How many of you guys never hear a system other than your own?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Vinny123, Aug 25, 2019.

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  1. Vinny123

    Vinny123 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Florida
    In about 40 years I’ve never had the opportunity to hear a hi fi system other than my own. I live quite a long distance from any audio stores so I always buy online so I’m not auditioning. I wouldn’t mind hearing how my stuff compares to similarly priced gear. I’m very pleased w my sound but honestly, I don’t even know anybody w anything resembling a real stereo system. I guess it really doesn’t matter but it would be cool to hear other systems. Next audio show within a reasonable distance, I need to attend.
     
  2. Litejazz53

    Litejazz53 Perfect Sound Through Crystal Clear Digital

    I joined this new Audiophile club here in Nashville, it's called single Audiophile women of Tennessee. I;m sure there are similar organizations in all the larger cities, I seem to remember Real Audiophile women of Atlanta. We go over to their homes, first Friday of each month, we enjoy a 4 course dinner and after desert we retire to the various listening rooms, everyone brings a guest they have met, a great sampling of music, some nicely mastered tapes, some high quality vinyl, the finest mastered SACDs and sometimes the headphones are set up for private listening. It's been a real EYE OPENER for everyone, beautifully recorded music and wonderful company. Wait a moment, I just woke up, I was dreaming.:doh:
     
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2019
  3. Vinny123

    Vinny123 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Florida
    Now that’s funny! I know several real music lovers but they’re listening through their phones into little powered speakers. That was a good dream you had though.
     
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  4. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    I've heard more than I can remember.

    You should try to make this,
    Florida Audio Expo 2020, Feb. 7-9 - 2nd Annual
    Embassy Suites by Hilton Airport Westshore
    555 North Westshore Boulevard
    Tampa, FL 33609

    I tried to post a direct link for you, but I couldn't get their site to open.




     
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  5. Vinny123

    Vinny123 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Florida
    Thanks! I’m there. I couldn’t get their site to open either.
     
  6. pdxway

    pdxway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oregon, USA
    I have one friend that is true audiophile. So I am pretty lucky. Just went to his place yesterday and listened to vinyls played through a professional designed and installed Atmos setup. Truly incredible how recordings from 40 to 60 years ago can sound so good! This is just one of his several setups!
     
    Last edited: Aug 26, 2019
    The FRiNgE and Vinny123 like this.
  7. dunnoguit

    dunnoguit Forum Resident

    Location:
    Earth Planet
    I’ve heard a few systems that were multiple times more expensive than mine. Though some of them were superior in some aspects but I’ve never been overwhelmed.
     
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  8. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff

    I hear other systems more than my own.
     
  9. The FRiNgE

    The FRiNgE Forum Resident

    How time flies by.. Decades ago, stereo shops flourished here in the Hudson Valley. I would at my leisure stop in, and everyone was accommodating, enjoying hours sometimes in a listening room. Hi Fi expos are not especially convenient, and can be noisy.. very sadly not the place to audition stereo gear. I attended an expo in NY back in the 90's, at the Waldorf, private suites, only this one event that I know of... It is sad the expos can not be more conducive to listening such as the Waldorf, and more common and convenient to people here on the east coast.

    Just tonight, I was having coffee at Dunkin with an audiophile friend, as we talked about music and gear, and our former local shops, Sound Odessey, Stereo Magic, Dutchess Audio, New Paltz Audio, Arnee Audio, Lafayette Radio & Electronics. Lafayette did have a listening room of Pioneer, AR, Sony, and their proprietary brand. So many of the famous vintage brands were locally in stock, Marantz, Pioneer, Phase Linear, Ohm, Magnepan, Apogee, Dahlquist, Acoustat, KEF (with oval woofers) Sansui, AR, Sota, Garrard, Thorens, McIntosh, Tandberg, Luxman....
     
    Last edited: Aug 26, 2019
  10. Steve0

    Steve0 Audio Banana

    Location:
    australia
    I have a bud local to me thats in it neck deep, and it was him that got me into the black stuff by selling me his Thorens 124 to avoid divorce.

    We try to catch up when we can and check out each others recent upgrades. I feel blessed to have someone close by who shares the passion like I do and has exceptional musical taste as well.
     
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  11. Dellarigg

    Dellarigg Forum Resident

    I know one person who has a better system than me, but I've never heard it. Everyone else I know listens on sheer rubbish. Lucky if it's at the level of £20 speakers plugged into a laptop.
     
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  12. Wombat Reynolds

    Wombat Reynolds Jimmy Page stole all my best riffs.

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA, USA
    almost never, I have one friend who collects vintage gear and has two rooms full of stuff and sometimes I go over there and we play around with a lot of it.

    but thats it. He is really the only person I know who sits and listens to albums for enjoyment.
     
  13. Subagent

    Subagent down the rabbit hole, they argue over esoterica

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
    I wouldn't say never. But it's not an everyday thing. Or even an every month thing. Every few months I hear a different system. Mostly at my local dealer's or at the home of friend here in the area. I know that I could join a local club, but honestly I have trouble blocking out more time than what I already give nightly to listening. Plus I spend a fair amount of time out of town. And I'm a curmudgeon with a strong hermitical streak. Pity my wife.
     
