View Full Version : What was the best sounding system you've ever heard?
Sarchi
04-13-2006, 03:32 PM
Really I just need to get to 100 posts (I think) so that 'junior' thing goes away. :D
I've heard a lot of impressive systems myself...I'll have to give this one some thought.
Remember: this is about ability to play music in an engaging and convincing way. It doesn't matter what the system was, how much it was worth or what it looked like. It could be a little tube amp and a pair of headphones, or whatever.
Jamie Tate
04-13-2006, 03:37 PM
teaser5
04-13-2006, 03:42 PM
It's still Ben's...
Peace-
Norm
Vinyl-Addict
04-13-2006, 03:52 PM
It's still Ben's...
Peace-
Norm
Who, that Ben Dover guy? ;)
Metralla
04-13-2006, 05:35 PM
When I think back to the best systems I've heard, what I'm really remembering is the best room. It's that which makes a good system truly great.
Steve Hoffman
04-13-2006, 05:37 PM
Allen Sides' playback system at Ocean Way (United/Western) Studio 1 control room, around 1983. Wall of Marantz 9's, awesome sounding playback.
It was a system comprised of Mark Levinson Amps/preamp (I know nobody that can afford this stuff, by the way - except my Wife's Boss!!! :laugh: ), Mirage M1 Speakers, Accuphase CD Player, and Linn Sondek table.
This was in 1989. It costs about $45,000. And; the speaker cables, I think, were really, really, over-the-top expensive!
Sometimes; I have to wonder.......
Vinyl-Addict
04-13-2006, 05:45 PM
When I think back to the best systems I've heard, what I'm really remembering is the best room. It's that which makes a good system truly great.
:righton:
:righton:
Yeah! The room! That must be why my Sony System still kicks butt after 15+ years!!! :eek: :righton: :eek: :D
Cornholio
04-13-2006, 05:53 PM
B&W 800 speakers connected to all Meredian equipment (pre, amp and cd). I'd never really been impressed with Meredian equipment before but after hearing that system I came away a believer.
MikeyH
04-13-2006, 05:58 PM
At an audio show, actually.. there was a prototype multi-amp system from Russ Andrews, with customised Nytech amplifiers that were never produced, a current Linn turntable and the very able Isobarik PMS (Professional Monitor Speaker). Not ear shatteringly loud, but teased out microdynamics and space from everything played - even Ry Cooder's "Trouble - You Can't Fool Me" with every vocal line clearly spaced out. Everyone was entranced.
Of course that was 30 years ago.
Of course, we all know the 'room' is very important! :righton:
vinyl anachronist
04-13-2006, 06:27 PM
I feel extraordinarily lucky that the answer to this question is "the one in my listening room right now."
I feel extraordinarily lucky that the answer to this question is "the one in my listening room right now."
Okay. Whatcha got? :)
vinyl anachronist
04-13-2006, 07:31 PM
Okay. Whatcha got? :)
Check my profile!
Sarchi
04-13-2006, 07:46 PM
Allen Sides' playback system at Ocean Way (United/Western) Studio 1 control room, around 1983. Wall of Marantz 9's, awesome sounding playback.
Hey, no fair. You're listening to the master tapes on a big *** Revox, the rest of us are, well, chopped liver.
Steve's disqualified from this thread! :D
fjhuerta
04-13-2006, 07:56 PM
Margules Audio tube amps & pre-amps, Martin-Logan Aerius speakers, Rotel CD player.
I have never heard anything like it. Sadly, I never have ever since then.
Pinknik
04-13-2006, 08:02 PM
I don't think I've heard it all come together yet, at least not the way I imagine it in my head. My granddad's old system had a magic midrange, the speakers disappeared on a Martin Logan demo I saw, a Genesis speaker set up had a little depth of soundstage, and my system on occasion seems to pack a goodly bass/transient wallop. Now, if I could get those components in one system, I might enjoy that system for a good while. As it stands right now though, my own system is edging closer to what I enjoy, compared to some very expensive systems I've heard (albeit under less than ideal setup situations).
Dan C
04-13-2006, 08:21 PM
http://www.mastermix.com/facility
Click on Mastering One.
Says they have 'No-Noise' available in that room. I'm assuming that you had it in the 'off' position. :D
I've seen Hank's credit on a lot of country CDs. The guy's busy!
dan c
coopmv
04-13-2006, 08:35 PM
Really I just need to get to 100 posts (I think) so that 'junior' thing goes away. :D
I've heard a lot of impressive systems myself...I'll have to give this one some thought.
Remember: this is about ability to play music in an engaging and convincing way. It doesn't matter what the system was, how much it was worth or what it looked like. It could be a little tube amp and a pair of headphones, or whatever.
Does it take 1000 posts to become a senior member?
I think with this huge proliferation of HT systems, it is much harder to audition what one may consider the ultimate sound system since most audio shops no longer bother with the two-channel setups.
Steve Hoffman
04-13-2006, 08:36 PM
I've seen Hank's credit on a lot of country CDs. The guy's busy!
dan c
And he wrote some damn good songs as well.
mtodde
04-13-2006, 08:43 PM
I feel extraordinarily lucky that the answer to this question is "the one in my listening room right now."
We should all feel that way!
How do you like your Zu Druids & cables?
I've been using their cables for a couple of years now and find them to be a great value.
Sarchi
04-13-2006, 08:52 PM
Room makes a difference, but one of the best listening experiences I ever had was in a dank dungy little audio workshop/storefront in Asia, concrete floors and walls, components and sundry chassis piled up everywhere, it looked more like an auto garage than a hi-fi place...a sonic disaster. We listened to a Stones CD on a 3-watt SET 2A3 kit amp and a pair of Altec 604-8G's mounted on open baffles, and I still swear to God that Charlie Watts was about to lunge forward another 5 feet and strangle me with his drumsticks! :D (his sweat was drenching us...really gross being in the front row sometimes)
Not an "accurate" system by any means, but a great sound and one of my most vivid audio memories. Sometimes 'realism' just has to equal the kick in the gut you feel at a concert or club, I experienced that another time with the sound system on a catamaran boat in Barbados, of all places. (and I wasn't drunk)
Ron Stone
04-13-2006, 08:58 PM
A system featuring top-of-the-line VMPS speakers with separate subwoofers, powered by an unimposing, rack-mounted Soundcraftsman front end. All four speakers were so large I didn't recognize them as speakers at first.
Non-intuitvely, the system threw out a very refined, delicate sound that was holographic in its detail and finesse. The system could rock the foundations of the house and probably the neighborhood, of course, but the owner favored classical music and classic pop singing, so imaging and detail were paramount.
MisterBritt
04-13-2006, 09:18 PM
Gosh, I hesitate to post this because I don't know the brand name of the speakers.
I stopped in a shop about 10 years ago, when I lived in Chicago, and they played Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Little Wing" on a pair of speakers -- I do remember they listed for $65 grand -- that looked like something from outer-space.
No cabinets, they radiated in 360 degrees, and looked like bloated aluminum paneled vertical zeppelins. I think they kind of "pumped," like a heart. Yesterday at Borders I happened to glance at an "Absolute Sound" magazine and they had an advertisement for a pair that looked like the ones I saw and heard. (Sorry if this sounds more like a UFO sighting.)
One thing that was unusual, though, was that someone had speakers in this environment -- a retail shop -- that sounded great. That's got to be the worse environments to listen to anything.
As an aside, the most awesome at home with the Mc's and B&Ws has probably been Mahalia Jackson singing "Summertime."
vBulletin® v3.7.2, Copyright ©2000-2012, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.