Show us your Head-Fi station at it's current state. No old pictures please... - Page 733

Quote:

Originally Posted by AHorseNamedJeff 

JESUS CHRIST WHERE DO YOU PEOPLE COME UP WITH ALL THIS MONEY.

60+ hours per week for work....I wish there was a secret.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by longbowbbs 

60+ hours per week for work....I wish there was a secret.  

That's a lot of work time. I hope you can listen to your headphones while you work. :)

Haha there is a secret, but it's illegal 

For me, if that was my secret, my gear would always remind me of how bad of a person I am...  So no, it's not my secret, I also work damn hard to have the gear I do. I listen all day at work so i'd say I have it pretty good 

~M

Quote:

Originally Posted by AHorseNamedJeff 

I can't wait tilli get a job... My goal by the end of senior year is a Music Hall USB-1 turntable, bigger speakers for my room rig, a Schiit Modi/Magni stack, a HE-400, and wood for my Grados. I've got 2 1/2 years to get that accomplished...

LOL...I like your other  comment of "where do you get your money from." Then I like the "we got jobs" comment. Then I read this post about getting a TT by the end of your senior year. I was just thinking about how I have been out of high school for exactly HALF MY LIFE. Im 34, and I graduated about 17 years ago (class of 96)!!!! If you could get that geat by the time you graduate, congrats to you! You are already way farther ahead than I was at that age!

Old man talk now: When I was your age, I remember listening to cassettes on the lowest end Walkman around, with whatever earbuds came with it. At home, I had to make do with whatever was the late 80s version of a Sony HTiB, which had a TT, Cassette and finally a CD player! I Had exactly 2 CDs for most of my Sohpmore and Junior years! Then I discovered columbia house and the ridiculous ways a person could exploit them! Even then I always loved putting on my set of earbuds and tuning out the world and get lost in the music. Sometime in my senior year I was able to finally afford a Discman.

Now some boring story about how I went about getting bit by the Hi/Head-Fi bug and how I gathered my equipment:

My first attempt at Hi-Fi gear was building a good sound system for my 87 Honda Accord my freshman year at UCLA. LOL. It consisted of 4 Pioneer Speakers, and a 1000W Jensen Amp. I used to love it! Then some dickwad stole my amp in Hollywood. Ever since then, most of my music $$$ was spent either on concerts or car audio. It kinda had to be this way. Ever since I moved out of my parents house some 17 years ago, I always live in apartments and always had complaints from neighbors about noise, so a full blown system was never really in mind. Over my years, I owned a JVC mini-surround system (real boom boxy look), and 3 HTiB setups: a Panasonic, Sony and Yamaha (in fact my HTR-3064 is a carry over).

My first attempt at Hi-Fi came five years ago with...ahem...a pair of Bose headphones and IEMs. I was so impressed that I bought a set of Bose Companion 3 computer speakers (which just recently got retired when I picked up the Wharfe 7.1s/EMU 1212. I bought a cheapy universal Sony BR player so I could listen to SACDs (my cheapo Sony HTiB reciver could do DSD) and I was hooked! Mind you, this didn't happen until about just over a year ago. Ive been flip flopping between work and school since high school, and during my work phases my money was spent on cars, modding cars and car audio. When the home/head-fi bug hit me hard, I still had about a year to go before I finished my second bachelors and went on to grad school, where I was a student BUT ALSO AN EMPLOYEE!!! During my last remaining student days I picked up my HD650s off Amazon's from a killer X-mas special ($350). I also got my FiiO E7 a few weeks later and although I liked what they could do with my 650s, they still lacked. Over the next couple of months I was able to buy a pair of Sennheiser PX360s, the Cowon J3 and a FiiO E9, and finally knew what Head-Fi was all about on the portable end (J3+E7+PX360) and at home (HD650s+E9). I was officially stung. From there, I picked up my Yamaha S2500 SACD player at a stupid price ($15+$20 for shipping!!) and jumped on the Wharfedale Evo2 closeout sale prices when I got the Evo2-20 Towers and Center.

That was all by March of last year. Every nickle and dime that was left over from financial aid from school and my "cut" of the refund from my wife's and I's taxes went to buying all I listed above. We finally bought this condo this summer, right after I graduated (I was already admitted to a grad school and given TA-ship which paid me a paltry, but sufficient salary). First week of taking ownership I bought the Evo2-30 towers. A month later after getting my first paycheck, I got the REL T2...and the story repeats itself from there: a new paycheck, a part goes into buying new equipment. Sometimes I buy something with that "cut" sometimes I save the cut, until I can buy something much more substantial (like the Denon and Oppo).

My wonderful and understanding wife, who hated the look, bulk, idea of the Evo2-20s finally became a believer when she heard the Norah Jones SACD played from the S2500 through the Evo2-30s. She still resists though. She did not know why the heck id buy a damn turntable, but when she heard Adele 21, Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison, and Bob Marley - Legend on vinyl she again believed (so much so that she liked the idea of the Rega being placed prominently on top of our entertainment center, which stunned me since she always complained about clutter, and I actually wanted to toss the turntable in my media closet so the bass would affect it less and so the EC area could look cleaner). Again she wondered what the hell I was thinking buying the Denon and the Oppo...until she saw how bad ass video looked now (still not completely sold on the audio qualities of this set up...not yet at least..).

