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11 Questions for Hi-Fi Enthusiasts.

The Questions
1. Name the first piece of gear that led you down the hi-fi rabbit hole?

Sony MDR-7506

2. Name the favorite piece of hi-fi equipment that you currently own.


DIY L0rdGwyn Aegis: this DIY amp injects very pleasing harmonic distortion to my headphones, keeping me smiling and engaged in music for hours

3. Name the product you bought that you regretted.


Sony MDR-7502 - just terrible

4. If you could only use one song to demo your stereo system, what would it be?


Dire Straits - You and Your Friend

5. If money were no issue, what is your perfect system?


There's no perfect system

6. If you had to choose one music format, what would it be?


FLAC

7. What's a stereo product that people love that you just don't understand?


Stickers and Rocks that are supposed to increase black background lol

8. What is your next upgrade?


Just more tube rolling for different distortion profiles on my tube amp

9. A piece of equipment that you've kept in your system for looks alone.


DIY L0rdGwyn Aegis with beautiful looking tubes

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10. The last piece of equipment that made you want to re-listen to your entire music collection.


Hifiman Susvara original

11. What is an accessory that has come out recently that you can't imagine living without?


My internet access. I stream only so having internet is a must for my music library
 
1. Name the first piece of gear that led you down the hi-fi rabbit hole?

I have to name the first three:
- My uncle's Grundig Fine Arts Stereo system with Transrotor Conoisseur turntable. Liked the sound and looks very much.
- T+A Criterion T 160 loudspeakers I just wanted to own at that time because I liked the sound whenever I auditioned them at a dealer at that time. Way out of my reach at that time - a dream.
- Cabasse Atlantis digital active loudspeakers I listened to at Frankfurt "High End" exhibition about 30 years ago. Never had such an emotional listening experience again. Dynamics, imaging, bass performance - incredible.


2. Name the favorite piece of hi-fi equipment that you currently own.
- I like all of my current equipment. However, it's more a rational relationship than an emotional one. When the music starts playing, I close my eyes and it gets emotional :)

3. Name the product you bought that you regretted.
- Some "high end" MIT loudspeaker cable I thought was urgently required to improve my listening experience when I was a student..
- And worst: I upgraded the power cable of my T+A CD player at that time as well...

4. If you could only use one song to demo your stereo system, what would it be?
- Dire Straits, You and Your Friend

5. If money were no issue, what is your perfect system?
- Some technically advanced loudspeaker system, active, cardioid dispersion, like Dutch&Dutch 8C, Geithain RL901K, GGNTKT M3 that also can be used in a "normal" room - non (heavy) treated, non symmetrical, also used as a living space...

6. If you had to choose one music format, what would it be?
-Digital, 48kHz /16Bit, FLAC

7. What's a stereo product that people love that you just don't understand?
- Everything that is less than I regard "adequate". Certainly bad mainstream bluetooth loudspeakers and bad mainstream earphones.

8. What is your next upgrade?
- New loudspeakers. See question 5.

9. A piece of equipment that you've kept in your system for looks alone.
- None. I love looks and style (gut feeling and I am a very visual guy), however, the rational part is stronger. So I live with ugly and boring looking RME and Neumann stuff no one but me can operate...

10. The last piece of equipment that made you want to re-listen to your entire music collection.
- I think that's a myth. If you have reached a certain level of fidelity, I think there is no such component that changes everything. However, small, right corrections in loudspeaker EQ can certainly make a difference between "technically correct but boring" and "emotional" listening experience. I prefer the latter.
- During covid, I bought my Audeze LXD-X and, with eq, this headphone certainly provides a really really nice listening experience with very good tactile bass, which is very important for me.

11. What is an accessory that has come out recently that you can't imagine living without?
- Room EQ for my RME UFX II (DSP capability with PEQs and delay per channel in general)
- Multi
Sub Optimizer and REW software - and a microphone
 
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Interesting way to spend a few minutes thinking about my hi-fi journey from my youth to the present day.

