Good audio equipment forums?

Andrew Sowerby

Andrew Sowerby

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Hi all,

I've been bitten by the hi-fi bug recently and I'm looking for some good forums/sites for opinions, discussion and reviews. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
-Andrew
 
Sorry, I don't know any english speaking HiFi forums/boards. If you don't want to spend the equivalent of a house like you do with Mark Levinson or Krell or ... you know what I mean, then you may consider this manufacturer (http://www.einstein-audio.de/english/index_eng.html). I own the first version of the Amp (no tubes though :( ) and I am ... speechless. No, I do not work for them. Just a satisfied customer.
 
A question like that is interesting in this day and age.

Previously, alt.audio* was a good place, and you can certainly google for forums. I'm sorry, I've nowhere to point you...I just thought I'd observe that with the prevalence of MP3 compression and iPods, etc. "High End" seems to have disappeared. Kids today don't seem to be into it; listening to awful-sounding white ear-buds. Yeesh. At least get a pair of Grado SR-60s...
 
Thanks all.

Regarding the "kids and their iPods" comment: I don't think that it's got to do with age. Most people of any age don't care about quality in audio equipment (or photo equipment or whatever else). They just want a low price. That's why Wal-Mart and the rest make so much money.
 
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I used to be on Head-fi - great forum.

I agree with you wintoid, but there are loads of suggestions for peasants like me :)
 
I think the best vintage audio site on the net is www.audiokarma.org . Wide ranging subjects, vBulletin platform and a very knowledgeable friendly crowd. I love my vintage audio gear and much as vintage camera gear.
 
I'll second the suggestion of www.audioasylum.com and, in particular, the bottlehead forum on that site. The bottlehead forum has got to be about the friendliest place on the net for audio discussions. And the bottlehead gear is simply amazing. Not that I'm biased (bad pun, I know) or anything by the fact that my entire setup is bottlehead based. See you over there!

-Randy
 
I had the Hifi bug before I was infected with terminal camera-GAS and shutter actuation syndrome! there´s so much similarity and cr*p in Hifi and Photo gear discussions like Analog vs. Digital, even Glow is a hot topic there :)

I still have my all DIY (except Turntable/cdplayer) Valve Setup and enjoy it every now and then I have the time (much rather shooting btw). IMHO using Horn´s with Fullrangespeakers on a 1.5W Type45 triode Amp fed by a good Turntable gives me the same joy as shooting my Leica III with BW film...not as perfect or clean as a top DSLR´s but with body and soul and ethernal beauty.

Back to the topic, one of the best forums I stumbled across was the www.audiodiskussionen.de it´s only german unfortunately but maybe someone is interested.
For Equipment and DIY stuff go and surf at www.Tnt-audio.com they have alot of DIY cables and rack ideas and so on plus a review section wich I realy enjoyed to read.
If you´re interested in building your own Tube-amps I strongly recomment this site (I think he even is a member here...look at that Leica in the back)
http://members.myactv.net/~je2a3/welcome.htm

good luck and have fun!
 
Thanks again everyone. Audiokarma.org seems to be just what I'm looking for. Comprehensive and very friendly ... kinda like RFF!
 
audioasylum has a bunch of great people, and tons of great info...but it can get rather polarized and snippy at times. the bottlehead guys are cool though for sure.

diyaudio.com is another good one that is generally pretty civil. some heavy hitters hang out there (if that interests you at all). nelson pass is (or was at least) quite active on that one.

i'll second thafred's standpoint. low power triode amps, horns, and vinyl make for a smashing combo. analog from one end to the other (just like my view on photography) ;-)
 
Interesting that this comes up. I was thinking of my experience in the high-end audio biz in a previous lifetime. My current preoccupation regarding audio is finding sonic gems in equipment that I once turned up my nose at (hint: mid-70s-mid-80s Hitachi receivers and separates are true sleepers). And, while I somewhat lament the MP3-led owering of the bar, I have to say the rush to home theatre had already done sufficient damage in the marketplace. And iPods, which of late seem to be regarded as the Devil's spawn from several quarters, aren't any worse than than most of the portables they ended up replacing (and, depending on how you encode your tunes, potentially better). But, yes, the standard earbuds leave something to be desired.

Audiogon was the last site I checked regulatrly (yes, they're largely a sales forum, but they also have other forums as well), and I liked them.

I had a nice Luxman tube preamp for a number of years (CL-34, for the record), but it was rather touchy to maintain, and I gave it up for SS gear. I can only stand gilding the lily but so much without getting in the way of the music, which is what it's all about.


- Barrett
 
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