AUDIO HI-FI EQUIPMENT
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AUDIOPHILE EQUIPMENT: I recommend listening to your music on these:
HOME AUDIO EQUIPMENT
STANDARDS

TURNTABLE
Andrew's Comments on Turntables
Article, Gary Markowitz: "Understanding The Issues Behind Cartridge Alignment"
Article, Forbes Magazine: "Going vinyl"
Article, Forbes Magazine: "Bringing Back Vinyl"
Mark Levinson: "CD vs. SACD and LP"

Straight Tonearm Turntables DJ Turntables - sold at pro-audio stores Guitar Center, Sam Ash, Pssl.com, etc., Weird Looking Turntables Vinyl LP Disc Recorder Tonearms Phono Cartridge
You can get any tonearm, cartridge, and needle you want at dealers Brooks Berdan, Acoustic Image, Shelley's-Woodland Hills, NeedleDoctor, Audio Advisor, Radio Shack, Goodwinshighend.com, AudioOutlet.com (addresses below) Vinyl Record Cleaner
I can't really recommend a fluid because there's no consensus on what's the best. I'd just buy a gallon of whatever the machine's brand sells. The biggest dealer of record sleeves for LPs, 78s, 45s is Far West Record Supply which is listed on my "records" webpage. Phono Needle Cleaner
I can't recommend a fluid because there's no consensus on what's the best. A few people recommended using plain distilled water and/or a little dry brush. These are popular: Turntable Accessories Turntable Pictures

PHONO PREAMP

CASSETTE DECKS
The best cassette decks still in production today are the Tascam 112mkII and Tascam CC-222mkII. These cassette decks will not be in production for much longer so get one while you can. RadioShack sells cassette head cleaners so buy them while you can.

CASSETTE DECKS IN PRODUCTION
CASSETTE DECKS NOT IN PRODUCTION
Reel To Reel (mostly for professional recordings)
DAT - Digital Audio Tape
This format is really dead. Only professional DAT decks that don't have the "copy protection" restrictions that consumer grade decks are stuck with are worth considering. Go to a professional music store such as West LA Music, Guitar Center, Sam Ash, etc., to see what they have. (addresses below)

CASSETTE TAPES
Metal and chrome tapes are the only ones worth considering. Pro-audio stores sell pro-quality tapes. The best blank tapes are TDK MA-EX which are only sold in Japan. Blank metal tapes and chrome tapes are becoming scarce so buy them while you can. Radio Shack sells cassette head cleaners so buy them while you can; at their stores they sell cleaners by Trackmate and Radio Shack, online they also sell cleaners by Maxell.

LASERDISC / DVD / CD PLAYERS
The only current maker of laserdisc players is Pioneer. If you have a laserdiscs, buy one now before they stop making them. LASERDISC / DVD / CD PLAYERS LASERDISC PLAYERS (Discontinued)
LASERDISC ACCESSORY

DVD / CD PLAYERS
Andrew's Comments on Laserdisc & DVD Players DVD Audio / DVD / SACD / CD Players
  • Pioneer DV-47A Sony's SACD format, DVD-Audio, DVD-Video discs with Dolby Digital, DTS, and Dolby Pro Logic. Plays VCD, SVCD, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, HDCD and MP3 discs. Progressive Scan Video Output, optical digital output, Pioneer DV-47A review, picture
  • Apex Digital AD-7701 Sony's SACD format (two-channel), DVD-Audio, DVD-Video discs with Dolby Digital, DTS, and Dolby Pro Logic. Plays VCD, SVCD, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, HDCD and MP3 discs. Progressive Scan Video Output, 2 microphone jacks for Karaoke, optical digital output, $300, unfortunately, it is cheaply constructed and is mediocre, review
  • Pioneer DV-AX10 will be able to support DVD-video, Super Audio (SACD), DVD-Audio, video CD, music CD and CD-R (compact disc recordable). The DV-AX10 is the first "universal" player able to support both the DVD-Audio and SACD formats. review, review, review
  • Luxman DU-10 will be able to support DVD-video, video CD, music CD, CD-R, DVD-Audio format, Super Audio (SACD)
  • Technics DVD-A10, DVD-Audio/Video Player with multi-channel sound capabilities, 2-channel sound with up 192 kHz sampling/24 bit quantization, multi-channel sound capabilities (up to 6 channels) using linear PCM, review
  • Toshiba SD9200 DVD-Audio, progressive-scan video, picture
  • Denon
  • JVC
SACD / DVD / CD Players DVD / CD PLAYERS DVD / CD CHANGER DVD-RECORDABLE, DVD-R, DVD-RW This is an emerging technology which at once will obsolete DAT, CD-R and CD-RW. Mini Disc is already obsolete. The best digital still does not have the musical qualities of the best analogue.