The Questions
1. Name the first piece of gear that led you down the hi-fi rabbit hole?
My dad's B&O system

2. Name the favorite piece of hi-fi equipment that you currently own.
Oppo BDP-105

3. Name the product you bought that you regretted.
A useless system from Technics


4. If you could only use one song to demo your stereo system, what would it be?

Probably a song from Muddy Waters - Folk Singer for sheer raw vocal power

5. If money were no issue, what is your perfect system?
I was blown away in a hi-fi show some years ago by a pair of Focal Sopra speakers powered by Mola Mola mono amps.


6. If you had to choose one music format, what would it be?
SACD


7. What's a stereo product that people love that you just don't understand?
Expensive cables


8. What is your next upgrade?
KEF LS50 Meta + integrated amp (undecided yet)

9. A piece of equipment that you've kept in your system for looks alone.
B&W M-1


10. The last piece of equipment that made you want to re-listen to your entire music collection.
Hopefully I'll get there soon with my next (and final) upgrade
:)
 
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The Questions
1. Name the first piece of gear that led you down the hi-fi rabbit hole?
As a kid, Dad's c.1960 Heathkit system with Garrad table, then at age fourteen hearing Sgt. Pepper's through my brother's Marantz 2230 and Koss Pro 4-AAs

2. Name the favorite piece of hi-fi equipment that you currently own.
Edit: A Ghentaudio aux cable fabricated from Canare L2B2AT covered in techflex (which I normally abhor) and Sennheiser plugs that I like so much I ordered another. P.S. : It’s interesting living in a time when sources and amps are now commodities and cables have become boutique items.

3. Name the product you bought that you regretted.
None

4. If you could only use one song to demo your stereo system, what would it be?
Edit: I don't demo, but when folks are over I try to offer music that suits the moment.

5. If money were no issue, what is your perfect system?
I don't think this way. Edit: For me a stereo is a source, an amp and a pair of speakers; if something needs to be replaced I’ll see what’s available and make my best choice.

6. If you had to choose one music format, what would it be?
Edit (misunderstood the question): I'm enjoying streaming files from my home library. It's so much better than anything previously available.

7. What's a stereo product that people love that you just don't understand?
Dedicated listening rooms. For me music is integral to everything else going on around.

8. What is your next upgrade?
I'd like to get walnut plank inserts for my wire shelving. I would paste wax them and felt the undersides.

9. A piece of equipment that you've kept in your system for looks alone.
That's not my motivation, although I wouldn't buy something that doesn't look good to me.

10. The last piece of equipment that made you want to re-listen to your entire music collection.
The music draws me in, not the equipment.

11. What is an accessory that has come out recently that you can't imagine living without?
N/A
 
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The Questions
1. Name the first piece of gear that led you down the hi-fi rabbit hole?
Polk Audio Monitor 10B

2. Name the favorite piece of hi-fi equipment that you currently own.

Source Loudspeaker Technologies' 7211 Reed Tower

3. Name the product you bought that you regretted.

Cheap Monoprice RCS cables

4. If you could only use one song to demo your stereo system, what would it be?

Papa Grows Funk's "Stanky"(live)

5. If money were no issue, what is your perfect system?

Dan D'Agostino's Relentless Preamplifier and a pair of Relentless Epic 1600 Mono amps, driving a pair of Diptyque Reference speakers.

6. If you had to choose one music format, what would it be?

Streamer.

7. What's a stereo product that people love that you just don't understand?


High end cables.

8. What is your next upgrade?


Speakers, most likely.

9. A piece of equipment that you've kept in your system for looks alone.


Nothing that I can think of.

10. The last piece of equipment that made you want to re-listen to your entire music collection.


My Cambridge MXN-10 streamer.

11. What is an accessory that has come out recently that you can't imagine living without?

My Cambridge MXN-10 streamer.
 
1. Name the first piece of gear that led you down the hi-fi rabbit hole?

The first iPod that I owned (iPod Classic 4th generation) circa 2003.

Not a "hi-fi" component per se, but it made me want to find earphones that were better than the stock buds and that is what started my path down the rabbit hole. I started in headphones first and then moved to speakers.

2. Name the favorite piece of hi-fi equipment that you currently own.

MoFi Sourcepoint 8

3. Name the product you bought that you regretted.

Quad S2 speakers. Very sibilant for me.

