Yay!!! Let's talk audio! I must say I am so impressed with Magnepan sound. I got a pair of the MMG's and loved them. I used a Sony XA20ES CD player and used it's pre-out straight into a pair of Marantz MA500 monoblocks. I was a student and got the gear used, and having spent about $1200 total, it sounded damn good for the price. I sold the Maggies when I moved into a *very* small studio in the upper west side. Dumb mistake. I've had this nice CD player and wonderful monoblocks sitting around since then, gathering dust... total waste. edit: (more about the Maggies) For the money the MMGs produce wonderful highs and imaging. People criticize the lack of bass, but what bass they do produce is tight and not woofy or boomy at all. Their one weakness is they are very directional- you have to get them pointed at one 'sweet spot.' Outside that spot, the sound will change. But in the sweet spot, it's awesome. I've done my share of stereo & home theater installations to help me get through school and survive some of the years after- the most high-end place I worked was at Innovative Audio/Video in New York. (Basso- I know you're familiar with them.) I have to say so far that that the combination of Spectral amplification with the Wilson Watt Puppies is the single greatest audio I have heard to date. Alarmingly real. Of course, that equipment will cost you around $35-$40,000, and that's before you by a source and cables.
thegary, Basso- I'm very curious how you guys have set up your music servers. I'm saving up to start my own, and can't wait- there's no question in my mind that this is the way to go. Personally, I want a system that operates independently of any computer being turned on and functioning. I don't trust a computer to go for weeks/months without being shut off/restarted, and I don't want to deal with fan noise. I'd like to sit down at any time and not wonder if the computer is turned on so I can hear my music. With that in mind, I'm considering buying a Squeezebox (I've read up on it and seen one up close, very very impressed) and a NAS server which would run slimserver on board and not need any computer to make it work together. (side note- Basso, you use a Mac as your server, right? How is that? Is the computer quiet, or in a different room? I don't know if I want to be locked into Apples' codec and Itunes- will Itunes allow you to organize your music the way you want? Do you keep the computer on 24/7?) Any thoughts and recommendations welcome.
Alright, one more thought/question. Having auditioned several low-mid end pro audio monitors, I must say that almost universally they completely trump consumer bookshelf speakers audio dollar for dollar. I haven't heard any consumer bookshelf speaker pair for $1000 that could compete with a pair of similarly priced powered pro-audio monitors. Has anyone else had this experience? I've found that $300-$500 bucks spent at Guitar Center will get you a pair of simple powered studio monitors that will beat the heck out of any similarly priced consumer bookshelf pair- and you don't have to spend money on amplification! However- I've noticed from almost all the studio monitors I've auditioned that they do not perform well off-axis. They have a single sweet spot, and if you wander out of it, you don't get the best sound the monitors can give. This makes sense in a professional setting- the engineer sits in one place and does his work. Can anyone with knowledge or experience confirm that this is mostly the case for pro monitors in general? I'd really like to get a pair because of the value, but am annoyed by speakers that have one sweet spot.
Nolen, Pro gear is one of the greatest deals in audio, as long as you don't care too much about aesthetics. I reckon these recording engineers demand nothing more than the most accurate sound they can buy. I do remember very fondly a listening session at a friend's studio that involved a QSC amp and some small horn loaded monitors. Also, I noticed another poster is using a Crown amp for home use. Those Crown's are truly some workhorses, I would be interested to hear one in my listening space. As far as the Maggies go, I am hooked. The only other speaker I would trade them for would be one of the big Soundlabs. I just dig the planar sound. You get the imaging, coherence and soundstage that you can't get out of a similarly priced dynamic/box speaker. Now as far as the squeezebox goes, I would definitelty recommend one. The integrated Burr-Brown DAC sounds great, and you can add an external DAC later too (got my eye on the Monarchy DAC). You will also enjoy the Wi-Fi feature as you can take it into any room. One more thing: How do the Marantz MA500 monos compare to the classic Marantz two martini sound? The only Marantz I am familiar with is the 70's warm and fuzzy tone.
Not much of an audio-expert, but I did just get a pair of these from Sennheiser: I live half a mile away from Time Square, so I figured some decent noise-cancelling headphones is a good investment.
