Beginner Audiophile | HiFi | Gear Reviews | Stereo | Hi-End Audio

No matter how high end your speakers are, you’ve got to put them in the right place to maximize the sound. The old adage says “a cheaper, well placed pair of speakers will sound better than a more expensive, poorly placed set.   In this solo episode, Michael breaks down a few different methodologies of setting up your speakers, whether they are bookshelf, floorstanding, new, or old.       Gear Guide, Topics & Highlights: * Hybrid two-channel home theater setup with Anthem MRX 1120 Receiver * Speaker Placement * Blue Tape * Furniture sliders for moving speakers around * Isosceles Triangle * First order reflections * Audyssey XT32 EQ * The Fibonacci Sequence * Room Setup Guide on Cardas.com * Speaker Placement Calculator on NO Audiophile * Listener question on setup with Rotel A12 Integrated Amplifier and U-Turn Orbit Turntable * Bowers & Wilkins 686 & 600 Series Speakers * Marantz 2270 Receiver * OPPO Sonica DAC * Listener question on break-in time: Recommendation is about 80 to 100 hours of use. Or 10 days or so. * Modi 2 USB Digital/Analog Converter * Spotify * Chromecast Audio * Fisher 100T Preamp * Marantz Model 240M Receivers * TIDAL * Pandora

On today’s Beginner Audiophile, we “bake off” 4 different speaker cables from Monster, Blue Jeans, Analysis Plus, and Monoprice to see if A: if we can hear any difference, and B: if the difference is palpable enough for us to make a buying decision. We also give an Anthem update, and announce the winner of the 1MoreUSA headphones! Gear Guide, Topics & Highlights: * 01:01 – Anthem MRX 1120 A/V Receiver * 01:18 – ARC – Anthem Room Connection * 01:23 – Dolby Atmos Disc * 02:28 – World’s greatest test system * 03:35 – Do speaker cables matter? Test setup * 08:20 – Where to start * 08:50 – Stereo Unlimited store in San Diego * 13:30 – Monster XP cable * 14:00 – Banana clips from Amazon * 18:00 – Blue Jeans Ten White Speaker Cable, with Welded Locking Bananas, 8 foot * 19:12 – Monoprice Affinity 12AWG Speaker Wire * 21:00 – Analysis Plus Oval 9 Speaker Cable * 25:00 – Paul’s thoughts on the four different cables * 31:00 – Verdict: When do speaker cables matter? * 34:40 – Winner of the 1MoreUSA headphones * 36:56 – Listener questions: * Sound characteristics of speakers without a cabinet – planar, magnetic, electrostatic, open baffle – Hologram M3 & M4 open baffle loudspeakers * Sound characteristics of solid state class AB vs class D amplifiers   Connect with us: * Find us on Instagram at @beginneraudiophile * Beginner Audiophile Website * Check out some of our favorite gear on Kit.com * Questions? Email us at begi...

On today’s Beginner Audiophile, we start by explaining the WAF, audio file resolution, and Michael gives an aptX update.  Then we jump into the review of the OPPO Sonica DAC and what made a huge difference while we tested it. Finally, we dig into your questions. Gear Guide, Topics & Highlights: * 04:26 – KEF LS50 Wireless Speakers * 05:34 – What is WAF? Why women hear better than men. Why dogs and cats are the best. Time and phase sensitivity * 10:00 – Wireless subwoofers * 11:30 – MQA, Redbook CD, resolution demystified, digital vs. analog audio, sample rate * 19:50 – How YOU can get a pair of awesome earbuds! * 20:20 – Bluetooth aptX Technology * 21:50 – Kenwood P-WD250MRW 10-Inch Marine Subwoofer and Amplifier * 23:27 – OPPO Sonica DAC/Streamer review * 25:40 – Breaking in the OPPO Sonica * 27:00 – Different connections with the OPPO Sonica * Listener questions: * 35:30 – Receivers, testing, watts and amps * 38:40 – Help with home theater, Marantz SR5011 Receiver * 45:40 – Subwoofer choices, HSU Research VTF-15H MK2 Subwoofer * 49:30 – Speaker cables, Analysis Plus Oval 9 Speaker Cable * 55:00 – DIY speaker cables, Parts Express – #1 Source for Audio, Video & Speaker Building Components * Overall – Clean up your USB: Sewell u-Link USB Extender Connect with us: * Find us on Instagram at @beginneraudiophile * Beginner Audiophile Website * Check out some of our favorite gear on Kit.com * Questions? beginneraudiophile@gmail.com

