audiophiles

[Quaco]

I am told by my audiophile friend that they can make a very slight difference. He can hear a difference sometimes. But it's not a difference that mattes. Everything else is more important, notably your cartridge, your speakers, your room treatments (drapes, etc.), your amplifier, and the pressing/version of course.

[Matt Wilson]

I don't even know what an amplifier is. Is that the receiver?

[Quaco]

I don't even know what an amplifier is. Is that the receiver?

Yes! Receiver is just an amp with radio capability, I believe. But yeah, that's what I meant.

[Matt Wilson]

See, when you guys say amplifier, I think the box you plug your guitar into.

[Jimbo]

To play my old LPs which we shlepped to Tokyo from a long hibernation in a Seattle storage locker we recently bought ourselves an inexpensive Denon turntable. We plugged the Denon into the AUX slot on our living room Onkyo MD/CD player, the come-with speakers we'd long ago replaced with JBL bookshelf monitor speakers, put on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits which still had the psychedelic hair Dylan poster and, even with the small pops and ticks, it sounded truly differently than CDS. Better, even. After being told twice to turn it down, a short 20 minutes later I got up from my listening chair to turn the album over. Twenty minutes later the album was done. Now the real test was to see how Electric Ladyland on vinyl would sound with the volume level set at three. Long story short, I haven't touched the Denon in a year. The pleasure I get from my $10 Sony earbuds and iPod's 450 song choice fully set to TINNITUS is way more pleasurable than all that audiophile crap.

[Matt Wilson]

Yeah, this might be a good time to mention that I hate vinyl. Even when it was all we had I hated it. I even go so far as to laugh at those who pay fancy prices for vinyl nowadays.

[Muskrat]

A receiver is an amplifier, pre-amp and radio all in one; all three can be purchased separately. The amp essentially makes the sound louder and powers the speakers; the pre-amp shapes the sound (tone controls, balance, etc.) and the radio is...a radio, and why it's called a receiver.

This is a very basic explanation. For excruciating detail, see Hoffman.

[Jimbo]

A receiver is an amplifier, pre-amp and radio all in one; all three can be purchased separately. The amp essentially makes the sound louder and powers the speakers; the pre-amp shapes the sound (tone controls, balance, etc.) and the radio is...a radio, and why it's called a receiver.

This is a very basic explanation. For excruciating detail, see Hoffman.

How come all radios aren't called receivers?

[Matt Wilson]

Probably because they don't have the amplifier to plug speakers into?

[harvey k-tel]

A receiver is an amplifier, pre-amp and radio all in one; all three can be purchased separately. The amp essentially makes the sound louder and powers the speakers; the pre-amp shapes the sound (tone controls, balance, etc.) and the radio is...a radio, and why it's called a receiver.

This is a very basic explanation. For excruciating detail, see Hoffman.

How come all radios aren't called receivers?

Because they already have a name, dummy.

[C]

Spendor SP1 speakers purchased 1984
Musical Fidelity separate power and pre amp purchased 1984

They still sound great to me







.

[naughty boy]

So if you've got a bog-standard CD player, a Sont amp and a pair of Wharfedale Diamonds - all 20 years old - what do you replace, if you want better sound?

[jimboo]

All of it, start with the cd player and tell us your budget.

[naughty boy]

(Sony amp, that should be)

All of it, start with the cd player and tell us your budget.

I want to replace it bit by bit. What's most likely to result in better sound quality?

[jimboo]

Source first , always. I would change the speakers next as they are awful.

[Hugh]

Start by keeping it all and spending the money on an external DAC for your CD player.

[jimboo]

But Hugh , then he will hear how bad his speakers are !

It's a fair point actually John. How much spare moolah have you got to spend on each component?

[naughty boy]

Source first , always. I would change the speakers next as they are awful.

They were top of the range in 1996!

[naughty boy]

But Hugh , then he will hear how bad his speakers are !

It's a fair point actually John. How much spare moolah have you got to spend on each component?

Why all these questions about budget? It really depends if it's worth it.

[sloopjohnc]

Source first , always. I would change the speakers next as they are awful.

They were top of the range in 1996!

Yeah, but so were you.