Thread: Toshiba SD-4960 how much of the fun am I missing?

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Post by Lionanimal August 25, 2004 (1 of 13)
Hi guys and gals:

Try not to laugh too hard at this question. After six years I finally invested in some SACD hardware. I spend most of my budget on essentials and discs.

My first and only SACD player is a Toshiba SD-4960. It became available in July 2004 and cost US $ 150. I am running in stereo with good analog pre-amp, analog amp, and two good speakers. So far I am pleased with the step-up from redbook CD. I am curious about how much of the fun I am missing by not having an expensive $1000 to $2000 player and a multi-channel setup. Any opinions? I have read a few opinions about the Toshiba in other forums.

Has anyone seen a six channel analog pre-amp, amp combo for US $2000 or so?

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Post by LC August 26, 2004 (2 of 13)
Lionanimal said:

I am curious about how much of the fun I am missing by not having an expensive $1000 to $2000 player and a multi-channel setup. Any opinions?

Has anyone seen a six channel analog pre-amp, amp combo for US $2000 or so?

Multichannel is definitely fun; no doubt about it, although it depends a bit on what you listen to. I'm personally more inclined to spend my money on stereo, but I'm in a minority on this site.

Here's what you want to do: hold on to your bargin-bin multichannel player for the moment and get yourself a Copland CVA 306. It's about the only six channel tube preamp out there and I've been trying to find someone I can convince to get one for a while now. Pair it with Copland's own CVA 535 five-channel power amp or maybe a used BAT or Bryston multichannel amp. There's a used 535 up on Audiogon right now; never seen a used 306.

Source components can absolutely make a difference and they are worth spending big money on. I'm currently saving for a $6500 two-channel player. But that new Toshiba (which I've already recommended to a friend based on what I know about it) actually has you covered not too badly. Put your money into the preamp/amp. (Well, obviously you need speakers, too, but I mean insofar as the choice is between splitting $4000 between a fancier source and amplification and putting it all into amplification, take the latter route and see what the march of digital technology brings you in a year or two.)

Post by LC August 26, 2004 (3 of 13)
Lionanimal said:

Hi guys and gals:

Are there any gals here? I don't know if there's another hobby in the world that is more exclusively male than hi-end audio. It seems to eclipse Ultimate Fighting Championships, drag racing, pornography, bull-riding- anything characteristically "male" you can think of.

Post by Lionanimal August 26, 2004 (4 of 13)
LC said:

Are there any gals here? I don't know if there's another hobby in the world that is more exclusively male than hi-end audio.

Thank you for your two replies LC. I know what you mean about hi-end audio being a male dominated hobby. The overwhelming majority of women that I date think I'm foolish with my money to indulge any audio. They would rather stick with FM (free music) on a boom-box. The only way the women that I know would lurk here would be if they were awarded the equipment and discs by a judge in a divorce settlement. Well it is sort of off-topic, but it would be interesting to see how other people "sell" the concept of what can be a pricey hobby to their marriage partners.

Post by nickc August 26, 2004 (5 of 13)
Lionanimal said:

Thank you for your two replies LC. I know what you mean about hi-end audio being a male dominated hobby. The overwhelming majority of women that I date think I'm foolish with my money to indulge any audio. They would rather stick with FM (free music) on a boom-box. The only way the women that I know would lurk here would be if they were awarded the equipment and discs by a judge in a divorce settlement. Well it is sort of off-topic, but it would be interesting to see how other people "sell" the concept of what can be a pricey hobby to their marriage partners.

it's going to cost even more when you go multi-channel :) ! i listen only to classical and it is a major improvement over my 800 stereo cds. i have some new classical cds (alia vox, alpha etc.) which sound nearly as good as my sacds, only MC makes the difference. i can't comment on jazz or pop.
best wishes
nick

Post by Dan Popp August 26, 2004 (6 of 13)
LC said:

Are there any gals here? I don't know if there's another hobby in the world that is more exclusively male than hi-end audio. It seems to eclipse Ultimate Fighting Championships, drag racing, pornography, bull-riding- anything characteristically "male" you can think of.

LC,
True. What's more, the people making a living in audio recording, sound reinforcement, etc. are quite predominatly males. I can't really say why that is, but I can tell you a funny story about it.

Someone noticed this "imbalance" a few years ago and started an "affirmative action" - type effort to get more females past the (supposed) barriers keeping them out of recording jobs. It was soon discovered that the reason there weren't many females in audio was because not many females WANTED to be in audio.

Then - I swear I am not making this up - the do-gooders responded: We need a program in the schools to make girls want to go into audio. !

Post by jdaniel@jps.net August 26, 2004 (7 of 13)
You can also buy a cheap a/v processor, (multi-channel amp), and use it to just power the rears and center. Keep using your good amp to run the front left and rights. Just get the same brand of speaker, (sound signature and efficiency), for the center, and, if you can the rears.

Post by tream August 26, 2004 (8 of 13)
jdaniel@jps.net said:

You can also buy a cheap a/v processor, (multi-channel amp), and use it to just power the rears and center. Keep using your good amp to run the front left and rights. Just get the same brand of speaker, (sound signature and efficiency), for the center, and, if you can the rears.

Make sure that your MC processor allows for analog passthrough-otherwise you will be converting to CD sound and losing the benefit of high resolution.

Post by LC August 26, 2004 (9 of 13)
Lionanimal said:

Well it is sort of off-topic, but it would be interesting to see how other people "sell" the concept of what can be a pricey hobby to their marriage partners.

This has never been an issue for me, but I'm always blown away by the control that some people at least claim their wives exert over their audio (at least in terms of veto power). You see people on Audiogon all the time saying something like "Just bought these $12,500 speakers last week, but the wife says they don't match the curtains, so out they go. My loss, your gain." I have to suspect these people are joking, but I'm never sure. Curtains are really important to some people.

Post by LC August 26, 2004 (10 of 13)
Dan Popp said:

LC,
True. What's more, the people making a living in audio recording, sound reinforcement, etc. are quite predominatly males. I can't really say why that is, but I can tell you a funny story about it.

Someone noticed this "imbalance" a few years ago and started an "affirmative action" - type effort to get more females past the (supposed) barriers keeping them out of recording jobs. It was soon discovered that the reason there weren't many females in audio was because not many females WANTED to be in audio.

Then - I swear I am not making this up - the do-gooders responded: We need a program in the schools to make girls want to go into audio. !

Ever read any popular evolutionary psychology or neuroscience? Try some Simon Baron-Cohen and Steven Pinker:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/046500556X/

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0142003344/

Baron-Cohen actually mentions audio, and in general its easy to see the implications of his overall thesis to audio. Of course, many people have ideological committments of one sort or another that make them outraged by the idea that the sexes would be hardwired with different wants and abilities, even on average. Obviously, it is a noble and important goal to try to identify and reduce social and institutional barriers (although less so when this results in no particular inequality of resources), but at some point one may just have to accept that people do what they do because that's what they genuinely want, not because their opportunities have been limited or their desires programmed by insidious cultural forces into some sort of false consciousness. And then it gets really interesting because the question becomes "Why would this be?"

Bought the Mobile Fidelity SACD version of one of my girlfriend's favourites (Amiee Mann) to try to get her interested. "I can't just sit there- I want to dance around or lay in bed or something."

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