OT: Riders on Audiokarma.com or hifiengine.com

[pcxmbfj]

Looking for fellow cyclists that also enjoy stereo equipment and are members or lurkers on the above forums.

[SlackMan]

I don't frequent those websites, but I am interested in audio and love music. Audio can be very "gear oriented," which I think appeals to lots of cyclists.

[Lewis Moon]

I used to frequent Audiokarma, Audiogon and Headfi a lot. I finally setteled on stereo equipment that is good enough, if not great and decided to just listen to the music, which was the real issue, anyway.

Then I got a bike.

[AngryScientist]

interesting topic.

i was into research mode close to a decade ago when i bought my house and wanted a decent audio set-up. i had meager funds at the time, but managed to cobble together a pretty workable stereo system, though probably pretty weak by any audiophile's standards. music still sounds good on it though, to my ear, all these years later.

the great thing about stereo equipment is that if you get decent stuff it can last for a few decades without a second thought, nothing really "wears out" like bike stuff.

[Dale Alan]

I used to frequent Audiokarma, Audiogon and Headfi a lot. I finally setteled on stereo equipment that is good enough, if not great and decided to just listen to the music, which was the real issue, anyway.

Then I got a bike.
+1

I am still a member of both forums,but mostly lurk . Like Lewis,I finally settled with what I have .I got obsessed with the gear/perfection and realized I was neglecting the music .I still love my hifi gear ,as I type I am playing vinyl on my old Dual 1214 into my RH84 tube amp(homebrew 4 watts +/-) wired to some old EV full-rangers in Barzilay cabinets. Not high end by audiophile standards,but to my ears it is heaven. It took me many years to finally realize,it's about the music . I find I am the same way about cycling,I sometimes need to slow down and realize it is about riding. The gear plays a big role,but it does not dictate how much enjoyment I get from riding .

[n_maher]

While I'm not a member of either of the referenced forums I am a pretty hardcore lover of music and the associated equipment. Apartment living and subsequent little children have limited the 2ch and HT rig but I got into heapdhones about 10 years ago and have a pretty serious setup for that type of listening.

[Lewis Moon]

While I'm not a member of either of the referenced forums I am a pretty hardcore lover of music and the associated equipment. Apartment living and subsequent little children have limited the 2ch and HT rig but I got into heapdhones about 10 years ago and have a pretty serious setup for that type of listening.

Watch your ears. Really. I have some significant hearing loss in one ear that I can trace directly to my headphone set up.
I absolutely LOVED the Grado sound. I love to hear the detail in musical performances. The space, fingers brushing guitar strings, a brushed cymbal, ice climking in glasses at the Village Vanguard...Unfortunately the emphasis on the high end of the curve caused damage to my ears.

[n_maher]

Watch your ears. Really. I have some significant hearing loss in one ear that I can trace directly to my headphone set up.
I absolutely LOVED the Grado sound. I love to hear the detail in musical performances. The space, fingers brushing guitar strings, a brushed cymbal, ice climking in glasses at the Village Vanguard...Unfortunately the emphasis on the high end of the curve caused damage to my ears.

You're right on, Lewis, you definitely have to be very careful with listening levels. I worked in the concert security industry for a while (years ago) and learned very early to protect what I had because there's no getting it back. FYI - related to your first post, I used to moderate at Head-Fi although I haven't been very active there in years. I also share your appreciation for Grados, they were my go-to can up until recently. I could never get them to be comfortable for long listening sessions and ultimately moved to the Audeze LCD-2.

[alexstar]

I lurk at those forums, though I don't visit much these days as I'm not looking for new equipment... though I need a new turntable, hmm...

[sg8357]

audiophiles = weight weenie

Can you tell differences in ride quality between painted and unpainted
carbon frames ?, then you could be an audiophile.
I am going to try some linear crystal oxygen free EPS cabling and
see if the shifting improves.

[pcxmbfj]

Would not admit it over there but all my new music is mp3 and I cannot tell a difference in fidelity.

[moose8]

I spent way too much time buying and selling on audiogon and craigslist until finally finding what I liked in the form of a way overbuilt krell. It doubles as a space heater in the winter with the heat it throws off.

[SlackMan]

Would not admit it over there but all my new music is mp3 and I cannot tell a difference in fidelity.

I wish this were true for me, but I find it almost painful to listen to mp3 quality music. And when I listen to high-res music, I find that I want to focus on how good it sounds, so that I can't listen while I work. Hmmmm, maybe I should try working to mp3 quality recordings.

[Scuzzer]

I wish this were true for me, but I find it almost painful to listen to mp3 quality music.

Wow that would suck. I'm perfectly happy with higher bit rate encoded mp3s for any mobile situation but I've done the encoding myself so I know they haven't been screwed up or transcoded.

I have way too many posts at AK and if I'd spent that time riding I might not be as slow as I am now. I don't find interacting with audiophiles or fahrradophiles to be all that different, obsessive folks seem to obsess the same way.

BTW, I'm not an audiophile I just like building tube amps and listening to music. I'm also not a fahrradophile since I still ride lugged steel bikes built long ago. Maybe I'm an old school technophile.

[pcxmbfj]

I was ripping mp3's for my truck player.

Music is so accessible in that form and I don't seem to have favorites for long.

Memory not that good either so I often forget what I've recently downloaded.

Getting in the basement where I do my bike work accompanied by the computer music library that's networked over my LAN reminds me of all the good stuff that's out now.

Forrest Swords, the new Sleighbells I've yet to hear,Lorde, I would have to spend more time looking for music than wrenching otherwise.

