OK, let's try this again...
I sent a fairly long "greetings" post to this Circle earlier today, but I think it may have been lost in the ether. I'll try again, but will keep this one shorter. I started my audio habit in the '60's, had a fair setup with a homebuilt Dynaco amp/preamp, a Dual turntable with Stanton 681 cartridge, Revox tape deck, and several pairs of speakers whose names I have long since forgotten (that happens a lot these days), but which were probably not quite in the "audiophile" category. Most of my listening was on my friends' Bose 901's (which I thought were high end back then), JBL's (I think L100's) and AR's. Loved Dylan, Stones, Beatles, Who, ELO, ELP, Kinks, Simon & Garfunkel, Janis, Santana... I could go on forever, but you get the idea. Unfortunately, in the late 70's my job took more and more of my free time, and disco came along, and I just sort of lost interest in audiophilia...
Fast forward about 40 years, and I thought "when am I ever going to give myself permission to have that great system I wanted when I was young and cash-strapped? Of course, cash is still an issue, but I SHOULD be able to afford something better than I had then, so I bought a pair of 'high-end' Polks to add to my home theater setup, but it didn't quite get me there... For the last 3 years I've been reading posts on Audiogon and other forums, and slowly trying to chase that elusive perfect sound. First, I was told it was probably my amp, so I found a McCormack DNA-1 Deluxe in good condition -- it DID sound better, but still didn't scratch the itch. I finally sold the Polks about 3 months ago, and started combing Craigslist looking for their replacements. So far I've listened to a LOT of speakers; Vandy's, Maggie's, Thiel's, Martin Logan's, Sonus Faber, Piega, and lots of others in the under $3K (used) range... I discovered I really like the sound of ribbons and electrostatics, but the ones I liked best were a little outside my budget. So I picked up an inexpensive pair of Thiel 1.2's to tide me over until "the right ones" come along. I've found myself liking the Thiels more than I expected, so I may need to open up my options to include Thiels and possibly other piston driven designs.
I discovered Audio Circle yesterday, and am looking forward to exchanging posts with as many of you as are interested in contributing to my new obsession!
