New location!

I've moved to a new web address! Come visit my new web page at:

http://theshoestringaudiophile.com/

Lots of new blogs to come, gallery photos, bio page, and other goodies for you to explore. Thanks for continuing to support what I do, and I look forward to seeing you on my new page!

Thanks!

Why Do I Listen To Records?

This last Saturday was a rather rough day. Roofing contractors were working in my neighborhood, got the wrong address, and mistakenly began tearing the roof off my house. I awoke at 7:25 am to people ripping holes right above my bedroom. It was only a 4 year old roof. Now, they have since come back, and done a marvelous job repairing their damages, but let me tell you, it made for a stressful day.

To comfort me, a couple groups of good friends came by with two of my favorite things, craft beer and records to play. Since my blog isn’t about craft beer (though I could I go on and on about how I love that, too), I’m going to stick to why I love these wonderful round discs of music.

Is it the sound quality? It’s true, the fidelity is often times much better than that of a CD, and is always far superior to that of an mp3 or streaming audio. Even through some clicks and pops, surface noise, and some occasional static, it’s still a better sonic experience. But, am I sitting there each time, marveling at how incredible each record sounds? Well, sometimes, but not usually. There are a few times where I just can’t help but be pulled in by the sheer quality of the experience, but not that often. My Pro-Ject One turntable, with its Oyster cartridge has certainly spoiled me, even for being a somewhat entry-level table.

So, is it the novelty? That seems to be what has drawn so many people to vinyl. For me, unequivocally not. Records have been with me since day one, and have never been some kitschy thing I picked up to impress my friends. I’ve never bought a little Crosley tabletop record player, nor would I, but have always had a quality turntable.

Is it nostalgia? That would suggest that I’m stuck in a bygone era. Hardly. I still buy newer releases on vinyl, as well as older records, too. It’s certainly not that. I have both newer and vintage turntables in similarly newer and vintage systems. I can relive the past, should I choose, but my technology is also decidedly modern.

So what exactly is it then?

I’ve come to realize that it is truly the tactile feel of playing a record that keeps me doing it. Part of the reason that we, as audiophiles, invest so much into our systems is for the realism of the music. We want to get as close to the live or studio experience as possible. Having that platter in front of me, turning at a comforting 33-and-a-third RPM also keeps the music in the same room as me. A CD slips into a drawer and disappears, spinning at hundreds of revolutions per minute. Streaming audio comes from the cloud. That’s just voodoo. Vinyl is there with me, in the room, bringing me the music, in person- so to speak. Its flaws- pops, clicks, even the skips, etc.- only serve to remind me how much more human the experience really is, and that keeps bringing it home even more. The added fidelity, the lack of digital jitter, the analog warmth, are all just added bonuses to enhance the experience and make it what it is.

What we begin to pour into it, in things like high-end cables, isolating pads, cork mats, and all the other accoutrements that go into making this an expensive hobby (people are shocked when I tell them you can spend over $100,000 on a turntable) just make it our own personal journey with the turntable.

If the CD is truly dead, which I don’t believe that it is, its demise can only be blamed on its lack of humanism that vinyl has always had. I think that people are beginning to reconnect with the human aspect to records in the same way that I always have because of the inhuman nature of the download. Music, even in the recorded sense, has always been something we have been meant to connect with; as we have lost that in recent years, it has only been natural for there to be some sort of clamoring for a tactile reconnection with it.

The ebb-and-flow of our relationship with media formats through the years has led us back to vinyl, and the album itself as a real thing. People need something to hold. That feeling never really left me. I’ve always needed that album cover to look at. The artwork of an album cover used to carry such heavy weight, and with the advent of the 5” CD, began to lose some of that workspace and artistic expression. Once people began downloading music, suddenly, there was no album cover. Where was the art? I think we know that the art will always prevail somehow, and album covers are showing up on new vinyl, CDs, and the screens of media servers. However, there’s still the inner sleeve, poster, gatefold, and any other surprise one might find inside that beautiful record.

And that for me, is why they’ll never go out of style.

Bring On All Challengers- Pioneer Elite DV-79AVi

For many years, I’ve bounced back-and-forth on what my “reference” CD player has been. C’mon, haven’t we all? Isn’t this hard sometimes? If you’re like me, we end up accumulating several cool players over time. So what goes in the system as the main player? A changer? A single? What format? Oh man… the choices!

