(April 13, 2016 at 12:05 am)Alex K Wrote: DAT was/is 16bit 48000 khz lossless afaik, so a little bit better than CD. They had their niche, I almost bought one. I once borrowed an MD device from a teacher for a simple live recording I had to do, but was never tempted to buy one because by the time I would have considered it, I had a discman that could read burnt CDs.

The big issue with DAT is that it was a tape   It was still a sequential media and subject to all the issues that come with tape.  I had a DAT data backup system for my Amiga computer back in the early 90's.

Dear op:
Are 'Beats By Dre just overpriced pieces of branded plastic?

(April 12, 2016 at 4:54 am)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote: Let's say a grand for the receiver and 2+1 speakers where the +1 is either a center channel or sub.

I would look at the Andrew Jones designed ELAC Debut speaker series.  They are stellar for the money.  Andrew Jones used to work for Pioneer and designed their $80K TAD reference line of speakers.  He also designed a very well received line of inexpensive Pioneer speakers, but a couple years ago he went to ELAC.  His ELAC offerings look better and sounds better than the pioneer line.
 
For a receiver, I would look at the Yamaha RX-V479.  They usually go for $400, but I've seen them as low as $300.  

If I were starting out and had around $1000.  I'd get the RX-V479 ($300), and a pair of the ELAC Debut F5 floorstanders ($560). 
 
You could then either get the ELAC Debut C5 Center ($180), or a subwoofer.  A subwoofer is going to cost you more, and for that I would probably go with a HSU Research STF-2 ($360).  The receiver, F5's and Sub would run you around $1200.  The receiver, F5's, and C5 center Would run you $1040

(April 13, 2016 at 11:40 pm)Nay_Sayer Wrote: Dear op:
Are 'Beats By Dre just overpriced pieces of branded plastic?

I think people buying beats are spending an awful lot of money on marketing and brand VS sound and build quality.   Another major example of this is BOSE.

(April 13, 2016 at 11:27 pm)Kosh Wrote:

(April 13, 2016 at 12:05 am)Alex K Wrote: DAT was/is 16bit 48000 khz lossless afaik, so a little bit better than CD. They had their niche, I almost bought one. I once borrowed an MD device from a teacher for a simple live recording I had to do, but was never tempted to buy one because by the time I would have considered it, I had a discman that could read burnt CDs.

The big issue with DAT is that it was a tape   It was still a sequential media and subject to all the issues that come with tape.  I had a DAT data backup system for my Amiga computer back in the early 90's.

There were a lot more issues with analogue tape than just the longevity issues.

Dyn range, wow/flutter, hiss, etc
All analogue media suffered numerous distortions not applicable to digital storage.

But I did love my Super Avalyns!

Ah, cassette tapes. Friends of mine used to drool over the Dragon and phantasized about saving up for it. Those were the days. I seriously considered DAT though, the fact that it was tape didn't bother me much.

(April 14, 2016 at 12:53 am)Alex K Wrote: Ah, cassette tapes. Friends of mine used to drool over the Dragon and phantasized about saving up for it. Those were the days. I seriously considered DAT though, the fact that it was tape didn't bother me much.

I had a Nakamichi BX-300 cassette deck.  It's wasn't a Dragon, but it was a discreet 3 head unit.  Back in the late 80's I used it to record my Vinyl for playback in the car.  I did the same for CD's once they were available.  Early auto CD players were terrible skippers.
 
Because the BX-300 had separate record and playback heads, it was possible to listen to the recorded tape in real time as it was being recorded.  You could swap back and forth between the source (CD) and recorded tape at the push of a button.  I used mostly Denon CRO2 tapes back then.

I used to splurge every now and again and buy some tapes which had an aluminium casing! They were $10 each, so I didn't buy many.
I had a groovy Alpine system in the car with an active crossover with a 3 way split (separate amps).
There was absolutely nothing wrong with analogue in its day. It's only in retrospect that we pick on all its faults...

You're the right age, Kosh... how about SAE? Great or bullshit?

(April 14, 2016 at 8:57 am)Alex K Wrote: You're the right age, Kosh... how about SAE? Great or bullshit?

 

I was a purist back in my youth.  I hated anything that had more than a couple controls.  That being said, I've never actually listened to any SAE gear so I can't speak to it's sound wuality.  I will say this..  All those switches, knobs, meters, and controls still make my skin crawl a bit.  All I can think about is signal path and how much stuff the audio has to go through to get to the speakers.