What are you listening to?

DAA

Well-Known Member
I know you have wake of the flood somewhere in that collection! That’s a good one on the ol’ Cerwin Vegas 😎

So, yeah, about those Cerwin Vegas...

What do you all listen on? Phone and golf tees? Cerwin Vegas? A bad ass system in your house? The stereo in your vehicle?

I'm listening challenged. The last time I had my hearing tested, about 25 years ago, I was already stone deaf to the two highest frequencies on the test. Lord only knows how much worse my hearing is now. Whole lot of gunfire and concerts and stuff since that last test...

Anything above about 6,000Hz, or maybe even lower than that, is completely missing for me. I can't hear the difference between a 192kHz 24bit FLAC and a 320kbps MP3. I can definitely still hear the difference between a pair of $120 speakers on a $300 amp, compared to a pair of $500 speakers on a $800 amp though. Even though all I'm hearing is the lows and mids.

I "mostly" listen on my phone and an old set of Bose headphones. It's okay, but, pretty weak, really. The best sounding "system" I have these days is the one in my LJ. I have it tuned to my shitty ears, so it might sound like crap to everyone else, but it sounds pretty dang good to me. A Kenwood Excelon head unit with decent time alignment and EQ, Alpine 120w RMS x4Ch amp, Morel Hybrid Integras in the dash, Alpine X-S65s in the pods, Kenwood 150w 8" sub in the console. Play everything off a thumb drive. If I want to have a really good listening session, I go for a long drive, haha! Or, on rare occasions when nobody else is home, I just go out to the garage - with no top and no doors on this time of year it rumbles the whole space pretty good.

- DAA
 

TRD270

Emptying Pockets Again
Supporting Member
Location
SaSaSandy
So, yeah, about those Cerwin Vegas...

What do you all listen on? Phone and golf tees? Cerwin Vegas? A bad ass system in your house? The stereo in your vehicle?

I'm listening challenged. The last time I had my hearing tested, about 25 years ago, I was already stone deaf to the two highest frequencies on the test. Lord only knows how much worse my hearing is now. Whole lot of gunfire and concerts and stuff since that last test...

Anything above about 6,000Hz, or maybe even lower than that, is completely missing for me. I can't hear the difference between a 192kHz 24bit FLAC and a 320kbps MP3. I can definitely still hear the difference between a pair of $120 speakers on a $300 amp, compared to a pair of $500 speakers on a $800 amp though. Even though all I'm hearing is the lows and mids.

I "mostly" listen on my phone and an old set of Bose headphones. It's okay, but, pretty weak, really. The best sounding "system" I have these days is the one in my LJ. I have it tuned to my shitty ears, so it might sound like crap to everyone else, but it sounds pretty dang good to me. A Kenwood Excelon head unit with decent time alignment and EQ, Alpine 120w RMS x4Ch amp, Morel Hybrid Integras in the dash, Alpine X-S65s in the pods, Kenwood 150w 8" sub in the console. Play everything off a thumb drive. If I want to have a really good listening session, I go for a long drive, haha! Or, on rare occasions when nobody else is home, I just go out to the garage - with no top and no doors on this time of year it rumbles the whole space pretty good.

- DAA
Whenever able I prefer to jam on my home system, 5.2 with various components i've put together paired with my rather tall ceilings in my living room it sounds pretty bad ass (listening to Zep on it as I write this). When the wife is over it I retreat to the basement where my "older" stuff is. Still trying to track down a decent set of towers to go with my tube amp to rock out downstairs. Just picked up a Kicker VSS sub on closeout that tucks nicely under the rear seat of the F150 to improve the tunes in the mobile device.
 

Die Blaue Ziege

Working on a Ford somewhere
Location
Logan ut
The Cerwin Vegas....... I've been told that they are only really good for frat boy party's....but growing up my parents listened to Vinyl through a Dual turntable, and a Kenwood amp and two Cerwin Vegas. Everything was from the 70's my mom still has the entire system. So when I decided to get back into Vinyl monkey see monkey Doo, I found a pair of older used Cerwin Vegas. I love the sound they make. Are there better out there? Yep but for what I want they are pretty dang good. I am on the hunt for an older amp, but I am patient and will buy it when the opportunity is there.
Throughout the rest of my house we have Amazon Echos, my kids and wife listen to those for convenience, and in the garage I have one as well.
 
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TurboMinivan

Still plays with cars
Location
Lehi, UT
In general, I loathe live albums/recordings. Maybe the imperfections of a live performance bother me, I don't know. At any rate, I will steer clear of virtually every live recording and instead only purchase studio albums.

A few weeks ago, YouTube suggested a video for me. Some dude out there gathers up video clips from various movies (virtually always car and/or chase scenes), sets them to music (typically hard rock or metal), and uploads them. I've seen one or two of his videos in the past, but never went searching for more.

