Hi everyone! I realized today that I've been a member here for about a month and I never properly introduced myself.
I'm Nightwisher from South Carolina. Primarily I'm here for my love of audio, but the hostility on AVS Forum on most any topic that I regularly encounter led me here as well. Here is an abbreviated version (no really) of my story for those interested.
I've loved music for the majority of my existence. In fact, it is a large part of my existence. I've had many systems over the past 20+ years, mostly total crap until I got my Bose Mediamate set in 2003. Yeah, that's right, Bose got me into the audiophile world. Soon after, in 2005, I bought my first system on my own, a Panasonic Shelf Stereo system, which was the best system of the kind that Walmart sold at the time (for a whopping $200). Quite heavy on the bass but young me loved it. Played CDs, had a dual cassette deck (I actually recorded quite a bit of local radio with it), the tuner pulled in the local rap and rock stations clearly, and it had an AUX in that I used most of the time (with my Sandisk Sansa, then my Zune, then my Archos, and then my iPod).
In 2005, I started buying CDs, mainly through the encouragement of my dad. I started with rap and hip-hop but shifted to rock and metal in early 2007. We had a subscription to Sony BMG, so every month I would order a half dozen or so at whatever the deal they were having that month was (usually like buy one, get 5 free or something crazy like that). I also bought CDs in Best Buy, FYE, a local store called Earshot, and occasionally in Target or Walmart. Amazon and Best Buy online came after Sony BMG changed to online only and restructured their deals. Now, I have a collection of over 1000 CDs, including jazz, classical, soundtracks, pop, and others, and manage the entire collection for my family. Even when my music was compressed-only (for the MP3 players), I still bought CDs for the physical experience, for the extras, and for lossless in the future (I finally got around to it a couple of years ago).
In 2007, my parents bought me an Ion USB turntable. Since my Panasonic had no RCA line in, I used the Bose with it. It wasn't the best-sounding system, but it got me comfortable playing my dad's vinyl collection and I found some new favorites in there.
I used the Panasonic system until 2011, when my dad got me a real system for Christmas: a Yamaha surround receiver, a pair of Klipsch B-20 speakers, and a Klipsch 10 inch subwoofer (don't remember the model number). I used a slightly older Toshiba DVD player (circa 2007) for a CD player. I immediately noticed the system sounded clearer and more refined than the Panasonic, but I missed the bass.
Over the past 4 years, I've been tweaking my system to end up with one that I truly enjoy. The first to go was the subwoofer. I got a Klipsch 12 inch (that my dad actually bought with the Christmas set but wouldn't fit under my desk at the time) and man that thing really filled out the low end. Next, I went for speakers and after reading lots of rave reviews online, bought a pair of Boston Acoustics CR85s, which blew my Klipsch away in clarity and imaging. I also expanded the system into 7.1 surround, keeping with the Bostons.
I also got into buying vintage audio equipment. My first piece was a dbx 120 Subharmonic Synthesizer. From there, I bought a Pioneer EQ, Kenwood Preamp (for my incoming turntable), Kenwood Tuner, Kenwood Turntable, and Pioneer Dynamic Range Expander. I have most recently added a Nakamichi RE-2 to replace the Yamaha for stereo, a JVC tape deck from my dad, and a Luxman CD player.
For my second system, the Bose came with me to college. Mainly because of the lack of a sub and surround, I bought an Onkyo HTIB. That didn't last long as my Bostons came in for my primary system and soon I was running another Yamaha and Boston Acoustics system for college as well.
The only other new pieces I added to my main system were an Emotiva XDA-1 DAC, a Mirage Omni S10 Subwoofer (the Klipsch 12 came to school with me), and a MiniDSP.
My secondary system shares the MiniDSP (I have different profiles for each). I recently added a Kenwood KR-5030 as my stereo receiver. My Toshiba DVD player is now my CD player, but soon I will have a JVC CD player courtesy of a generous member of the forum.
Working during the summer and working during the school year as an RA has helped finance a lot of this. The equipment I've moved on from has mostly gone to my brother, who is more of a fan of Klipsch and a bit less picky than I am, or has been sold on Ebay to help finance new pieces.
I listen to primarily FLAC files from my CDs and my parent's CDs. The only MP3s I have came from one of my dad's friends or are from CDs I no longer have access to. I also have my dad's entire vinyl collection digitized to FLAC as well as the majority of my own. I carry a harddrive filled with my entire collection any time I go on vacation or away somewhere and keep all my music on my custom-built computer as my primary playback device when I'm home. My collection sits at nearly 60,000 songs at the moment and is always expanding.
That is my story and the story will continue. I know it's a bit long, but whose story isn't?
For a look at my systems in their current state, use the link in my signature.
