I have enjoyed researching here over the past several months. I guess it is about time to stop lurking, and step out of the shadows. I have been a member at AVS Forum for many years, and as my interests are expanding this forum was a logical stop.
I’ve been a music and home theater aficionado and general tech geek for a number of years. I have a modest, dedicated home theater / multichannel home theater - and now I’m going “Back to the Future” to 2 channel Audio.
I have always told people that despite being a proud father and dedicated husband with a successful career, I’m really just a 14 year old at heart. In 1978, my dreams of the future were to have a great stereo system - located in a dedicated room for listening to music and reading books. So in 2018 with my kids out of the house - it’s time to make it happen.
As an electrical engineer by degree, and as a Sales/Marketing professional in a technical (non-consumer) industry - I am interested by the tech behind the Sound - but mainly am looking forward to the listening. I am open minded but a little skeptical when it comes to certain upgrades that people invest in - but those folks trust their ears and are spending their own money - so more power to them.
I have just ordered a pair of Salk Sound Song 3-As which will be the heart of my Music Library (which is what I’m calling my listening / reading room, partially due to its double meaning). As the Salk’s could take 3-4 months to construct - I am using the time to renovate the room - which is currently my home office - what the builder described as a “Parlor” in the home plans. I will take a practical, minimalist approach to Sound treatments and am researching that now.
From an amplification standpoint, I am sold on Scott separates for Pre-Amp (Freya) & Amp (Vidar). I plan on a single amp to start in single-ended mode, with adding a second Amp and switching to balanced mode a near future upgrade. The size of the room and efficiency of the speakers seems to indicate one stereo Amp will do.
On the source side, I recently purchased a reasonable entry level turntable - the Audio Technica AT-LP5. An upgraded cartridge will soon follow. But vinyl will probably only take up 5-10% of my listening time - as I have not had an active record collection since 1983 (my last album purchase was Kilroy was Here LOL). It’s just that my dream of 1978 included a turntable, so the reality of 2018 will include one!
A majority of my listening will be digital. A SACD/DAC from TEAC (CD-2000) will initially pull double duty for all the digital sources - with digitized music served up by Roon running on a Mac Mini.
Ironically, my Back to the Future” post is being composed on a Train (Lake Shore Limited) instead of a jet, and my stop approaches.
Thanks for reading!