Hi I’m Steve, a new member from the Pacific NW. First off thanks to everyone for their good information and humor. The community has been a great resource and very fun as I’ve been evolving my headphone and 2-channel speaker system recently.
A bit about my audiophile journey. My parents had some nice equipment and some great jazz albums for me to appreciate as a kid in the 60’s. My dad soldered together some Fisher kits with a Thorens TD-135 Mk I table and Koss Pro 4/A. Neither of us remember the speakers though. I asked for a speaker kit for a present one year (Speakerlab Point Ones). I start assembling my first separates system in college. Pioneer SA-9800 integrated amp and matching cassette deck, Technics SL-B5 turntable with Ortofon Concorde MC cartridge. I upgraded to Koss CM-1020 speakers which are still in use at my folks house. A JVC XL-Z555 CD player was the first digital component.
In my married with kids years I evolved into NAD separates ranging from the Monitor Series 2400 THX Amp and 1600 preamp/tuner and NAD CD player, to a NAD 214 amp, 162 pre and Paradigm monitors with a sub. In the age of streaming I added a Cambridge DAC. I loved this system and still use it today in the workshop.
When we did a remodel on the house everything had to be put in storage for months and we emerged out of it mainly listening to our music through Sonos. We love music in our lives with Sonos but I was missing my dedicated system and so set up the NAD system in my Den/Office. I missed playing with vinyl and picked up a Rega Planar 1 so I could listen to our LPs. I was using some Paradigm Titans and was interested in an upgrade and ended up getting a pair of B&W 685 S2s. Really enjoy those and added a Sumiko S.5 sub to round out the bottom end. I’d been reading the head-fi blogs after being consumed by the chapter history of Schitt Audio – I was hooked. I picked up a Fulla 2 to test the waters - good product and process.
Continuing the upgrade path I ended up getting a RME ADI-2 DAC to replace the DacMagic. I really like the ADI-2 DAC although I wonder if I would now own the Bifrost 2 if it had come out sooner. Needing to replace my aging NAD CD player I ended up deciding on the Audiolab 6000CDT as I couldn’t wait for the Schiit spinner. It’s a very nice transport and I’m having fun exploring my CD collection again in addition to streaming.
After the study of all things Schiit I’ve been dreaming and deciding, with all of your discussions, what electronics and speakers I wanted to go with next. I determined I wanted to go down the balanced DAC to preamp to dual power amps chain and as I’ve always loved the sound of Magnepan since my school days and after the LRS came out I knew I had to have them. So with Freya S available I got that preamp to pair with my NAD 214 amp. Nice indeed. I then obtained two Vidars and again very satisfying with the B&W/Sumiko combo. Then in early December I called Eric at Magnepan and ordered the LRSs. 3-1/2 months later I finally received them last week. The system has been on continuously for the last week as I write this and sounds amazing. The Vidars are handling the LRSs supremely. Jazz, Alternative, Acoustic, 70s/80s Rock, Classical – I’m digging it. Sumiko sub is melding nicely. Magna Riser Airborne stands ordered 8 weeks ago are due to arrive today. I can’t wait. Enjoying the Schiit journey. Thanks again for this community. Stay safe and good listening.
Wecome!
My first turntable was Pioneer 12D, circa 1972. I upgraded to an Ortofon Concord! I think mine was a mm cartridge? Circa 1985 I replaced it with a Systemdek IIX, Linn Basic Arm and Cartridge. That setup so surpassed the 12D and 10 year old Concord--which suffered from severe turntable induce noise, I thought
this is as quiet as a CD. I almost stopped buying CDs for many years, and scooped up a lot used LPs, around 3000, cheap.
More than one audio-wise person (as opposed to audiophool) like myself wondered: if the mass market turntables of the 70's were half as good as the SystemdeK, would the CD have survived?
Answer: Around 1979 in Canoga Park, CA, I spoke to Kevin, the owner of Upscale Audio. Different Kevin, different Upscale Audio than the one the on that exists today. The first Upscale Audio was some separate rooms in a RogersSoundLab store.
He told me that the quality of vinyl to press new records had gotten so bad, someone from A&M Records told him they were getting up to 50% defective records. The record companies jumped on CD, with the promise of perfect sound forever. And
no returns. (Even if the the CD had flaws, which because it was perfect sound forever, was impossible).
Around '74? I bought the MFSL pressing of David Bowie's Ziggy StarDust. Even with the older Pioneer set up I was hooked on striving for better sound.
Oh, forgot. It might have been Kevin the first who told me that the success of Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs at selling LPs for around 2 x the price of regular LPs convinced other people that they could sell CDs, with perfect sound forever, at a high enough price to make it worthwhile. For the first few years of CD sales they were usually priced at $24.99. There were only two CD pressing plants in the world at that time.
Sorry to rant.
I'm very happy with the sound through the RME DAC connected by coax.
