[markf31]

Hi there,

Join another audio forum...yeah sure...why not?!

My name is Mark. I have been an off and on audiophile for the past decade or so. I jumped in with both feet about 10 years ago, and then sold all of my gear off and did not have a system for a good 3 or 4 years. About 2 years ago I decided to wade back into the deep end again as life circumstances allowed me to dabble into another hobby. Yes, another hobby....I also collect vintage pre 1930s baseball cards and I am also an avid woodworker designing and building custom furniture.

Here at my home in Pittsburgh, PA I have two systems:

Office Headphone System
I run Roon ROCK on a NUC at my router which feeds:
Raspberry Pi streamer running Ropieee
Burson Conductor 3 Performance
Audeze LCD-2C

Basement 2 Channel System
Digital back end:
BlueSound Node2i
Chord 2Qute

Vinyl back end:
U-turn Orbit
Schiit Mani

Linear Tube Audio Microzotl MZ2
First Watt Aleph J DIY
Klipsch RP-600M

My basement system is currently sitting in the garage however. We just finished some basement remodeling and before I drag that system back into the newly finished basement and set it up, I thought I might go down the rabbit hole of upgrading some parts of my system.

I look forward to being a part of the community here at the Audio Circle!

[Phil A]

Welcome to AC!

[GeorgeAb]

Welcome Mark,

Nice system. Woodworking sure would come in handy for building speakers. Interesting hobby pre-1930 baseball cards.

[FullRangeMan]

Welcome to AC 
Collecting is a good hobby, I collect tubes and sticker albums that were common in the 1960/70s, but currently these educational hobbies don't exist anymore, today teenagers collect tattoos but not on their clothes, on their own body.

[JLM]

Welcome Mark!

Hope your basement remodel kept a listening room in mind.  17 years ago we built a house away from my job and my family so I got a man cave.  Since I designed the house was able to optimize it (within reason) for listening.  The room is 8ft x 13ft x 21ft (Fibonacci ratios) with music in the front and office in the back.  Interior partitions are insulated staggered stud walls (even though they back up to storage spaces).  Used exterior insulated fiberglass door with weather seals and flexible/insulated/lined ductwork (can't hear the furnace).  My downfall was installing recessed light cans even though we had 12 inches of insulation above them.  But the room seems spooky quiet upon moving in, so overall a success. 

Avoid small/squarish/uninsulated rooms.  Hopefully it will be dedicated to private listening.  Recommend midfield setup, my loudspeakers are 5ft from the front wall and create a 8ft triangle with my chair.  I added ten GIK 244 2ft x 4ft panels but in this "ideal" room do little good (work miracles elsewhere).  Also have three tall randomly filled bookcases to act as "casual" diffusers and three subwoofers ala Floyd Toole and Earl Geddes to tame inherent bass peaks/dips.  And tried a couple of room correction DSP's in an audiophile effort to leave no stone unturned but did little good after all of the above.  Suggest a small/simple system that can fit on a low/small rack as stereo images can't form in solid objects.

Next shop for speakers that suit your tastes and room.  Take your time, take notes (forces you to critically listen), limit yourself to 3 or 4 loudspeakers per day to avoid listener fatigue.  Pick listening rooms similar to your's in size/shape.  Use music you're familiar with.  Avoid initial impressions (often of boomy bass and zingy highs, both of which aren't natural and will "get old" in time).