[fuzzalow]

mp3 encoded @ 320 don't present a sound quality issue for most listening. Encoding discards some of the .wav file content so there is no going back to being whole again from the mp3 - save the .wav files; disc space is cheap. IMO the far bigger problem isn't mp3, it is the loss of dynamics from a mix & mastering style/overuse of compression that brickwalls the waveform.

I like vintage stereo gear. Gear that was not meant to be obsoleted and thrown away. Marantz receivers in particular - which I use more than my main rig because it is less fussy to use. Although if the music is run through a Harbeth speaker, it will sound good no matter what anyhow.

The high-end audio hobby became less interesting for me because it often seemed centered on gear & upgrades for miniscule improvements to sound quality over the enjoyment of music. Past a certain point, I wasn't interested to chase "sound stage imaging" or "air around the notes" or a "black background". In fairness, audiophiles and cyclists can both have the same mania for gear. It is all toys.

[LesMiner]

Long ago I read an interesting article about a high end audio dealer. Sean Yeats was his name I think. Anyway he went out of way to invite classical musicans to come play at his shop for his customers. He thought his goal was to sell equipment that could reproduce live music as exact as possible. His was disappointed at the lack of interest and even some criticism from his cliental. A guy from Krell told him "You don't get it. These customers sit alone in their dedicated listening room filled with equipment and marvel at how impressive their sound system is. They have no interest in a live music just in the how good their system sounds." The listening position is a big deal. At one time KEF put a red LED on the top of their speaker cabinets. You were suppose to position the speakers so that you could clearly see the LED to be sure you were in the correct listening position.

I had a coworker that was a really talented analog circuit designer of real impressive servo control systems. He took an assignment to work in the UK for a couple of years. He comes back and rants about this great audio system he has. He describes to me how this audio shop sold him this tube amp. The shop modified it by bridging the space between wire connections with gold. This was done supposedly to keep the electrons on track and not spilling out. He paid a fortune to have this done! I could not believe what he said and that he could be taken in by such stupid hype! Like a cult, this shop had a "Golden Ear" specialist that explained to him how much better the amp sounded once modified and he fell for it hook line and sinker.

[cycleslug]

I'm one of the lurkers on AK and somewhat active on CAM.
Just started with the obsession with bikes.
Well at least biking is healthier... :), but not necessarily cheaper :eek:

I blame my audio enabler for getting me into bikes..... which happens to be an audio retailer.


The longer I lurk on cycle forums, the more I realize, bike fanatics are just as bad as audiophiles.... bikophile? :D

[daker13]

I think of myself more as a record collector than a hi fi guy, but I have a decent system, or a couple of decent systems I guess, and used to spend a lot of time surfing the different sites and reading all the mags and such... I'm not quite enjoying music as much as I used to these days, and am considering picking up some new gear to get myself going again.

[pcxmbfj]

What are the opinions on speakers to match the silverface equipment.

By match I mean good sound, not necessarialy top end, and wood stained not painted cabs.

[MattTuck]

When I get my new TV next month, I'll be getting a sound bar as well. This is surely blasphemy to some that I'm not getting some 7.1 channel THX dolby optical wireless home theatre set up.

I don't have the best ears and even I can tell that stock TV speakers are terrible... still, satisficing with a soundbar is the way to go for me.

[jtakeda]

I think of myself more as a record collector than a hi fi guy, but I have a decent system, or a couple of decent systems I guess, and used to spend a lot of time surfing the different sites and reading all the mags and such... I'm not quite enjoying music as much as I used to these days, and am considering picking up some new gear to get myself going again.

This.

I run a pretty modest set up.
Technics SL-10 with the MC cartridge
Klipsch forte speakers
Harmon Karan citation 22 (although in using my sansui 881 right now)

More of a record guy.

[rice rocket]

When I get my new TV next month, I'll be getting a sound bar as well. This is surely blasphemy to some that I'm not getting some 7.1 channel THX dolby optical wireless home theatre set up.

I don't have the best ears and even I can tell that stock TV speakers are terrible... still, satisficing with a soundbar is the way to go for me.

Soundbars are pretty terrible. Simulating 3D sound? Bleh.

Just give me a left and a right full range setup. Simplicity.

I capped my headphone setup at $500 (AKG K550 and FiiO E17 Alpen) and home theater setup at $500 too (Cerwin Vega full-range 3-way speakers with a 4ohm stable Onkyo stereo receiver). Anymore, I don't want to hear it. Ignorance is bliss (well, semi-ignorance, I should've capped it at 1/3rd the price and lived with that).

[pcxmbfj]

Not really into the A/V thing.
Run DVD's through a Bose system that I just got hooked up for the Panasonic we bought last summer.

I'm talking stereo in the bike room.

Not really critical of sound quality but just don't like the looks of my Kenwood KL-888X kabuki's.

[bluesea]

Head-Fi member since the Headwize diaspora. Have *had* some pretty nice audio systems, speaker and headphone. Now I just listen to $150 IEMs direct connected to a MacBook Pro.


http://imageshack.us/a/img684/3171/dsc00104ia.jpg

[cycleslug]

What are the opinions on speakers to match the silverface equipment.

By match I mean good sound, not necessarialy top end, and wood stained not painted cabs.

That kind of question is not a hifi nut question :)
More of a, my wife wants speakers to match the decor of the room, well more like hidden away in the corner cause she thinks its ugly, kind of question :eek:

[pcxmbfj]

That kind of question is not a hifi nut question :)
More of a, my wife wants speakers to match the decor of the room, well more like hidden away in the corner cause she thinks its ugly, kind of question :eek:

Absolutely! My hifi phase diminished my hearing so I look at equipment more than use it.

[cycleslug]

Absolutely! My hifi phase diminished my hearing so I look at equipment more than use it.

So Bose it is then! :p