Nolen, FYI : I'm looking into setting up a media server at the moment. I already have a NAS (a ReadyNAS made by Infrant). Unfortunately for me, Slim Devices doesn't make a media streamer for video like the Squeezebox is for audio. I've heard of people using the ReadyNAS NV (and now the newer NV+ model - which I think is a rip-off as it's not much of any improvement over the NV, but costs more) as a music server and I think they used a Squeezebox. One thing I don't like about the ReadyNAS is that its fan is a bit noisy. They've quieted it down in more recent iterations of the product, so maybe it's a lot quieter now. You can replace the fan if you want by opening up the box. It won't bother me because if I set up a media server using mine, it will be in a separate room. FYI : I'm also looking into the Netgear EVA8000 and a few others as a media streamer (mp3, pictures, video, etc.). Also on my list is the XBox 360.
I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the older gear to make a comparison. All I can say is that it's not warm and fuzzy. I didn't run other amps on my home gear, so I'm reluctant to say what the MA500s contributed when I think the Maggies are responsible for most of the sound quality. Did you ever hear any studio monitors that sounded good out of the sweet spot?
Dr- thanks for the advice. The ReadyNAS is one of the products I'm looking at, and I really don't want to deal with fan noise. I've had a noisy laptop for years and I'm sick of it. There are numerous aftermarket 'quiet' fans out there and I'd look into that- but do hard drives really get so hot they need a fan? Isn't there a fanless enclosure on one of these? I notice a lot of people are using Xbox 360s as media servers and extenders- are they very capable as that?
It's not just the hard drives - the power supply had a fan on it, too. I say "had" because I think the newer NV+ and revision B of the NV have a fanless power supply. As for whether or not they can survive without the other fan, I'm not sure, but I don't want to risk it. It's a very cramped space if you're using 4 hard drives. I know Infrant has posted instructions for reversing the fan's airflow to lower the noise, so that may help, too. As for the unit itself, it's been stable as hell for me and their support forum has people that are pretty responsive to questions. I just need to find a media server that can access it now... several can, but I don't know which is the best solution yet.
Just noticed Infrant came out with this (noiseless/fanless media server) : http://www.infrant.com/products/products_details.php?name=Repertoire *EDIT* : Oooh crap. Just saw the price for that thing. The 3 TB model that comes with 4 750 GB HD's runs upwards of $5000. And all it's got over the NV/NV+ is the form-factor and is quiet... and of course the 750 GB drives that come with it. That's still quite a bit for something that doesn't do anything more than an NV/NV+ can do.
i should add that i didn't mean to critisize the nuforce amps- i've never heard them! but i'm very intrigued by them- most of the time i love how my system sounds, but it's a little unwieldy from a switching standpoint- i have a cheap a/v receiver plugged into one input on the MF, which i use for video. it works, but i'm the only one in the hose that can reliably figure it out!
Nolen- i forgot you have hifi hut experience! i have some thought about media servers in general- i'll outline a bit later. the company i work for now licenses technnology that makes mannaginng digital music collections easier.
i got that you were just curious. audiophilia is a world full of nutjobs. look at this review of the nuforce: http://www.stereotimes.com/commRN040107.shtml on the other hand, i've read people dismissing the amps outright as nothing but "car stereo amps." i think the best way to go is to build as you go and pair things intelligently. as i said earlier my system is a compromise. the more you want your system to do, the more you have to compromise. i'm fine with that. i use the mac mini as my dvd player as well. i've got the blue tooth mouse and keyboard and i'm kicked back on my couch typing this, listening to hank williams, and about to switch over to the bball game. i can't stress to you how lazy i am and i want switching to be as painless as possible. the avp-16 has tons of inputs and outputs, that is the key. the other thing is that i am wedded to macintosh, i have three of them at home. this computer is slaved to my audiovisual system and everything is on 24/7. haven't tried it yet but they've got the new apple tv and the phone coming out soon and i'll prolly get both. they are trying to corner the lifestyle market and i'm gonna let them. i'm down with an integrated media setup. i can access my music lbrary anywhere i have another mac. i think going with a computer based sojurce is best because it will grow with you. updating software is more or less automatic. as far as noise goes, the mac mini is virtually silent in comparison to a G5 desktop. hell, i live in brooklyn, not a vacuum. i'm not gonna get bent about a little noise.
I had them for about a week before I bi-wired them and it had a very dramatic difference. You won't believe your ears. Though I thought they sounded great before before bi-wiring as well.
I want to hear all about it! By the way, I want to invite you to some cool concerts I'm singing in here in NY next weekend- if I email you via the BBS, will it reach you?
yeah, it should- shoot me something- i'd love to hear what you're up to. you're still on the west side? we've probably bumped into each other, literally, at fairway.