CD PLAYER
CD INFORMATION
Now that most DVD players are under $100, these manufacturers are stupidly greedy for charging more for their CD players than what most people are willing to pay for DVD players. I predict all CD-only players will cease to be manufactured in the next few years. Eventually AV receivers will have HDMI connections and you will plug & play external DVD players just as you do with computers; the AV receiver will automatically set itself up to control all the functions of the the DVD player. DVD and CD players are oversized, overdesigned, and overpriced. Eventually, in the future, digital devices will be external devices similar to external DVD burners for computers that connect to the AV processor via Firewire, USB2, or HDMI digital cables. I can't recommend a CD or DVD player because they will soon be obsolete. Some AV receivers already have Firewire connections so maybe you can do this already tody. Since HDCD is the best technology for CD players, I will only list HDCD players for standalong players. Unfortunately, most servers do not have HDCD. SERVERS, examples of what "servers" look like CD MUSIC SERVERS
  • CD players are obsolete! The future is with "music servers" such as the Linn-Knekt Kivor and Sony HAR-D1000. You'd load your CDs into these machines and organize your playlists. You can send the digital data out from the server to your A/V receiver's DAC. Until such "music servers" become more popular, there are many good mechanical CD changers. Get a Denon 200+ changer with "CD Text" and HDCD decoding and connect it to Escient's computer to control it. Mega-DVD changers are interesting, but nobody is going to randomly watch scenes from 200+ movies. In the future, "music servers" will be computer servers with a laptop computer interface. The only time you'll handle CDs is when you remove them from their cases to copy them into the servers. If the record labels persist with copy protection, the record labels might kill the "music server" market.
  • Linn-Knekt Kivor probably the world's best CD player, makes it simple and convenient to transfer a large CD library to it's internal hard drive, this is probably going to be the "future" of audio, like the Lasonic and Escient combined, Linn-Knekt Kivor review, Linn-Knekt Kivor review
  • McIntosh MS750 Music Server
  • Zero One Audio
  • VRS Revelation Music Computer by Vincent Sanders
  • Wurlitzer Digital Jukebox
  • Olive
  • Interact-TV Server
  • Nova Physics Group, Memory Player
  • Moxi Media Center
  • Revox
  • Request
  • Imerge makes it simple and convenient to transfer a large CD library to it's internal hard drive, this is probably going to be the "future" of audio, like the Lasonic and Escient combined
  • Escient whatever changer you get, this device is very useful; it is a controller for your changers that connects to the internet so you can retrieve the album covers, song playlists, other info, sold at Marconi, Atlantic Stereo (address below)
  • ReplayTV, Rio, Escient
  • XiVA sofware for Linn and Imerge systems
  • Gracenote sofware for Linn and Imerge systems
SACD PLAYERS with HDCD DECODING
This is for their new format DSD/DAS, don't buy into their marketing buzzwords and hype - this is actually 24bit/200kHz. It sounds pretty good, but consider that most recording and editing is done in the 16/44, 20/44, or 24/96 realms. The data is encrypted so you cannot use an external DAC. There may also be digital watermarking. I am only going to list SACD PLAYERS that have HDCD. Let's face it, SACD never really caught on with the public so it's probably going to be abandoned soon by manufactures and record labels.
CD CHANGERS and CD PLAYERS with HDCD DECODING CD RECORDERS CD COMPONENT TRANSPORT+DAC PLAYERS without HDCD
You probably could connect the digital output from the transports to a receiver that has HDCD in it's DAC.

