Listened to a system that completely blew me away today

[braincramp]

Let me start out by saying that although I'm a huge music lover I've never posted a whole lot here. I'm a 65 year old guy that played in Rock bands for 45 years until it just got too much for me. When I quit gigging I still needed my music fix. I'm a huge fan of vinyl and have always thought digital music of any kind pretty much sucked. CD's were Ok but anything else like MP3's and stuff always sounded very plastic. I've been looking at upgrading my current system so today I went into a TV/Audio store where I've bought a couple of TV's and was going to look at their stereo stuff. Started talking to a salesman who was a good dude and asked me if I ever listened to any Hi Resolution systems. I told him I hadn't and that it wasn't really something that interested me. I had some time to kill and asked me to just take a listen. He turned on a system that consisted of a Sony HAPZ1ES HDD player, Sony TA-A1ES Hi Res amp and a pair of Klipsch Cornwall speakers. I can't remember a time that a stereo system made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I could not believe what I was hearing. I listened to a wide variety of music from SRV to the Carpenters, to Jazz and Blues for an hour. I heard stuff in some songs I had never heard before coming out of a set of speakers. I'm sure there are a ton of people here that I'm not telling them stuff they don't already know but I do know one thing. Before they bury me I WILL have a system like that in my Man Cave! All I need to do is find $9000 laying around somewhere.

 

[ferninando]

heres hoping you achieve your goal.
Isn't this a rewarding indulgance to enjoy?

 

[braincramp]

heres hoping you achieve your goal.
Isn't this a rewarding indulgance to enjoy?

Thanks! It's definitely a expensive one.

 

[Markoneswift]

I won a very cheap item in an auction recently. I arranged to collect it and when I turned up at the sellers premises, I was in digital heaven.

He demoed some high end pure digital systems and the blew my socks off !

 

[Raynald]

Digital done right can be amazing.

 

[darkblue94]

I won a very cheap item in an auction recently. I arranged to collect it and when I turned up at the sellers premises, I was in digital heaven.

He demoed some high end pure digital systems and the blew my socks off !

The source(s) were digital sure but were the amplifier(s) and speakers digital as well or analog?

 

[grillebilly]

Happy to hear you got the bug and thanks for posting. Sounds like a nice system you were treated to.
There are excellent buys in the used market, especially on higher end solid state gear. Most of it is well taken care of and used lightly. You can probably get those Sony components for around $2400 and those speakers for less than a grand if you are patient.
Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[darkblue94]

Happy to hear you got the bug and thanks for posting. Sounds like a nice system you were treated to.
There are excellent buys in the used market, especially on higher end solid state gear. Most of it is well taken care of and used lightly. You can probably get those Sony components for around $2400 and those speakers for less than a grand if you are patient.
Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Not likely to find a pair of the currently retailed Klipsch Cornwall III speakers for less than a grand.
They list at over four grand per pair.

 

[grillebilly]

currently retailed Klipsch Cornwall III

Are they that much better than the vintage models? I have no experience with them other than the old ones similost had (thrift store find).

 

[grillebilly]

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/klipsch-cornwall-differences-between-editions.264847/

 

[Freddymac2]

You do not have to spend $9000 to produce a close to live sound stage. You do need a good room that YOU have total control of. Around here in N.Y. there is a great deal of QUALITY gear that can be had for under $2000. If you are using vinyl, it is a bit more difficult.

 

[braincramp]

Not likely to find a pair of the currently retailed Klipsch Cornwall III speakers for less than a grand.
They list at over four grand per pair.

Do they make a II ? The speakers I listened to were $2000 each.

 

[braincramp]

Happy to hear you got the bug and thanks for posting. Sounds like a nice system you were treated to.
There are excellent buys in the used market, especially on higher end solid state gear. Most of it is well taken care of and used lightly. You can probably get those Sony components for around $2400 and those speakers for less than a grand if you are patient.
Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

No one around my parts has much of anything good to sell.

 

[braincramp]

You do not have to spend $9000 to produce a close to live sound stage. You do need a good room that YOU have total control of. Around here in N.Y. there is a great deal of QUALITY gear that can be had for under $2000. If you are using vinyl, it is a bit more difficult.

I do have that at least.

 

[johnebravo]

No one around my parts has much of anything good to sell.

Well, I spent four years in DeKalb, and you're not much farther from the extensive Chicago suburban area than DeKalb is! There's going to be quality used stuff available in Chicagoland.

 

[biscuithead]

Do they make a II ? The speakers I listened to were $2000 each.

Somebody just recently posted that two pair of Cornwalls were for sale in the NY area for 6-8 hundred. I bought my Cornwalls used for well under $1000. The sound that blew you away can be achieved for much less than 9k.

 

[darkblue94]

Do they make a II ? The speakers I listened to were $2000 each.

Not any more, the Cornwall II's were discontinued years ago. You were listening to the Cornwall III.

 

[braincramp]

Somebody just recently posted that two pair of Cornwalls were for sale in the NY area for 6-8 hundred. I bought my Cornwalls used for well under $1000. The sound that blew you away can be achieved for much less than 9k.

Oh yea, I understand that. I was just really surprised at the sound of the digital ( Flak I think? ) sound which I have never really liked. The system I listened to for 9 grand also had a turntable that would convert my vinyl into above CD grade music. I'm sure I made some you roll over laughing at my stupidity but this was all stuff to me !

 

[braincramp]

Not any more, the Cornwall II's were discontinued years ago. You were listening to the Cornwall III.

Thanks, I was just doing some surfing and noticed that they were the III's. They were selling them for $1989 each.

 

[Condorsat]

After a recent audio upgrade (identified the weakest link in my system) ... I listened to Rod Stewart's "First Cut is Always the Deepest" ... heard musical passages in the song I never heard before. Was really taken back by the improved detail of my
audio rig . Flac? ... High Rez Digital? ... it was lossy.

Don't know what to tell you ... IMHO & recent experience ... lossy playback (at higher bit rates) is capable of better fidelity than most people realize w/ the right system set up.