Ok so I have gotten several emails about what kind of stereo I use so I figure what the heck, I'll write about what I use and why. First and foremost, I am a vinyl hound so my stereo is geared toward my records not CD. In fact I don't even have a CD player hooked up to my stereo. When I want to listen to CD I simply play it through my computer and an incredible speaker set. I'll get to that later.
So, my stereo consists of a Sansui 1000x receiver, Dual 1237 turntable with an Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge and a pair of Fisher XP-66 speakers and this combination sounds simply amazing. I have monster cable for all of my connections.
I picked the Sansui 1000x receiver because it can really drive the low end. It has really nice circuitry. It was the first non tubed receiver that Sansui ever built. I always liked the sound of their tubed receivers but they are not as efficient and the tubes had a notoriously short life. Even using Mullard tubes they tended to not last as long. I also like the power of the Sansui 1000x. I have people ask me all the time how much power my receiver has and I tell them that I have 28 watts per channel and they laugh. The joke is on them though. 28 watts in a receiver that was built in 1971 is a lot different than anything that is built now. My receiver has a pair of enormous caps that store a lot of power. No tiny chip amp here. This is real power. Don't believe me, go ahead and touch one of those caps while the power is on and let me stand back and laugh. The phono preamp section of the 1000x is very quiet as well. You actually hear what the turntable is saying and nothing is getting lost in the circuitry. Speaking of which, I am still amazed at how well designed the wiring inside is. Everything has a purpose and a place. It is obvious that a lot went into the design so there is no extra noise introduced into the output section. Pull off the cover of a new receiver and ask yourself, where is the power and why is it so noisy. The Sansui is simply the best sounding receiver I have ever owned.
The Dual 1237 has been my favorite turntable (in a reasonable price range) since I bought my first one in 1978 at the Sight and Sound store at the PX in Heidelberg Germany. When you look at the specs and listen to this turntable you can quickly realize that the specs don't tell the whole story. The wow an flutter and Rumble is a little on the high side but when you listen to the music it adds to the fullness of the music I think. I have eliminated a lot of the noise that is unwanted by upgrading the cartridge to the Ortofon Blue 2M. The low end is very punchy and the highs are very clear and everything in the mid range sounds full and accurate. One of my favorite records to listen to is Norah Jones because her smokey voice has so much timbre with this turntable cartridge combination that you would swear that you are sitting in a small club listening to her live.
So if you have a receiver and turntable you have to have a pair of speakers right? I do and they are simply splendid. The Fisher XP-66 speakers in my opinion are tough to beat. When they were introduced in 1968 they were actually considered a bookshelf speaker. Well, it would have had to have been a seriously large shelf because these babies are heavy and big. I use them as floor speakers and they can really hit the low note. The 12" woofers can shake a large room and when coupled with the power of the Sansui 1000x receiver have the ability to really get loud. But, a deep bass driver means nothing unless the mids and highs are accurate and on the XP-66 they are. The mid range is a big beefy 6" and the highs are from a 2 1/2 in tweeter. With a 6" mid range it can produce nicely through the mid bass through the high mid since the crossovers are at 400 and 1000 hz. Try that with modern speakers and you will have a frying pile of mess if you want to play something like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon or Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy. Everyone talks about how accurate and clear CDs are and how they are sonically better than vinyl. Well, I would submit that if you play records through a stereo with a good turntable, good speakers and a well designed high current receiver it will blow away a CD as long as the record has been well taken care of and well cleaned. The Fisher XP-66 speakers can do things in the low end that are unheard of without spending thousands of dollars.
Well, that is my stereo. It is one that has given me probably thousands of hours of happy listening. A receiver from 1971, a turntable from 1978 and a pair of speakers from 1968. I still haven't heard a low cost stereo that would make me want to get rid of anything that I have. Sure, replacing it with some Adcom and Magnepan and Creek Audio equipment would be really fun. Anyone's got a spare $10 grand ya wanna give me to do it? I think that is the only way I'd get the kind of sound that would make me give up what I have now.