…or at least, when things don’t go the way you expect them to. Today’s episode is about patience.  I received a piece of gear that I couldn’t get to connect to the interwebs, and Paul and I fiddled for hours with the Oppo Sonica DAC until we got files loaded from our hard drive. Now, the latter was not OPPO’s fault at all.  Paul just has a complicated system at home.  At my house, it integrated easily, and I’ve loved the sound.  But we both agree there’s some breaking in to do. When experimenting with new gear, in the quest for perfect sound…not everything is going to play together.  So, this episode is about a bit of patience. Gear Guide, Topics & Highlights: * 03:03 – OPPO Sonica DAC * 03:17 – Anthem MRX 1120 * 03:42 – Roon software * 04:21 – Audirvana * 04:46 – TIDAL * 07:15 – Matt Rockwell and proprietary box * 10:40 – Anthem MRX 1120 * 14:50 – Computer to DAC Connection, USB COAX Optical, jitter and timing issue, wifi and bluetooth connection * 16:40 – Different types of home audio setups * 18:40 – What you can do with the OPPO Sonica DAC * 20:41 – Redbook (CD) quality vs. sound quality with DSD and PCM formats * 23:00 – Ear Overlap and considerations for finding your reviewers and sound * 29:10 – Why you need to break in your gear * 31:10 – How to break in your gear * 32:15 – Listener questions * 35:10 – How to quiet a tile floor room, how to treat your room for audio * 38:03 – The importance of speaker placement in room treatment. * Power Tip: Google How to do a master set for more information * 40:12 – How to find your setup for getting audio from a CD/DVD player and how to approach for synergy between your devices * 43:14 – How to get TIDAL to play from your ONKYO system with the best results * 46:11 – Check out our power tip for TIDAL and getting high-quality audio to stream to your offline device * 50:30 – Stay tuned for more sweet setup tips in a future episode!   Connect with us: * Instagram * Website * Kit.com * Email

On today’s show, Paul and I test out various ways to integrate a subwoofer into your 2-channel and multichannel system, including doing the infamous “subwoofer crawl”.  We also check in with Nicholas Brown from SVS live from CES, and have a special announcement about winning a great pair of 1moreUSA earbuds! Gear Guide: 10:36 – REL Acoustics T-7i Subwoofer 14:00 – Marantz SR7009 Receiver 14:44 – SVS SB-2000 Subwoofer * 28:10 – Parasound Halo Amplifier * 15:10 – SVS SB16-Ultra 1500 Watt DSP Controlled 16″ Subwoofer * 50:00 – SVS Prime Elevation Home Theater Speaker Highlights & Topics of Discussion: * 02:40 – Bass, sub and room pressure * 09:13 – The LFE effects channel, movies and Hollywood * 11:35 – Blending and matching your subwoofer(s) with your speakers * 12:20 – Setup for home theater vs. setup for listening to music & audio * 19:18 – The concept of phase * 23:30 – The subwoofer crawl! * 32:09 – Interview with Nicholas Brown from SVS * 39:30 – SVS version of the subwoofer crawl 50:00 – Discussion on the Prime Elevation Speaker & Dolby Atmos® 55:05 – The SB16-Ultra Subwoofer  Connect with us: Instagram Website Kit.com Email

Today’s show is a real treat.  We got to sit down with Andrew Jones (Of TAD / Pioneer Fame) of ELAC.  We’d first heard of Andrew a couple years ago when he made these insanely affordable Elac Debut B6 Speakers (See Episode 1 for A Review of these $250 marvels) and he continues to break new ground with the new Elac Adante ($2500, available mid-2017).  Andrew’s attention to detail and unwillingness to compromise much in the way of sound, despite low cost, is what has propelled him to “guru” status in the Audiophile world. Gear Guide: * 17:40 – KEF Q100 Bookshelf Speakers * 17:52 – TAD Reference One Speakers * 28:30 – Pioneer SP-BS22 Speakers * 31:40 – ELAC Debut B6 Speakers * 37:50 – ELAC Adante Series Speakers Connect with us: Instagram Website Kit.com Email

Today Michael tells the story of how he fell down the rabbit whole of audiophilia and walks us through his reference system.  Then, we do the Great Headphone Bake-Off, volume 1, testing $100 vs $150 vs $1800 headphones.  A pretty fascinating…and unexpected result from that test! Gear Guide: 02:30 – Marantz SR7009 Receiver 03:30 – Paradigm Monitor 11 Speakers 03:59 – Velodyne Subwoofer 05:08 – Paradigm Studio 60 Speakers 05:20 – Marantz SR7009 Receiver 06:05 – Emotiva XPA–5 Amplifier 06:55 – SVS Subwoofer 08:49 – Micca Electronics PB42X Powered Bookshelf Speakers 09:10 – Onkyo Receiver 09:25 – Apple TV (3rd generation) 09:34 – Rega DAC (Digital Audio Converter) 17:56 – 1MOREUSA E1001 Triple Driver In-Ear Headphones 18:00 – 1MOREUSA MK802 Over-the-ear Headphones 19:20 – Tidal 21:48 – Audio-Technica ATH-M50X Studio Monitor Headphones 23:30 – Mr Speakers ETHER C Flow Headphones 23:50 – Amps & Sound Kenzie Headphone Amp 24:04 – Parasound Halo Amplifier 24:19 – 

Origin of Beginner Audiophile.  Our audiophile stories. What IS an audiophile.  Tour of Paul’s system.  We test the ELAC B6 and Sprout. Gear Guide: * Paradigm Monitor 7 speakers * Tidal  * Chromecast  * 1MOREUSA E1001 Triple Driver In-Ear Headphones  * 1MOREUSA MK802 Over-the-ear Headphones * Sprout ELAC System Integrated Amplifier by PS Audio  * Analysis Plus Oval 9 Speaker Cables  * Squeezebox Touch  * Roon macOS App  * Audirvana * Primare Integrated Audio Visual Receiver * REL T9i Subwoofer * QUAD 12L Classic 2-way Bookshelf Speakers * Marantz Blu-Ray /DVD/SACD Player * Audio-Technica ATH-M50X Studio Monitor Headphones * MrSpeakers ETHER C Flow Headphones * Amps & Sound Kenzie Headphone Amp * Sprout ELAC System Integrated Amplifier by PS Audio * ELAC Debut B6 Speakers * Emotiva Amplifier *