Jamo S803 speakers I bought early on in my journey. Trash. No midrange

4. If you could only use one song to demo your stereo system, what would it be?

kd Lang - Wash Me Clean

5. If money were no issue, what is your perfect system?

I don't have a lot of experience hearing expensive gear.

I like the look of Accuphase amplifiers and TAD speakers though so probably something from those brands and a HiFi Rose RS150B streamer.

6. If you had to choose one music format, what would it be?

FLAC/streaming for convenience, but if everything could be released in Reel to Reel format, I think that is the coolest :cool:

7. What's a stereo product that people love that you just don't understand?

Bowers and Wilkins speakers. I heard the B&W 800 D3 driven by McIntosh gear before and it was bright.

8. What is your next upgrade?

Better speaker stands for my MoFi SP8

9. A piece of equipment that you've kept in your system for looks alone.

Some inexpensive Chi-fi thick power cords with techflex style sleeving and big connectors.
I know they don't sound any better than regular PC power cords, but they look sick ;)

10. The last piece of equipment that made you want to re-listen to your entire music collection.

I picked up a Yamaha A-S501 amp second hand for cheap recently and it sounds good.

11. What is an accessory that has come out recently that you can't imagine living without?

My WiiM Pro streamer with room correction for Android.
The WiiM replaced a Squeezebox Touch I had used for over 10 years.
 
1. Name the first piece of gear that led you down the hi-fi rabbit hole?
A crystal set into a realistic mono amp and single speaker.

2. Name the favorite piece of hi-fi equipment that you currently own.
Nagra Jazz (preamp).

3. Name the product you bought that you regretted.
I usually go pretty slow, so the question does not really apply.

4. If you could only use one song to demo your stereo system, what would it be?
Either something piano, or just voice and generally sparse and acoustic… or something that is difficult.
Benjamin Clement, John Prine, Doug McLeod, or Radka Toneff… Joe Jackson’s “into the night” has an annoying bell that can be difficult depending upon the room, and can jump around.
Probably Doug McLeod’s song, “The New Panama Limited.”

5. If money were no issue, what is your perfect system?
I am pretty happy with my system as it is.

6. If you had to choose one music format, what would it be?
I still like LPs.

7. What's a stereo product that people love that you just don't understand?
Power conditioners, and power cables.

8. What is your next upgrade?
A rack, room treatment, and subs.

9. A piece of equipment that you've kept in your system for looks alone.
Nagra again, a passing WAF score.

10. The last piece of equipment that made you want to re-listen to your entire music collection.
A new cartridge

11. What is an accessory that has come out recently that you can't imagine living without?
An AVR/AVP was new (to me).
 
1. Name the first piece of gear that led you down the hi-fi rabbit hole?
Listening to Radio Luxemburg on my mom's Radionette Kurér :)
951px-Radionette_kurer_front.png


2. Name the favorite piece of hi-fi equipment that you currently own.
MiniDSP Flex. Have six of them.

3. Name the product you bought that you regretted.
Audio Note 300B amp kit. Just bad in any way imaginable.

4. If you could only use one song to demo your stereo system, what would it be?
Only one? Well - how about Gustav Mahler's 3rd symphony - Jascha Horenstein/LSO in 4-ch surround.

5. If money were no issue, what is your perfect system?
I already have it!

6. If you had to choose one music format, what would it be?
FLAC. Because it's an open format, has no DRC, is lossless, supports multichannel and a wide range of sample rates and bit depths.

7. What's a stereo product that people love that you just don't understand?
Anything related to cables or power conditioners

8. What is your next upgrade?
Apple TV 4k to stream music in Dolby Atmos

9. A piece of equipment that you've kept in your system for looks alone.
Magnepan 1.5 (in my secondary system)

10. The last piece of equipment that made you want to re-listen to your entire music collection.
That has never really happened to me..

11. What is an accessory that has come out recently that you can't imagine living without?
Wireless remote power switches
 
The Questions
1. Name the first piece of gear that led you down the hi-fi rabbit hole?
NAD 3020 amp c1983

2. Name the favorite piece of hi-fi equipment that you currently own.
Difficult one. So many dimensions to this. For their performance and design I’ll go with my Focal Kanta 1 speakers. But the game changer for my whole listening experience is Apple Music - because of the ease of access to a whole world of music. Prior to this era I had grown bored of my music collection and stopped listening.

