[charmerci]

Yeah, there are actually very few musicians who are audiophiles. Years ago (8-10?), Stereophile did a article on a few audiophile musicians.

I like old music and a lot of the rock music from the 70's when SQ was often really bad. I like my AVA pre-amps with tone controls - they are VERY good.

[gjs_cds]

Do you use an iPod? I might start with an iPod line out adapter (analog straight from the iPod DAC, avoiding the cheap little headphone amp):

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10831&cs_id=1083101&p_id=6225&seq=1&format=2

Arg!  I went to purchase it tonight, and it's no longer listed on MonoPrice.com!  What gives!

[newzooreview]

Arg!  I went to purchase it tonight, and it's no longer listed on MonoPrice.com!  What gives!

I notice someone commented that it didn't work with the iPhone 4. Maybe they are coming out with a new one that addresses the problem. I assume they will restock it soon, but who knows.

[dlparker]

Update - got the PAT5/FET-II today and after I finally figured out why the left channel was not working through the external power amp (power amp section of a cheapo Onkyo) but the headphones were working okay from the headphone output on the preamp, I listened to some tunes. 

Long story short - it is on to test #2!  It may just be that I have been listening to strictly digital sources through PC class(less) audio for so long, but I had relatively little trouble separating the parts and identifying instruments on the first few mp3s I played.  It will be a week or two before the used Omega III 260 gets here, but I will hook up my turntable and record some stuff from LP to cassette and LP to digital in lossless format to my PC and see what differences I can hear there. 

I am sure most of you are not even bothering to read this because you are thinking "Ho hum...  Some newbie has just discovered that the world is round."  For me, though this is a pretty significant discovery.

And now for something completely different - has anyone ever tried to post without using a single single quote?  For some reason my desktop (xfce on Fedora linux 11) has decided that the single quote key is now the "hotkey" for "tell me what the volume level is".  As you can see, the double quotes are still only double quotes.  And I avoid Microsoft products just so I can avoid this sort of thing  This prompted me to come up with a new (platform neutral) definition of computer: 

"Modern electronic tool which allows the user to learn all its functionality before arbitrarily changing that functionality with absolutely no notice whatsoever."

[dlparker]

Another update - apparently fried one of the channels on the onboard
sound card, so I have spent most of the day digging through
unpacked boxes looking for a replacement.  I gave up on the M-Audio
"Audiophile" 2496, could not find the old Sound Blaster Live! that
I swear I still have somewhere, so I went to MicroCenter and got
the cheapest USB device they had.  A little over $14 for an
EverClear (?? - maybe if I had some EverClear it would sound
better) SD-102.  Plugged it in, the system recognized it as a Turtle
Beach Audio Advantage Micro, and the vendor as C-Media Electronics.

Everything is there and I can tell what it is.  Sounds which I
could identify before as a generic rhythmic event I now hear as a
snare drum hit.  A snare drum that is definitely missing something,
but clearly a snare drum nonetheless.  And this is coming from the
line out of the USB sound card to the spare input on the
PAT5/FET-II, using the power amp of an Onkyo TX-800 receiver
driving a couple of 30 or so year-old HH Scott Model 166s.  The
OmegaStar 260 should be here this week. 

Looks like an old music junkie is about to become an AVA junkie as
well.  I may not be able to tell on stage whether you yelled out
"D", "G", "C", "D"... for the key of the next song (probably why
some old guys with a lot more experience than me yell out the
number of sharps or flats instead), but my ears are good enough to
say "Something wrong with that snare!"

More later (probably much later) - back to the listening!

[dlparker]

Okay - update from Newbie dlparker, former music junkie, now music junkie/relapsed audiophile/AVAHIFI junkie. 

Got the power amp.  Hooked it up.  PAT5-FETII preamp, Omega III 260 PA, driving a pair of 30+ year-old Scott Model 166s. 

Put on some stuff (Mobile Fidelity - Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus, "Feats Don't Fail Me Now") that I'd listened to last night through the PA section of the old Onkyo receiver. 

Crank volume up to 9 o'clock.

Go change underwear.

Come back and finishing listening to "Feats Don't Fail Me Now".

Hook up DVD player and plug analog out into Tape 2 input.

Now listening to "Parkening Plays Bach", EMI CDC-7 47191 2. 

As someone pointed out in either this thread or another one - I now know what my speakers are actually capable of, and they're not too bad.  And my ears apparently aren't as hopeless as I'd thought.

I'll be back eventually, but don't expect to hear much out of me over the next few (several?) days.