Album Of The Year 2011

Two come to mind:

Beach Boys - Smile. To finally hear what might have possibly been. Excellent sound on LP.

Destroyer - Kaputt. A post-modern nod to the 80s with a delightfully well conceived holistic soundscape. The vinyl edition features excellent sonics, as well as one additional composition on the remaining LP side. If you like later period Steely Dan, Roxy Music or Brian Eno, it may delight, though it's probably not for everyone.

A tip of the hat to Kate Bush's "50 Words for Snow", and PJ Harvey's "Let England Shake"; both very potent in their own right.

I'm completely underwhelmed by the Bon Iver record; musically and sonically it's not even in the same category as "For Emma..." (for me, though many disagree).

I'm looking forward to 2012. Happy holidays.

With musical taste like this, you could all have saved a lot of bucks, and gone with a BOSE table radio / CD player. Not trying to start a fight, just saying. What is it about this music that demands the high-end amps and speakers?

Rok2id

Who would want to dedicate the space and money to high end equipment. I prefer a simple digital rig and headphone amp. And all the music sounds great through phones and you eliminate neighbors complaining.

Just like grandma's Wave Radio.

Bongofury:
I like to listen with headphones also. I have three very good pair. My question is: Do headphone amps really make a big difference? My amps and CDPs supposably have above average phone amps built in. Marantz PM 7200 and Marantz SA 8001.

Rok2id

Yes. I love the Luxman N100 tube amp and the new Ray Samuels solid state Dark Star. Both take up no space and with the right headphones sound incredible. I like the Seinheiser 800s, the Grado 500s, Sony 7506, and the Fostex B7s. I have my turntable hooked up to the Luxman and my DAC into the Dark Star.

I got rid of my rigs. Why, I love my grandsons more. They are 3 and 2 and I was always worried that a hundred pound speaker would crush them. Now I have a nice library away from the family.