------------------------------------------------------------------------ A poll associated with this post was created, to vote and see the results, please visit http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=55712 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Question: Is there a gap in Logitech's web site? - Good questions - Not interested - Boring - Bad/stupid questions ------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am an audiophile from the 70s. While I haven't lost my shape or my athleticism, apparently I have lost everything I knew about rock 'n roll sound from the 70s. In the 70s, it was about total harmonic distortion, bandwidth, and power. Now, it is about DAC, soundcards, and . . . somehow . . . tubes. Tubes predated the stuff I learned in the 70s! So, somebody has got to help. I have a very simple question, and I'm not going to bore you with the background of why I'm asking the question. I have homes, home theaters, family rooms, old klipsche speakers, bose 901 series III and the rest of it. But I also have a small office that I call "my own" and that is from where I am typing this post. In the office, I have a kick-ass computer with a huge screen next to my face. I also have a 56 inch Phillips television. Now, my problem. I got talked into buying a Logitech 5500 and have it hooked up to the television and the IPOD home dock. The television sounds great even though DECCO tells me I'm full of ____ and my home theater guy tells me I'm crazy. As an audiophile (or at least a "wantabee" audiophile, or a rusty one), I use my ears. The 5500 -- even though it is cheap and filled with plastic -- sounds just fine in this room when played through the television. However, the IPOD home dock sounds good only on SOME rock 'n roll songs. On others, it sounds HARD, ONE DIMENSIONAL, IMPERSONAL and not like the old ADVENTS I used to run against my 1968 "tube" McIntosh amplifiers 30 years ago. So, what to do? Do I spend $40,000 and re-tube the joint alongside all this computer equipment? Three "experts" have told me "yes." Others have told me I am "challenged". And, then, there are the few new folks (all below the age of 25) who have told me to forget the tubes, forget DECCO, forget Panasonic and just get the squeezbox and that it will not only CONTROL MY THEATER, MY BEDROOM, MY FAMILY ROOM, MY KITCHEN, MY STUDY AND EVERYTHING ELSE but that the squeezbox will also blow my mind regarding . . . "DAC." Is my problem the Z 5500 or the lack of a good DAC connected to my IPOD? Is the duet a good DAC? What in the world is a DAC and why is so important? Why should I be able to pay $500 for a Z5500 and get great sound just because I bought a duet? Isn't that violative of all the laws regarding tubes, signal to noise ratio, bandwidth, total harmonic distortion, etc., et al.? Now, my second problem. If the duet really does the trick and bypasses the problem of my IPOD not having the proper DAC, then why am I not just buying the Transporter? Wouldn't the Transporter make this $500 Z5500 blow away anything else I could play in this very small (600 square feet) personal office? If DAC is so important, why am I not buying the Transporter for my personal office -- and a bunch of duets for the rest of the house (the rest of the house has tremendous equipment; athena speaker systems; powerful power amps; expensive integrated amps, etc.)? I am just upset because I have these very inexpensive Z5500 speakers and I kind of like the sound off of the TV. So, if the sound is good, why am I going to do something else? Does the Transporter even have anything to do with DAC? Does DAC have anything to do with final "sound" or with my emotions upon hearing the sound, if the end player is merely the Z5500 which boasts a paltry "10% total harmonic distortion" (I am sophisticated enough to realize that digital "has no distortion" so 10% is a false figure -- but, still 10% seems very high doesn't it?)? Please just tell me: A. Should I throw the Z5500 away? I like the way it sounds through my TV, but I can't stand the IPOD sound on SOME SONGS ONLY (e.g., it "rocks" with "Dazed and Confused" but sounds terrible -- like an old a.m. transistor radio -- on "Jailhouse Rock"). B. Will the duet "improve" the sound of my ITUNES as it is played through the Z5500? C. Are the people at DECCO correct when they say "no DAC makes a difference if you don't have the old "tubes," "audiophile," "70s equipment"? This is illogical to me, but I haven't a clue what is going on at this point given the intrusion of computers, sound cards and the rest of it into the fray. D. If the duet is likely to improve this, is it really possible to make the Z5500 (which costs $500) a "saintly audio system" by using the Transporter? Can the Transporter "transport" the Z5500 into the next galaxy? Why? I'm sorry for the lengthy post, but I've just ordered one duet and I'm thinking of getting a Transporter. I'm good with computers, but all these changes with "sound" have got me completely confused. Logitech has a great website, but it never discusses how good or bad the Z5500 really is when it is coupled with the Transporter. Why the suspense? Why not just have Logitech state: "The Transporter is meant only for very high end, expensive, equipment that Logitech does not make."? You see my confusion. There is a gap in the Logitech website -- or maybe there is a gap in the Logitech sound systems versus the "squeezebox" technology. Or, maybe my brain has a gap? Which is it? Being obsessive, I'm capable of going out and buying the top of the line surround sound for my little "heaven room" although -- on TV -- I like the 5500. How important is DAC? How bad is the 5500? DECCO said "throw it in the garbage and buy our pre-amp." However, everything Logitech does has been good for me up to now (my keyboard; my microphone; my videoset; my house videos; etc), and I decided to go a different route. My route is this forum. What are your opinions and experiences? Thanks. I appreciate your advice. -- Mitchell J. Stein ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mitchell J. Stein's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=21520 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=55712 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
