Audiophiles hifi appreciation thread old and new

+1 for Edifier - I’ve got a couple of sets of R980Ts as TV and PC/DJ speakers.

I am reminded of the Fast Show character who always agreed with what the last bloke said. The only thing really clear to me is that anything recommended on here will serve my purpose well, at modest cost, and will likely go with something if I upgrade later. I may go for the Edifier speakers for my office, and if I am feeling flush in a month or two, go for the WiiM/Fosi thing recommended for my other bigger room, which has telly, sofa, turbo, Concept 2. I can do both of these for just a few quid more than the speakers I was looking at before asking here. Really appreciated.

Has anyone replaced a speaker foam ring? If so, what glue did you use?

Yes, did some a couple of years ago. I think the kit I bought included the glue - think it may have been copydex or something very similar

As @danb has already alluded, PVA glue will work.

danb has already alluded, PVA glue

Copydex is a latex adhesive, not PVA. The adhesive choice will be driven by the materials to be bonded; simplistically, latex would suit rubber and PVA would suit a thermoplastic elastomer like EVA

I really should pay more attention to the glues I'm using! Thanks for the explanation.

those edifier speakers specs say “Provided your turntable has an phono EQ / amplifier with an RCA audio output” I can plug in a turntable. Does my old technics 1210 have this?

+1 on Edifiers.

I bought some new Edifier S1000DB for about £140 as a short-term solution, and was shocked at how good they are for the price. Definitely lacking in some areas, but once on stands and connected to a reasonable phono preamp, they sound decent and are very practical (bluetooth). Look smart for the money as well.

The Technics SL1210 does not have a built in phono stage.

those edifier speakers specs say “Provided your turntable has an phono EQ / amplifier with an RCA audio output” I can plug in a turntable. Does my old technics 1210 have this?

Need a phono preamp.

Does anyone know what the Edifer’s do with an analogue input? Does it remain analogue through the system, or does it go digital for amplification/processing?

If they’re active they'll go input > digital crossover > possibly signal processing > amplifier per speaker > speaker. If not they'll be analogue the whole way. They do both active and powered speakers, but their website isn't the best, easiest way to tell is if they've got speaker cable terminals on the back if they do they're powered if they don't they're active.

Back on DAC chat - i'm finding myself mainly streaming stuff via chromacast audio & wondering if any of the cheap DACs will give me a noticeable increase in sound quality if I use the mini toslink output > DAC > amp?

My amp (cambridge axa35) doesn't have digital inputs or an onboard DAC, so i'm stuck with the analogue input - unless I chop the amp in for something that has a good DAC onboard instead of buying a separate one... thoughts?

One of the advantages of toslink is galvanic isolation. Are you having issues with noise from the chromacast?

Decent DAC's have improvement in several areas, low electrical noise on inputs, accuracy in the conversion, quality output amplification.

All of these things are noticeable in a critical listening situation but are just 'flavour' in more ambient listening setups. What kind of listening are you doing?

Mixture of stuff really - R6 streaming a lot of the time, some stuff from mixcloud & a ton of cds I had burned to Google Play Music before that was all posted across to YT, mainly disco / soul / electronic stuff.

I couldn't tell you the bitrate quality of half of it, I can definitely hear differences in quality from some mixes I listen to but that's probably not going to improve with hardware upgrades! Just curious if a magic £50 Chinese DAC will make it "better" or just different, definitely more ambient listening than searching for every last detail in particular recordings.

Buy on Amazon and return if there is no difference?

For those that didn't make it to the Devon Turnbull installation at Lisson Gallery (closes imminently) here's the zine.

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Decent hifi, shame about the crowds

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Sorry complete beginner. What does one do with this? Turntable to preamp earth I would guess? No idea

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Believe so. Should be a little thing that screws and secures it in the back of the preamp.

Thanks. Interesting.

Yeah that's an option I suppose - was secretly hoping for someone to chime in with "omg this £30 chi-fi dac changed my life & it can change yours too!"

thanks, will digest that later, wanted to go but am working 7 days a week and silly hours so couldn’t make it in person

I wouldn't go crazy about the DAC quality if it's mostly ambient. Even the cheap DAC's seem to do a decent job of isolating electrical noise and providing a pretty linear conversion.