Hello, kindred music lovers. I assume we all love music. We may disagree on music reproduction equipment but it's safe to say none of us would be on here if we didn't all love music.
I have my personal preferences when it comes to gear. I own a pair of Magic Mini II stand-mount monitors that sound great compared to the B&W CM5s they replaced, which also sounded great. The Minis are more of everything. But I won't bore you with adjectives. What I want to say here in my introduction is that more so than speakers or sources or cables, the #1 factor for great-sounding music is how it was recorded. There are certain recordings that will sound great on anything. I have a pair of Boston Acoustics A70s that are 30 years old. I also have a pair of Polk Audio Rti3s, and the aforementioned B&Ws and Magicos. When I play Beck, Sea Change on any one of them, it sounds great. The same holds true for James Blake, James Blake; Muddy Waters, Folk Singer; and, my latest discovery, Cowboy Junkies, Whites off Earth Now!
Great gear is special in that it reveals how badly some albums are recorded, or how outdated some recording methodologies are. But take a great recording, and I don't care what you're playing it on, it will sound great. One caveat is that the speakers have to be arranged correctly and you have to be sitting in the right spot. Knowing this, it makes it obvious that anyone, at any age and with any budget, can enjoy great audiophile sound. People think they'll never have the disposable income to afford "reference" systems, or that they have to spend more than they should to get it. But it's just not true. You can get great sound out of a pair of $150 bookshelf speakers. You just have to know how to spot and appreciate great recordings.
That's all I have to say for now. Thanks for reading!
