Vintage Audio Repair

[nab]

Do you like that Schiitt DAC?
I have their Mani phono pre and after getting that and fixing a loose grounding my old Dual, records in the living room have never sounded better.

A lot actually. And I had the same experience with the Mani. Both really made everything sound a lot nicer.

And when I stared at the components inside, they both made sense. 

[nab]

With a kid in college and another that wants to go, not to mention my music instrument/guitar pedal/recording gear problem... mid-fi is where I live.

Mid-fi is mostly a marketing term anyway. It doesn't really describe how something sounds. Given the different ways people hear, and the different rooms they play music in, it's really a class distinction disguised as a technical term. 

[rowjimmy]

With a kid in college and another that wants to go, not to mention my music instrument/guitar pedal/recording gear problem... mid-fi is where I live.

Mid-fi is mostly a marketing term anyway. It doesn't really describe how something sounds. Given the different ways people hear, and the different rooms they play music in, it's really a class distinction disguised as a technical term. 

I look at it strictly as a price point.
Quality and price are not always aligned.

[Superfreakie]

With a kid in college and another that wants to go, not to mention my music instrument/guitar pedal/recording gear problem... mid-fi is where I live.

Mid-fi is mostly a marketing term anyway. It doesn't really describe how something sounds. Given the different ways people hear, and the different rooms they play music in, it's really a class distinction disguised as a technical term. 

I look at it strictly as a price point.
Quality and price are not always aligned.

I think you're both right. One would hope they align, but in my experience they often don't - in which case class distinction, and it's accompanying "envy" driven marketing campaigns, rule the day.

That said, as I climbed the headphone pyramid, I didn't hear "magic" (aka: what I was looking for) until I hit the upper echelon ($$), so called hifi. Fortunately, all the HPs I own I purchased as B-Stocks or "used like new" from audiophile forum classifieds (thankfully, members are OCD and generally swap gear they baby). I pay half price MSRP on most of my gear. The Susvara, Audeze LCD-4, and then LCD-5, destroy models below them (and I have experienced the same with other manufacturers, although I don't own their top shelf HPs) . To my ears, it's not even close.

On that note, I really do want to try some of the snake oil cables being sold, but companies who make them won't allow 30 day returns.

[nab]

With a kid in college and another that wants to go, not to mention my music instrument/guitar pedal/recording gear problem... mid-fi is where I live.

Mid-fi is mostly a marketing term anyway. It doesn't really describe how something sounds. Given the different ways people hear, and the different rooms they play music in, it's really a class distinction disguised as a technical term. 

I look at it strictly as a price point.
Quality and price are not always aligned.

I think you're both right. One would hope they align, but in my experience they often don't - in which case class distinction, and it's accompanying "envy" driven marketing campaigns, rule the day.

That said, as I climbed the headphone pyramid, I didn't hear "magic" (aka: what I was looking for) until I hit the upper echelon ($$), so called hifi. Fortunately, all the HPs I own I purchased as B-Stocks or "used like new" from audiophile forum classifieds (thankfully, members are OCD and generally swap gear they baby). I pay half price MSRP on most of my gear. The Susvara, Audeze LCD-4, and then LCD-5, destroy models below them (and I have experienced the same with other manufacturers, although I don't own their top shelf HPs) . To my ears, it's not even close.

On that note, I really do want to try some of the snake oil cables being sold, but companies who make them won't allow 30 day returns.

If I had a motto for gear, it would be "you don't really have an opinion until you've heard it" but I also run into a lot of absolute horseshit in the circles I run in outside of this board; one of the reasons I started this thread actually since this is my old corner bar.

Watching people connect two vintage Marantz pieces with multi-K$ cables and things like that. I've been in there, I've seen the insides. They're not paved in gold, but you're taking the electrons on a gold chariot ride between them anyway. People who won't change out the capacitors in a vintage piece of equipment because they think the magic is in the dried up paste of the original, quality but very consumer grade, capacitor (or even magic capacitors in general to go the other way).

And I just hate that there is a whole industry based on exploiting people's ignorance of electricity and circuitry that uses class and emotion to sell it.

But I guess why is that different than anything else.

Oh well, if I had another motto it would be "When someone tells you they hear something, you have to take them at their word; there's no telling someone they don't hear something, its a fools errand".

[Superfreakie]

And I just hate that there is a whole industry based on exploiting people's ignorance of electricity and circuitry that uses class and emotion to sell it.

But I guess why is that different than anything else

It's not; sadly. Something something...'a fool and his money are easily parted'

[Hicks]

Copper is copper.

And that's all I've got to say about that. 

[Caravan2001]

Copper is copper.

And that's all I've got to say about that. 

I agree, but there are grades of copper (and of course gauges) so there is variability between patch cables. I am firmly against spending as much on an interconnect as one could buy a good component for, that is a scam for sure. And as well, I have gotten great performance from very inexpensive cables, but there is something to be said for fit, finish and manufacturing quality. I buy midrange stuff and am very happy with it.  I'm not going to spend $100 (or several hundred) on an interconnect, but I'm also not going to put a $5 cable in my signal chain. That said, I have never heard a significant audible difference between patch cords.  However, when it comes to instrument (guitar) cables, I have heard a big difference.  Spending $50-$75 on a Mogami or George L vs comparable cheap $15 cable of same length really does affect your sound.

Remember when HDMI cables were new and they were $100? lol.