A new blog.

On my show I frequently discuss various things about audio technology, and released recordings.  At times I've talked about the differences between different releases of the same album.  I do a lot of reading up on things of this nature on the forums out there, but never really got around to sitting and listening, and forming my own opinions. 

Well, I've finally put together a nice system for listening.  Some years ago I got a nice year end bonus, and blew a good portion of it on an Ortofon Rondo Bronze cartridge.  It didn't perform for cd-4 quadraphonic as I was hoping, but it's a great cartridge for stereo.  Due to a horrible mishap, the cantilever was damaged on this cartridge, but I sent it out to soundsmith for retipping.

A few years ago a work friend offered me his turntable and record collection in exchange for CD transfers of the records, and that's how I obtained the turntable I do most of my listening on these days, a Luxman PD121. 

The last element needed was a decent pre-amp.  Up until now, I had been using my Marantz cd-400 demodulator as a preamp, and a Denon HA-500 as a step up for the MC cartridges.  The Marantz is a great option for cd-4 playback, but as a stereo preamp isn't ideal.  So, I finally picked up a Cambridge Audio Azur 651P pre-amp, which has now allowed me to setup my turntable in my listening room properly.

I currently use a Denon AVR-1909 receiver, and have a quad setup of 4 speakers, custom built by my good friend Seth.  I tweak the custom EQ on it to give it a little more low end, and brighten the high end a bit. 

For digital playback, I have my trusty Oppo bluray player, hooked up via hdmi to the receiver.  This takes care of any CD\DVD\SACD\DVD-A\or Bluray playback.

I also have a PC equipped with a videocard with hdmi out hooked up to the receiver, for convenient playback of flac files (and for convenient streaming or video file playback). 


So, often I have questions that I never get around to finding answers to, but a few weeks ago, I started actually listening, and comparing, and plan on doing more of this on my weekends.  So, I figured, lets start a blog, may as well document my findings, so if I forget, I can check my notes.