I recently sold off more than 80% of my audio equipment. B&W 683 floorstanders, Velodyne Impact 10 sub and Sony DA2400ES AVR all gone! It can well be argued that none of the afore-mentioned are truly high-end, but the combined retail cost of these (nearly R30K) makes it as close-to-high-end as someone who's starting out in audio (like myself) is likely to get. Basically, I got rid of all things "audio" except for my B&W 685 bookshelfs, LCR60 centre, x-fi elite pro soundcard & HTPC. I have now gone back to where I started out originally... an older "cheapie" system, the Logitech Z5500. "Why" you ask?? Well, continue reading my lengthy post if you're interested to know why...
I loved the sound of my Logitech system. I personalised it and "upgraded" the system with "real" speakers instead of the stock satellites, but without HDMI support, no lossless HD-audio from bluray was possible. Multichannel bluray soundtracks still sounded amazing (to my ears) in vanilla DTS & DD but it was still a niggle that bugged me... A LOT! So I sold these in pursuit of lossless hi-res audio excellence and (honestly) the entire move was a bit of an anti-climax... which doesn't work for me. My wife will attest to that.
I soon came to realise that HD audio was not as significant an upgrade as I'd hoped. Not saying it wasn't noticeably different... just not a "night and day difference" imho.
To cut a long story... well, a little less long... the sound of my newer amp and sub - while certainly "very good" - seemed somewhat underwhelming (power-wise) and despite all my many efforts, would never come close to matching the sheer raw power of the Z5500 setup which had the ability to blow out all my glass windows long before any distortion was present. Also, the purity of the signal it was fed from the x-fi was (to my ears) in a different league to that of the Sony ES amp (who many around here hold in high regard.) The 10" Velodyne sub did have quite a bit of oomph and in fairness it had a faster, "punchier," more rounded quality to it's bass but... the 12" Logitech is still the better performer (imo) as far as "presence" is concerned. It is also capable of going much louder than the Velodyne before it starts distorting.
I realise that many here will regard this post as audio blasphemy but 1st-hand experience has taught me that the better specs, higher numbers, brand & class distinction don't always add up to the better sound. I don't regret buying the Sony amp or the Velodyne sub. They were necessary to satisfy my own curiosity, and were ultimately for my own "education." With that being said I'm also confident their new owners are every bit as satisfied with their performance as I am with mine. Other than a TV upgrade, I can't see any changes in my audio setup happening anytime soon. Thanks & congratulations on reading this all the way through. :thumbs:
I loved the sound of my Logitech system. I personalised it and "upgraded" the system with "real" speakers instead of the stock satellites, but without HDMI support, no lossless HD-audio from bluray was possible. Multichannel bluray soundtracks still sounded amazing (to my ears) in vanilla DTS & DD but it was still a niggle that bugged me... A LOT! So I sold these in pursuit of lossless hi-res audio excellence and (honestly) the entire move was a bit of an anti-climax... which doesn't work for me. My wife will attest to that.
I soon came to realise that HD audio was not as significant an upgrade as I'd hoped. Not saying it wasn't noticeably different... just not a "night and day difference" imho. To cut a long story... well, a little less long... the sound of my newer amp and sub - while certainly "very good" - seemed somewhat underwhelming (power-wise) and despite all my many efforts, would never come close to matching the sheer raw power of the Z5500 setup which had the ability to blow out all my glass windows long before any distortion was present. Also, the purity of the signal it was fed from the x-fi was (to my ears) in a different league to that of the Sony ES amp (who many around here hold in high regard.) The 10" Velodyne sub did have quite a bit of oomph and in fairness it had a faster, "punchier," more rounded quality to it's bass but... the 12" Logitech is still the better performer (imo) as far as "presence" is concerned. It is also capable of going much louder than the Velodyne before it starts distorting.
I realise that many here will regard this post as audio blasphemy but 1st-hand experience has taught me that the better specs, higher numbers, brand & class distinction don't always add up to the better sound. I don't regret buying the Sony amp or the Velodyne sub. They were necessary to satisfy my own curiosity, and were ultimately for my own "education." With that being said I'm also confident their new owners are every bit as satisfied with their performance as I am with mine. Other than a TV upgrade, I can't see any changes in my audio setup happening anytime soon. Thanks & congratulations on reading this all the way through. :thumbs:
