Denon AVR 3000 - Dolby Pro Logic plus DSP stuff that I never use. great performance out of the unit and is the anchor to my system, as I cheaped out on most of the other stuff.
Denon DCD1500 - actually got this in '88 and the bitch has skipped since it was a year old…I’ve had it in to be fixed about 4 times and the thing just keeps skipping. I don’t know if I’ve got a wobbly CD or what!
Denon LDP1300 - Laser disc player bought at the end of the LD run…D’OH! I use it to play my CDs now, as it has a much stronger spindle.
Akai Turntable - POS from an old system we had growing up…I haven’t had the opportunity to get a decent one yet.
Nuance 330 speakers - Canadian speakers sold as a scam, but I got them for cheap and they sounded better (in the apartment, sound like shit at the house) than other speakers in the same range. We had done a lot of auditioning, and our second choice was Paradigm, but they were too bright for our tastes. [Homer]Energy Veritas v2.8[/Homer] )C$7,000!)
Mitsubishi TV - I cheaped out on the TV, but I didn’t like the superdark screens that were being pushed at the time. Now I’m not getting anything until the DTV/HDTV decoder standard is decided and integrated into the set.
Panasonic VCR4601 - decent 4 head Hi-Fi vcr (plays s-vhs tapes, but doesn’t record them)
I’ve been considering upgrading to Dolby 7.1 and DTS etc. but
a) can’t afford to get the decent receiver
b) can’t believe that stereo effects in the rear channels really make that much difference
c) can’t afford the speakers to really exploit the AVR3000 as an audio-only system
I am also eagerly awaiting the outcome of the HDCD/SACD/DVD-A battle. So far, I’m guessing that people are leaning towards the SACD
Cantara, my DCD 1500 II doesn’t skip, but for the last several years it will occasionally decide to display all zeroes when I put a new CD in it. The fix has been to turn the player off then back on a few times. I just figured it was because the thing is 13 years old, but maybe that model had a problem with the mechanism?
Lessee…nothing special. I mainly use it for watching movies:
Six Paradigm speakers: Monitor 9s for the front, a CC-350 for center, two rears that I don’t remember the model of, and a PDR-10.
An NAD T750 receiver.
Some Denon carousel changer that’s about 10 years old.
[ul]
[li]preamp: Yamaha C-4 - this is a full control amp - switchable filters, semi-parametric tone controls, switchable phono pre-amp[/li][li]power amp Carver M-400 - makes motorboat sounds - normal[/li][li]CD: Sony CDP 215[/li][li]tuner: Sony ST-S500ES[/li][li]cassette: Fisher CR4029 - an oddball - 2 speed cassette,1 7/8 ips and 3 3/4[/li][li]turntable: Pioneer PLL-1000 (overseas model, sold here as Phase Linear PL-1000) massive, and currently dusty. I drug it out to transfer some vinyl to CD[/li][li]phono cartridge; Ortofon LM20, Ortofon Concorde, and an Audio-Technica of unknown parentage[/li][li]speakers: Acoustic Research AR93 - the foam bass driver surrounds are shredded - really need new drivers. They still work, but they don’t have the clarity in the low end that they used to.[/li][/ul]
I put the basics together when I was stationed in Alaska in the AF (1981) - gotta love overseas Exchange pricing.
The cassette, tuner and CD have come in the intervening years.
On the subject of overkill, I roomed with a guy when I was stationed in Tacoma who had a pair of Klipsch LaScalas in our dorm room. Very nice, even in the small space. Don’t remember what was driving them, but it was sufficient to occasionally annoy the SP squadron in the dorm next door.
-mdf
Neal Peart is a god.
Currently listening to: Jerry Garcia Band - How Sweet It Is…