For a few years, I went between a Rotel 955 and a JVC DVD-A changer. I never ended up biting onto the DVD-A format, but the JVC is a very nice player, and I was always running digitally out of it anyway. The Rotel, on the other hand, has always been used as an analog deck to take full advantage of those amazing Philips DACS. In its price point, it’s still virtually unrivalled, in my humble opinion. And of course, in typical Shoestring Audiophile fashion, I picked it up for a song. The JVC came my way as part of a trade.

So, there I was, a somewhat content little amateur audiophile, until 2017 comes along with two new bargain players, and shakes my whole world up. Early spring, I’m walking through a flea market, and I happen across a Sony NC-555ES changer, which later casts me into the deep, dark work of SACD… this is another article waiting to happen… I’m getting ahead of myself.

But I digress. The player I’m really talking about happened in fall of 2017. I came across a seller unloading his brother-in-law’s Pioneer Elite DV-79AVi player on the local garage sale site for 25 bucks. I immediately began doing searches on this, and found huge, favorable reviews. Obviously, I put it an immediate offer to the guy, and bought it. As I was waiting for him to get back to me, I kept reading more and more on this player, and how- at the time- it was stacking up to players 3x its price.

Originally a $1,000 player in 2006, this was criticized only for its lack of ability to play the new Blu-ray format. Otherwise, it was praised, in particular, for its low-end definition. I was anxious to put this to the test.

I could bore or excite you with months of details on my experience with this player, depending on what you’re hoping for out of this. Needless to say, I’ve spent a lot of time with this player. It has even become my reference SACD player, beating out the Sony ES a few weeks ago. Everything it does, it does better than everyone else can. I’ve heard players ranging into the 5-figure realm, and I will still challenge them all with this one. It might not be a world beater, but it will hold its own against everything I’ve heard. What more can I ask for my 25 bucks?

Recently, an audiophile friend of mine got me into an older CD by a group called Blue Tofu. This is a notorious test disc for any subwoofer. I couldn’t wait to get this into the system, to hear it in the Pioneer, and to feel out the Legend Audio subwoofer I’ve just upgraded to (yet another article to come). This sub is a 12”, 500 watt monster, but is still oh so musical at the same time, and I was anxious to hear the whole system now… I was not disappointed! The clarity and definition from this standard CD was absolutely outstanding, and the sub hit hard without being overwhelming. Vocals were nicely out front, and the space was defined, but open. The 24 bit 192 kHz DACs in this are truly amazing, probably ruling out my need for ever buying an outboard unit, like so many people are doing these days.

The real test came a few days later when I took delivery of Genesis “A Trick of the Tail” in 5.1 DSD SACD surround. This is where the Pioneer really got to shine. I heard things that I’ve never heard before, primarily in the lower registers. Bass was tight but had so much more definition. Everything I had read about this player was absolutely on the money.

Speaking of money, I have since seen these players selling very reasonably on e-Bay. I’ve spotted a few for under a hundred bucks, even. For what you can pick one up for, you’ll have yourself a bonafide contender. Bring on the challengers, I will welcome them all!

Part 2- A Small Victory in the Cable Wars- Revelation Cadence II

I’ve spent a couple months evaluating a value cable, and I have to report that I actually rather like it! I was skeptical about an e-Bay cable, but I gave the Revelation Echelon a chance about a year ago on one of my systems. They seemed to be a nicely-built cable that did the job quite well. After buying several, the seller asked me to evaluate the slightly upgraded Cadence II, especially after hearing about my column here. Again, I was somewhat skeptical about putting a $5 cable into my main system, but I will tell you that I’ve quite pleased with the results. Like the Echelon, it’s well-built, nicely jacketed, has solid, beautiful connectors, and a deceivingly high-end feel to it.

I’ve been running the cable between the Pioneer Elite SACD player and my receiver for my 2-channel playback. For multi-channel, I am using the Silver Series from Acoustic Research. I have found that it has been nicely balanced, with nothing lacking, and nothing to complain about at all. In fact, it’s kept up with the AR cables pretty decently. Who knew you could get that for 5 bucks? All-in-all, I’m impressed.

