Pipe and Stereo Types

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Ryan

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 30, 2021
612
4,753
Noblesville Indiana USA
I was just having some Sutliff Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a cob, and I started doing some thinking.

For those that need a real point or reason to read something, you can probably stop now. 😆

I almost always smoke this blend in a cob. For me, it just tastes great this way. I have (and do) occasionally smoke it in a briar or meer, but it just seems best in a cob.

This (for some unknown reason) got me to thinking about home stereo equipment. For me, cobs sort of smear a blend a bit, I feel I don’t really perceive the details and fine points in a cob, but sometimes that works perfectly. They can even enhance an already sweet blend. I feel like briars smear a little less, bring a little more clarity to the taste while still imparting a certain flavor of their own, but not like a cob would. Finally, the meer is the most revealing, with the details of the tobacco flavors really coming into focus and no apparent coloring of the flavor from the material.

Just to be clear, I don’t think the three types totally change the flavor of a blend, they just present in a slightly different manner.

So here is where the stereo part comes in.

A really high end system with high quality speakers will typically present a very clear and defined sound with minimal distortion. A system of this caliber can reveal limitations in the source recordings and production. This is the kind of system where you hear a piece of music you have known for years and suddenly you hear a nuance you never heard before. This is the meer, with little to none of its own flavoring and reveling the most detail.

Then you have your mid level stuff. Not the low end beginner stuff, but the nicer consumer pieces like perhaps a vintage Marantz with some higher end vintage ARs. It colors the sound a bit, but in a nice way. It rolls off and rounds the high end while keeping a slightly tubby bottom end. It never fatigues the ear and you can listen to it for hours and hours. This is like the briar which slightly colors the flavor overall but still reveals all the best parts quite well.

Finally you have your old Soundesign stereo. It looks like a component rack system, but it’s all one piece. You get the big speakers with the small drivers in them. It doesn’t really compare to the other systems in terms of clarity or depth of soundstage. However, you can crank it up and it gets loud, albeit with more distortion than the others. You don’t mind pushing it to the limits because it was cheap. It gets the job done and sometimes that’s all you need. Works great for a garage stereo you don’t have to worry about. This is the cob, it doesn’t have quite the elegance or clarity of the higher end systems, but it can thump a little and you never worry about what happens to it. I think cobs enhance the sweetness of some blends, and as noted earlier it is my favorite for the Edgeworth match. Also for Stokkebye Cube Cut.

As the saying goes, different horses for different courses.
 
Last edited:

HawkeyeLinus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2020
5,804
42,010
Iowa
So trying to think about this, and maybe that's self-defeating, my system is built around an old school refurbished receiver and speakers designed to (and accomplish beautifully) match with all things vinyl and across a nice range of genres -- so maybe liking "classic" Petes, classic century old pipes and commissions that have some visual appeal and are "just so" fit with my ideas of what I like to hear when I'm listening to my music through the system. Best I can do, nothing mystical to be honest about any particular tobacco, just needs to complement the experience.
 
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bluegrassbrian

Your Mom's Favorite Pipe Smoker
Aug 27, 2016
6,602
63,204
41
Louisville
Around 2006 I met an older (than me) gentleman through a Craigslist ad for an early 70s Rotel amp/receiver. Turned out this man was an avid collector and reseller of stereo gear. From quality entry level up to some of the best and most unique pieces.

Through him, I was constantly buying/selling/trading and trying different things.
That spinning wheel of stereo gear slowed down and since about 2017 I haven't made any big changes-
Partly due to being content with the setup, partly new interests.
I consider it a solid (state) mid-grade setup that gives me all I need for as often as I use it.

Yamaha YP-D71 turntable.
Hafler Iris SE240 Amp/Pre Amp
Onkyo Integra EQ35
Onkyo TA-RW255 dual cassette.
Ohm Walsh 2 speakers
 

kcghost

Lifer
May 6, 2011
15,141
25,658
77
Olathe, Kansas
Seems like when I was in Germany for two years of my life (courtesy of Uncle Sam) i got new system which consisted of a:

Dual 1019 Turntable
Sansui Amp (no clue as to what model it was)
Akai Reel to Reel tape recorder/player
Maybe one or two more gizmos

This was about 1969 so you'll understand the problems I am having with the model numbers.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,564
31,032
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
I was just having some Sutliff Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a cob, and I started doing some thinking.

For those that need a real point or reason to read something, you can probably stop now. 😆

I almost always smoke this blend in a cob. For me, it just tastes great this way. I have (and do) occasionally smoke it in a briar or meer, but it just seems best in a cob.

