[rokkyboy]

Hello, Head-fiers!

First, I want to mention that I've tried to do my homework =] as a non-audiophile.
I've spend constant 3 ~5 hours a day on Head-fi, Headroom, Ebay for pricing, Amazon for reviews, ilounge for possible portables, and other review sites for two weeks now. I know that does not suffice enough and I am probably asking you to re-write what you wrote somewhere else, but I hope you guys can help me out because I would like to set up a system for my mother by Christmas.

I am not an audiophile as I have mentioned and I know nothing about all the technology and terms. From what I've read so far, this is my understanding that to experience a 'decent' sound you need:


A good source (lossless is the term?)

an amp - to transmit sound from the source and improve -balance- the output -headphones-

Good wire and plug - to reduce the loss of quality

Output - Headphones in my case, that can deliver the above.


am I on the right track here?

I originally wanted to ask you where to start 'studying' about audio equipment and 'sound' because I believe in gifts that are 'understood' and 'thought after'.
I don't want to simply buy something for my beloved mother, but buy her something that I can 'appreciate' to be good and something that I 'worked hard for'. However, the art of good audio and sound experience was far far more sophisticated than I anticipated and I am running out of time. (truly overwhelmed by the people on this website. I felt your passion =]

- on the side note, I really respect everyone here. As my passion is writing, I do understand the desire and thirst for search of 'perfect', 'just right', 'ideal' form of art for you. -


The background for my 'search' is this.
My mother's only joy in life, actually the only money she spent on her self, was Toronto Symphony Orchestra's season pass. Our family immigrated to Canada and my single mother went through really a lot.. her only escape was classical music but since last year when she filed for her bankruptcy, she is working full-time and does not have the 'room' in her life to enjoy her only hobby.

Since she invested most of her life on mine, I would like to give something back. I decided to invest in sound equipment, focused on classical music to give her a better classical music experience than what she has at the moment (very old yamaha amp, not sure what model, and few tall speakers that are not great, and she listens from classical radio station). I know there are many genre within classical music, but I think my mother enjoyed all forms of classical music. As to what to emphasize in the 'spectrum' of sounds, I am really not sure. I guess whatever helps the delivery of classical music experience. (sorry I can not elaborate further, lack of knowledge and experience)

Since I understand that the 'journey' to find 'perfect' system is what counts and where the joy lays, I do not expect to have the 'right' system for my mother on first try. I would like to improve the systems to suit my mother's taste as time goes on.

For starters, I decided to spend this month's salary, $2500. I think for that money, I wont be able to set up a decent speaker system, so I think headphone are better and it fits her apartment situation much better as well.


While headphones were somewhat easier(not easy, just easier) to grasp the idea, amps, plugs, mods, wires, EQs, and source.. were really hard to understand what they were truly about.

I was hoping Head-fiers would help me find the right system, under $2500, for my mother.

Considerations are,

my mother listens to classical music and aria
under $2500,
Headphone system,
she has a computer, Internet, and once the system is set up,
I plan on regularly purchasing CDs for her (with her of course =] )
She is in her early 50s, and she is fairly good with her computers.


and I'm not sure whether a computer with an improved soundcard might be better than CD players as a source? (with FLAC or other digital high quality sound formats)


Please let me know what equipment (wires, plugs, amps, headphones, sources, etc) makes a harmonious system in your opinion, and if you can also tell me where to purchase them, I would look them up and it would be greatly appreciated.





Thanks to all of you head-fiers who spend time in 'service to others'.
You are much appreciated and I learned tremendous amount of information about sound and audio. Maybe one day I'll become a head-fier myself =]


Cheers!


Rok

 

[limpidglitch]

Welcome to head-fi, rokkyboy

That is very nice thing you are doing for your mother.

Terminology: when 'source' is mentioned here it's usually in reference to the 'unit' that converts the digital audio signal to a an analogue one. Not very logical, but that's how it is. Lossless is in reference to the 'source file', the music file you're playing. A lossless file is what you get when you extract the music from a CD to a computer without tampering with it in a way that any 'information' is lost (lossless – less loss

) .flac .aiff .alac and .wav are examples on lossless file formats.

I think most here will advise you to use a computer as 'transport' (first link in the audio chain, where the 'source files' are stored and 'read') You won't need a new soundcard, the 'source' will take over this task (see: DAC)

I will refrain from posting any specific advice, simply because my experience is limited.
I do listen to fair bit of classical, but since I rather quickly fell in love with the Grado GS1000 I haven't felt the need to search for other headphones that could outperform it in its task.
But no worry, there are plenty of other experienced members around here.

PS. Your questions about something to use on the subway will probably be better answered if you make a separate thread in the portables sub-section.

 

[Justice Strike]

the thing is balance. Getting a 2400 sony qualia (which are beautifull and great headphones) only to hook them up to a 100 mp3 player probably isn't the way to go.

But let me have a stab at this.

SACD (search one with spdif)
zero dac with tube amplifier
(perhaps an extra headphone amp)
and either:
sennheiser hd800 (detailed and nice sounding headphones)
sony mdr-sa5000 (for really really detailed sound, almost technical detail)

as she goes to the concert live, I think she would appreciate the sa5000 more, as it doesn't color the sound at all and is more precise... but some people tend to think different.

 

[Yikes]

The question is does she have Software (CD's)? Does she have a Computer and Broadband Internet access?

If she doesn't have many CD's then it would probably be best to do a computer based rig. Streaming isn't exactly high end, but 128 kbs sounds surprisingly good. Something like an Audio-gd Compass and a set of AKG K701's would be a nice system and way under the budget you specified. Or you could up the anti and go with something like the Lavery DA10, but imo that's overkill.