The cable market is a hotly-contested one, just to grossly understate that. There are lots of budget and blossoming audiophiles that either gripe about the cost of cables, or regularly ask about lower-priced ones. From this point on, I would have to point them to the Revelation Cadence II.

What is a guy like me doing here?- Chicago Audio Society and Gudebrod Preamp

Recently, I was invited to join the Chicago Audio Society. I did so with a little trepidation, knowing that I was likely going to be joining in with people who were out of my league… but their president, Rich Sacks, assured me that I would not be the most “shoestring” guy in group, and that all budgets and levels were represented. I’ve never been part of something like this before. My hi-fi experience has largely been a personal one, or one shared with some friends. Now, I’ll be in rooms with people engrossed in the hobby. That sounds fun on the surface, but while audiophiles can be some of friendliest people I've ever met, they can also be some of the most critical. Still, I’m excited to see what all is in store.

February 18^th marked the first opportunity for me to attend a meeting. For this meeting, Eric Krupp and John Brunner of Gudebrod Audio brought out some amazing gear for us to audition. Their objective was show off their new tube preamp ($7,000), and also to tout their AC line conditioning products, which were all falling well under a grand a piece. But my eyes widened as I spied the Sonus Faber Olympica loudspeakers they were running. Powering the whole works were a gorgeous pair of Audio Research 100 watt tube monoblock amplifiers. I knew I was in for a treat.

As this was my first meeting, and I already felt a touch out of place, I kept somewhat to myself to first. This is odd behavior for me, as I’m normally more of life-of-the-party socialite guy, but I’m the new kid. Give it time. Still, I think that it’s important that we venture out of our comfort zone in this life. We get too comfortable in our bubbles, and time comes to break out of them.

Demos of the gear began immediately. The sources were an industrial Pioneer DVD player, simply supplying the ones and zeros to an M2 Tech Young DAC, which I was completely unfamiliar with, but sounded quite nice. Well, to be honest, it all sounded great. The system worked so seamlessly together that it was difficult to tell which component might have been doing the majority of the heavy lifting, and what might have been the most transparent. But isn’t that the ultimate goal? Are we listening to our music, or our equipment?

Well, in this case, I found myself listening to the equipment more than the music, to be truthful. This was due to a couple factors. First, they were playing a lot of jazz. Don’t get me wrong, jazz is fun, but it’s not what I normally dig. It also tends to make me listen to a speaker more than the music for some reason. Always. If someone puts on some smooth recording, I’m listening to the extension of the stand-up bass in the woofers, the breath of the singer in the midranges, and the cymbals in the tweeters. I completely lose the music and get lost in technicality. I hate it. And that was that majority of what they played. Secondly, I couldn’t get past the ear orgasm of being in the room with the $8,700 Sonus Fabers, and I just couldn’t get out of that headspace. I was being spoiled, and I didn’t want it to end. The sound of that Gudebrod preamp and the tube monoblocks was such pure bliss, that it was hard to get away from some of the mechanics of it. I know, that’s a little paradoxical, isn’t it? Losing yourself in mechanics?

At some point, they changed the polarity of the power conditioners, and it sent the room abuzz. There was a controversy among the members as to whether the “enhancement” to the lower registers was a good thing or not. To me, the enhancement was just that, an enhancement. Not quite natural, but I still liked it. The Sonus Fabers, as incredible as they are, are not the most bottom-heavy speakers I’ve ever heard, and the little addition to the bottom end was worth it for me.

Oh wow, so would you listen to me, here? Is this really me? The Shoestring Audiophile? How does this all even relate to me? This was over $30,000 worth of sonic ear candy in front of me. So, here were my takeaways from this for you. One thing I loved is that Eric and John were about as down-to-earth as it gets. They preached about not using unattainable gear for demos. The Pioneer player they were using was right up my alley - cool, commercial, and probably something you can find out there for a song. Their power conditioning products are well within reach of budget audiophiles. They really reached out to the crowd for feedback, instead of just telling us how their products were the best. Most importantly, they treated everyone, even me, as if they were someone of value.

All-in-all, this was a fun and positive experience. I got to immerse myself in gear I wouldn’t normally wouldn’t get to hear, though I would prefer to hear my own demo selections on it, but that’s for another day. Thank you to Chicago Audio Society, Eric and John, and Gudebrod Audio for a great afternoon.

