Realising Hi-Fi obsolescence – very sad

[Silent1]

The suggestions that CDs are the pinnacle of music quality is hilarious, not only do they record a narrower range of sounds than most other media they're also susceptible to the money spent on producing them, take a Michael Jackson album or James blunt and compare it to almost any other cd and you will hear the difference there.

[chris watton]

Silent1 said:

The suggestions that CDs are the pinnacle of music quality is hilarious, not only do they record a narrower range of sounds than most other media they're also susceptible to the money spent on producing them, take a Michael Jackson album or James blunt and compare it to almost any other cd and you will hear the difference there.

I always felt that vinyl produced a 'punchier' sound - especially noticable with reggae tracks - or was it just my imagination? I am thinking of getting a turntable and hooking it up to my amp, and buying a couple of LP's, to see if that's the case.....

[PaulHogan]

[WhoseGeneration]

FarmyardPants said:

Perfectly normal, OP. It's just nostalgia The idea that something that was so cutting edge/aspirational can be rendered obsolete even though it hasn't changed (still works) is enough to give anyone a pang. The world has moved on and so should you, unless you want to be known as the local fuddy duddy. Sad but true. And it only gets worse as you get older (I imagine).

PS the key to surviving these episodes is to make a conscious effort to decide ahead of time which things you will keep and which you will let go. Hopefully the keepers will be small and easy to store. So says the man with a pinball machine in his garage, lol.

Edited by FarmyardPants on Thursday 18th August 15:11

Except and to widen the discussion, most adore "classics", in whatever field.
There is too the problem of archiving and the fact that recent recording media can mean that valuable information becomes lost to the future because "hard" copies no longer exist.

[telecat]

Crackie said:

telecat said:

The Impulse Speakers are very sought after. I have the H6/Lali and they are an awesome listen. I'm Surprised you used a Cyrus Amp though most Impulse speakers are on Valve systems and H2's are usually paired with Single Ended Triode amps.

Understood regarding valve amps . I've measured the Impulse's and valve amps work with the H2's tricky load to help flatten their response. Really beefy Solid state amps that work well into low impedances don't suit them; I've made some small mods to the crossovers on mine to compensate. The original Kevlar Focal tweeters have been changed to titanium versions as well

Edited by Crackie on Friday 19th August 10:53

Is that the same mod as is on the Acoustica Website?? My Lali's seem to be okay at the moment so they are on the original Tweeters and a lovely sound it is too. I use an AI 500 to drive them and just don't want to lose that cosseting effect. Still at least the designer still does Horn speakers which is a place to go when the Lali's do give up.

As for CD being the "pinnacle" of sound. I doubt many believe that. Vinyl has a better overall balance with limitations and both stuff any MP3 variation. CD though does have some very good recordings and with good "KIT" to replay it is a very good listen. I love listening to "hi band" digital though. It creates it's own problems but well done is awesome.

Edited by telecat on Saturday 20th August 00:26

[Crackie]

telecat said:

Crackie said:

telecat said:

The Impulse Speakers are very sought after. I have the H6/Lali and they are an awesome listen. I'm Surprised you used a Cyrus Amp though most Impulse speakers are on Valve systems and H2's are usually paired with Single Ended Triode amps.

Understood regarding valve amps . I've measured the Impulse's and valve amps work with the H2's tricky load to help flatten their response. Really beefy Solid state amps that work well into low impedances don't suit them; I've made some small mods to the crossovers on mine to compensate. The original Kevlar Focal tweeters have been changed to titanium versions as well

Is that the same mod as is on the Acoustica Website??

I've just checked the website and that mod is very similar to the one I made. The original crossover/tweeter impedance goes very very low at the top end and is the reason the Impulses suit valve amps so well; most valve amps can't supply the current required even using their 4 ohm output tappings. SS amps that can sink current into the tricky load sound too bright without the crossover mod. This was a concern with the kevlar tweeters and was exaggerated further with the later titanium tweeters which are more efficient the originals.

Edited by Crackie on Tuesday 23 August 09:46

[Ironballs]

I've pruned out the tuner and tape deck over the years (and got knack all for them on fleabay) to leave me with CD player and amp, my trusty Marantz CD63SE and PM66SE. Wired up with some ridiculous overpriced cables and speaker wire (massive flat copper things, can't remember what they're called but they ran the amp close on purchase price for gods sake) running through Acoustic Energy AE 109s.

Still capable of extracting all the detail and blowing your socks off at the same time. You'd have to prise that set up from my cold dead fingers to make me part company with it