MD MINI DISCS
Mini Discs are junk and total waste of time and money. They have "lossy compression" which ruins the stereoscopic imaging, ruins the dynamics, and sound too "harsh." Buying pre-recorded MDs is a waste because they cost more than CDs for less sound. MiniDiscs also have SCMS copy protection. What's holding up DVD-Audio and SACD are the record labels' infighting over copy protection, which is something music fans find on principle, offensive. MiniDisc was a scheme by the record labels to create an recordable format that was inferior to CDs. This technology was obsolete before it reached the USA because now CR-R, CD-RW, and the upcomming DVD-R and DVD-RW are becomming the new standards. Unfortunately, some European and Asian countries have adopted this mediocre, soon to be obsolete format. MD is the "8-track tape", "4-track cartridges", "Betamax", "Elcassette", "DCC", "Divx", "Video 2000", "Quadraphonic vinyl", "Selectavision", and "Video-8" of the 90's. You can get better results recording on a hi-grade cassette deck and using metal cassette tapes. Record store chains such as Wherehouse, Sam Goody, Tower Records have significantly decreased the size of their MiniDisc sections. Around 1997, MiniDiscs were gaining in popularity until the prices on CD-R and then CD-RW discs decreased. After that time, Sony's window of opportunity passed as CD-RW drives became standard for all new computers. MiniDiscs have gained a very devoted cult-like following. Does anyone, including the most dedicated MiniDisc fans, seriously believe that Sony will continue to make players and discs once sales go below a certain threshold called "commercial viability?" Remember "Betamax"? "Elcassette"? For listening to CHR "Top-40" music in the car, or on a boom-box, or mini system (those plastic all in one stereos with grotesque looking speakers with features like "mega-bass"), MiniDiscs might not sound different from CDs and better than cassettes, but that's because "Top-40" music (pop, rap, disco, etc.,) is already highly compressed for radio airplay and because the amps and speakers on boom-boxes are terrible. In the car, road noise will mask most faults. For serious critical listening, audiophile hifi sound quality must always be the first priority, not "convenience." Now that record labels are adding copy protection to CDs, copying from future CDs to MiniDisc will be impossible. I wonder what MiniDisc would sould like using it's digital outputs and an external DAC with "upsampling" (please search this page for info on upsampling) ??
What is a MiniDisc and how does it differ from a CD?
Stereo Review article: Recording Rivalry MiniDisc vs Dolby S
Ken C. Pohlmann, Stereo Review: The Fall and Rise (and Fall?) of MiniDisc
Lossy Compression
Recording the Output, Mini Disc vs Compact Cassettes
The Sony Elcaset

MP3 PLAYERS & ENCODERS
This is an emerging technology that I'm looking into. The computer you're using right now is your MP3 player, you just need good amps and speakers to hear it. The advantage of the MP3 format is that you can get all the songs you want for free, the disadvantage is that the quality is inferior to that of CD and worse than MiniDisc, the mitigating factor is that most CHR "Top-40" pop music is highly compressed for radio airplay so you can't hear an audible difference for most pop recordings. It's a disposable format where people download from the internet to their computers free MP3s of the current ephemeral pop charts and later delete them and write over those files the next batch of current ephemeral pop chart songs. It's the perfect erasable format for disposable music.

SPEAKERS
Andrew's Comments on Speakers
How Speakers Work
How Do Speakers Work?
How Speakers Work by Tom Harris
Benefits of Bi-Amping (Not Quite Magic, But Close)
Dynamic Drivers - Studio Monitors, used in recording, mixing, mastering
The best use professional audiophile components, born out of a synthesis of professional audio recording studio design and high end hi-fi expectations, designed for critical reference applications: mastering facilities, project studios, high end hi-fi. There are no car stereo amps attached to the back of these speakers, no fancy lights or graphics, some have digital inputs and internal amplifiers; in fact, these speakers may not be what you want to hear, but what you need to hear. Go to the websites of the studios that mastered your favorite recordings and see what speakers they use. Dynamic Drivers
I don't know if Axiom, BIC, and Dahlquist are actually the same brand because they sure look alike. You already know that Harman is JBL, Revel, Infinity, Harman Kardon.