Audiophiles hifi appreciation thread old and new

Have you considered hearing aids now you're old?

soundbar for the TV

Do you want this to try out? It's only headed for the bin otherwise

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I mean, if it works and is only going to ewaste then I can give it a go. If I like the idea and want something better I could stick it on freecycle afterwards. I'll PM you.

Just wondered about a general vibe from people in flats with them. No point getting one if you have to make them so low as to be pointless.

I have been living in a number of flats in the past two decades, which have been really quite different in regards to how much of an issue noise / music was. Both because of the buildings were different and because of the neighbours were different.

Regarding bass it really depends a lot on the thickness of the walls / whether it's brick and mortar or drywall etc. (more mass absorbs more bass : )
At the moment I live somewhere with a lot of drywall, and also wooden floors, this is basically the worst combinaton.
Isolating your speakers (subwoofer in your case) does help a lot though!

I agree with timmah that a soundbar will probably be a nice upgrade for you already.

@hippy

A Bose TV Speaker is working well for me - good at projecting voices esp.
Don't expect it to be cinematic in any way though.

Yeah, so the soundbar speakers are small so their natural frequency is gonna be pretty high, so you just need a sub to fill that gap in the audible frequency.

Unless of course the soundbar has DSP and goes down to 40hz then I wouldn't worry about it.

Also if you isolate the sub you won't use the floor as a baffle extension or your neighbours ceiling too much.

Also the little DALI speakers can be mounted on the wall if you'd prefer that, but start from about 65hz (fine for most things)

I want the least amount of stuff, for the lowest price that will produce the best results. No wall mounted stuff, prefer no sub I guess but would take one that could fit under the sofa I guess.

You'll make a good northerner one day!

Little sub on an isolation platform sounds good.

I've got a Canton soundbase, subs and speakers combined, works very well. Doesn't look great perhaps but soundbars are ugly too. Can't you use normal speakers and an amp?

The Bose soundbar is small and sounds good.

I got rid of my amp and speakers and now just run active monitors on the PC. I could buy another set but a sound bar seems to make more sense - it's sleeker for starters.

I’ve had a little experiment with hi-passing my speakers using a Schiit Loki EQ. I kept turning down my sub until I realised it was basically off and it was the bass from the speakers that was sounding bad.

I’ve removed the speaker level connection to the sub and replaced it with an RCA from the preamp sub out, separating the sub from the power amp. I’ve then put the EQ between preamp and power amp and cut the bass out.

It functions correctly and seems cleaner right away. I’ll have to fidget with it for a few months before I can decide whether it’s worthwhile.

I like that it’s all done in the analogue area and it’s just knobs to twiddle. I do have a MiniDSP but I don’t want to adjust it by computer, plus it’s the all digital one so that means another box each side of it for the digital conversion.

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The thing that took it to the next level for me was REW and a room mic so that the tweaking became a bit more scientific.

I can definitely see that looming on the horizon

If you ever find that NAD cd player is skipping/not sounding great, it'll just needs the rails for the laser cleaning. - had that problem with mine

That’s great thank you. I have just had to do the ‘turn the laser pot up’ thing, so I’ve bought a new laser assembly to keep spare as I think that means the beginning of the end. I’ll give the rails a polish while I’m about it.

Is it a Sony laser? From memory mine was.

A while ago, I think a couple of people in here talking about the Leak 130 amp - I'm in the market for a new amp (and probably CD player) and the Leak offering has caught my attention, anyone got any opinions on them?

I'm aware you're paying about £100 per unit to have relatively modern tech put in a wooden box but they'll be in full view in the most used room so the looks are part of the appeal.

For context the rest of the chain is a Project debut carbon or Spotify through some Q Acoustic 3020i's. In the middle of a large-ish kitchen/diner/lounge so never going to be proper listening room levels of sound quality needed. Currently using a Cambridge Audio Topaz AM5 which has been fine for an entry level amp but having individually upgraded to the current record player & speakers and noted obvious improvements, I feel the amp is a bit brittle sounding & holding the rest back.

Did you make your mind up on the Leak?

Not locked in but it's in primary position - I'm just waiting for the cash to come in before going to the shop and trying them out.

Why? Do you know something better that fits the bill?

Do you know something better that fits the bill?

any suggestions for cd storage. looking at something that can hold ~ 1000 cd's. something that will take the weight, looks modern / tidy and won't cost me the earth ? wood or veneer preferable, not really into metal unless it's unusual looking or solid looking, no spindly wirey metal types.

not against ikea but worry about the ability to take the weight, especially as i'll be putting it together myself ? !

not the draw type either would like the cd's to be visible to the room.

oh and floor mounted, not keen on a wall hanging rack as again i'll be installing myself and my fists are made of ham

These inside a Kallex would be cool

The 8 cube version would give you ~960 CDs.

You could colourcode them.

It was a consideration for me as was looking to get as much in one box as possible which the NAD C320BEE I had didn't really assist with. I had plugged into it
-phono stage
-optical DAC
-Airport Express
-Bluetooth
-Mac Mini for steaming

I liked the look of the Leak and it covered most bases, and has USB in, but then I read a mediocre review which put me off (I've had a look but can't find it) but then saw a Onkyo receiver with retro styling so went for that, and picked up the matching CD player on eBay was like£530 in total. The phone stage is rubbish though, unless you've got a particularly high output cartridge, so ended up getting a separate phono stage.

Admittedly I'd never heard the Leak, also I don't know the circumstances in which it was written. It's certainly a nice looking bit of kit, and was my favourite of the not unaffordable amps at the time, but if I were to buy one now it'd be the NAD 3050.

I did hear something as well from NAD ... Which it that pretty much every output from every solid state amp currently should be flat, so really what you're buying is the aesthetics, the functionality and the power.

I'd suggest you listen to it, but I never listen to anything before buying it.