my stereo
Table of Contents
introduction : well, like any red-blooded young American lad, i like gadgets. among these, probably stereos and digital cameras are my favorite. so i thought i'd make a little page with info on my stuff, just in case you were bored. :D
for a few years of my life, probably between the ages of 14 and 16, i was totally obsessed with stereos. not magnavox and panasonic, mind you, but high-end audio, like mark levinson and krell and magnepan and such. i volunteered at a local audio store, glenn poor's, and visited all the high-end stores i could. i wrote away for product literature, and even today, i have a file cabinet drawer filled with materials. it was like a mini-obsession.
problem is, when you're 15, and you love high-end, you're pretty much hamstrung. most of the individual components cost upwards of $2000, and i just didn't have that kind of money. still, i persisted, and saved all my cash, and used all my holiday presents on stereo stuff, and i put together a decent system. all in all, it cost $1500. a lot by normal standards, but pocket change by high-end standards. today, i still have the same system, and i still think it sounds good. this is my system...
speakers : the speakers are the most important part of a stereo, bar none. they are most responsible for the final sound of the system. beyond the quality of the speakers, the placement of the speakers in the room, as well as the acoustics of the room itself, is very important in the final tonal quality of the stereo.
my speakers are the Boston Acoustics CR9's [others' thoughts]. besides my CD player, Boston is probably the most "mainstream" of my components. in comparing it against more "audiophile" brands, however, such as Paradigm, B&W, and Energy, i felt that the Bostons stacked up pretty well. they are quite efficient and generate a lot of bass for their size, which is important for me, because i like to listen to rap and hard rock. no, i'm not one of those classical-only audiophiles.
amplifier : the amplifier is the power center of a stereo system. it converts the line-level output from the preamp into a speaker-level output (these two terms refer to signals of different impedances), from which the speakers produce sound. it is important to have a powerful amplifier if you listen to music with heavy bass (as i do), otherwise you will find that your music sounds shallow, tinny, or washed out. my personal feeling is that audiophiles place a bit too much importance on the perceived differences in sonic qualities between amplifiers, when in reality, the differences are not that stark (given a certain minimum quality level and true wattage).
my amplifier is the Acurus A150, manufactured by Mondial [others' thoughts]. it's a very solid, no-frills, powerful amp with an input and two outputs. just that simple.
pre-amp : the preamp is the "control center" for a stereo. one of the three parts of a receiver, it selects the input to pass to the amplifier, does line-level volume modification, and possibly has tone controls (many high-end preamps don't have tone controls).
my preamp is the harman/kardon pt-2300. this is a little known piece, but i'm quite happy with it. it's actually a preamp-tuner, and the included digital tuner is quite good. the preamp has a remote control, which is a convenience i really can't live without, and overall build quality and ergonomics are excellent. sonically, i'm happy with it. HK's warm sound nicely balances the brightness of my Acurus amp and Boston Acoustics speakers.
my previous preamp was the Audio Alchemy DLC [others' thoughts]. this was an excellent preamp, perhaps the best component (sonically) in my system. however, audio alchemy has gone out of business, which is unfortunate. this preamp is unique in that the attenuator (volume control) is completely digital -- hence "DLC," which stands for Digital Line Controller. it is completely operated via the remote control, which is itself a pretty cool device. it's a bulky, tough, black metal remote unlike any you've ever seen. the volume control readout shows the number of dB the preamp is attenuating or amplifying the signal. it has 4 inputs and 2 outputs, and an outboard power supply. i have the beefed-up outboard power supply, which was recommended by stereophile to provide superior sound quality.
cd player : the cd player, one of many possible sources (others being tuner, cassette player, turn table, etc.), is important in that the sound of the system can never be better than the sound of the first component. indeed, this is a rule in stereo: your sound is only as good as your weakest link. however, i think that people perceive too many sound quality differences between cd players, when in fact, most sound excellent.
my cd player is the onkyo dx-c220. onkyo is a brand in the vein of yamaha: better than the standard fare (kenwood, sony, panasonic, et al.), but not as good,or at the very least, not as expensive as, low-grade audiophile brands (marantz, rotel, NAD, et al.). but the bottom line is this: i love my cd player. first of all, it is a six disc carousel, not five, and it is ergonomically EXCELLENT. i definitely cannot stand a cd player that is frustrating to operate. it also has a feature called "next selection," which i have never seen on another cd player. this feature allows you to quickly select which song you want to play next, and i use it all the time. it's great. i wouldn't change my cd player for any other.
cables and interconnects : well, here is where it gets really contentious in the audiophile world. some audiophiles think cables make big difference, and others think they make no difference at all. i lean toward the latter, but not completely. i think it is worthwhile to invest in high quality interconnects that will not oxidize and will conduct the signal without interference. bottom line.
my speaker cables are generic, 12-gauge stranded copper wire. they are terminated by gold-plated banana plugs. no frills here.
my interconnects are audioquest, and i use two different models: the ruby [others' thoughts] (between the preamp and amp), and the jade [others' thoughts]. i don't think the jade is a great cable, but it serves its purpose.
one piece of advice: if you are the crappy, thin little speaker cables that come with speakers, or the nasty, non-gold-plated red-and-white interconnects that come with components, you most certainly CAN realize an increase in sound quality by investing in better cables. i learned this for myself when i didnt have an interconnect to use while i waited for my Ruby to arrive in the mail. when i got it and put it into my system, exchanging it for the red-and-white crap that'd been there, i noticed an immediate increase in quality. you don't have to get audiophile crap, but getting some gold-plated interconnects at radio shack or some 12- or 14-gauge speaker wire at your local stereo store can definitely make a difference.