My interest in good sound began when I was an undergraduate at Case Institute of Technology in the mid 1960s. I subscribed to Stereophile and followed their advice for my first purchases – Dynaco electronics with AR-3a speakers and turntable. I was happy with these for many years. I never became an audiophile in the sense that I constantly sought new equipment – I listened to it and was frequently impressed, but I didn’t buy. I’ve continued that pattern.
Room
When we purchased our present house in 2001 we had to redo almost everything: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roof, siding, and windows. We also removed and moved walls – one of these was our TV room. There, we moved a wall 4’ to allow our large TV and covered the walls with ½” foam and fabric to eliminate a slap echo. The dimensions caused a minor response hump around 40 Hz, but it doesn’t bother us because the furnishings damp it enough. As the room also has an outside door to let the dog in and out, it’s perfect for us.
Television
Both Paula and I like large TVs, although we watch few sports. We purchased our first one when only rear-projection TVs could be large, we kept it for a decade or so. When HD TVs (1080p) became generally available we purchased the largest appropriate for our 14’ room, a 73” Mitsubishi RPTV. We still have it. Each lamp lasts about four years, we have our third lamp in it, and a spare nearby. As we’ve have had that TV 12 years, the spare should be needed soon.
I think about a new TV every few months when something brings it to mind. With our 12’ viewing distance, our current TV shows us as much resolution as we can see (viewing distance article). So a 4K or higher resolution TV in a similar size wouldn’t show us more; we’d have to go to 95-100” to have a clear difference. But such a large TV might be a problem in the room; we’ll see… Regardless, the advances in color and contrast will make a new TV worthwhile – although we are still happy with our old one. In the meantime, the quality/price ratio of what we will buy continues to drop.
Speakers
While surround sound is popular, we don’t want it. For us, it just seems like too much cost and trouble for the improvement in the experience. Perhaps if we watched more movies we would feel differently, but movies are less than 10% of our viewing time. Besides, having only two speakers we are comfortable with better ones.
A previous set of speakers was designed by a friend. For him, a cardinal principle was to avoid crossovers in the human voice frequency range. He believes that we are most sensitive to this frequency range – this did (and does) seem reasonable to me. As the speakers required separate amplification below and above the 100 Hz crossover I found an old Dynaco stereo tube amp for the higher frequencies. The base speakers were constructed by a friend who is both in pro-audio and a cabinet maker – what a great combination! The speakers sounded as good as I expected. Eventually, however, the difficulties of dealing with the tube preamp and amplifier, combined with Paula’s growing dislike of the way the speakers looked, caused me to move towards simplicity – changing both the speakers and electronics.
For us, the Ohm Walsh speakers are perfect – we have the 2000’s. It’s the lack of a “sweet spot” that makes them so good for us. With ordinary speakers you need to sit in a particular place for the best sound. Because the Ohm Walsh speakers are omni-directional, they give a good stereo image even if you are outside them. (As Paula is when she’s watching TV in the evenings.) Also, they meet my friend’s no-crossover-in-voice-frequency-range criterion. By the way, these speakers are probably a bit too large for the size of our room. Ohm Speakers say that all of their speakers sound the same, but that each is designed for a particular room size. I purchased one step larger than they recommended. We probably gained little (or nothing) from the extra expense but I wanted to allow their use in larger rooms – which we’ve never done.
Digital Sound
After using CDs for a number of years in parallel with vinyl we shifted entirely to CDs. As the number grew, dealing with them became too much trouble so I looked for a way to put them on a hard drive. Our first try with this was an Auraliti PK100 file player. It sounded wonderful, and even better after the company produced a linear power supply. But it suffered from a problem for us: The user interface was a simple iPhone app that was just too flaky for Paula to bear. Eventually, we replaced the PK100 with a Sonos system modified by Wyred 4 Sound, which we still use and are happy with (however, the link is to the current version). While it’s limited to CD-quality, my old ears can’t hear the difference with higher resolution material anyway. Additionally, it can use a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device – which we have for local computer backup.
Preamplifier
As I mentioned above, I stayed with Dynaco electronics long after the company disappeared. This was possible because they are kind of a cult – with parts, advice, and improvements readily available – and are much cheaper than equivalent new electronics. Our push for simplicity and a tentative interest in surround sound pushed us towards an audio-visual preamp, the Anthem Statement D2. I had been reading about it for years in a multi-hundred-page forum. It seemed perfect: it sounded good, would correct any room deficiencies, was both flexible and seemed easy to operate. I bought it used and it served us well for a decade. But since we never moved towards surround sound, it fell to a search for even more simplicity combined with a desire to solve our lip sync problems. (Please see my How To Fix A Lip Sync Problem post).
The D2’s replacement is a Benchmark DAC2 DX. Benchmark’s DAC3 line led to the availability of some refurbished DAC2’s. As I doubted I could tell the difference, I saved some money and bought the older model. I was happy that the DX version was available, as its primary difference (a balanced connection input) allowed me to uniquely assign that button to the TV’s audio – an element of the simplicity I was trying for. Also, that model has dual stereo output buses, with a level adjustment of the secondary one – which we use to feed some ceiling speakers. All in all, a perfect fit for our needs combined with an improvement in the sound.
Amplifiers
Our first (and only, so far) move away from Dynaco amplifiers came with a pair of Wyred 4 Sound ST-500 amplifiers to drive the Ohm Walsh 2000 speakers. In addition to adequate power they idle at very low wattage, sound good, and provide a balanced connection to the preamp. This last is necessary to avoid a hum from nearby wiring. Finally, their blue glows below the TV’s blue glows adds to the ambiance of the room at night. However, my trips through Benchmark’s gear as left me lusting for their amplifier. The next couple of years will determine if it stays in my mind. (To me, Benchmark seems some kind of reincarnation of Dynaco – so I doubt I will forget it.)
Conclusion
I think of my approach to Stereo and TV as a prime example of my transient enthusiasms – lots of reading and thinking, but very little action. Considering that the above changes occurred over fifty years, there really haven’t been many changes. However, all during this I enjoyed thinking about and discussing audio. It works for me.
June 28, 2020