What kind of sound system rig do you have?
 

The most recent development for my home sound system is that I no longer used a cd player or turntable and use my computer as a server to play most of my music collection. You can hook up your computer to your home stereo system with a $35 adapter that interfaces between your computer and your home stereo receiver.

My computer speaker system is two ancient Altec surround-sound speakers with a medium sized sub woofer. It was one of the first high end audiophile speaker systems developed for home computers. The price of $200 I paid for the Altec speaker system was unheard of for computer speakers ten years ago, but today the setup rivals many of the computer speaker systems that sell for $300-$500 in 2009.

My home stereo system is two medium size B&W speakers and a Rotel receiver.. which are first rate British products that I purchased at an audiophile shop as discontinued products. The sound is fantastic and I've heard a lot worse on much more expensive equipment.

Total cost

Atec Speakers and Subwoofer- Purchased in 1997 for $200
Rotel Receiver- Purchased in 2000 for $150
B&W Speakers- Purchased in 2000 for $250
Adapter Cord- Purchased in 2006 for $35
TOTAL COST (not including computer)- $635

As you can see, I'm not a big believer in integrated sound systems and you can save a lot of money by purchasing each component on sale whenever you can afford an upgrade. I'm not a big fan of bass distortion and don't need to fill an arena with my sound system, so this modest system meets all of my playback, mixing, and dubbing needs. I do an Internet music show and I have to say that my current home system rig produces about the best quality streaming music I've heard on the Internet.

I've archived all of my cds in waterproof storage files in my basement. I'll probably never let go of my music collection, even though I've gotten some pretty lucrative offers for some of my rarer vinyl and cd titles. I still hang on to my old compact discs and vinyl records as a reassurance that I have a tangible product and not just a bunch of intangible bytes of sound on a computer. Most music collectors share a similar fetish for a ritual musical object to hold in their hand, gaze at and worship.

I have 500 gigabytes of storage on my computer and have ripped 25,000 songs to my computer. Even with the 25,000 songs I still have 300 gigabytes of storage capacity left on my computer. What's nice about abundant computer storage is I don't have to worry about purchasing more shelving for my enormous music collection... storage space is one of the perennial problems for music and I'm glad I don't have to worry about that issue anymore.

If you're serious about consolidating your all or a good portion of your music collection the best thing you can do is upgrade your storage capacity to 500 gigabytes. I tried for years to consolidate my music on a 250 gig drive and there simply wasn't enough room for other programs unless I wanted to do "just music" on the computer.

A 500 gig internal hard drive sells for as little as $75 and if you can install it yourself you'll save yourself an additional 75 bucks for installation. Warning: Don't attempt to install a hard drive for the first time alone... find someone who knows what they're doing to walk you through the process. It's not difficult but there are a few mistakes that many tech-challenged people make when they install hard drives and it makes the process agonizing.

It's not a good idea to use a flash drive or external hard drive to store music files on. I tried it once and iTunes crashed my system because users are not allow to move iTunes music to other computers or drives under the iTunes terms of service.

I'm one of many former iTunes customers who are plantiffs in a class action suit against Apple for installing malicious iTunes software on my computer without my consent. I could probably write a book on Apple's Gestapo tactics and their evil collaboration with RIAA to snoop on the music buyers of the world.
For the record, I've never downloaded a song from a pirate file sharing website in my life but I do believe if you purchase a song or album, you can do what you damn well please with it. Just be careful because iTunes and RIAA believe that they can ransack your music files and crash your computer even when you're complying with establish free use laws governing copyrighted material.

Sorry about my editorial digression but anyone who does music on their home computer should be forwarned about the malicious software used by music retailers and music publishing houses.

Amazon is about the only MP3 service that sells completely DRM free MP3s. DRM is the the Digital Rights Management program that allows music services to spy on your use of the music they sell to you. Shop Amazon if you want to have privacy and control over the use of music that you purchase.

There is no other business in the world that thinks it has the legal right to tell a consumer how he can or can not use a product after he's purchased the product, as is the case with RIAA. What would you think if General Motors had spies that followed you around to keep an eye on your use or misuse of the Chevy you purchased on a show room floor and paid for free and clear in cash?

I run this amp:

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...hpXdzRTEPM.jpg

With these speakers:
http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/uploa...6432ea3766.jpg

With this British made CD player:
http://www.richersounds.com/common/p...res/302958.jpg
With Gale leads.

I also have cinema surround sound running a Pioneer amp and Yahama speakers.

Nice setup there. All of my stuff is pre-digital music age. I don't even have a remote control to adjust the volume on my amplifier.

http://ai.pricegrabber.com/pi/7/20/95/72095693_640.jpg
Yamaha Rx-V363 (Pretty ****ing amazing, Im proud to say I own it)

http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/pro...-f_update.jpeg
ANd thats hooked into 2 Bose 201 series bookshelf speakers.

For mid level, Yamaha are the shit for amps. You running HDMI through it?

I am, seems to sound wonderful though. And I am having trouble finding a good bass (subwoofer) though.

Are you running surround sound through the amp or just Stereo?

I have my computer hooked into the receiver using audio cable. Then it feeds it to the 2 bookshelf speakers which are just plugged into the back. Thats really all I know. (I am not to knowledgeable with these new players.)

So the original source is from the PC? Get a cheap standalone CD player as a go between. PC'S rarely deliver enough bass from their soundcards even if you have an external amp. I run a 2.1 Creative speaker set up from my PC but usually listen through my sennheisers. I really think that you are not fully realising the potential of your hardware if the source is your PC.

I did not know that. Well I have 2 questions then. Would hooking my ipod up by the audio cable work well then (basswise)?

Also, I am getting a new laptop eventually, if I put a little more money into the sound card would that work ass well?

