[arnyk]

  I fear starting this thread may be utterly pointless and turn into a monster, but my intentions are honest.

Lets ASSUME for the sake of this thread, that the audio critic, 10 biggest lies in audio http://theaudiocritic.com/back_issue...ritic_26_r.pdf is completely correct.  What kind of system would you build.  Has anyone built thier system around these parameters?

IF YOU DISAGREE AND WANT TO CONVINCE EVERYONE, PLEASE GO SOMEWHERE ELSE

given that assumption, lets make some amp and dac recommendations.
and yes that means tubes are right out...

also, if you have built your system around their information id love to hear what you have.

Again im not looking for convincing arguments one side or the other, i just want to know whats recommended ASSUMING the audio critic is totally correct

 
 
The current link to this article is:
 
http://www.theaudiocritic.com/wp-content/uploads/back_issues/The_Audio_Critic_26_r.pdf
 
 
The 10 lies are:
 
(1) The magic cable lie:  Rational response - use good grade commodity cables in conventional configurations
 
(2)  The vacuum tube lie: Rational response - put that vacuum tube gear into a museum where it belongs
 
(3) The antidigital lie;  Rational response - digital is endemic and that is the good news. Enjoy.
 
(4) The listening test lie: Rational response - base purchase decisions on rational listening tests, not traditional audiophile casual listening evaluations.
 
(5)  The feedback lie: Rational response - avoid new gear based on anti-scientific ca- 1920s technology. See item (2) 
 
(6)  The break in-lie: Rational response: Buy new gear and enjoy it immediately
 
(7) The biwiring lie: Rational response - see item (1).
 
(8) The power conditioner lie:  Rational response - unless you have really crazy power (checks bad with test equipment) at your location, let your equipment do its job, unassisted.
 
(9) The CD treatment lie:  Rational response - keep them clean and free of foreign materials. Rip to file server ASAP.
 
(10)  The golden ear lie: Rational resoponse - see item (4)
 
5 Newer lies:
 
(11) Passive biamping lie: Rational response - see item (1) 
 
(12) Lossy encoding lie: Rational response - see item (4)
 
(13) High Resolution Audio lie: Rational response - see item (4)
 
(14) NOS DAC lie: Rational response - see item (4)
 
(15) Network and USB lies of all kinds - see item (4) 
 
Here is my primary system which is 100% in conformance with above:
 
Signal sources:  
 
ca. $100 Panasonic BD player with LAN and HDMI interface
 
Arris 6-tuner DVR rented from cable company for excessive monthly charge (ca. $20).
 
Self-built PC Clone with 8 GB RAM,  8-core AMD CPU, zero fan power supply, Massive slow-fan CPU cooler, and 4 x 512 GB SSD in RAID-5 array running Win 7.1 Pro.  Various Video and pro audio interfaces. Heavy use of on-board audio interface and on-video card HDMI interfaces. 4 DVD drives for low-wait ripping.
 
System integration and control:
 
Mid-end Denon AVR-1913  driving self-engineered speaker simulators for active main speakers. Using inbult bass management and Audyssey system optimization. LAN interface
 
Speakers:
 
Paradigm and Cambridge Soundworks 12" subwoofers driven by Behringer analog parametric equalizers
JBL Pro LSR-300 mains

 

[Palladium]

If I had found out how good the measurements of the Behringer UCA202 are by nwavguy earlier I wouldn't have even bothered spending ~$100 on Hifimediy DACs to hook up speakers.

 

[prot]

If I had found out how good the measurements of the Behringer UCA202 are by nwavguy earlier I wouldn't have even bothered spending ~$100 on Hifimediy DACs to hook up speakers.

Behringer is a very good budget choice. The devices arent particularly pretty and dont have that built-to-last appearance but they do sound just as good as anything else. And a lot of your music was produced on them cause many pro-s use them

 

[Topazus]

  Well, we're going to find out how right the Audio Critic was when the 1000 O2 boards that were ordered are built into amps.
 
I've said this before but it bears saying again. 
 
I will be extremely ticked off if I can't tell the difference between my GS-1 and the O2.
 
And, if that turns out to be the case, the Audio Critic will have been right and I will completely ignore subjective reviews and go back to buying by specifications (if they have been verified) and features.
 

You never wrote about your experience. I wonder if you ever got to comparing them. Should be interesting. 

 

[upstateguy]

 

  Well, we're going to find out how right the Audio Critic was when the 1000 O2 boards that were ordered are built into amps.
 
I've said this before but it bears saying again. 
 
