Audiophiles hifi appreciation thread old and new

Waterloo... CX... when I check things like citymapper.

Is there an app that allows you to dedicate RAM/power to another app... I have to reboot my phone regularly as well. If we have a gazzilion gigs now, can one not dedicate some purely to the music app?

Yep, kids are 14 and 16.

Sometimes they are watching Stath lets flats with mother, sometimes they are all consuming different stuff on various phones and laptops.

Don't go down the wormhole...... just stop researching kit now! Your new headphones will be on Ebay, you'll have a new stack of boxes, you'll be watching that bloke who does youtube reviews with a head cam instead of enjoying music... ask me how I know.

My house right now. Inside this box which contained my newly delivered dac is the DAC I bought about 3 weeks ago. I’m trying Roon to see if it sounds better. I’ve got a streamer coming which I’m trying desperately to fathom how I might get it working and keep coming up with instructions to enter lines of code which might as well be in Greek. Rather regretting the wormhole, but I’ve got Bill Callahan on and it sounds wicked.

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Zeos has made me waste many moneys.

I pushed a little arm thing and a tiny needle went in a wee groove on a Bill Callahan record. Sounds good. Not mine though, need to give it back at some point.

All this is making me think my headphone-out to amp from an old Sonos Play:5 probably sounds rubbish. Fine for non-critical (lol) listening I guess. At least I've got compression turned off for Sonos and Spotify.

Ha, yeah I’ve ditched physical formats for the convenience.....

just stop researching kit now!

Fair.

I do tend to keep audio kit for quite a while and get good use out of it. Then every now and then try something new.

Anyone any ideas for a platform to sit my turntable on - atop my cd & amp - space is limited so it has to work this way unfortunately... would acrylic or similar work with rubber feet on?

Only place I can have my old cd/amp/turntable is in the kitchen on top of a big 'ol wooden unit, it's a decent size but the speakers are sitting on that too (Q Acoustic 3020 - not bad for the size & price) so it's all stacked up & the turntable overhangs the edge of the cd player a bit so I was thinking of something to make it look less like the forgotten pile of old hifi bits in the corner of your local cash converters...

So far i've downsized the speakers so they sit next to the stereo (big standmount Tannoys are apparently not wife-approved kitchen furniture, even when i put plants on top...) & put an old Arcam DAC I had hooked up to it into storage to minimize the amount of "stuff" there so it's as pared back as I can go without deciding "Fuck. This." & sticking the lot on gumtree (like I may have done with a big Sony STR DA3200 surround amp & half a dozen satellite speakers) and buying another streaming box thing instead...

Googling ‘tabletop hifi rack’ brings some stuff up. Could you make a box that fits your kit nicely with a sturdy wood / granite / marble / whatever top for the turntable?

Sat in Spiritland for a couple of hours today. Reckon their 50k system is a bit metallic at the top end 🤡

The base and mids even at low background levels was so good though. You can tell there’s so much headroom there, it produces such a rich room filling sound. Would love to hear it at full pelt.

You could call a local granite / marble worktop manufacturer. They often have ideal sized slabs as a result of sink cut outs. That’s if you’re after isolation. If it’s a small rack you want I could make something in birch ply or valchromat for not much money.

Just looked that place up - the headphone bar is genius. I should install that in my coffee shop for the peace and quiet.

Yeah something like that would work - I'd thought a single plinth just slightly bigger than the cd/amp with some of those spongy rubber feet would be the easiest to do but a proper "box" would look better

@dbr that valchromat looks interesting, never seen that before, the marble / granite offcut idea is a good one too - I'd maybe take you up on knocking something up but I'm Glasgow(-ish) based so out of the way a bit!

Here's the offending (to the missus) article as it stands - not the ideal arrangement but sounds not bad & I'm loathe to get rid of it just for convenience...

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Perhaps just putting your bike away might annoy her less. System looks quite pleasing doesn't it?

Maybe she doesn't like Belushi.

This Roon carry-on is a right geek out. Loving the signal path info, can't see myself cancelling the free trial tbh. Sounds noticeably better than Tidal desktop app.

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Haha, yeah the commuting bike usually lives by the front door overnight & then mysteriously vanishes every weekday between 6am - 7pm but the weather has seen it abandoned in the corner of the kitchen for a day or 3, one bike lying around is tolerated - the rest are jammed Tetris-style into a big cupboard under the stairs.

I'm happy enough with the stereo as it stands, i've had the cd & amp for about 20 years so it owes me nothing but would probably miss it if I replaced it just for convenience, with the smaller speakers it's quite tidy where it is.

@Chalfie she doesn't mind that - makes a change from our 3 year Old's current Kraftwerk phase, never mind the Disney sing along cd it's "robots" on repeat 😂

Any recommendations for an amp around the £200-£300 mark?

My old NAD 3130 is on its last legs so looking for something new. Only really needs inputs for a turntable and the TV. Some sort of Bluetooth connection would be nice but not a dealbreaker.

Was considering the new NAD 3020D but don’t think it will drive my speakers. The Audiolab 6000a would be ideal but more than I wanted to spend right now! I’ve always had vintage amps so no real clue as what’s new and decent.

I have the predecessor to this Yamaha and it sounds great, real lively. What hifi amp of the year up to £500 in its day. The silver version looks nicely retro too.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yamaha-A-S501-Integrated-Amplifier-Black/dp/B00OBM31JU/ref=asc_df_B00OBM31JU/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310847824698&hvpos=1o9&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14050214284828003740&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046153&hvtargid=aud-860880339348:pla-563851877970&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

That ticks all the boxes! Will check it out, thanks :)

Anyone after some speaker stands? About 500mm (can measure).

Yours for a Diet Coke and a forum donation.

@cjr needs some

High-end DIY turntable. Joes quite a craftsman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86lwhfxM6QY