3. Name the product you bought that you regretted.
Floor standers that were too big for the room

4. If you could only use one song to demo your stereo system, what would it be?
Draw Your Swords by Angus and Julia Stone

5. If money were no issue, what is your perfect system?
I’d keep the gear I’ve got (below) but I’d build a bespoke listening room.


My Hi-Fi chain:
Apple Music lossless > iPad mini 6 running IPadOS 17.6.1 > USB-C output > Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter to USB A > 4 metre USB A to USB B unbranded cable > RME ADI-2 DAC Fs v51 > QED Reference Audio 40 Phono to phono 0.5m long interconnects > Musical Fidelity M6S PRX type AB power amp > 2 metres per channel of ‘QED Original’ speaker cables clamped under binding posts at both ends > Focal Kanta no 1 stand mount speakers > ‘blue tac’ > lead filled Atacama Moseco XL500 speaker stands > spikes to floor.


6. If you had to choose one music format, what would it be?
Lossless streaming, because of its convenience but mainly because it has opened up a whole new world of music I never knew was out there when collecting physical media. Red book quality is good enough.

7. What's a stereo product that people love that you just don't understand?
Valve amps. Just never been there.

8. What is your next upgrade?

Happy with my kit because I think I’m at or past the point of diminishing returns. So it’s gonna have to be that bespoke listening room I mentioned!

9. A piece of equipment that you've kept in your system for looks alone.
Looks are way down on the priority for me, so nothing is owned on this basis alone.

10. The last piece of equipment that made you want to re-listen to your entire music collection.
Focal Kanta No 1 speakers.

11. What is an accessory that has come out recently that you can't imagine living without?
The AV dongle that connects my iPad to my DAC and affords bit perfect playback, without ever having a drop out.
 
1. Name the first piece of gear that led you down the hi-fi rabbit hole?

Adcom GFA-555

2. Name the favorite piece of hi-fi equipment that you currently own.

KEF R3 Meta

3. Name the product you bought that you regretted.

Wyred 4 Sound Remedy Reclocker (please don't hate me)

4. If you could only use one song to demo your stereo system, what would it be?

Majesty (Live) - Madrugada

5. If money were no issue, what is your perfect system?

I have no idea, but I'm sure it would be expensive.

6. If you had to choose one music format, what would it be?

CD (or streaming)

7. What's a stereo product that people love that you just don't understand?

Tubes. I've heard 'em, they're ok, but not my jam. I totally do not understand the obsession.

8. What is your next upgrade?

???

9. A piece of equipment that you've kept in your system for looks alone.

N/A

10. The last piece of equipment that made you want to re-listen to your entire music collection.

KEF R3 Meta

11. What is an accessory that has come out recently that you can't imagine living without?

Network Streamer
 
1. Name the first piece of gear that led you down the hi-fi rabbit hole?

- Dad's Technics stack.

2. Name the favorite piece of hi-fi equipment that you currently own.

- Sennheiser True Wireless IV

3. Name the product you bought that you regretted.

- Avi DM5, Avi DM10, Avi DM12.


4. If you could only use one song to demo your stereo system, what would it be?

- Melanie de Biasio - I feel you

5. If money were no issue, what is your perfect system?

- Sennheiser HE-1

6. If you had to choose one music format, what would it be?

- Flac 16/44.1

7. What's a stereo product that people love that you just don't understand?

- Cables


8. What is your next upgrade?

- Audeze headphones.

9. A piece of equipment that you've kept in your system for looks alone.

- Nothing

10. The last piece of equipment that made you want to re-listen to your entire music collection?

- Neumann KH150

11. What is an accessory that has come out recently that you can't imagine living without?

- Wireless, noise-cancelling headphones.
 
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That's three! I had not heard of this brand before. What's the story? How come you bought all these and regretted them all?
They were a boutique UK brand that transitioned from making pretty good electronics into not so good active loudspeakers. They no longer exist since the owner retired some years ago now.
 