This (for some unknown reason) got me to thinking about home stereo equipment. For me, cobs sort of smear a blend a bit, I feel I don’t really perceive the details and fine points in a cob, but sometimes that works perfectly. They can even enhance an already sweet blend. I feel like briars smear a little less, bring a little more clarity to the taste while still imparting a certain flavor of their own, but not like a cob would. Finally, the meer is the most revealing, with the details of the tobacco flavors really coming into focus and no apparent coloring of the flavor from the material.

Just to be clear, I don’t think the three types totally change the flavor of a blend, they just present in a slightly different manner.

So here is where the stereo part comes in.

A really high end system with high quality speakers will typically present a very clear and defined sound with minimal distortion. A system of this caliber can reveal limitations in the source recordings and production. This is the kind of system where you hear a piece of music you have known for years and suddenly you hear a nuance you never heard before. This is the meer, with little to none of its own flavoring and reveling the most detail.

Then you have your mid level stuff. Not the low end beginner stuff, but the nicer consumer pieces like perhaps a vintage Marantz with some higher end vintage ARs. It colors the sound a bit, but in a nice way. It rolls off and rounds the high end while keeping a slightly tubby bottom end. It never fatigues the ear and you can listen to it for hours and hours. This is like the briar which slightly colors the flavor overall but still reveals all the best parts quite well.

Finally you have your old Soundesign stereo. It looks like a component rack system, but it’s all one piece. You get the big speakers with the small drivers in them. It doesn’t really compare to the other systems in terms of clarity or depth of soundstage. However, you can crank it up and it gets loud, albeit with more distortion than the others. You don’t mind pushing it to the limits because it was cheap. It gets the job done and sometimes that’s all you need. Works great for a garage stereo you don’t have to worry about. This is the cob, it doesn’t have quite the elegance or clarity of the higher end systems, but it can thump a little and you never worry about what happens to it. I think cobs enhance the sweetness of some blends, and as noted earlier it is my favorite for the Edgeworth match. Also for Stokkebye Cube Cut.

As the saying goes, different horses for different courses.
I see this. Most blends are about the same in different pipes, some are totally different in certain pipes. And some blends you smoke them in a different pipe can suddenly hear the percussion you didn't know was there.
 
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Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
44,540
114,989
A pipe is a pipe. Once fully broken in I don't perceive any difference from one pipe to another excluding the aesthetics. I don't do sound systems so nothing to comment on there.
 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
12,512
19,561
SE PA USA
My stereo type has evolved over the years, and I'm almost at the point where I don't hear any issues with it.
Yamaha Natural Sound intergrated amp A-S301
Rega Apollo CD
Martin Logan Motion LX16 speakers and their Dynamo 800 subwoffer

I have an old set of Magneplanar SMGa's that need work, but I'm leaning towards just getting the new LRS+
That will entail a new amp, too, which would probably be the Rogue Sphinx.
 

warren99

Lifer
Aug 16, 2010
2,355
27,699
California
Unfortunately, since I don't smoke in the house I don't get a chance to blend my tobaccos with the auditory delights of my sound system, the main components of which are:

B&K ST-140 power amp
Conrad Johnson PV-2 AR pre-amp
Rega Planar 3 turntable with Rega RB-300 arm and Benz-Micro MC20 moving coil cartridge
Denon DCD-1560 CD player
Creek OBH-21 headphone amp and Grado headphones
Snell E-5 speakers
Yamaha tuner and Nakamichi cassette player I never use anymore.

I haven't upgraded since the early 2000's but it still suits my tastes well, as does my choice of tobaccos which haven't changed much in the past 20 years, save two or three blends.
 
Feb 12, 2022
3,573
50,386
31
North Georgia mountains.
Dynaco A25s and Klipsch Quartets are my main units, one driven by a Pioneer SX-950 and the other by a Marantz 1060. I used to buy and trade gear regularly and finally landed on a setup I haven't found the need to change anything until I've saved enough to pull the trigger on some serious gear.
Kinda like your pipe comparison. I smoked 100 dollar pipes for a long time before upgrading to artisan and higher end pipes. Some smoked great and they're what I learned to smoke on. But I will say once I spent more and went to the next level, I've found that I can't go back - both with pipes and the audio gear. The two hobbies actually compare to eachother very well
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,600
I picked up one of those old crank phonographs in the alley years ago, and kept it around the garage when was in grammar school. It came with its own library of 78 rpm records and had a pleasantly tinny but lively sound that kind of took me back to days of yore well before my time. It's not rich sound, but you can definitely dance to it.