So, long story even longer: you are lucky! You have all these resources and the where-with-all to use them to spend your money RIGHT. Old man talk: by the time your my age, your set up will be one like I could have only dreamed of when I was 34 ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by twizzleraddict 

 

Awesome and a gadget geek's haven. :) If I was single, this is a pretty sweet setup. My wife (and kid) wouldn't tolerate all the exposed toys unfortunately. :(

I actually am married! (Check my stupid long previous post about my wife's objections and eventual acceptance). You are right though: no kids. Well our teen age niece does live with us, we are her guardians, but shes a teenager and happily sticks with her Beats and Ipod (and her hand me down Sony HTiB). My wife and I are on a mission to buy a descent 32" TV for her, cuz we want to upgrade our 40" to a 60"...and since we've been promising her a TV, if we buy a 60" and put the 40" in our room instead of hers, she'd rightfully melt down. I want my 40" in my bedroom, it still a great TV! So I am on a mission to find a good, CHEAP 32" this weekend (and by good, I mean durable; my niece doesn't see a difference between HD and SD).

However, my heart does sink to my intestines whenever my friends/family with kids come over. Speaker grilles go on, hanging/accessible wires get put away and I switch on my hawk vision and swoop in whenever a rugrat invades my Hi-Fi airspace.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmayer167 

Haha there is a secret, but it's illegal 

 

For me, if that was my secret, my gear would always remind me of how bad of a person I am...  So no, it's not my secret, I also work damn hard to have the gear I do. I listen all day at work so i'd say I have it pretty good 

 

~M

Same here. I'm a student and instructor. Except for class time, most of my day is spent with cans on: either in my office as I grade or do my own work, or at home when I am studying. I wish i didnt share my office with so many other grad students. I love em all, but they always want to talk talk talk. If I can manage to walk in with my cans on, I can get a good half hour to an hour in of listening time until someone has to tap me to get me to take of my cans. Then they bait me and I start talking talking talking. I'm sure you can't tell how much I can talk :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tus-Chan 

 

I am truly jealous of your condo space.

Thanks for the compliment! I love it! It actually isn't massive (its the biggest place I ever lived in since moving out on my own though, that's for sure). Its just under 1200 sq.ft. and before this, I think the biggest apartment I ever lived in was about 960sq ft. (and the one I moved FROM just before buying this one was 780 of the most wasted sq.ft imaginable). What does make my place feel much bigger than it is, and the main reason why we bought it is the vaulted ceilings. I think at their highest, they are 19ft high, so that really really gives the feeling of alot of space (I am 6' 2" tall and I can easily stand up and walk around in my attic, and still have a ton of space above my head; made doing in-wall cabling runs much easier). I love love love it!

A few friends of mine have houses houses. No doubt their places have much more square footage than ours, but they 'feel' smaller only because of the standard ceilings. So I am quite happy here. If only I could transplant this place to a lot without sharing walls with anyone! My neighbors are super nice, and have yet to complain about noise (even though I've had Dark Side of The Moon SACD playing loud enough that the REL was literally shaking my kitchen lights and glassware...literally). For sure the place has great sound insulation, but no way am I not radiating at least the bass down to them! I try to check myself as much as possible, cuz even if they are too nice to complain, I shouldn't take advantage of them.

My latest addition is a HD800 and Sophia Princess for the WA6.

Have to get used to the sound of the Sennheiser, though!

Overall picture of the latest setup. Not much to be changed. I enjoy listening to it a lot, too bad I don't have time to do that as much as I used to. Been starting to work out a bit, to tighten up and lose some weight, which is a good way to spend time too though.

Another angle. Behind the DAC there's a new 500W converter, for that 15W DAC. ;D

ATH-ESW11LTD on the stand.

Closer view of the Luxman. An excellent amplifier, with speakers too.

Just spending my time, shooting pictures...

Is the WA6 good with the HD800?

Yes,it is better than with my Phoenix as the tubes take away the" brightness".

But I also have a well burnt in Cardas cable and after 2 weeks(mind the HD800 is ca 2 years old)my brain slowly adjusts as well.
 

D100 -> BHA-1 -> CharterOak SP-1.

Sounds quite nice

Ah, that or an LCD-3 will be my rig in a year or two()

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheOtus 

Overall picture of the latest setup. Not much to be changed. I enjoy listening to it a lot, too bad I don't have time to do that as much as I used to. Been starting to work out a bit, to tighten up and lose some weight, which is a good way to spend time too though.

 

 

Another angle. Behind the DAC there's a new 500W converter, for that 15W DAC. ;D

 

 

ATH-ESW11LTD on the stand.

 

 

Closer view of the Luxman. An excellent amplifier, with speakers too.

 

 

Just spending my time, shooting pictures...

 

Really like the setup and the wallpaper! In your room, I mean!

Originally Posted by BruinAnteater 

 

Really like the setup and the wallpaper! In your room, I mean!

You like my room's wallpaper more than the picture of Nao Nagasawa, my dear all-time idol? Thanks a lot. -____- '

Nah, just joking. = ) I like the wallpaper too, something a bit special but nothing over the top. Thanks for the comment!