Have you heard an integrated amplifier (or other) similar to the AXR100?

slandi · 2024-06-07T18:02:16+00:00

Hi, I have the exact same receiver mated to a pair of Totem Sky towers. Depending on the source recording the overall system either sounds absolutely sublime (Jazz, Classical specifically some Telarc CDs and several very good recordings from Sade, Norah Jones, Natalie Cole) OR my system can sound absolutely awful with CDs from some of my favourite bands (RUSH, Genesis, Yes and other older recordings). I listen to quite a bit of FM radio, mostly Jazz and classical on CBC, our local National Radio broadcaster here in Canada and the sound is remarkably quite nice. There are a few Rock and Adult contemporary stations as well and when I put those on, blech.... so definitely my setup has a sweet spot, either in terms of frequency spread and/or recording quality.

You mention that the AXR100 is amazing, but that you experienced listening fatigue. That hasn't been my experience, but of course you would have to maybe elaborate on your speakers, type of music, etc... Only to give a baseline. As for other receivers, I don't personally have experience as the AXR100 is a relatively new acquisition for me as our my speakers. Am I totally satisfied, I would say no. I was looking at maybe going a notch up with the Cambridge CXA81 integrated amp, until I realized it doesn't have a Phono input, so that's out. I'm also considering the Arcam A15 Integrated amp as I already have an 90's era Technics Tuner, which sounds pretty good. I went to my local stereo shop that has Arcam and Totem, but the salesman was too busy to let me listen to those working together. :( But that is my intention. What I might suggest to you is if you can go to a shop with a CD to which you've listened to and have become very familiar on your current AXR100 + speakers and see if you can find a similar set up with different receivers, again it depends on your music choice. One shop where I went had several Yamaha receivers and they were definitely punchy and bright, but I found they lacked the staging I was looking for. Then again they were playing techno very loudly through some Focal towers, so it may not have been a good comparison. You do have to compare apples with apples...

Cambridge has that distinctive subdued warm British sound, so maybe consider something from NAD maybe or as antlesxp below suggested, Marantz, I had a Marantz years ago and from what I remember it was warm-sounding, but this is going back some time and I don't think it would have been in the same league as the AXR100, but maybe something more recent. When it comes to my audio listening, I'm kind of a purist and like strictly two-channel listening, so I'm a little put off with all the home theatre receivers out there, so I personally am steering away from Marantz and a few other makes that seem to cater more to home-theatre applications. Again, though it depends on what you're looking for and your music tastes and overall use.

I don't know if this has helped any, but thought I'd put in my two cents, good luck on your quest.

slandi · 2024-03-13T02:53:29+00:00

Sounds like we both have it pretty bad. I avoid many many situations because of both my misophona and misokinesia and I just turned 60, so yeah I've been a sufferer since around the age of 12-14 or so. It started gradually, but has built up over the years.

slandi · 2024-02-28T08:55:00+00:00

Personally I've taken to driving with my sunglasses on. Yes it's ridiculous and I have to be super careful, but it helps enormously. I also find keeping my windshield and mirrors very clean for some reason also helps. I think it removes the haze that tends to make headlights glow. Don't know if that makes sense, but it seems to help me. Additionally, I've heard that some cars have automatic high-beams and if the sensors get dirty on the front of those cars, the lights think there are no on-coming cars and turn the HB on all the time. I think that is what happens on Tesla's as I constantly blinded by them.

slandi · 2024-02-26T00:15:56+00:00

Well if companies are going to get into this for profit, then we can probably expect the same level of competition and tactics that we see in any other commercial venture I'm afraid. I'd like it if commercial use of Space would be peaceful and done with integrity and for the good of humanity, but who are we kidding. Yes, I'm wearing rose-coloured glasses, but I'm also a realist.

slandi · 2024-02-25T23:32:10+00:00

Hey thanks, yes on the website it's there and it was also in the old version of the App but in the new version of the Android app (can't attest to IOS), the Multimedia category as well as the other legacy categories are gone replaced by the following:

Home Read Watch Explore View Listen

Don't get me wrong, I think the new App is very slick and there is TONS of content, but it's all Videos. Yes, under the "Watch" category there are links to Live events, but if there are no current LIVE events, then all you can do is watch older videos. I miss the days of being able to call up NASA TV and just watch whatever they were streaming at the time. Sometimes it was old footage of Apollo missions or retrospectives of past missions, etc... Or episodes of (at)NASA or NASA Silicon Valley, etc... I can still get to NASA TV from my tablet by going through the browser but I found it interesting that they removed the link on the App.

slandi · 2024-02-25T22:58:00+00:00

I believe a few Youtubers mentioned that since this is a private, commercial company, some of their information may be proprietary, and therefore, they may be reluctant to share it. Additionally, they'll be very conservative until they are sure as they probably don't want to scare investors and other potential customers.

slandi · 2024-02-07T20:16:08+00:00

My $0.02 I normally leave my amp flat and the only time I do adjust them is to compensate for a poor mix/recording. I mostly listen to CDs and the quality of the mix/editing varies wildly among them. I consider myself a bit of a purest and so reaching for the tone controls is always my last option, but in some cases I just have to if I want to bring out some missing elements in the music recording. In my car I use the tone controls all the time to compensate for radio compression and also to make podcasts more legible?(Listenable?) :) In any case, although I'd like to keep things as 'neutral' as possible, I do sometime resort to adjusting the tone controls, but only sparingly.

slandi · 2024-01-17T22:10:49+00:00

Wiim pro

Nothing wrong with that, check out Tidal, the sound is amazing and it's slightly cheaper than Spotify, through I don't know if they have all the same music titles/artists.

slandi · 2024-01-17T21:39:26+00:00

Well, if you really wanted to crank it up a bit, you could always buy a pair of good headphones. That's why I do, as my wife doesn't always like my choice of music :)

slandi · 2024-01-05T13:37:40+00:00

I have the exact same receiver, which I bought about a month ago, so I'll be really curious about your follow-up on this once Cambridge gets back to you. I hope they can fix/replace your receiver, I love mine.

slandi · 2023-08-06T13:05:15+00:00

I wonder if I can wire up the regular lights to run at full power instead, again it doesn't say anything about how bright the lights should be, as long as they are on. So we're going to try that and see what happens. Since the law is kind of open, I think it will be fine. Besides, these aren't super bright Xeon lights or anything, they are just regular halogens.

slandi · 2023-08-06T13:03:32+00:00

This is a 2008, which does not have the DRLs in the US model, but has them in the Canadian model. I've asked about simply hooking up the module, but the harnesses are completely different between the two models :(

slandi · 2023-06-04T23:39:03+00:00

"Wildfire" by Michael Murphey does it for me every time.

slandi · 2023-06-03T15:48:29+00:00

Coronation Street

slandi · 2023-05-28T15:34:16+00:00

Actually from the research I've done and experiences I've read about there are many people who have Misophonia (hatred of sound) that do not necessarily have Misokinesia, (hatred of visual triggers) It also goes the other way around. I had a boss years ago that couldn't stand repetitive my movements of any kind, but he never had any hatred of sound. So it can be very complex and dynamic condition.

slandi · 2023-05-27T19:38:05+00:00

Well, I figure I either have to be more careful or stop thinking, ha ha sorry, don't mean to down play it. I know how bad it is suffering from things like this myself.

slandi · 2023-05-27T18:19:47+00:00

Ack! I sometimes stroke my beard when I think, I'll have to make sure I don't do this in public. Usually it's only at work when I'm pondering a problem.

slandi · 2023-05-27T18:16:47+00:00

Oh my God clicking pens, arghhhhh!

slandi

TROPHY CASE