 

[3602]

That's a big, BIG budget...sorry for your wallet, man.
Get a...balanced headphones, balanced amp and DAC. You can get such a package from HeadRoom at this price, given you already have a quality source device such as a good HiFi CD player.

 

[Justice Strike]

you could also just setup a cheap good sounding system and pour the other cash into a selection of (sa)cd's

 

[rokkyboy]

limpidglitch/

Thank you for your kind welcome! and thanks for the link! just finished reading, a lot of terms I do not understand, but I guess the basic concept is to turn 1s and 0s of computer binary number into a signal that can be used by an AMP?

-
PS. Your questions about something to use on the subway will probably be better answered if you make separate thread in the portable sub-section.

I will listen to the advice. Thanks =]


Justice Strike/

Thanks! I will look into the products you have mentioned.

What I really appreciate, is that just like a well-built computers, every part has their 'mates' for a best performance, I've understood from reading this forum that audio equipment is not different, in a way that just getting all the high-end products will not give you the best result.



Yikes/

My mother has internet, and few CDs. I should update the post about it. I will search what Audio-gd Compass is right now =]
Thanks for the tip!

p.s your quote caught my attention (one of my favourites) I've recently read Benjamin Fulford's Project Camelot interview, formal Forbes journalist, and it was very very interesting

if you haven't seen it, here is the link

Project Camelot | Benjamin Fulford

 

[Bullseye]

Just one tip for your search. Leave the cables for the end (or for ever). Don't pay attention to that till you have acquired material such as headphones and source.

 

[vcoheda]

you should consider looking for a sennheiser HE60/HEV70 unit and using the remainder on a source. i love this combo for classical music. it is not is production so you would need to check the for sale forums.

Sennheiser HE60/HEV70 Headphones

 

[Justice Strike]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bullseye /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just one tip for your search. Leave the cables for the end (or for ever). Don't pay attention to that till you have acquired material such as headphones and source.

among the same line... do not pay premium prices for DIGITAL cables. Any will do and gold plated coax cables or super reflective optical cables will not make any difference other then peace of mind (atleast for the unknowing)

 

[tutelary]

Be sure you aren't over doing it. If you set all this up will your mother be able to use it? My mother can barely double click a mouse, and I honestly think a lot of mothers are this way. Electronic equipment with too many knobs, settings, or buttons tends to frighten older women who are scared they will 'mess something up'. I know that sounds incredibly sexist, but there it is.

You should also take age into consideration. Most people of any advanced age will suffer a normal amount of hearing loss which might render them unable to hear nuances of sound that better equipment can deliver.

I just hate to see you potentially spend $2500 for something when nice $200, $300 headphones will deliver a quality experience for her and anything else would be excessively useless. Couldn't you just get her nice headphones and spend the rest on orchestra tickets? Even someone working full time can trade shifts so they can get to a show.

 

[n3rdling]

How technologically savvy is she? It might be best to keep the digital interface simple. In this case, I'd suggest buying a simple CD or DVD player for her discs and a receiver or tuner for when she wants to listen to her classical music stations. This shouldn't cost much, and will leave you a nice chunk of money for allocating towards the amp and headphones.

Do you think she cares about the look of the headphones? Some equipment is pretty ugly to most people. Does she take care of things? Some equipment is somewhat fragile. I wouldn't worry about buying balanced anything. I'd be surprised if she were analyzing every little nuance of the music instead of just enjoying herself.

 

[Justice Strike]

less is more is most often key in this situations. Not only is it just better for the sound, but also for operation.

 

[gspence2000]

I'd think that a collection of SACD discs would be easier for your mother to handle than a computer-based library of files. I would recommend putting a portion of your budget towards a collection of SACD discs. You don't want to give your mother an expensive gift that requires her to make a further investment herself in order to enjoy it.

Even though your mother has a computer and Internet access, if you de-couple the listening from the computer, you might find a much more comfortable place for her to enjoy the music. An SACD player, headphone amp, and possibly an external DAC would fit nicely on an end-table next to her favorite comfy chair.

 

[AmanGeorge]

Cheers for being such a thoughtful son!

I'll start with general advice. First off, starting from headphones and working your way back, I think that the first decision is between the AKG K701/702 and the Sennheiser HD800. The first can be had for ~$250, the latter for $1400. Both will be excellent for classical music - the Sennheisers are better but will cost much more, and I think the AKGs are excellent enough with classical music that you'll be able to build her a terrific system.

When buying a DAC, I would buy one that has a variety of inputs - optical, digital coaxial, and USB. This way, you can hook up both a computer and a CD player to the DAC and with a flip of a switch she can toggle back and forth between the two.

With this kind of DAC, all you need to pick up is a DVD player with a good reputation as a CD transport (meaning it will simply output a digital signal to the DAC) - many of these exist and I'm sure someone else can chime in. I personally own an Oppo DV970 that I picked up for like $150 which does me fine.

I own the K701, and would happily recommend the system I'm currently using:
Headphones: AKG K701 ($250)
Amplifier: SPL Auditor ($900)
DAC: PS Audio DLIII ($650)
This would leave you tons of money to spend on music, cables, or just save.

Another option would be, as I mentioned above, to pick up the Sennheisers. Here you could do something like
Sennheiser HD800 ($1400)
WooAudio6 ($600)
PS Audio DLIII ($650)
Which would bring you in over budget, unless you could find some good used deals (which is possible).

Good luck!