[Ericus Rex]

Guys who use their equipment for 20 years and then expect to sell it for 2/3 of it's original price, with no box and no warranty.

Sounds like me!   

[James Tanner]

One pain for life time without medication is called "BAD RECORDING"
How do you feel when your favourite album sounds like crap?
You go through this all pain save the money buy the good or best audio equipment and you only need to put a bad recorded album in the player then you realize that you did not do any thing at all.I know there are some audiophile recording at the moment right now but for the prices that they ask for,can you go through 1000 of them or you only have 20 of them and rest of the library is like good luck?
Then some manufactures try to sell you the best turntable or cd players for $80,000.Does  this make any sense?

Hi PRELUDE

I feel the same - so many of the CD's I have purchased on faith are unlistenable on a reference system.  
The one area I feel we can move forward on is to support the companies offering uncompressed recordings directly. Either through hardcopy DVD's or direct online downloads.  If you think about it with this new delivery system we are one step away from the master.

james

[Anonamemouse]

Copied from the Ultra High-End Audio Forum

Music That'll Make Your Speakers Sound Better

That's the title of a Steve Guttenberg's column in The Audiophiliac.

I guess it is cheaper to find music that makes your speakers sound better than it is to find speakers that make your music sound better.

It is a continuing problem. There are lots of limited edition vinyl pressings as well as high resolution files now available to download from HDTracks and the like, but how much of that music do you really want to listen to? If you have been to a few trade shows, where you hear the same music over and over again, you begin to realize how many audiophiles there are out there that are listening to their systems and not to their music.

So do yourself a favor today - go out and buy some music you really want to listen to instead of something "audiophile approved." If you have your priorities straight, you'll get much more enjoyment out of your hi-fi.

[PRELUDE]

Hi PRELUDE

I feel the same - so many of the CD's I have purchased on faith are unlistenable on a reference system.  
The one area I feel we can move forward on is to support the companies offering uncompressed recordings directly. Either through hardcopy DVD's or direct online downloads.  If you think about it with this new delivery system we are one step away from the master.

james

Your best friend in music

[rollo]

  Most times the " Bad recording" is out of phase. My pet peeve is a lack of a polarity invert switch. when "in" the proper polarity bass is better defined and focused. vocal sibilants are better controlled. Sound is fuller and the soundstage larger.
  Granted a bad recording is a bad recording nothing will improve that. Until you have the option of changing polarity you'll just never know.


charles

[James Tanner]

Copied from the Ultra High-End Audio Forum

Music That'll Make Your Speakers Sound Better

That's the title of a Steve Guttenberg's column in The Audiophiliac.

I guess it is cheaper to find music that makes your speakers sound better than it is to find speakers that make your music sound better.

It is a continuing problem. There are lots of limited edition vinyl pressings as well as high resolution files now available to download from HDTracks and the like, but how much of that music do you really want to listen to? If you have been to a few trade shows, where you hear the same music over and over again, you begin to realize how many audiophiles there are out there that are listening to their systems and not to their music.

So do yourself a favor today - go out and buy some music you really want to listen to instead of something "audiophile approved." If you have your priorities straight, you'll get much more enjoyment out of your hi-fi.

The problem is that there has to be a minimum quality before I can sit through a few songs - some of my recent CD purchases are just god awful We really have to start somewhere and supporting folks that care about the quality of their recordings is a good first step.

james

[Elizabeth]

For Rollo: that problem is best fixed by owning real dipolar speakers like Magnepan. With a true dipole, the shift is only a change from soundstage in front of speakers, to one behind the speakers.
I love it.
Proud Maggie 3.6 owner
(I used to own Infintiy RSIIa for years and those are where I first noticed the dipole efect on direct/inverted recordings, Maggies are even better as they are dipole full music spectrum)

[Nels Ferre]

My only audio pet peeve:

Tube amps that have the bias pots that are recessed below the top plate. They require a small screwdriver to make the bias adjustments. As I age, I find I need another tool to make the adjustments: a flashlight.

I wish every tube amp manufacturer would realize that it can be easier: mount the pots flush to the chassis (like Manley does) or better yet, use small knobs to make the adjustments.

Seems obvious, yet few actually do it.

[Anonamemouse]

The problem is that there has to be a minimum quality before I can sit through a few songs - some of my recent CD purchases are just god awful We really have to start somewhere and supporting folks that care about the quality of their recordings is a good first step.

james

I agree. Some of the recordings released nowadays are simply horrible. I do think one should spend money on a product one would like to own, but nowadays I find myself often downloading from the torrent sites just to test whether I actually like both the music and the recording quality. I think out of every five CD's I download I actually spend my money on one... And the recording quality often is where things go wrong.

Whenever I see the name Rick Rubin pop up I lose interest on the spot. This also goes for that guy from DCC (can't remember his name right now), that thinks he is God.

[alexone]

Anonamemouse,

what/who is DCC?

al.

[Anonamemouse]

Anonamemouse,

what/who is DCC?

al.

DCC was one of those companies that re-releases albums on gold CD's, remastered and polished. The guy I am talking about is Steve Hoffman. He now does the same thing at Audio Fidelity, and still thinks he is god.

IMO there is only one that actually gets this right every time (except for their version of Countdown to Extrinction by Megadeth, but Dave Mustain is fully to blame for that): MFSL.

[Diamond Dog]

Major peeve: digital gear which "sorta works", or is only half finished. Like a CD player which only plays the first 32 songs on a CD, or refuses to play anything that does not conform to some ancient standard. 

I feel your pain, Mouseman. I feel your pain. My BCD-1 is at it's ancestral homeland in Peterborough right now so I sent one of two old Arcams ( Alpha 5+ ) into the ring last night because I finally found the time to listen to some music. Shut it off last night and today it wouldn't power up again. Checked the obvious - no luck so now I've thrown the other one ( Delta 270 ) into the fray. I expect I'll be patching a CDP-sized hole in the wall soon the way things are going...

D.D.

[Napalm]

LACK of TONE CONTROLS!

 

[Diamond Dog]

LACK of TONE CONTROLS!

 

D.D.

[sfraser]

Black remote controls with black lettering and no back light.

[Anonamemouse]

Black remote controls with black lettering and no back light.

I have a silver one with light grey lettering.

[rollo]

For Rollo: that problem is best fixed by owning real dipolar speakers like Magnepan. With a true dipole, the shift is only a change from soundstage in front of speakers, to one behind the speakers.
I love it.
Proud Maggie 3.6 owner
(I used to own Infintiy RSIIa for years and those are where I first noticed the dipole efect on direct/inverted recordings, Maggies are even better as they are dipole full music spectrum)

 Hi Elizabeth. I own Maggies and used them for many years. However an out of phase recording can be corrected with a flip of the ole switch. The Maggies may helpout a bit but still noticeable. thanks for the input.


charles

[Don_S]

Not a pet peeve---this is a capital crime. 

The whole power cord mechanical stability connection issue. IECs especially suck. The concept is fatally flawed.  Pay megabucks for a power cord and the ends won't stay in place.

[JeffO]

Hearing a song on the car radio (yes I still listen to it), purchasing the CD and playing it at home only to find;

a) The rest of the album is filler and has a completely different feel to it and/or

b) It is so compressed it sounded better in the car going 120 km/h. 

I have hopes digital downloads will improve the situation.  Band On The Run is available in 24/96 both compressed and uncompressed and I can buy individual tracks if I want.  I may be dreaming but this is how music should be available. 

[Napalm]

Some of the recordings released nowadays are simply horrible.

"Some" and "horrible" are both gross understatements.

Nap.