Recently Diagnosed > New Member Introductions

new member Tam Lin

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Nick B:
We have a new member, Tam Lin. Please extend a warm welcome!
Nick

dflee:
Always good to welcome a new member.
Hope you enjoy yourself at a great site.

Don

dBe:
Welcome aboard, Tam!

steve:
Welcome aboard Tam.

steve

Tam Lin:
Music was always a part of my life. All the kids in my family were required to study piano for a year. After my year at the keyboard, I studied violin for two years. I then took up folk guitar and 5-string banjo.

The family audio system was a Grundig console radio and a Gerard record changer. After I graduated high school, I moved out, got a job, and was able to afford a slightly better class of audio from the used equipment shelves in the local audio store, and later, Heathkit and Dynakit. I also made a couple of big speakers using JBL components. I like the dynamics of horn speakers.

Then I discovered my true calling: computers. I got a programming job that paid real money, which allowed me to dive into the high-end pool. My first real audio system was Magnapan, Spectral, and Linn. That was before the audio world was subjected to “Perfect Sound, Forever.” I didn’t like the sound of the first, second or third generation digital audio but what could I do? Because a lot of the music I wanted was only available on CD, I had to go digital and I got a Wadia DAC and a Sony CDP.

Fast-forward a dozen years when I got a windfall and upgraded to Avantgarde Trios with a Hovland HP-100, Art Audio Jota monoblocks and SME 30 with SME IV-Vi arm. At the time, I auditioned the crème de la crème of digital gear but nothing sounded better than my Wadia. What’s more, after a dozen years working with the best and brightest in Silicon Valley, I acquired some understanding of good digital system design. The high-end gear I auditioned was over-priced, poorly designed, ill-sounding crap.

Fast-forward to 2018. My audio system is showing its age. The pre and amps are in need of referb but the respective makers are out of business. In addition, 32B output tubes are hard to find. It’s time for another total system update.

However, here’s the problem. I’ve been out of the high-end scene for over 15 years but I’ve spent the last few months trying to get caught up. I read equipment reviews in the magazine and on the web and then seek out the items that I might like based on the reviews, but what I hear does not match what I read. Maybe the meaning the words have changed in a “Through the Looking Glass” kind of way. On the other hand, maybe the sound today’s audiophiles prefer is nothing like the sound of the real acoustic instruments I have played my whole life.

Do audiophiles even know what real acoustic instruments sound like? I went to RMAF some years ago where they had a concert given by a popular singer-pianist accompanied by bass and drums. It was billed as a way for RMAF attendees to calibrate their hearing to the sound of the “real thing” to better judge the sound of the equipment in the exhibitor’s rooms. I got there early and picked a seat close to the stage. I’ve done some preforming myself and I know what a live, singer with acoustic piano, bass and drums sounds like. Before the show started someone tapped my on the shoulder and said I should move further back because it was going to be loud. I heeded the advice and as I walked to the back of the room I noticed most of the attendees were wearing earplugs! Then the show started and it was LOUD! Maybe the next time I audition high-end equipment I should wear earplugs.

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