So, when it isn't practicable to listen to my records or something is only available on CD what do I listen to you may ask. Well I have found that the CD in my laptop is more than adequate. That with my iTunes and I am good to go. I have though fallen in love with the Hercules XPS2.1 40 Slim speaker system. The system consists of a really nice powered subwoofer and a pair of satellite speakers. It has a great wired volume control with a headphone jack integrated into it so that you when you plug the speakers into the headphone jack on your computer you don't lose the ability to use headphones. The volume control also has a line in so that you can plug your iPod into the speaker system. I love that feature. Well, back to the speakers. The satellites are 8 watts each and the sub woofer is 16 watts (32 watts, 64 watts peak). It is plenty of power for my music listening. I have never made them bottom out. I used to use a Cambridge Soundworks speaker system and I will admit that I used to bottom that out all the time. I used to get so frustrated while listening to Charles Mingus' The Unique that I stopped listening to it on my computer and would have to run a cable from my computer to my stereo because the Cambridge just couldn't take the low end. Listening to Swing Out Sister's Kaleidoscope World had similar results albeit for different reasons. The mid range really gets a work out on that CD. Corrine Drewery's voice is simply wonderful and fills the mid range and that is not something that small speakers can typically handle. Her voice on most small speaker systems tends to flutter and sound flat because the speakers simply cannot reproduce her voice the way it should. Here is a test, play Forever Blue on your speakers that are hooked up to your computer and then play that song through your stereo. See the difference. The only speakers that I have heard that haven't annoyed the crap out of me are the Hercules XPS 2.1 40 Slim speaker system. Yes, the record sounds better on my stereo but I am actually happy with the way it sounds on my computer as well. Not that looks really matter much to me but the XPS 2.1 speaker system looks great as well. The satellites have a sleek look with a piano black looking finish. Very classy looking, The subwoofer looks like well, a sub woofer. It is under my desk and out of sight so I really don't care what it looks like. They could have done something a little cleaner looking there but like I said, mine us under my desk and out of sight. I'm glad they put the money into the speakers and not the aesthetics. Anyway, if you are looking for a great sounding speaker system pick up a pair of Hercules speakers. They have a great selection depending on how much sound you want and how much you want to spend. Here is a thought, I have also heard the XPS 101 and if you can spring for them, BUY THEM. They are pretty incredible too! Bottom line, I don't think that you can go wrong with anything that Hercules builds. If you are so inclined go down to the bottom of this page and click on the Amazon.com link to get to Hercules. They carry a lot of Hercules speaker systems and even their neat looking DJ deck.
So, there it is for those that have asked. If you are going to listen to music, go vintage and get rid of that CD player. If you are just to hooked on CDs, play them through your computer and get a speaker system from Hercules.
Some of my favorite analog albums:
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
Pete Townsend - White City
John Mayer - No room For Squares
Styx - The Grand Illusion
the Alan Parson Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Sting - Nothing Like the Sun
U2 - War
The Tubes - Completion Backwards Principle
Roger Hodgson - In the Eye Of the Storm
Toto - IV
Stereophonics - Decade In the Sun
Also, I don't have them yet but the Car's and Death Cab for Cutie are both supposed to sound as good as any record has ever sounded so as soon as I get them I will do a review.
Some of my favorite cds and digital media (for my Hercules speakers)
Maceo Parker - Roots Revisited
Mary Black - Babes In the Wood
Swing Out Sister - Kaleidoscope World (this CD should be included with every pair of Hercules Speakers. It sounds almost as if it was mixed on their speakers!)
Mark Schultz - A Night Of Stories & Songs
Radiohead - Pablo Honey
Rod Stewart - Vagabond Heart
Bob Dylan - Oh Mercy
10,000 Maniacs - In My Tribe
The Verve - Urban Hymns
Traffic - Far From Home
Bee Gees - One
Barenaked Ladies - Maroon (make sure your neighbors aren't home and then crank this one up and makes sure that you don't have any breakables in a table near the sub woofer. trust me on this one)
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