Perhaps we should stick with midfi...
Seriously, this is ridiculous! If I were to get analytical, I'd say the color of the wall plates for the switches and outlets seem consistent which would indicate to me that the pics are not of two different locations. Increasing magnification of the second pic with the newer system, it seems the color of the carpet and paint are consistent with the first. It could even be that the dark protruding edge off to the right in the second pic may be the same tile seen in the first. Please also note that there is a diminutive white molding along the floor, which is detectable in both pics. The odds that these characteristics converge in two different locations is extremely small. I'd say the man is telling the truth. If I'm wrong, then at least I've had a good time playing detective. But really, what a joke how this whole thread has gone. :( Gonglee, I would be interested in having you update here how your testing with other components goes. |
Well, both pictures were taken by the same camera, a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 and uploaded to photo bucket on the same day, 8/17 at 11:54pm. On both my calibrated NEC LCD3090W-BK-SV and Dell UltraSharp 3007WFP-HC monitors the carpets look different. Though, the wall plates do look consistent. The dark edge appears to be a step. Could the B&W system be in the basement? Maybe an addition. Yes, I could be wrong and I also enjoyed playing detective. |
I took a different route in playing detective and tried to figure out the value of the bike in the pictures found on the link so see if the OP could afford the systems described. I wasn't able to figure out exactly what model it was as the name on the forks seems to be assessory type stuff and not a bike model. Maybe the bike is a fake as well? Note: I'm not intending to discount the OP's story, just joining in the recent detective work since it appeared to be fun. |
08-30-10: MceljoAppears to perhaps be a Trek 1 Series (based on the Shimano Sora/Tiagra components). Fork is a Bontrager (all Trek bikes are spec'd with Bontrager forks). The Trek 1 Series retails for around $1000. |
The concrete in the drive way is old and pitted. It has been patched in several areas. There are some stains on the concrete. The garage door is just standard aluminum; nothing special. The bike has dirt on it and shows signs of use and wear. So, what part of the country are soltio tiles popular? Southwest? Also, I'd guest that the house is in a subdivision, and a lower end one judging buy the untrimmed window (drywall jams). Having said that, when I purchased a home in a subdivision about ten years ago, I requested drywall jams because the builder wanted $400 to trim each window. It cost me less that $40 a window and took less than two hours which including installation of the sill, jams, trim and prime and painting. There are 14 windows in my home for a savings of over $5000. Also, from the road, my home looks like an unassuming saltbox colonial; inside it's a different story. |
That was really funny you all! Thanks for the laughters (which we all need, don't we?)... Since someone asked me to chip in, I will upload another picture proving that the 2 systems are indeed in the same room - I don't know what that accomplishes, but since some of you asked, I will oblige... http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vdone&1283411725&view I am coming to like the hifi system even more everyday - perhaps the system needed burning in period, or my hearing is becoming more audiophile. I know I don't have the golden ear yet for sure, but the higher end system sounds better than the midfi system in some ways - more liquid and transparent. For that reason, I haven't mixed / matched the system yet, thinking it might get even better as time goes on. Is it possible that the cables were installed in the opposit direction when it was moved, requiring a burning in period ? I don't know for sure, but it's clearly begining to sound better - I am pleasantly surprised... I like the dynamic power of 250 watts per ch. Krell amp, and the sound just hovers in the air in a pleasant way... But still, I would stop with the midfi if I had a chance to do it all over again. The difference is minor, and the cost is too high for me ... AS someone mentioned, I am begining to believe that you can assemble a pretty good sounding system for not much money, if you know what you are doing - especially if you buy them used on sights like this... I wish you all can hear my midfi system, and you might agree that it does 90% of the new hifi system, if not better it in some aspects... I am still seduced by the wide soundstage of the bigger woofer ADS speakers - the B&W 802D has smaller woofers - almost sounds like a bookshelf with subs to me. Anyway, thanks for playing detective with me - your intellectual curiosity is sparkling, and we all need a pinch of skepticism now and then, don't we - to go through life succesfully... ------------------------------------------- *** --------------------------------------------- By the way, someone mentioned that since I rave about a $79 sony sub, I must be happy with a boombox. The sony sub, SA-WM500 is recommended by the pros in hifi magazines. Hear it for your selves at the Bestbuy (of all the places!), and you too might be pleasantly surprised... It has a nice smooth amp section - perhaps a class D digital, and it has an echo button which is good for movies. I was so happy with the sound - had me dancing for an hour. Also, there are pretty decent sounding boomboxes out there - since this sight is really hi end, you might not be familiar with it. JVC Kaboom has a sub built in, producing pretty full warm sound, with mid and highs that are pretty decent as well - if you want to have music at a barbecue... If you want to introduce your loved ones to this exciting hobby, you might want to consider these, and other affordable good sounding gears. |
