My primary purpose for this page is to have a place to post pictures of my audio system and, hopefully, provide some reasonably up-to-date background info about it. For more general pictures of about anything, check out my page at ImageStation: My Page

 

To start off, when I first got interested in music reproduction and audio equipment in 2003, I turned to the internet for my research. Research for everything. I didn't know about stereo, home theater, speakers, electronics, anything. I was in dire need of some guidance.

 

Browsing Polk Audio's website one day, viewing their speaker selection, I happened across their online community, called Club Polk. Perusing the forums a bit first, I soon decided to join the group. In the following few months that I bombarded everybody with questions only a novice could ask, I realized what a gold mine I had found. Everybody, it seemed, was extremely knowledgeable and more than willing to share what they had learned through their immense experience in the audio world, and not only that, but their advice was unbiased. Meaning, though they all liked Polk speakers, they were practically all very familiar with most other speaker companies' offerings, and weren't shy one bit to recommend giving them a look.

 

Though I have ended up with non-Polk speakers, and have never had a Polk product in my possession, I have become a part of the Club Polk community and can't foresee ever leaving. If you have any interest at all in audio equipment and great music reproduction, you should check it out.

   

My System History

 

As it stands right now, my stereo system is far superior to anything I could have imagined I might have when I started out in 2003. My first piece of gear was a Yamaha RX-V1400 home theater receiver. I was nothing less than elated when I opened a package one Christmas morning to find that waiting inside. I really thought I had hit the big time, with a $800 (MSRP) HT Receiver and all. The only problem was, I didnt have any speakers to go with it. I made do with the small Sony bookshelf speakers that came with my then 4 year old shelf system. That is, until I blew them. Which took all of about one week, I believe.

 

Then I stumbled across my next deal. The local Now! Audio Video carried Klipsch products, and for some unexplicable reason I always felt myself drawn to them. I never even bothered looking at their floorstanding speakers because I knew I'd never be able to afford them. However, I was pretty set on a pair of RB-35 or maybe even RB-75. My luck turned completely around when Now! Audio Video's luck ran out. When they were bought out by Tweeter, which doesn't carry Klipsch, all their Klipsch gear went on sale. This means the $1,000 RF-35 were now only $500. Somehow, I managed to convince Dad I needed those speakers. Actually, I tried to convince him, but I think Billy Joel actually did the job in the form of 'And So It Goes'. I'll always be indebted to that song.

 

I was a happy man for a while, sitting large, as I saw it, with a nice Yamaha receiver behind a pair of Klipsch RF-35. But it wasn't long before I wanted more. Not really because I felt my system was missing something, but because I wanted to improve upon it, because I could. And I did.

   

The Turning Point

 

I found myself intrigued by tube amps and the mystical 'warmth' and 'musicaillity' associated with the effects the introduction of tubes to the system has on the system's overall sound. Serving to push me along even farther, my Klipsch were practically designed to run off tube power, with most Klipsch owners making extensive use of valves in their systems.

 

It wasn't long before a set of ASL Wave 8 tube monoblocks came up for sale on the Flea Market on Club Polk. This marks a milestone in my paricipation in CP. Due to my parents' cautiosness, I had not been allowed to buy anything online. However, with much persuasive speech (now I flatter myself), I managed to get their approval, or rather permission, to buy the monoblocks. Since RuSsMaN was the seller, I knew the transaction would be smooth and provide for a great experience; and that's what I needed to build up my parents' confidence in Club Polk's Flea Market and members in general.

 

When I took delivery of my monoblocks and hooked them up to my Yamaha's preouts, I definitely had a smile on my face. I couldn't believe how much power those little 8 watts had! The presentation had more force, and the bass was much more powerful! I was definitely happy at that point!

   

Full Steam Ahead

 

All along I saw the need to get a better source than the Panasonic portable CD player I had been using, so now I set out to do so. For a long while I had my eye on the AMC CD8b, which could later serve as a great transport in conjunction with an external DAC. However, Zero soon set me straight. He expounded upon the virtues of Rotel's new line of CDP's, and suggested the RCD-02 since the RCD-1072 was clearly out of my reach financially. The RCD-02 was offered in the US market for a time, but, for whatever reason, was quickly removed, only to remain the the European marketplace. That wasn't much of a problem, because Zero hooked me up with a practically new unit for a good deal. To be honest, I'm not sure how much of a difference the new CDP made, but I have to remember that using my Yamaha as a pre was greatly limiting my entire system's potential.

 

After acquiring my Rotel CDP, my weak point was obviously my receiver. I was lined up to buy a Dodd Audio ELP, but I couldn't manage to muster the funds. Then a Parasound P/HP-850 popped up for sale. I snagged it from ohskigod from Club Polk.

 

When the Parasound arrived and I hooked it up in place of the Yamaha, the difference was amazing. Words really can't describe how great the improvement in sound quality was. Much greater than any previous upgrade had provided.

   

My Current System

 

As it stands, here's my current system.

 

Rotel RCD-02

->Copper Outlaw IC's with locking connectors->

Parasound P/HP-850

->Acoustic Research IC's->

ASL Wave 8

->RadioShack speaker cable->

Klipsch RF-35

->sound vibrations->

One big grin! :D