Opening My Mind To Small- Canton Plus D Bookshelf Speakers

For most of my life, I’ve really dogged on small speakers. I haven’t just leaned on a “bigger is better” simplistic argument, but I’ve actually spewed forth about the physics of air movement and the size of drivers and how you just can’t get certain things out of small speakers. To a certain extent, this is true, but lately, I’ve had a couple sets of bookshelf speakers really change my thinking, and I’ve begun to open my mind a bit.

Years ago, when I was a rep in the audio business, a retailer insisted that I audition a set of Cantons that had recently come in. I was really impressed, but also dismissed them based on their diminutive size, and hefty price tag. It just didn’t fit in with my mindset. It hadn’t clicked for me.

Then, came the day, a few months ago, I stumbled across a pair of Canton Plus D bookshelf speakers locally online for… get this… 40 bucks. I’m no dummy, there’s no way I can pass up on this. Even though they’re small speakers, I can find a good use for them, right? At the time, I had the desire to put together a small, 2-channel system just for light listening in my basement. Why not? The transaction was a little difficult. I had a hard time pinning her down to a meeting day and time, but after about a week, I finally got it done.

So, here they were, in my home. They cleaned up beautifully, but they were more industrial than what I was thinking they were going to look like. Still, I had to hear them. Do you remember that Canton sub I wrote about a couple months ago? I had that all ready to go, and figured this would all pair up fairly well. I had no idea how right I was about to be.

I had also just picked up a semi-vintage (depending on your perspective) Pioneer VSX-512S receiver. I love these receivers because of their clean, warm sound. Pioneer was making some great gear at the time. I had also had someone in my audiophile group ask me why the hell I wasn’t using my Rotel 955 CD player more often, so that was new in that stack, as well. So here was this whole new grouping, all ready to go.

This really required minimal tweaking. I wanted little from the sub. One thing that drives me crazy is an overwhelming sub in someone’s system. I really wanted to hear the Plus Ds and what they were all about. And it was good.

Fast forward to now. I’m listening to The Alan Parsons Project “I Robot.” Imaging is just superb. The stereo field sounds far wider than it actually is. They are making much more out of this listening environment than it even deserves. The tweeters in these Cantons are responding to the hi-hat beautifully as it comes in - far better than speakers I’ve heard that were in those hefty price ranges I told you about. As all the instruments start rolling in, left and right, the Plus Ds throw sound around the room like pros.

I switch up to something fun. “Renegade” by Thin Lizzy. At first, they do sound like smaller boxes. Now I can tell what they are. I’m ok. It’s still pleasant. But man… when the guitars kick in… what is this? They sound… they sound… big! They really sound much larger than they really are. Do these things want to rock? I’m willing to find out.

One of my favorite releases of 2017 was the posthumous album by Ronnie Montrose, “10x10.” The first track starts with someone screaming “Ronnie!” The voice came from the center of the room. That’s imaging! Skip up to track 3, where Sammy Hagar sings “Color Blind” on the record, and this whole system comes alive. I’m glued to this. Ronnie’s guitar has so much depth and clarity. I hear every note in every chord.

So, near as I can tell, Canton produced these speakers around 1999, but don’t quote me on that. They’re a 6.5”, 2-way, bass-reflex design, in an all metal chassis. The cabinets and grills are all metal. I suppose that contributes to their feeling like a substantial speaker, as they do to me. For a small speaker, they’re also relatively efficient, with a 90dB sensitivity rating. They’ve got great binding posts in the rear, as well.

Have I turned over a new leaf? Well, not entirely. I still love large speakers, and always will. Big is beautiful. But, I’m learning that some small speakers can do some truly amazing things, as well. Stay tuned. There will be more articles to come on amazing bookshelf speakers from me in the future!

The World Is My Oyster- Pro-Ject One Turntable

As a guy in my late forties, the record player, turntable as we prefer, is not a new novelty. It’s how I grew up listening to music. It was my introduction to all the great things in life. For me, it never went away. I never threw mine in the trash and went without. There has always been, and will always be, a turntable in my system. In fact, there are no less than 4 of them running in my home. Yes, I’m addicted.

