Recent Hauls

[Iron Rooster]

@Eva Yojimbo - Geez, are you an electrical engineer or something? Not many people are willing to shell that kind of cash on anything, unless they're the ultimate audiophile or just plain vanilla rich.

Personally, I'd rather buy the most badass game system, computer, and display combo possible.

Future (recent hauls IN DA FUTURE!) purchases for me:
Freakazoid Season 1 DVD in July
Fable 2, whenever the hell it comes out
A new cell phone to replace my dying razor

[Eva Yojimbo]

Snatched some fun stuff from Forbidden Planet too:
[list][*]Watchmen, since I lost my old dog-eared copy last year

If you can afford it, I highly recommend the Absolute Edition. Beautiful and worth the price increase.

@Eva Yojimbo - Geez, are you an electrical engineer or something? Not many people are willing to shell that kind of cash on anything, unless they're the ultimate audiophile or just plain vanilla rich.

Not an electrical engineer. I know being an audiophile is a sick hobby that can make a sane person spend amounts on things that would be good grounds to have them committed on. I'm not exactly rich, I do good playing poker and live a pretty lean life when it comes to most everything, and music and audio are my only vices money-wise.

I do! I do! Right here, TriLinK does!

Ok,. Some bad pics taken really quickly:

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Here's the product website, mine is the XLR Interconnect: Virtual Dynamics Genesis

But yeah, 8 grand on audio cables? Is the improvement really worth shelling out that kind of cash? Just curious.

At the level of audiophilia that I'm at, that's a really tough judgment to make. Here's some reviews of the cable. I got mine used, so I only paid $3k. I will say that they are amazing and made as big a leap in audio quality as upgrading my amp and player - which is remarkable when you consider that they're JUST cables. But whatever they do, it works. I'd say they'd be a waste in any system that wasn't first class. Because the double edge sword of having such a hi-fi system is that every little flaw shines through - whether it's with your source, your amp, your speakers/headphones, your cabling, or your power source. Now, the only real upgrades I have left to make is putting in two dedicated lines with Acrolink cabling, upgrading my outlet and wall plate with Oyaide, and replacing my old Nite II Power Cables with the Power Cable version of the Genesis line. Altogether that's roughly $9k worth of upgrades I have left to make. But that's meager when my system now consists of:

-Sony MDR-R10 headphones
-Harmonix Reimyo CDP-777 Player w/mod by Upgrade Company
-SinglePower SDS-XLR headphone amp, maxed and tuned for R10s
-Virtual Dynamics Genesis Interconnects
-Virtual Dynamics Nite II Power Cables
-Grand Prix Monaco Modular Isolation Rack
-200 or so New Old-Stock tubes for amp (including two pairs of the legendary Tung Sol Round Plates).

It's a strange thing when your audio system is worth more than the house it's kept in.

[Iron Rooster]

I hope you live in a good neighborhood. A lot of assholes would love to steal your really awesome equipment.

[THE Hal E. Burton 9000]

yeah, you might want to put up a few hundred bucks to obtain a shotgun and only reveal your li'l slices of audio heaven to only those you most trust

[BEsERk EVA01]

A new bicycle...my other one was small and obsolete for my tastes. It's a mountain bike with 18 gears etc. Got it yesterday, but it came as a surprise as I came in my house and saw it standing there, must've been from dad. :)

[Eva Yojimbo]

I hope you live in a good neighborhood. A lot of assholes would love to steal your really awesome equipment.

yeah, you might want to put up a few hundred bucks to obtain a shotgun and only reveal your li'l slices of audio heaven to only those you most trust

Good neighborhood, and nobody around here even knows I have it. In fact, only my immediate family knows about it (and strangers who don't know where I live). I still plan on getting insurance on it because I practically live in tornado central.

[Dartz]

It's the shielding and copper quality that makes good cable.

Shielding to isolate it from mains hum... and outside electromagnetic fields. And Pure copper to give good, distortion free conduction. High purity metals are very expensive to make..

Though, at that price, still they'd want to be made of gold...

