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My mother and
father were both trombone players that met in college. Since my
birth, I was surrounded by music, both live and recorded. My
mother is a band director, and I'm sure that my love of wind ensemble
music comes from before I was even born.
In public school, I played horn (aka French Horn, though it's not really
French) and sang in the choir. I chose horn because I didn't want to
have my mother as a teacher. In college, I kept with both, until I
decided to commit the bulk of my time to vocal performance (I gave up
horn my junior year). I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in
vocal performance. I'm a tenor.
Being in music
brought me into contact with great music and great musicians. If I were
independently wealthy, I'd travel to places like
Bayreuth. I was
in the Dallas Symphony Chorus for a few recordings on Delos. The
recording process was interesting, but stressful for everyone. I'm glad
I don't make a living as a professional musician. I prefer to listen.
As a child, I
was also surrounded by nice stereo equipment (actually Quadraphonic--I
was born in '72). My parents had a system consisting of a Garrard Zero
100, Pickering XV15 with Shibata stylus (I've been a fan of hyper
ellipticals and line contacts since then),
Marantz 4300
receiver, Quad Sony open reel, Quad 8 track, and four JBL Century L100
(they weren't bad for the '70s).
In the 7th
grade, I started reading about stereo equipment, back when Audio, Stereo
Review and High Fidelity
still existed (I miss those huge Audio "annual equipment directory" and
their thorough testing and photography. By the time CD became firmly
entrenched, I had decided that there was something very wrong with the
sound and decided I'd try tubes and vinyl.
My first foray
into tube audio was some nasty tube integrated amp with cathode biased
P-P 6L6 that had a habit of oscillating. I got an AR-XA, cut the arm
board, added an Infinity Black Widow with a Stanton 881mk2s, which I
still consider a nice cartridge. Speakers were some transmission
lines. Because I spent most of my disposable income on vinyl, I got
into DIY, modifying my tube equipment for better sound. My choice was
music or equipment, so I had to learn about making the most of what I
had. Perhaps that's why, even now, I very slowly change things in my
system. It's hard for me to "give up" on something before I've
investigated all the possible adjustments.
Since then, it's been more tubes, turntables and cartridges (and a fair
amount of other equipment)
Today, I'm still a vinyl nut and consider myself more of a record
collector than audiophile or DIY-er.
My "day job"
is building houses. It's a love-hate relationship and I don't recommend
it to others (very frustrating). In my spare time, I work on equipment
for friends, sell some of it on eBay on consignment and try to find time
for visiting other audiophiles and live orchestral music.
My listening room is large. It measures 17'
by 23' with 9' ceilings that step up to 10' ceilings. It is the
living room and has two entryways. One opening is directly to
the side of the right speaker and enters the kitchen/dining
area. The second doorway is on the opposite end of the room
from the speakers and is the hallway access. Both entryways are
4' by 6'8" and are trimmed out, but they do not have doors. The
wall to the left of the speakers has three arched windows that
are covered with plantation shutters and heavy muslin drapes
from Ikea (highly recommended). The floor is carpeted. I have
no problem with slap echo due to the drapes and shutters on the
windows, the two open entryways, carpet and the many linear feet
of books and records (40% of the walls are covered by records
and books). I'd like to add that the room is not overly
damped. The walls behind the speakers are untreated. The walls
opposite the speakers are almost entirely covered with records
except the entryway. The ceiling is regular sheetrock with
"orange peel" finish. Areas of the two side walls have
untreated areas. The untreated areas are opposite areas that
have books/records or drapes or doorways, so no slap echoes are
possible. Filling the room with sound can be difficult. I have
three dedicated 15 amp circuits for audio. I would prefer more
circuits, but getting power to one wall proved too difficult.
Ideally, I'd like 6 dedicated circuits.
I have a system in the office, but I don't use it for serious
listening. I prefer large rooms, even if it can cause issues
with power. The sound is less confusing than small rooms with
early reflections that cause smearing. I may be moving in the
next 6-8 months to a house closer to work. If so, finding a
house with a good listening room will be a top priority. A
definite possibility is buying a smaller house with a large back
yard where I could build a detached listening room. If I do run
into listening room adventures or build one from scratch, I will
be sure to share the fun with Dagogo readers.
My system (right now):
Versa Dynamics 1.0
Denon DP80 in a specially constructed VPI plinth with SME V
Garrard 301 (waiting a restoration)
Thorens TD124mk2 (waiting restoration)
Oracle Delphi (waiting for power supply upgrade)
Various open reel units
Audible Illusions pre
McIntosh MC240
Heathkit W6M (heavily modded--premium iron!)
MFA Luminescence M150 monos (updated)
Vandersteen 2CE Signatures
Maggie 2.6R (being modded)
Entec SW1 stereo subs
Various tonearms and cartridges
5,000 or more records
Digital is in a state of flux, having tried several different options,
all unsatisfactory.
My preference
is large line source speakers and powerful tube amps. I wish I had two
reference quality systems: one with large line sources and one with
either ESL 57 or something like the MaxxHorn. System number one would
be for power listening. System number two would be for piano, chamber
music, jazz vocals, etc...
I'm forgetting stuff, but this gives you a general idea of what goes on
in my house.
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