Audiophiles hifi appreciation thread old and new

Once I’ve ripped more cd’s added them to the music library and copied it onto my nas I will look into it.
Hoping that will be the end of the month.
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Don’t quote me on that.

Also looking for a Bluetooth receiver. Just to play podcasts and music from the phone to Hifi. I see this has been discussed recently but in terms of reviews is the Chromecast audio the best for sound quality etc at the price or is there something better? Don't mind spending a bit more

Actually scrap that. I didn't realise Chromecast audio is wifi. I need Bluetooth as I have no access to wifi

I’ve been happy with this one - no lag for movie audio and connects fine. The “connection made” sound isn’t super loud or offensive either, which is important.

1mii Bluetooth 5.0 Receiver, Bluetooth Audio Adapter with 3D Surround aptX Low Latency for Streaming Music from Smartphone/Tablet to RCA/3.5mm Aux AV Receiver and Home Stereo Speaker-B06 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07YTKQ78N/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_YcOUEbD68YRMZ

Thanks I noticed that. Thought about the Logitech one but some reviews say it is inconsistent

My bro has it, doesn’t like it.

Yeah, the 1mii looks better.

Network / streaming question. Have now have some kefx300a with USB input. I'm going to connect a raspberry pi based streamer to them. Will an Allo Usbridge or similar offer a real sound quality advantage over an Pi 4 plugged into the Usb, given that the pi 4 has now has separate usb and ethernet bus ?

I have the Allo USBridge sig with the Shanti power supply but couldn’t comment on whether it’s better than straight forward rPi. Being careful not to start the bits are bits thing I can say that mine is very prone to picking up noise. Mine links my router plugged into one wall socket by Ethernet cable to a DAC plugged in to a wall socket the other side and there’s a noticeable ground hum. Also I plugged in a SSD to it and heard magic electric noises through the speakers for a bit but a restart made it go away. Because of this I find my MacBook connected by USB running Audirvana is cleaner than the USBridge and the streamer is just there for when I need to use the laptop for actual work and a wired connection isn’t practical. If I was going to buy again I would get the Digione Sig and connect by toslink.

Thanks for the detailed reply. It's an interesting counterpoint to a lot of reviews online . Maybe I'm better trying an rPi, its a cheap mistake if it doesn't work out.

Yeah the noise issues are curable, it just seems sensitive to them. Anyway it’s upstream of the dac so there is no possible way it can sound better or worse than anything else ;)

BT is a bit more complex for hifi use as you're also converting digital to analogue, which means you (usually) need to pay attention to the DAC. I've got one of these which has a Wolfson DAC and is basically a copy of the Audioengine B1. It has optical and coaxial digital out if you decide to use a dedicated DAC too.

I'm very happy with it, though it might be for sale as the new DAC I've got on order has BT built in so this one is redundant now

a lot of reviews online

As with everything audio, unless they're giving you measured numbers it's all subjective and some sources are better at turning that experience in to an believable narrative than others. You also get a herd/emperors new clothes effect with the latest widget du jour.

And on that note I googled your speakers to see what the USB input was doing and read the what Hifi? review, which was a masterclass in absolute guff!
A particular highlight:

We thought there was nothing left to be heard on Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, but the HD Tracks download starkly reveals the contrast between the resignation of the verse and the bitterness of the chorus to Gold Dust Woman.

Anyway, it's basically a DAC so as StevePeel says, plugging any digital source in should give the same result, unless there is a problem with ground loops and/or RFI in the setup somewhere.

The more i have to use BT the more i hate it...

You have one job BT... ONE JOB! (disclaimer, i dont care for any others. uninterupted connection.)

That's some top bollocks there. Well done that man!

I've finally binned off the bluetooth (I know) connection between my MBP and my amp and am running all audio through my recording interface:

via some 1/4" to RCA cables that arrived yesterday. Sounding righteous and i'm enjoying using my stereo set-up for monitoring while mixing. These Celestions don't have a ton of low end but they are plenty detailed for my mixing needs. Got them set up perfectly at head height, angled in from the corners of the room so I'm sitting in the sweet spot and the stereo imaging is great. Well happy.

my only complaint is the ugly tangle of cables that dangles off the back of it.

This is the trade-off...

There is indeed plenty of nonsense to wade through . I'll try plugging an rPi straight into the speakers and see what it sounds like..

Had most of the kit arrive for my complicate all the things bi-amping project and started putting it together.

I was going to use the amps in the 2 topping MX3s for the sake of matching and seeing whether budget magic happens. Changed my mind on that as all my nice kit is in this system and my unproven prejudices compel my to tie all that in instead, plus I don’t want to rig this up more than once, especially once I get to doing measurement based eq filters.

It’s going to be SS amp with my little Cambridge dac for the woofers, posh dac and valve amp for the horns and one of the MX3 dac/amps taking coax in and passing through to the subwoofer out. Whether it sounds right together is a lottery, the 2 power amps are rated 55w and 60w so that’s alright. I reckon a 12” woofer and a pair of horns don’t share any sort of signature in isolation so I’m not worried about it.

I’ve already set the crossovers and levels in the software, that’s really intuitive.

I’ll be using the Chromecast as source as it’s the only way I’ve got to get signal in (the DSP doesn’t take USB) but I’ve got a USB / SPDIF converter on the way so I’ll be able to use laptop and rPi streamer too when it arrives.

Tomorrow I’ll be connecting it up and probably scratching my head a lot.

So woofer, tweeter and sub all have separate DACs? Mad. Guess it makes sense if all the processing is happening digitally.

Yeah unfortunately so, but I’m hoping the external dacs will be higher quality than those built in to the analogue-connected miniDSP. There’s a lot of plugs and wires though.

Wow. That takes faff to a new level.

What do you think you have spent on this set up?

I must admit, I'm struggling to understand exactly how this all fits together. The D-A is after the DSP? So it's all digital up to the amps?

all digital up to the amps?

And then he has to go and spoil it all by using analogue power amps 🙂