Gong, Shh, ixnay on the don't have to spend a lot thing. We don't want that to get around! You'll spend more than for a boombox and less than for Carnegie Hall with booked acts hopefully. Stick around here for a while and then let's see what happens. Heck you already have some pretty nice toys to play with! This site is a nice tweak that tends to lubricate your ears and wallet together by design. You're off to a good start. |
Douglas Schroeder, My reasoning was that the overwhelming majority of homes use the same baseboards throughout. When doing renovations/additions, people take great pains to match baseboards, trim, etc. That being said, some people do just go over to Home Depot and buy what's available/cheapest. I made an observation. If I was wrong, I'll be the first to admit it. |
Nothing wrong with sticking to “mid-fi.” I’ve been in the wine biz for 35 years now. Sometimes the best glass of wine is just a glass of wine - and ought to be. I taste/sample thousands of wines in any given year so I have a reference point for what I’ll deem personally acceptable at any price. I don’t have a $60k stereo system, but it’s better than what my girlfriend has. I wouldn’t hesitate spending that or more if I could, though. I gave her two stereos, both vintage receivers. A Pioneer SX1050 & Meadowlark Kestrels for her living room, Marantz 2250b & small Ushers for the bedroom. The Meadowlarks are truly excellent speakers, $400 used from a fellow member. They both sound fine. We have yet to NOT enjoy listening to music at her house. My home stereo is a Modwright integrated paired to a pair of Vandy 3A Signature speakers - not too shabby. I could easily swap the reviews of sound equipment here with wine reviews. Much of the language used to convey the impressions is interchangeable. That’s the fun of it. But I think we all come to a point where we find ourselves questioning the validity of what may please us and what we may spend to get it. Since joining this site about 5 years ago I’ve had more gear than I owned in the previous 40 years combined! Has it been fun? Hell, yes! Has it been worth it? Hell, yes! I got into it because there was that ONE time when I discovered something that I never knew was there before - something within a very familiar tune that better equipment revealed. Voila! Hooked! Back in the 80’s I began collecting wine. Within a few years I had a modest assemblage of Bordeaux and Burgundy, perhaps 25 cases or so, with some California as well. When I had the disposable income I bought, when I didn’t, well, I consumed. 7Couldn’t help it. Then a nor’easter wreaked havoc in my house and what remained of my collection was rendered undrinkable. Poof. Back to the drawing board. Just last week I was hanging support rods for sun shade curtains around my girlfriend’s patio when, on her cheap, yellowed, white plastic am/fm cassette portable “Life Is A Carnival” started playing. Now that’s one busy little mother of a tune that I often find myself repeating ad infinitum on my home stereo, but there in her backyard through that ridiculously cheap, low-fi, weather-beaten p.o.s. it sounded GREAT. It would sound great through two cans connected by a piece of string. It’s the music, not the gear. There’s hi-fi, mid-fi, low-fi, and now wifi. New one: “My-fi.” |
Stick with original. Like how kidzgeek post their response about babies who needs care. |
I wonder how many people who have read this 9 year old thread still do not have a "Tunable System"? I wonder how many who have posted and read 20 or more years ago still don't have a "Tunable System"?Thousands of threads posted and the same people asking how to get something they don't have. Buy a line conditioner, get this or that speaker, amp, DAC, wire, table....and still not understanding that this media is variable. Millions upon millions of $$$$$ spent on something that doesn't even exist. HEA is a price tag and nothing else. And the blame game :). Let's blame recordings, engineers and low budgets for bad sound. The blind in this hobby will do anything not to see. Desperate to justify their spending. Folks so desperate that they are spending even more money to try to justify their spending. And, every audiophile out there knows that there will come a day that you will put on a great recording and it will sound terrible on your over built over priced system. There's absolutely no way around it, you are going to play a great recording and it is going to sound terrible. And, even though the cause is staring you right in the ears you go on saying a system that only knows how to play one sound can't be at fault. You my friends are no longer a part of the audiophile majority, but instead the ever shrinking crowd that is paddling your way into obscurity. The rest of us who tune, either through DSP, Equalization or Physically or all of the above, hear a recording that sounds off and we correct it. We have the ability to make the necessary adjustments to our liking while you keep messing with an idea that never worked and never will. The idea that all recordings sound the same and or have the same values never ever existed. It was just a group of reviewers piping a dream of "wouldn't it be nice" and some how the audio designers lost their minds and delivered a false premise. They delivered products that were incomplete by design when plugged together. They never stopped to ask "how do I play a variable medium through a discrete system". Instead this hobby settled for only being able to play a few recordings very well, some ok, and even more horribly out of tune. Listing how much you have spent on a component or the brand means absolutely Zip in a hobby that requires Acoustical, Mechanical and Electrical variability to play back recordings. Oh but keep playing and we will see you in another 9 years asking the same questions and giving the same advice, with probably only one change. Half of this generation will be dead and gone and most of the other half will have discovered how the hobby of playback really works. Michael Green |
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