And you just made mine! We need more posts here and elsewhere about the JOY of this hobby, particulary this time of the year. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

RG

Great post Jim,

In a similar vein, I'm hoping that the trouble I went through to make such that my daughter had a good stereo with her at college will now start to bear fruit. Let me explain.

My daughter has my old NAD pre-amp and power amp plus a Sony CD player and a nice pair of Mission bookshelf speakers. Some Kimber cable with a 1/8" mini plug connector connects the computer soundcard to the aux. input of the NAD pre-amp. Basically she as one of finest sounding dorm room systems around.

Now for the fruit bearing part.

She is moving into an on campus apartment this semester and her stereo has been "voted" the house system and will be set up in the living room. This means two things. First, she will have to listen to her computer via a run of the mill "computer system" and second, the rest of the people in the house will get their first taste of a real stereo. (Provided , of course, that I make a trip up to her school to make sure that everything is set up correctly )

I figure that just by having to play back CD's instead of whatever compressed garbage is on their computers the sound will be better, provided the CDs weren't burned from those same compressed files, which is very likely. I may also be able to get my daugther a working turntable to bring to school and that NAD pre-amp has a phono section!

Who knows, with any luck there will several new budding audiophiles before too long.

Talk about making a joyful noise!

Nice work for the church, Mr. Tavegia!

You guys are right, if ever there was a hobby that needed diplomates, it's ours.

I hope the members of your church choir and Jazzfan's daughter's roommates get "spoiled" by all that good sound and then come to demand it!

Thanks for those stories!

Jazzfan,

Great story. When we hear of all the talk of the dying high end market, unfortunately, it will be up to us (audiophiles) to share our passion with others if the market will succeed. What you have done for your daughter will pay huge dividends in the future. Once people get a taste of what even decent audio is I do not believe they can go back to mp3's for the long haul. Maybe for portability, but not for main listening. They may even put WAV files in their Ipods once they know what the difference is. It is a shame she is losing her system. If this was you or me they may have to pry it out of our dead hands.

The entry level turntables from Music Hall and Project are very nice to start with. You can even upgrade those tables with a much better cartridge to make a huge improvement in sound. This is all free software just begging to be played.

I have also bought some used tables off EBay, but I would only do it if the sale is local and you can see first hand and pick it up with no shipping. I fear no original cartons, the seller's ability to pack a delicate turntable, and most of all the parcel carriers. I have had to fight over all too many claims. Santa thinks she may need a subscription to Stereophile. I know JA and Stephen do. LOL Good job.

I'm afraid that the saga of Jazzfan's daugther's college audio system has only just begun. Her father (me ) being your good card carrying audiophile could not just let things be and the little wheels in my head just keep on turning.

Here's a one of my latest harebrained ideas.

I have an old 5.1 home theater receiver, a powered subwoofer, a center channel speaker and a pair of speakers I used as rear channel speakers, all which I no longer use and are not worth much, even on ebay. I'm thinking of giving her all these and then she and her apartment mates can chip in and get a pair of front speakers and a CD/DVD player and they will have a home theater set up. And my daugther will still have the best sounding dorm room stereo! Plus I'll get some old equipment out of the garage and pick up some points with the wife. Win - win - win. Just the kind of scenario I like must of all.

What say ye to this idea?

Any suggests for CD/DVD player, new or used? Speakers, new or used? Figure price ranges of $100 to $150 for the DVD player and $200 to $300 for the speakers. Yes, I know that's not exactly "high end" but these are just college kids and most of my money these days goes to keeping at least one of those college kids in college. I know I said that my daugther and her apartment mates chould chip in on the player and speakers but knowing my wife, I may end up having to buy these items and set up the whole thing, including all wires and cables.

Quote:
Santa thinks she may need a subscription to Stereophile. I know JA and Stephen do. LOL Good job.

Great gift idea, Jim! And this is just a great thread, altogether, guys. Keep it going. I love it.

Best buy had a Sony DVD that was also an SACD player. I do not think that you will find a totally universal player (that includes DVD-A) at that price point. The Epos 3's are in the ball park and were given a thumbs up by "Phile" and that is because they are really good. AudioAdvisor sells them for $297/pr? They are a very good mini-monitor. Since you have the sub you will just "knock one out of the park". Enjoy.

I'm glad to see you've come to your senses somewhat by deciding not to try to convert all the apartment mates to audiophiles, at least not with vinyl. You will have to visit weekly to adjust that TT arm and REPLACE that stylus! You may as well just go ahead and order half a dozen if you go that route.

Your lastest brainstorm, well now we're talkin. I suspect your daughter and friends would much rather be rockin to Peter Gabriel or some such in surround. Since you were willing to pony up for a TT and cartridge, surely you can spring for a DVD player and front speakers. Of course your gonna have to go set it all up for them, now that you opened your big mouth, but at the end of it all you get the BIG payoff when your daughter wraps her arms around you and plants a big one on your cheek. You and I both know that's really what this is all about, now isn't it...Ralphy?

I just wanna know one last thing? Who's gonna pony up for the 50" PLASMA??? Daddy.....DAAADY.....

RG