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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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In Reply to: Where did/do you learn about audio, sound and acoustics? posted by Inmate51 on July 22, 2024 at 14:33:40:
Ah, the Safeway on Market Street, near the San Francisco Mint. As a college freshman, I came home to S.F., for Spring Break 1990. Under the influence of magazines like Stereophile and TAS, I went a few blocks southwest of that Safeway, to San Francisco Stereo Plus. There, the purchase of an Adcom GFA-535 power amp was my entrance into "high-end audio."
When I returned to UC Santa Cruz for the Spring 1990 quarter, I excitedly told Dimitra, a senior who really should have been the RA, about high-end audio. She pleasantly smiled, and knew that, some day, I'd obtain high-end audio products far more expensive than the Adcom.
In September 1990, before classes even began, I was introduced to Tuyet, who would majorly impact me in ways and areas no one else would. She borrowed and liked my AudioQuest Mini-Adapter Z. While audiophiles kept blabbing, "How does it sound?," Tuyet saw the cable as "passing more of the signal."
IOW, Tuyet saw that cables should have as little sound, distortion, and electrical incompatibilities as possible.
That school year, I spent more one-on-one time with Tuyet, than with anyone else, including my roommate. You could bounce audio ideas off of Tuyet, who was an art major and liked "modern rock" music. When she gave you that piercing side-eye look of disapproval, you were empowered to say NO to audiophiles.
Like everyone else, we lamented that "professional" audio reviewers had really weird musical tastes, and odd values. We liked reading Sam Tellig's columns, and Tuyet thought it was a good thing, that ST made his biases known. Tuyet shrugged, "No problem. Do the opposite" of ST. Tuyet saw great value in ST's descriptions: "If he likes something, chances are that a normal person will not. And if ST doesn't care for a product, a normal person should pay attention to it."
Andrea lived next door to me. Around Memorial Day 1991, she and I were at the little Crown Library (above). She listed several reasons why I should check out the $200 Pinnacle PN-5+ mini-monitor. She said that such a small speaker would be fine for my bedroom (at my parents' place). Or, if my living room had surround sound, the PN-5+ could be used as satellites. And since I was going to move to an apartment the next school year, she added that perhaps the PN-5+ could be the main speakers there. She pointed out that, at $200, the PN-5+ was affordable, and did not bankrupt me for a future audio purchase.
Get this. In early June 1991, Andrea accompanied me to Recycled Stereo Plus, a store right off of the Santa Cruz Metro Center. There, Andrea kept me focused on the Pinnacle PN-5+, not the store's other products (such as more expensive Pinnacles, or Rotel electronics). I bought the PN-5+ (the pair came in a single box), and Andrea escorted me back to our dorm.
In 1991-92, I lived in an on-campus apartment. It's highly likely that my 4 neighbors were singing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," which was made popular from the Wayne's World movie. Anyway, most of our friends and neighbors found that a cheaper JBL bookshelf loudspeaker sounded cleaner and clearer than a more expensive Bose "Stereo Everywhere" floorstander. Moreover, everyone was shocked, that they could hear the differences, between Monster IL-400 and AudioQuest Topaz interconnects. In addition, everyone agreed that the Topaz was superior. Remember, no one was an audiophile. While audiophiles had their own vocabulary to describe sonics, my non-audiophile friends and neighbors did not. It was fascinating, watching them use hand gestures, body language, and their own words, to describe what they were hearing, and how it moved them.
In summer of 1992, I was back home in S.F. I would take BART to Berkeley, and meet ACS or Scylla. Both were sophomores at UC Berkeley. With ACS, I'd go to dB Audio and The Audio Chamber. With Scylla, I'd go to Music Lovers Audio and Pro Home Systems. Holy cow, these stores left a lot to be desired.
Back in S.F., I could go to audio stores by myself. But I would go with the likes of ACS, Scylla, and KJ, to Harmony A/V, House Of Music, Performance Audio, SF Stereo+, Sounds Alive, and Ultimate Sound.
That summer of 1992, you could find me and friends, all over S.F. But seemingly everyday, at least one friend would come over to my house. My friends did "shootouts" between the NAD 5000 and Sony CDP-520ESII CD players; Adcom GFA-535 and Muse Model 100 power amps; and Paradigm 5SE and Pinnacle PN-5+ loudspeakers. While hooking up and/or moving the Muse, both ACS and Scylla had their forearms scratched by the sharp chassis edges and heatsink fins. But the star of that summer was the AQ Lapis interconnect. Everyone was blown away, at how the Lapis didn't erase distortion, but kept it where it didn't bother you. It did a better job of preserving signal, and thus, let more of the music through.
During the 1992-93 school year, my college stereo consisted of the Sony CDP-520ESII; Adcom GTP-400 and GFA-535; AQ Lapis, Topaz, and F-14; and Pinnacle PN-5+. In those days, friends and neighbors would just drop by, unannounced. They all wanted to know what high-end audio products could do with/for/to their music. Sometimes, a friend would stay for a few minutes. Other times, she'd stay for dinner, or even crash overnight. The music and talks could go on for hours. Yeah, yeah, we didn't get any homework or studying done. But those were some of the best times of your life.
So of course, you learned about audio, sound, and acoustics with and via your friends in college.
-Lummy The Loch Monster
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Follow Ups
- Friends in college - Luminator 07/23/2422:28:06 07/23/24 (0)
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