

Best gear I ever bought?

That's hard....

It could be my Martin Logan Summits.... or it could be my Cary SLP-98 preamp....

Best equipment ever would be a tie between composite hockey sticks and my Overfinch Range Rover.

If i were talking AV and was totally honest, the gear that probably gave me the most pleasure despite having spent obscene ammounts was a $50 set of wireless headphones i got way back in the day.

Lingenfelter Corvette..

Best purchase I ever made was a pair of Tannoy Monitor Gold loudspeakers. I bought them in 1968, designed the enclosures for them, and I'm still using them today in my home theater. 39 years later and they still sound incredible. I don't remember what I paid for them, except it seemed like a fortune in 1968.

"The best equipment you ever bought"

Back in the 70's / Dahlquist DQ-10a's
1966 289 Mustang
1970 RoadRunner

Back in the 80's / Hafler kits DH500 & DH101

Back in the 90's / Case of Sonex 2" Classic
1996 Nissan Maxima

Last year / GIK 244 Bass Traps

The best equipment Ive experienced came free. I was born with it :o

Precor EFX Cross Trainer

The best equipment Ive experienced came free. I was born with it :o
Yes, but I've heard you RARELY get to use it :D.

The best equipment Ive experienced came free. I was born with it :o
120 posts before someone finally brought up Big Jim and the Twins. :rolleyes:

:D

The best equipment Ive experienced came free. I was born with it :o


Yes, but who's using it now, after the transplant. :D :D

iPod?

Best purchase I ever made was a pair of Tannoy Monitor Gold loudspeakers. I bought them in 1968, designed the enclosures for them, and I'm still using them today in my home theater. 39 years later and they still sound incredible. I don't remember what I paid for them, except it seemed like a fortune in 1968.

You don't want to know this, but a forum member just emailed me and told me that he bought a pair of beat up homemade speakers for $10 at a thrift shop.


What was in them? A minty set of Tannoy Golds. The level controls on the back of the cabinets gave them away. I'd say that was one of the best things he's bought...

I'm a NooB.....but mine is my kenwood lsp-9000's they are awesome.Maybe because it's the first set of speakers I didn't blow up....LOL

best, in terms of best performance and impact in my setup, was the Proceed AVP2+6 processor

A Daniels Audio CD player.

A limited edition but seems to be the best CD reproduction, period.

Bruce

I'm a NooB.....but mine is my kenwood lsp-9000's they are awesome.Maybe because it's the first set of speakers I didn't blow up....LOL

The reason you blew your other speakers I'll bet is because you were clipping your amp. THere's a difference between CLEAN sound and LOUD sound. You can have both, but you need to have enough speaker efficiency or enough power before you can attain what you want..:)

Best item...the very first DVD player (Toshiva 2009 I believe). Why? Because I hated LD. :)

Wow, that's a lot of gear to read through.

I would feel the need to rescue my Cinepro 3k6 Mk4, the 240 Volt Beast.

Hmm, power and elegance. It can be achieved but only by the best.

It seems strange that such an amplifier could cost so little cash and cost so much reputation to the competition. It hardly seems fair.

I highly suggest going out and purchasing one for yourself, especially if you love sound.

Not even close...

1st place : Tivo (standalone single tuner)

2nd Place.: Xbox Media Center (Digital Media Server/Player)

Sean

Sorta off topic, but the coolest things I've owned:

1) 1970's era Texas Instruments Speak and Spell (where was the tape loop inside of that thing anyways?)

2) Bob Carver's original M400 cube amp. Small size, lotsa power, probably not very audiophile hifi though

3) Technics Isoloop reel to reel. To me, the pinnacle of reel to reel. Had they added Akai's glass heads, it would have been a lifelong winner. To me, no one can beat the glass heads that Akai put out.