1. Name the first piece of gear that led you down the hi-fi rabbit hole?
-
Father's Technics setup and floorstanding speakers. He had them before I knew how to appreciate it, but I remember my music loving friends telling me how lucky I am and how much better I have it then any of them. Listening to their small, cheap tape recorders made me realize how much better a sound can be with proper equipment.

2. Name the favorite piece of hi-fi equipment that you currently own.
-
Most certainly my LS50 Meta.

3. Name the product you bought that you regretted.
-
There was this Philips DVD/CD player I bough new, but it didn't even last its guarantee. Tray wouldn't open / wouldn't close.

4. If you could only use one song to demo your stereo system, what would it be?
-
It's You and Your Friend by Straits (I have a need to point out I'm not a Straits fan, but it's a good song for demoing)

5. If money were no issue, what is your perfect system?
-
I'd love to have an Accuphase amp. I'd go for the strongest integrated amp they have with all the modules (phono and DAC). I would leave my late father's turntable as a memory of him and would go for the most expensive Paradigm, Revel or KEF bookshelves. I would add subs... Probably 2 x KEF KC92 for the looks+performance.

6. If you had to choose one music format, what would it be?
-
CD is absolutely the best format so far. I prefer FLAC RedBook files on my home server NAS bc I don't want to get up and swap CDs, but it's still the same format.

7. What's a stereo product that people love that you just don't understand?
-
Well, I don't consider snake oil to be 'stereo' and that's the only reason why I'll skip those. So, tube amps.

8. What is your next upgrade?
-
A unit that combines DSP with streaming and a sub.

9. A piece of equipment that you've kept in your system for looks alone.
-
On my father's turntable, I mounted a red headshell. This is for looks alone:
1736687389038.png

10. The last piece of equipment that made you want to re-listen to your entire music collection.

- I did that when a swapped LS50 for LS50 Meta

11. What is an accessory that has come out recently that you can't imagine living without?
-
If we can consider NAS an accessory (as in an accessory to the system), I'd say NAS.
 
The Questions
1. Name the first piece of gear that led you down the hi-fi rabbit hole?

I grew up listening to Casey Kasem's Top 40 count down weekly to my father's stereo. McIntosh C28, MR78, MC275, Linn LP12 mounted in a beautiful all walnut J.B.Lansing cabinet, with ML-1C speakers. Sadly, the MC275 and Linn are lost to time.

2. Name the favorite piece of hi-fi equipment that you currently own.


Focal Sopra 3.

3. Name the product you bought that you regretted.

Does source material count? There's been countless albums I've bought only to be very disappointed with upon the first listening.

4. If you could only use one song to demo your stereo system, what would it be?

"Shine on You Crazy Diamond" by Pink Floyd. I was fascinated by it as a young boy, and still am.

5. If money were no issue, what is your perfect system?


Money no issue? A simple AM clock radio in my newly purchased Wiener Staatsoper Oprah Hall will suit be rather nicely.

6. If you had to choose one music format, what would it be?

The quality of the recording and mastering matters more to me.
Redbook CD or .wav is perfectly fine for me when done correctly.

7. What's a stereo product that people love that you just don't understand?


Non-full range systems

8. What is your next upgrade?

4+ new passive subwoofers

9. A piece of equipment that you've kept in your system for looks alone.

A vintage Nixie clock that was given to me by my uncle as a teenager. Wish I kept the original tubes.

10. The last piece of equipment that made you want to re-listen to your entire music collection.

MiniDSP Flex HTx
Still learning it.

11. What is an accessory that has come out recently that you can't imagine living without?


iPhone/Airplay The ability to take my music pretty much anywhere with seamless transitions.
 
3. I bought most things at garage and estate sales and regret nothing. Not even the stuff that never worked.
Regret is perhaps too strong of a word. Maybe "did not live up to expectations?"
4. Am I the only person that listens at low to moderate levels? I listen to pianos a lot. Recently I encountered a piece that extensively used the lowest notes. It that sounds like a piano, the bass is okay.
I tend to critically listen at lower volumes only with headphones in the dark. Mostly so outside noises won't break the audio illusion.
 
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