Thanks for reading!
Nightwisher
I'm Nightwisher from South Carolina. Primarily I'm here for my love of audio, but the hostility on AVS Forum on most any topic that I regularly encounter led me here as well. Here is an abbreviated version (no really) of my story for those interested.
I've loved music for the majority of my existence. In fact, it is a large part of my existence. I've had many systems over the past 20+ years, mostly total crap until I got my Bose Mediamate set in 2003. Yeah, that's right, Bose got me into the audiophile world. Soon after, in 2005, I bought my first system on my own, a Panasonic Shelf Stereo system, which was the best system of the kind that Walmart sold at the time (for a whopping $200). Quite heavy on the bass but young me loved it. Played CDs, had a dual cassette deck (I actually recorded quite a bit of local radio with it), the tuner pulled in the local rap and rock stations clearly, and it had an AUX in that I used most of the time (with my Sandisk Sansa, then my Zune, then my Archos, and then my iPod).
In 2005, I started buying CDs, mainly through the encouragement of my dad. I started with rap and hip-hop but shifted to rock and metal in early 2007. We had a subscription to Sony BMG, so every month I would order a half dozen or so at whatever the deal they were having that month was (usually like buy one, get 5 free or something crazy like that). I also bought CDs in Best Buy, FYE, a local store called Earshot, and occasionally in Target or Walmart. Amazon and Best Buy online came after Sony BMG changed to online only and restructured their deals. Now, I have a collection of over 1000 CDs, including jazz, classical, soundtracks, pop, and others, and manage the entire collection for my family. Even when my music was compressed-only (for the MP3 players), I still bought CDs for the physical experience, for the extras, and for lossless in the future (I finally got around to it a couple of years ago).
In 2007, my parents bought me an Ion USB turntable. Since my Panasonic had no RCA line in, I used the Bose with it. It wasn't the best-sounding system, but it got me comfortable playing my dad's vinyl collection and I found some new favorites in there.
I used the Panasonic system until 2011, when my dad got me a real system for Christmas: a Yamaha surround receiver, a pair of Klipsch B-20 speakers, and a Klipsch 10 inch subwoofer (don't remember the model number). I used a slightly older Toshiba DVD player (circa 2007) for a CD player. I immediately noticed the system sounded clearer and more refined than the Panasonic, but I missed the bass.
Over the past 4 years, I've been tweaking my system to end up with one that I truly enjoy. The first to go was the subwoofer. I got a Klipsch 12 inch (that my dad actually bought with the Christmas set but wouldn't fit under my desk at the time) and man that thing really filled out the low end. Next, I went for speakers and after reading lots of rave reviews online, bought a pair of Boston Acoustics CR85s, which blew my Klipsch away in clarity and imaging. I also expanded the system into 7.1 surround, keeping with the Bostons.
I also got into buying vintage audio equipment. My first piece was a dbx 120 Subharmonic Synthesizer. From there, I bought a Pioneer EQ, Kenwood Preamp (for my incoming turntable), Kenwood Tuner, Kenwood Turntable, and Pioneer Dynamic Range Expander. I have most recently added a Nakamichi RE-2 to replace the Yamaha for stereo, a JVC tape deck from my dad, and a Luxman CD player.
For my second system, the Bose came with me to college. Mainly because of the lack of a sub and surround, I bought an Onkyo HTIB. That didn't last long as my Bostons came in for my primary system and soon I was running another Yamaha and Boston Acoustics system for college as well.
The only other new pieces I added to my main system were an Emotiva XDA-1 DAC, a Mirage Omni S10 Subwoofer (the Klipsch 12 came to school with me), and a MiniDSP.
My secondary system shares the MiniDSP (I have different profiles for each). I recently added a Kenwood KR-5030 as my stereo receiver. My Toshiba DVD player is now my CD player, but soon I will have a JVC CD player courtesy of a generous member of the forum.
Working during the summer and working during the school year as an RA has helped finance a lot of this. The equipment I've moved on from has mostly gone to my brother, who is more of a fan of Klipsch and a bit less picky than I am, or has been sold on Ebay to help finance new pieces.
I listen to primarily FLAC files from my CDs and my parent's CDs. The only MP3s I have came from one of my dad's friends or are from CDs I no longer have access to. I also have my dad's entire vinyl collection digitized to FLAC as well as the majority of my own. I carry a harddrive filled with my entire collection any time I go on vacation or away somewhere and keep all my music on my custom-built computer as my primary playback device when I'm home. My collection sits at nearly 60,000 songs at the moment and is always expanding.
That is my story and the story will continue. I know it's a bit long, but whose story isn't?
For a look at my systems in their current state, use the link in my signature.
Thanks for reading!
Nightwisher