[Wevangeliwon]

Went to Chinatown the other day. Saw a Rebuild 1.0 DVD for 30 bucks. Decided to pass, considering how fake it looked. But considering how interested I am (but have never got round to seeing) The Guyver, I picked up the first half of the OVA. Fifteen bucks. I know I can find it online, but theres just something about seeing it on VHS.

Anyway, Chinatown is so expensive. THere was a couple Anime series I am willing to try, but 90 bucks for the first half of Buso Renkin? No thanks.

[Iron Rooster]

Good neighborhood, and nobody around here even knows I have it. In fact, only my immediate family knows about it (and strangers who don't know where I live). I still plan on getting insurance on it because I practically live in tornado central.

I know where you live: Over the rainbow.

[Wevangeliwon]

Halo 2 Multiplayer Pack for $7 AUS. Bargain.

[Eva Yojimbo]

Though, at that price, still they'd want to be made of gold...

There's so much debate about the effectiveness of cables when it comes to sound quality. There are still many cynics that believe high-end cabling is the ultimate illusory element in audio that snake-oil salesman take full advantage of. There's a similar stigma when it comes to vibration control and power conditioning. Much of it comes from the marketability of companies like Monster who really started the "better cable" phenomenon and, in all honesty, I never could detect any difference that Monster made in a system.

I was cynical myself because afterall I'm not rich and can't just afford to give away thousands on placebos. But hearing is believing, and with every cable upgrade I've made has also come a definite and unmistakable increase in sound quality until finally putting the Genesis which was a true revelation (oddly enough, the name of their prior flagship cable) on the potency of a great cable in a great system.

I know where you live: Over the rainbow.

Yes well, good luck finding me. ;)

[Iron Rooster]

Yes well, good luck finding me. ;)

Actually, is it shouldn't be that hard. All I gotta do is listen for the awesome high quality sound and follow it.

[Eva Yojimbo]

Actually, is it shouldn't be that hard. All I gotta do is listen for the awesome high quality sound and follow it.

Considering it's a headphone system you better have superhuman hearing.

[Dartz]

I can guarantee I wouldn't notice the difference...

I can barely tell the difference between vastly different compression levels on music now, let along the little piques of audio quality between cables.

My tendancy to run €5 headphones at full volume is not healthy to my hearing...

[Eva Yojimbo]

I can guarantee I wouldn't notice the difference...

I can barely tell the difference between vastly different compression levels on music now, let along the little piques of audio quality between cables.

Trust me, you could tell the difference, it's not subtle. When the musical images seem to gain about 100 pounds of weight and dimension the only way not to tell would be if you were deaf.

[Dartz]

Not being willing to spend 3grand on a cable, I'll have to take your word for it. I don't have an audiophiles ears though. About the only thing I'll ever twig are those washy ompression artfifacts in overcompressed music... otherwise I won't notice.

That said, I do mix with the mixer on my laptop, and have found a nice setting that doesn't sound like it's being played through a cloth, or a tin can.

[Eva Yojimbo]

Almost everyone I've let listen to my system didn't have audiphile ears either and not once has someone not been able to tell a difference when I made an upgrade. I remember when I put my Monaco stand in I let my mom listen to it and I asked if she could tell a difference and she says "yeah, it sounds more... pingy." I got what she meant though, it was clearer and better defined and whatnot.

[Dartz]

I see what you mean alright...it's more glassy or something.

Things like that I can pick up on to a point. I suppose if you think it was worth it, then fair enough. I suppose I just can't quantify it in the way some people can...

We do have this ancient ratty old record player down the shed though....that still manages to work as good as my MP3....

[Eva Yojimbo]

The thing for me is that I would never spend what I have on my system (hell, even some individual components) on a car or any other "luxury" item. Because I love music and audio so much I've sacrificed on most everything else so I can afford it. And despite what people say, money can buy you happiness if you happen to spend it on things you truly love and are passionate about.

[Dartz]

I hear that...

I probably could've just bought a 300 quid laptop, and it'd still have been better than my old Toshiba, but I spent 5 times as much on my XPS...and am so glad I did.