Audiophiles hifi appreciation thread old and new

Result, just found my old Chromecast Audio while looking for a safety pin in one of those cupboards you never open! Will set it up tomorrow.

I'm not sure this is the best place to ask but is there such a thing as a decent, budget friendly TV sound bar? We've just got a new telly (my mum's old one) and the picture is great but the sound is shocking. We're renting otherwise I'd consider something a bit more involved but at the minute, anything to turn the sound on our TV from "shit" to "not shit" will do.

Brio (currently £599) due a price increase of over £100 on the 1st Jan, as with most Rega equipment.

Do you have space for a set of active bookshelf speakers? I have a few pairs of these now.

Edifier R980T 4" Active Bookshelf Speakers - 2.0 Computer Speaker - Powered Studio Monitor (Pair) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XGC7NTX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_MQZPF3ZJCR9Z1TW9R7EW?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

The annoying thing is I have a pretty decent set of speakers and an amp that I was able to use for the TV in our previous place. The layout where we are now means that the TV and the hi fi have to be on opposite sides of our living room.

I picked up a unitiQ 2 for less than your budget.
Have had nait3 nap/nac 90/92 and an early brio.
Naim a bit more insight than the brio but obviously a difference in cost.
The 5i didn’t get much love on release (I think) and might be a dead end for upgrades if that’s a factor?

I’m almost tempted to go old school olive pre/power and just get them re-capped every 10 years until I pop off.

Was looking around for a turntable with a built-in phono stage as the odd-shaped amp I've ordered doesn't lend itself nicely to a stack of boxes and I do like the simplicity of a deck, an amp and nothing else... but of course the amp doesn't include a phonostage, so perhaps a deck does? The search turned up this: https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/gbr/en/products/hi-fi/alva/alva-tt

https://vimeo.com/463398565

Now, I am not going to be using the bluetooth part as it's a nice convenience thing but the rest looks ace. Anyone got one? Thoughts? There's not much in the ways of reviews, a couple that rave a lot, but not a diverse selection of reviews so it's hard to get a complete idea of it.

My budget is probably £1k for a deck, £500 for a phonostage, so this hits the mark well.

I looked at those before when I was upgrading my setup (went for a rega P6 in the end). alva is a handsome deck at least

there’s way better turntable set-ups out there for that budget.
the Avid ingenium plus an internet/shed built phono stage would probably be where my wedge would go.
clearaudio, EAT, Pro-ject, rega would all be in the running too.

Plenty of small phono stages that are easy to hide somewhere.

Buy this if it's still available - mega bargain https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/352326

Rega P6 was one of the ones I was looking at.

Mostly I want to hide the phono stage altogether, have a sturdy dust cover as cats will likely walk over it... But to have it sound great.

I may opt for a piece of custom furniture to provide a lid over the dust cover, a close fit for the amp, etc... And that would give more choice on deck and phono stage.

But the Alva does look like a very tidy solution.

Decided to move my basement kitchen/living room set-up (Yamaha AS-500 and Q Acoustics 2020s) from the sideboard to a shelf in the alcove over the telly yesterday. Put it all up there and deduced that it just about fit, but that I’d need to move the shelf away from the wall a couple of cm and add extra supports for the considerable extra weight and leverage. Looked pretty solid tho.

Went out to buy a few bits and the little L- shaped brackets to strengthen the shelf.

Wife video called me while I was in B&Q to show me the whole lot on the floor, the shelf ripped out of the wall and a very upset 3yo who had just narrowly avoided being brained by several kilograms of falling pointy metal amp.

Spent most of yesterday doing remedial work on the wall and shelves. Plugged it all back in… works fine!

Win.

Close call!

I know. Thought I’d need a new amp for sure

For sale: Ex Judas Priests speakers:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ULTIMATE-JBL-4350-LARGE-LOUD-SPEAKERS-STUDIO-MONITORS-HIGH-END-AUDIOPHILE-/224719477225?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

Ooft. Tough getting those past your other half.

Oh I dunno... a couple of nicely positioned pot plants.

Would love to hear them.

That led me down a small g hole to this article..

https://www.sakurasystems.com/articles/Jazz-Cafe.html

that reminds me of when Spiritland set up in the old Cantaloup bar in old st (it was called something else by then) me and a friend went there for a drink/listen it was a bit meh but once the after work drinkers went the jazz went on and the volume went up.
much nodding not much chatting.
went to coal drops yard when it opened there but if its busy and noisy it’s not such an audiophile experience but still worth checking out especially if you like natural wine too.

I think Murakami has written about the jazz coffee shops too. I like the idea of a place for slightly nerdy Japanese teenagers to bond with each other in the late 60s in a society essentially at the point of going nuts. I don't think that could be replicated in bobo London.

Im supposed to be decorating my office so have temporarily moved my HiFi into the lounge, and by god, it sounds so better in here, its going to hurt a lot to move it back.

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loving the cable management.

pshhh, its temporary!

happy now?

moved the amp out the way too since it only gets controlled via airplay here

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