Is it the sound quality? Is it the tactile feel? Is it the pure tangibility? Yes, yes, and yes. There is just something so real and cathartic about a record turning at 33-and-a-third revolutions-per-minute in front of me. I find it very soothing. Unlike a CD, the record doesn’t disappear into the player. It’s a constant visual, turning and giving back to you. It’s therapeutic, somehow.

The sound quality of vinyl is always the subject of much debate. You’ll instantly get the “click and pop” naysayers coming down on you at every dinner table, it seems. Yes, I’ll put a record on and have to deal with some of that sometimes. I’ve always considered it part of the tactile experience. “Keeping it real,” if you will. But then come the sound quality questions - do records really sound that much better?

Here’s the only way I can answer people on that. First, it largely depends on the system you’re listening on - speakers, amplifier, etc. It all makes a difference, of course. Because, a cheap CD player on a cheap system will sound better than a cheap turntable in that same setup. The fidelity just won't be there. But, a good turntable, through a good system sounds better than just about anything. There, you will hear the difference in fidelity, I assure you. Great, now let’s go blow 10 grand on a turntable, right? Hold up…

Having spent years as a DJ, I used a DJ turntable in my system for a long time. There are several advantages to these tables, such as stability, low rumble factor, durability, and ease of use. One day, however, I was cruising through a stereo store and stumbled across a close-out on a floor model Pro-Ject One. The caveat was there was no power supply with it. I would have to find my own for it. The price was silly good, and I pulled the trigger on it. The power supply was fairly easy to find on eBay, and there I was, all set!

First impressions of the One were just the sleekness of it. It’s very stripped down, basic black, down to business, and dead sexy. The power switch is underneath, and there is no selector for 33 or 45. Instead, this is done by moving the belt from one part of the motor spindle to another. There is no rubber mat, but only a thin piece of felt for the platter. Mine is a bit oval, and (I think) poorly cut. My only bit of complaint about the whole product at all. I will likely buy a cork mat soon, just to experiment with that anyway.

The turntable came stock with a Sumiko Blue Oyster needle and cartridge, and this was worth the price of admission in itself. What a tremendous departure this was from the DJ phono cartridge I had just left behind that morning. It’s going to sound so cliché, but it really was like having a whole new record collection! Right from the first drop of the needle, it was a much more open soundstage, with everything suddenly seeming more rounded, more open, and much more alive. The sibilance didn’t feel so accentuated, and the bass felt much more natural. Oh man… I was becoming hopelessly lost in my record collection all over again.

One thing I was concerned about was noise floor and stability, which were the reasons I had been using a DJ turntable for so long. I’ve been very happy with the Pro-Ject in that regard. Rumble factor seems very low, and the noise floor (what it picks up from its own platter and such) is almost non-existent. I can walk normally through the living room without concern of skipping a record, and there doesn’t seem to be noise picked up into it. However, I am going to have to look into some better isolation, and it will pick up some low-end feedback if I get too far into the volume. I’m sure my laminate floors really don’t help my cause here.

I have found the tracking to be absolutely flawless, which is amazing, since Pro-Ject uses this tiny weight on a little fish line that you have to run through a hook. It requires some patience, and a good set of glasses. The straight tone arm has been just perfect. This has, and continues to, out-perform and outshine its price point! The only flaw on my particular model is that my tone arm lift doesn’t work, so I have to lift my needle manually every time. Since this was a floor model, and a blow-out price, I’m not crying about it.

I see a lot of questions online regarding good entry-level turntables, and I really have to give Pro-Ject my strongest recommendation for this. This particular model has been replaced, but there still is an entry model in their lineup. I wouldn’t hesitate to give it a spin, given what mine has done for me.

The Great Disappearing Act- Monitor Audio ASW Subwoofer

The Great Disappearing Act- Monitor Audio ASW Subwoofer

Over the years, I’ve had several subwoofers in my main system, with mixed results. My challenge has always been finding a sub that blends in with my Klipsch KLF30 towers. They’re wonderful fire-breathing monsters, very powerful and efficient speakers that can make them picky about everything. For the price point they were built in, I will argue them as one of the greatest speakers ever produced, especially for rock and roll.

I started with an Infinity 12”, whose amp died. That sub has found new life in another system as a passive sub, and actually does better than it ever did a powered unit. For quite a while, I ran my wonderful little Aura 8”, which will definitely be the subject of another article, as it is one of my favorite pieces of gear. That little guy keeps up with anything you throw at it, and still stays very musical.