  14. Tim Irvine

    Tim Irvine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin, Texas
    It’s been ages, like twenty years or more. One guy had a professionally created listening room with big B & Ws, McIntosh components, etc. He was into opera but also played some Stones CDs. Another guy had big Maggies and, again, McIntosh components and played CDs but also a rather mediocre turntable and cart. It was set up in his living room and the speakers were practically in the middle of the room. He liked rock, roots, and blues. I have to say that neither one is remembered as an OMG experience. I wish I had more (any) opportunity to hear well put together systems with smaller speakers like various BBC or AN, preferably with nice integrated and a good turntable and MC, playing classical and jazz.
     
  15. Doctor Fine

    Doctor Fine "So Hip It Would Blister Your Brain"

    I have lots of friends with stupid amounts of money thrown at their systems.
    I have been over to the homes of some of the most famous audio designers in the US and abroad.
    I usually hear how 'expensive" their components are.
    But none of their sets sound "alive" like mine does after tuning it for decades.
    This has convinced me of the importance of setup.
    I mean my $40,000 system is scary real sounding compared to a well over a million dollar setup I heard at a famous designers home (and he was so PROUD of his set!).
    The top high end salesman in Manhattan visited my house and jumped out of his chair when my set played for him.
    "My GOD you really like things to sound REAL---don't you?" he exclaimed.
    "this imaging is way beyond SOLID---I can SEE the players!"
    Yup.
    It ain't the GEAR---it's the GUY.
    My two cents.
     
    timind likes this.
  16. Litejazz53

    Litejazz53 Perfect Sound Through Crystal Clear Digital

    Oh my gosh, the Waldorf, I believe it was in May, I remember you being there! I was right there with you, listening to those Vandersteen V's and those Aerial 10Ts! And did you walk right out the front door to the right, on the corner and eat some of those New York hot dogs from the vendor with his little cart, I think they were $2.00 each? The only audio show I have ever attended, and it was GREAT, however I have regretted not taking the time to walk through Central Park! I so remember that magnificent entrance to the Waldorf and those rooms that looked to be 100 years old, no 130 years old!

    STEREOPHILE'S `HI-FI '96' A CONSUMER EXTRAVAGANZA
     
  17. vinylontubes

    vinylontubes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Katy, TX
    It's not web site (meaning no www. prefix.)
    floridaaudioexpo.com
     
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  18. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    I only know two people with a real system (whatever that is) now.
     
  19. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    It's been 10 years since Circuit City closed locally, so 10 years.
     
  20. NettleBed

    NettleBed Forum Transient

    Location:
    new york city
    I used to, back when many people had them.

    These days I only hear gear other than mine in stores.
     
  21. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    I've heard many systems thankfully...
     
  22. classicrocker

    classicrocker Life is good!

    Location:
    Worcester, MA, USA
    These days I have no chance to hear other systems than my own. None of my friends or colleagues care about sound systems and can't understand my fascination with vinyl. They all listen to lossy streaming music these days. They just can't conceive of the effort to maintain and take the time to sit and listen to an old LP. Too much work for them.

    One of my work colleagues heard I was into vinyl and he mentioned he was considering getting turntable. When he asked me how much my 1210GR cost he almost fell off his chair when I told him as he was talking spending about $200. I gave him some suggestions on entry-level tables that fit his budget.

    Last time I actually went to listen to quality systems was back in the 80's when a friend (RIP) was putting together a stereo system. We spent several days touring the high-end audio stores in the Danbury CT area trying out systems for hours on end. Was a lot of fun back in the day.
     
    Last edited: Aug 26, 2019
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  23. Upstateaudio

    Upstateaudio Senior Member

    Location:
    Niskayuna, NY
    S
    Arnee' Audio in Wappingers and Carston Audio/Video in Danbury, CT was my gateway to audiophilia. I lived in Brewster then Fishkill/Beacon from 1980-82. The audio hobby has since long withered. I have only one friend nearby who has a audiophile system. We both listen to our systems on occasion and fuss with them, with occasional upgrading. But we are too busy going to live music to really keep it up. I photograph live music 100 plus concerts a year. I think I obsess about the equipment as much out of habit as of actual compulsion.
     
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  24. classicrocker

    classicrocker Life is good!

    Location:
    Worcester, MA, USA
    Wow, it is a small world as my family moved to Brewster in 1962 and I lived there until 1980 when I got married and moved to Sandy Hook CT.

    We spent days in Carston's listening to systems and have to say they were very patient and accomodating. The sales guys liked the music we brought to audition systems so they hung out with us and took the time to hook different combos together for us to demo.
     
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  25. Upstateaudio

    Upstateaudio Senior Member

    Location:
    Niskayuna, NY
    My retreat away from the hobby was also due to a long bout of underemployement that lasted from the fall of 2008 to spring of 2010. The local audio salon of the time in Albany, Audio Oasis had gone under the year before. As I am now approaching retirement age, the money is best used for other things although I did treat myself to a new turntable last year.
     
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