Your Ipod should give you a good sound. Do your Bose have no bass ports then? They surely must do but it seems as if you are not getting good bass?

No I have pretty good bass, and yes they are being used. I will try with my ipod and compare the sound.

So will a better soundcard help when it comes to feeding the signal from the computer? (and I didnt mention I have an external recording interface. that is actually where the sound is coming from, not directly out of the computer)

If you have an external then the sound is hitting another source again so it may well hinder the SQ. The less loops that sound has to go through, the better the quality. Obvious I know but this is when quality of leads comes into play. My HDMI lead from my cable box to HDTV cost me £95 at the time (18 months ago) that would have been about $140 dollars for a 1m lead.

If you are using good quality gear then your interconnects should be as good as you can buy too.

Gotchya. Thanks for the help.

It depends on what kind of audio card you have and what kind of audio management software you have. A 256 kbps MP3 file is about as high quality digital sound as you kind find anywhere. My subwoofer is part of my computer sound system it maintains bass fidelity even when I peg out the VU meter to +3 in the red zone.

Many music producers have started using 384 kbps MP3 files as masters for compact disc burning. The best part of computer based music is you can use soundboard software to get a range of sound that you could never get from cd player and conventional amplifier.

I can edit, remix, sample and dub music right on my home computer. I can record studio quality original music and use programs like Shoutcast to produce my own internet radio broadcast complete with cross-fading and volume levelling. The only setback is you can't do cool turntablist stuff on anything but a turntable.

There is a degradation of quality on MP3s files that are transfered or ripped at a speed rate of lower than 250 kilobits per second. For instance, all of iTunes files are inferior quality because they all have a transfer speed of 128 kbps which is a loss in fidelity that is noticable to anyone with a good set of ears. On the other hand, all of Amazon's MP3 downloads are high quality 250 kbps MP3 files.

What sites do you use for making your internet radio stations?

I broadcast on Medium Rare radio which uses Shoutcast as a matrix. I'm currently taking a few weeks of because I'm doing extensive remodeling in my house and I've put everything else on hold.

I also do a dubwise reggae and worldbeat show on a newly christened high definition radio channel that's the local National Public Radio affiliate in St. Louis. I'd love to syndicate the show but duib, reggae and world beat music has a limited cult audience.

I've got an OLD Memorex power amp that my dad got from a friend for me. It's been in a basement for like years. An Onkyo Tape deck that my dad bought when he was working at some big electronics supply warehouse in the 80's. And an Audio-Technica turntable. The speakers are these two custom made deals from the states, he got them for me for Christmas, and apparently they were a steal. It ain't the best set up, but I love it.

This is ours, cost's about 6,500.

Yamaha makes some awesome recievers imo

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/208/s7300710.jpg

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/8914/s7300711.jpg

It's really great to see the audiophiles representin'. Unfortunately all I can do is drool. For now I'm happy with my $50 JBL desktop speakers. Someday though.......

@Darkest Hour: I hope that room is bigger than it looks because you might actually get blown through the wall with that system.

i watched the entire king kong dvd with it cranked near max volume and i will never do it again. Pictures started falling over and the upstairs lamp light bulb busted during that period, lol

Your right about the reciever. I have almost the same model here hooked up to my computer/tv/speakers/record player and it all sounds fantastic.

Are those horn-loadd Klipsch in your photo?

yep, everything is klipsch, even the subs. Klipsch still owns IMO. And it is getting pretty cheap.

I really like their home audio components but a few years ago I bought their 2.1 Pro-Media system for my computer and I a had to take it back. Their was absolutely no mid-range presence at all even after a more than adequate break-in period.

i have some of their 2.1 computer stuff as well. Which model is it?

??? The THX pro-media 2.1. about as much as i can tell you.

dude, Darkest... Regardless of the brand of speaker you're using... Have you considered taking into account the room acoustics and positioning your speakers based on that?

yeah, i use the little mic and it does it's thing. The speakers are pretty much going to stay where they are though for a while.

Here's my system. Bear in mind I'm 20, work for a Hi-Fi Retailer, and have this set up in a university Dorm room. It ****ing KICKS.

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/9533/...rreference.jpg
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9225/dacmagic.jpg
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/3277/denonamp.jpg
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7254/optical.jpg
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/6129/walnutmezzo2.jpg
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/5...remepciex1.png

The weak point in the system is definitely the Amplifier at this point, but considering its at least 15 years old and I bought it second hand, it actually kicks a whole bunch of ass.

Speakers: £399 at time of purchase.
Cambridge interconnects: £49.95
Amplifier: £80 second hand. I don't think the shop had a clue what they had, its very good for that money...
Optical Cable: Who cares, its digital, they all sound the same.
Soundcard: £70 - Was actually a warranty replacement for an Auzentech card which was much better on analogue output, but considering I'm using the optical, I doubt theres any difference between the two now.
DAC: £199 and it ROCKS.

That pretty much rocks my face off.

Is the Cambridge Audio an outboard D/A converter?

Yup.

Edit: I forgot to mention, I only use the amplifier from that denon system. THe rest of it would have been worthless to me, so I never bought the other components.

lol, I'm just now getting back to this thread after a month. GB, I'm curious, what was the impetus to buy an outboard DAC? Is it for the computer?

Yes it was. My soundcards analogue outpus aren't exactly the best in the world, so I decided to use the digital out on the card instead and run it into a DAC. As far as the computer is concerned the soundcard setup hasn't changed, so ease of use is great, but sound quality is vastly improved.

This thread would make my BF c*m in his pants.

Tell him to come check it out so you can take a break for a while. :D

Break? What's that? *wipes mouth*

Haha..
This thread is about to get ruined.
I'm stopping.