About a year ago, I acquired a beautiful Velodyne sub, and I was very excited. I’d always wanted one. It was one of their more entry-level models, but it’s tough to go wrong with a Velodyne. In it went. Immediately, I had to make adjustments to my listening environment. I needed to put felt pads behind some of the pictures on the wall to cut down on their rattle! This thing literally shook the house. Now, there was definitely a sub in my system!

That’s not necessarily a good thing, though. To me, it was always there. Always. No matter what I did. It was nice, and it sounded very good, but it was always present, and it always let you know about it.

Then, one day, I happened upon a couple subs in my local garage sale site on the cheap. Seriously cheap. A Monitor Audio and a Canton subwoofer. I made arrangements to meet up with the guy in a grocery store parking lot that afternoon to make the exchange. The Canton looked rough, and the Monitor Audio looked pretty nice, and he assured me everything worked as promised. It’s always a risk, but I was willing. I got a good feeling about the guy, which lasted my whole trip home.

As a quick aside here, I will tell you this regarding buying things on garage sale sites like OfferUp, CraigsList, and all the others- trust your instincts. If you’re getting the feeling like you’re about to get burned, you’re about to get burned. Be careful. These are wonderful sources of finding the dream system you want, though, and you should tap them for everything they’re worth!

Anyhow, I got them home, cleaned them up, pulled the Velodyne out, and began my testing. First, the Canton. Oh, what an improvement already! It’s a much more musical sub, more subtle and linear than the Velodyne. I was excited, but I knew this wasn’t going to be my main sub.

The moment of truth was upon me.

In went the Monitor Audio. It needed very little adjustment to sit right it. I crossed it at 80 cycles, as I do with all of my subs. There is a switch on the back for selecting a movie or music mode. I started in the music mode. The magic was instant. *Poof* It was gone. Gone, as in there was suddenly no more omnipresent subwoofer. Instead, there was this incredible melding of the soundscape. It shook hands with my speakers, and decided to become one with my living room right away. I no longer had a sub. What I had was this amazing full range of sound that I had never had before. There were no peaks or valleys, no resonant tones, just music.

I immediately went for my test disc, Genesis’ “A Trick of the Tail.” That first big hit in “Dance On a Volcano” went through me in a way my system never had. There was a depth that went all the way to my front yard. And yet, no apparent subwoofer. The blend was astounding. It was impossible to tell where the four 12” woofers of the KLF30’s stopped, and the 10” of the ASW began.

So, up went the volume. Two tracks forward to “Squonk.” The bass line was moving, but never resonant or overwhelming. As the Klipsches brought out Phil’s descending drum run, the ASW kept right up. This is fun!

I only got about a minute into it before it was time for the real thing. I made sure the sub was exactly where I wanted it, reached over to the Sony ES, and skipped up to track 8. “Los Endos” is always my go-to for testing almost anything. This, especially for speakers, is what separates the men from the boys. Through my Yamaha RX-V757, I can drive my KLF-30’s to hit 118dB at the sofa without a hint of distortion. The Velodyne was always able to keep up with this task. Would the Monitor Audio? I was a little nervous.

I kept the grill off to monitor cone movement, ready to kill this experiment if it began to bottom out. Louder. Louder. Deeper into the song. As the song built towards the end, I went for it. The sub had found its new home, and I knew it was happy. The cone excursion was smooth and powerful, and the blend was still there. It was still one big soundscape in my living room. This was best my system had ever sounded!

Since then, I’ve tried it with movies too. Yes, I’ve engaged that “movie” switch. Ooooh, look out! Sci-fi heaven. The sub becomes a bit looser, a little more aggressive, and does take on more of a “Hi! I’m a subwoofer” kind of role. What a great thing to have. I’ve also tried about everything I can throw at it, musically, and I just continue to fall in love with it.

This begs the question then- what is it that you really want out of your subwoofer? What are these boom boxes really supposed to be doing for us? Yes, the explosions are nice, but if they compromise our musical listening experience, and don’t compliment our soundstage, then I have to question them. I’m just glad to know that there are some real alternatives for us audiophiles who do want or need a sub in our systems

If you have a chance to pick one of these up sometime, this gets my highest recommendation!