Greetings from the Eastside of Seattle, close to Bellevue, Wa.
I am not sure how long an initial post a new audio circle member can post but I thought I would say something about my journey in this hobby.
I am a 54 year old audiophile who grew up listening to vinyl. Our now 41 year old speakers were built in 1977 by a former landlord's son who was a gifted speaker maker. Amazingly those three way speakers are still in my dad's system and going strong.
With each speaker enclosure having a 12 inch woofer I remember how potent the bass of albums such as Dire Straits first album or the Eagles Greatest Hits sounded. This was bass that I could feel in my chest, embedded in an organic well balanced sound. Not surprising then that I my initial encounters with digital were really disappointing
When I first heard digital it sounded so anaemic and lacking in listenability and bass presence. So much so that I thought that there was something wrong with my system. Over time, I realized that atleast some of the missing magic was in the mastering. This is something reinforced by savvy audiophiles in the audio society I currently belong to.
I started the journey of owing my own system in 1995 with a set of B&W Dm630l speakers and a Rotel RA 970BX integrated with RCD 975 cd player. Over the past 20 years I have slowly built a system that sounds warm with good low level detail that isn't etched but is subtly discernible. I run solid state class A amps with a tube preamp along with D'appolito array speakers. This gives me some bass heft along with some mid-range and high frequency warmth. My Dac is an Nos type with a definite analog tone.
I am currently trying to figure out the ins and outs of computer audio. However, my biggest recent learning has been that I need to pay much more attention to the room in which my equipment is placed.
I look forward to learning more about this wonderful hobby via the wisdom of other audio circle members.
