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beas
49
May 27, 2016
I've had several moments of discovery through the years. In the beginning I remember the negatives that brought me to seek out the ultimate experiences in sound, 78 RPM recordings, the 1950 & 1960's "garage band" distorted and compressed noise delivered on poorly pressed 45's. Higher fidelity and multi tracked offerings from early innovators gave some hope but were still delivered through massed produced "record players" in my universe. Even most live shows were delivered in mono and highly compressed by over driven amps. It didn't help that I was living in barracks for much of that time. My time in and around the British and Canadian military had given me some exposure to the better military bands. Many of the bands had superb pop and classical ensembles as well as the standard military offering. To me there was nothing more stirring than the RCAF Central Band or the band of the Royal Marines playing Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance #5 (Land of hope and glory) or marching behind our unit pipes and drums. This simply could not be reproduced by anything that I could afford. In the mid seventies I had settled down (for the 2nd time) and was making some decent money and by chance stopped to look into a small downtown store called "The Audio Corner" I was made welcome and the owners and a small following proceeded to introduce me to the world of High Fidelity Audio.
I eventually wound up with a British Quad 306 amp with a 34 pre amp, Axiom reference speakers and a walker turntable. Life was great until someone slammed the door, sending the Nagaoka cartridge skipping across the vinyl. Many may think me crass but I welcomed digital audio with more enthusiasm than most. Vinyl to me is a pain, the upkeep is high and there are too many other issues. The original Nak CD player had it's issues but it was a definite improvement (IMHO)
Fast forward many years. I'm 71 and I run an Anthem MRX710 with PSB mini centre and satellites with a Paradigm sub All of my music is run through a Bluesound Vault (FLAC). My headphones HIFIMAN 400i's are run through a Schiit Audio Asgarde2.
Elgars Pomp and Circumstance #5, The RAF Band rendering The Dambusters March Past, Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, CCR, Willie, Paul Simon, The Stones, Iggy Azalia, Weeknd, better than being there!
The Anthem can kick into surround and blow you away in a TV or movie fire fight and it can rock your world with a fair degree of musical accuracy!
a very diverse old fart
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