beginner audiophile | hifi | gear reviews | stereo | hi-end audio

Today, 30 year audiophile (and one of the two guys that got me into the hobby) Matt Rockwell and I sit down for a chat in his house in Boulder.  When I met Matt, he had a $300k+ system.  Now, a few years later, he's "pared it down" to a simple $36k system.  I know that sounds like a lot, but this was a fascinating conversation about audio, art, gear, and the true essence of the hobby.  

Note...Matt speaks quite softly, so I've done my best with the audio.  

Here's Matt's current system:

Speakers: Green Mountian Audio http://greenmountainaudio.com/eos-hd/

Subwoofer: Rel https://rel.net/shop/powered-subwoofers/serie-ti/t9i/ Integrated Amp: Jeff Rowland https://www.jeffrowlandgroup.com/continuum-s2/

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On today's episode we try a slew of USB audio cables to see if they make a difference in sound.  We also check out current audio news, and bang through a few user questions. 

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Today Dr. Paul Anderson and I go through the best "bargains"  (in quotes because some are quite pricey...but still relative bargains to the competition) in audio in 2019.  Please pardon my cough...I was nursing a bit of bronchitis on this episode! 

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Dr. Paul Anderson is back on the show!  We are setting up his new place in LA, and spent many hours dialing in the room.  We chat about what it takes to set up a new room, in terms of speaker placement, what to listen for, etc.  We had some really surprising results, especially with subwoofer setup and what it did to Paul's Harbreth monitors.  

Then, we listened to a number of different DAC's (digital audio converters) and the results were also REALLY surprising!  Everything matters! 

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Howdy! On this episode, we pin down Andrew Jones from Elac for a juicy interview on his philosophy behind creating speakers, and lots more.  Michael gives the rundown on NAMM, the North American Music Merchants show.  Those are the people that MAKE the music we listen to.  

We have a brand new Youtube channel!  Click here to Subscribe and check out the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless Earbuds Unboxing! 

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Back from a week in Vegas, we've got a doozy for you this episode.  After a quick hit of CES (The Consumer Electronics Show) in Vegas (Check out pictures at @beginneraudiophile) Michael talks about Air Motion Transformers (which were a big theme this year) and True Wireless Earbuds.  Then we jump into a GREAT interview with Dan Laufman, founder of Emotiva. 

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In this episode, Michael O'Neal (@beginneraudiophile) and Patrick Norton (@patricknorton) catch up on some Black Friday (I know, I know...) purchases.  Michael talks about his home theater install, Pat talks about an amp and a set of gaming headphones he's testing out, and we answer a few questions. 

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Roon.  What is it?  Do you need it?  

The best way I can describe Roon is that it's a simplifier. We have all of these disparate music sources and end points in our house, and Roon talks to them all, and puts them into one cohesive system.  Today we chat with Dipin Sehdev, VP of Marketing of roonlabs.com, and discuss how and why Roon originated, what it's meant to do, and how easy it is to use.  

Dipin was also nice enough to give us a free 30 day trial of Roon.  (Normally it's 2 weeks, so double your pleasure!)

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On today's episode Michael O'Neal (@solohour, @beginneraudiophile) starts by talking about how to get Hi Res music to play on an iPhone.  (It's not as simple as you might think!) Then Patrick Norton (@patricknorton) jumps on to talk amplifiers.  Mike reviews the SR8012 Receiver, and they wrap up with a couple of listener questions, including how to build your system...speakers first or front end first?  

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We've just gotten back from the CEDIA show, displaying the latest in home theater, automation, commercial installs, lighting, in-wall speaker systems, projectors, TV's, and more! 

Patrick Norton (of Tekthing and The Screen Savers) and Michael O'Neal (The Solopreneur Hour Podcast) spend the show discussing the highlights of CEDIA, in no particular order. 

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