I will be extremely ticked off if I can't tell the difference between my GS-1 and the O2.
 
And, if that turns out to be the case, the Audio Critic will have been right and I will completely ignore subjective reviews and go back to buying by specifications (if they have been verified) and features.
 

You never wrote about your experience. I wonder if you ever got to comparing them. Should be interesting. 

 
I actually did write about it....somewhere, but that was years ago.  The bottom line was that within the power constraints of the O2, I wasn't sure if I could reliably DBT them apart.
 
That said, the O2 is not a GS-1.  It doesn't have the power, features, flexibility, case build, topology, or premium components that the the GS-1 has, but it does sound, quite remarkably, the same. 
 
It has become my late night big screen movie amp, along with my light weight, factory cabled, super comfortable 04' 880s.
 
YMMV

 

[Topazus]

   
I actually did write about it....somewhere, but that was years ago.  The bottom line was that within the power constraints of the O2, I wasn't sure if I could reliably DBT them apart.
 
That said, the O2 is not a GS-1.  It doesn't have the power, features, flexibility, case build, topology, or premium components that the the GS-1 has, but it does sound, quite remarkably, the same. 
 
It has become my late night big screen movie amp, along with my light weight, factory cabled, super comfortable 04' 880s.
 
YMMV

Thanks for that! Pretty amazing... 

 

[goobicii]

vinyl + tubes + hd800 + expensive cables....cables are waste of money for tripping people, I hate tubes,I hate HD800 and especialy I hate vinyl,good thing I try things myself and dont buy blindly otherwise I would be super unhappy
 
for me NOS Dac + current mode amp +  planar headphone is way to go,all transistor and no aftermarket cables

 

[nwhitta]

I think the Audio Critic is completely right.  I thought so before I had even heard of him, so perhaps I agree with him because he agrees with my own views.
Another guy with a very similar outlook on hi-fi equipment and the industry in general is Roger Sanders of Sanders Sound Systems.
 
My own system, which sounds great and I am very happy with, consists fundamentally of a laptop computer which holds all my CD collection stored in 320kps mp3 format which I play using JRiver Media Centre, controlled from my iPad using the JRemote app.  
The speakers are Sanders Sound Systems Model 11 hybrid electrostatics complete with (Sanders-supplied) Behringer DCX2496 external crossover.  
The amplification is 2 x Behringer EP4000 which have been modded to replace the noisy fans. The EP4000's are the equal of any high-end power amp in performance, but are butt-ugly and should be hidden away behind the TV or in a cupboard. 
I also use a DSPeaker Anti-Mode Dual Core 2.0, which is very useful for automatic room correction of the bass. I guess the DCX2496 could be configured to perform this role also, but the Anti-Mode comes with an microphone and performs this function automatically, better than anything else I have come across.
I use a Cambridge Audio Stream Magic v2 as a pre-amp/DAC/streamer.  Most of the time it is only a pre-amp, so ther are probably cheaper alternatives. This does work well, but the JRemote app is much better than the Stream Magic control interface.
A subwoofer is probably not really necessary (even less necessary with the Sanders Model 10, but that is too big for my room/WAF) but I do have a Funk Audio 18.0C which, unlike most subwoofers, is a high quality piece of furniture as well as a brilliant sub.  There are cheaper alternatives available if you are happy with a big black box. The BK Monolith Plus is a beautifully veneered bargain if you don't need quite the oomph of the Funk 18" driver.
I also have a pair of Sennheiser HD565 Ovation headphones. Very old but still very effective, much like me .

 

[nwhitta]

As this is Head-Fi, I should mention that my CD collection is also stored on a 128GB micro SD card in a Fiio X3ii, into which I plug a pair of Phonak Audio PFE 112 earphones.

 

[Speedskater]

In early July, Peter Aczel wrote:
 
THIS IS GOODBYE!
 
Having reached the 90th year of my life, after several years of very little productivity, I have decided to stop altogether. My website has been discontinued; there will be no more content added to it. That does not mean that what has been published and available up to now will be lost. Everything on the website has been transferred to Welcome to biline.ca News and Updates!, the technology site of Jeff Mathurin. Nothing is missing, thanks to the supportive efforts of Jeff. You can still go to every former section of The Audio Critic by using the menu on the left. It is not without considerable regret that I am making this move, but the time inevitably comes when you have to call it quits. Goodbye, friends and antagonists; it has been a great 38 years!
 
—Peter Aczel
Editor & Publisher
Midsummer, 2015
 
Link to archive:
http://www.biline.ca/audio_critic/audio_critic.htm