Sangean HDT-1 AM/FM/HD Radio Tuner

http://www.sangean.com/product.php?model=HDT-1



This $200.00 tuner has incredible quality and features: look for a digital audio output on a later model soon: the only thing cheap about this tuner is it's price

Already being used in the broadcast industry as a standard:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10189500&&#post10189500

Pioneer laserdisc player. Introduced my wife and me to widescreen and collecting movies and its still going strong about 12 years later in my rack with bluray and hd-dvd! Also laserdisc players make great cd transports and the DTS laserdiscs and certain PCM ones are hard to beat in terms of audio quality - certainly bettter than conventional dvd in most cases.

Krell Showcase Surround Processor. Best sound I've ever heard in my own home.

Now I have to add the RS1. It does not have the absolute silky smooth blacks of a good CRT projector like my G70 but it still manages to produce a better picture overall. I have to run the RS1 in high power lamp mode with my 1.3 gain screen, though, for the picture to glow like my old G70 @70Hz.

I'm a long-time high-end audiofool, but I'm fairly new to high-end video, so...

A conrad-johnson MET1, a vacuumtubed, 6-channel, all-analog linestage preamp that has TWO sets of 6-channel inputs. Currently the 6-channel analog outputs of my much-loved Denon 2900 multidisc player and my new/old toshiba HD-XA1 HD DVD player are plugged into them.

Denon DVD-2900 multidisc player that I use now for just audio. Multichannel Classical music has reinvigorated my interest in recorded music.

My DIY, open-baffle, line-array speaker systems featuring Sonic Craft's EXCELLENT 6-1/2" bass/midrange driver. Best speaker system I've ever heard...anywhere.
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k220/jeffreybehr/OB%20JG6518%20speakers/12Decfmlisteningpos_800w.jpg

Technics SB-M1 (http://www.thevintageknob.org/THEVAULT/SBM1/SBM1.html) (1987)
Magnepan MG20.1 (http://www.magnepan.com/model_MG_201)
2006 Dodge Viper Roadster (http://www.dodge.com/viper)

Peter

I thought that you were leaning up against a rack in your avatar!

Holy crap! Nice speakers. And i hate you for the viper! :D

Peter

I, also consider the 20.1 as an excellent acquisition. I visited the www.thevintageknob.org.. it brought back great memories. Especially the NS 1000 M my father had acquired, paired with the Yam C-2 , then after Phase Linear C-4000 and the 700...

Back to the subject of the post. i must add the Nordst Valahalla as well.. I have had them ( along with the Burmester electronics, I keep on raving about) for 4 years and have no desire to change. Nothing I have heard so far superior to these...

I've accumulated a lot of good stuff over the years, but the best? I guess I'd have to go with the following three:

Martin Logan Summit speakers
Sony G90 projector
Lumagen VisionPro HDP processor

The Logan's create phenomenally detailed sound, the G90 a marvelous picture, and the Lumagen does excellent scaling of all of my video sources to 1080p.

Technics SB-M1 (http://www.thevintageknob.org/THEVAULT/SBM1/SBM1.html) (1987)
Magnepan MG20.1 (http://www.magnepan.com/model_MG_201)
2006 Dodge Viper Roadster (http://www.dodge.com/viper)

Peter

SB-M1s? Man that brings back memories (sort of). As a burger flipper at McDs in the 80s I saved up for a long time and bought a pair of the SB-M3s. Never realized back then that room acoustics play a significant role in how a speaker sounds. Never did get them to sound great, but maybe they never could! Now my bro uses them as his rears in a surround sound setup.

My new ATC Signature 100 Active towers are my best purchase. A phenomenal speaker that is enjoyable at all volume levels.
Pair of JL F113s also quite good.

This is a tough one.....hmmmmmmm

I have had my Halcro SSP-100 for about 6 weeks now and love it......... I really love my EAD PM8300 amp............My Von Schweikerts have been with me for awhile and I don't plan on getting rid of them anytime soon.........

I would have to say the best piece of equipment I have bought in awhile only cost me $600. The Velodyne SMS-1 has done so much to improve the bass in my system that it frees up every other audio item to do it's job better.

The Halcro is is a pinch away from taking the top spot and may surpass the SMS-1 when the upgrade to MC LPCM is available but from a price/performance ratio the SMS-1 is KING.