Anyway, YouTube brought this one to my attention:

The song is Harder, Faster by W.A.S.P. I own five or six of their albums, but somehow I've never even heard this song. I quickly went searching for it, only to learn it was only released (as a live recording) on the album Live... In the Raw.

And that's why I had to go to Amazon and buy a live album.

(For those not familiar, this song was written as a direct response/reaction to W.A.S.P. being featured on the PMRC's "Filthy Fifteen" list.)
 
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DAA

Well-Known Member
In general, I loathe live albums/recordings. Maybe the imperfections of a live performance bother me, I don't know. At any rate, I will steer clear of virtually every live recording and instead only purchase studio albums.

And that is why, I always say, to each his own. And, variety is the spice of life.

I am the polar opposite. I seek out live, raw recordings. Most of my playlists are mostly live recordings. All of the videos on the thumb drive in my Jeep are concert clips. The imperfections, energy and emotion make live music, even recorded live music, so much more real and engaging - to me. Good studio stuff is awesome. I have a ton of it and glad I do. But all but the very best studio recordings, have a synthetic feel to me that makes it harder to get in to, compared to a good live performance with all it's imperfections and instant in the moment emotion and virtuosity - no overdubs to save them, just grinding it out on stage and seeing where it goes.

Not a dig, at all! Just an observation, that, we are truly at opposite ends of the spectrum on preferences here.

I have recently more or less given up on a really good Stevie Ray Vaughan live recording. There are a lot of live recordings of him out there, but none I've been able to find are really top notch, in my opinion. Shame, too - he was one of the best live players ever.

- DAA
 

frieed

Jeepless in Draper
Supporting Member
Location
Draper, UT
The best system I ever heard was a pair of Dahlquist DQ-10's correctly placed in a room (face on them are about 3' square and are supposed to be placed 3' from the wall), driven by Mckintosh tube amps which were transformer coupled to the speakers, a JVC QLA-7 turntable and a Dynavector moving coil cartridge. Incredible imaging to the point of close your eyes and listen to anything acoustic and you can tell exactly where the person is(was?) standing in the studio. Not monster rock arena type stuff, but it's the closest I've ever come to something I would describe as ethereal. I found stuff in Dark side of the Moon that I never knew existed.
 
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frieed

Jeepless in Draper
Supporting Member
Location
Draper, UT
I have recently more or less given up on a really good Stevie Ray Vaughan live recording. There are a lot of live recordings of him out there, but none I've been able to find are really top notch, in my opinion. Shame, too - he was one of the best live players ever.

- DAA
He typically played three 1 hr sets. Most every set he opened with Hideaway to let people know he was back on stage but that they also had some to get their drinks, he always did a straight Hendrix set as well as his own stuff and I've seen him continue playing after a string breaks until all the rest have gone only to switch guitars and continue.
 

DAA

Well-Known Member
^^^^ I love that kind of stuff!

Have always liked the guitar change Angus does in the middle of Whole Lotta Rosie here, look for it about 3:00 here:


Saw them about a year earlier, in '78, at the Salt Palace. Only the third concert I had ever been to (Doobie Bros and Jethro Tull being the first two). Had heard of AC/DC, but knew nothing about them, could not have named a song. They were warming up for Aerosmith on the Draw The Line tour - which is who I scraped up the princely sum of $6 to see.

Same presentation as in the Paris show above. Absolutely stunned and amazed by Angus. Named my next dog after him. Aerosmith actually kinda sucked that night, too. But I went out the next day and bought Powerage, nothing has ever been quite the same since.

- DAA
 

DAA

Well-Known Member
Just to keep it kinda 4x4, my Rottweiler, Angus, shortly after I got him, in front of the clapped out old CJ.

scan30042.jpg


- DAA
 

DAA

Well-Known Member
Stevie was famous for running thick strings too. And for saying that "thin strings are for pussies".

The three string bends he could do on #1 with those thick strings, man... Like I said - one of the greatest live players ever.

- DAA
 

DAA

Well-Known Member
And speaking of great live players, and not for nothing, but... Right this minute, me and Cindy were supposed to be downtown gorging on Takashi getting ready to go see Joe Bonamassa. Orchestra center, 7th row at the Eccles. Supposed to be tonight. Got rescheduled to Aug. 12. Covid shit, I guess...

- DAA
 

shortstraw8

Well-Known Member
Oh, and Gov't Mule at Red Butte next month too. Gonna be a crazy good month for live blues rock guitar.

- DAA
I missed my chance for this. Should have ordered when I got my email but figured I had til the end of the day, only for my wife to say they were sold out when she tried.
 
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