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What's the least you could live with, forever?

Rockmeister

Rockmeister

pfm Member
It's good to hear of (and sometimes, get to actually hear) expensive kit, but as time goes by, I increasingly recall the massive pleasure I got with far less pricey/less well known/more basically engineered, kit.

Made me wonder if I were to start over, determined to keep it as simple as I could, as cheap as possible, what system would gel into a lifetime's pleasure.

I haven't answered myself yet, but which system components would you pick?
 
A server, a Qobuz (etc) subscription, floorstanding speakers, either active or with a decent integrated amp.

I'd miss out on sone of my rare vinyl, but that's half a dozen records against a vast library of stuff I don't currently own.
 
Some decent streaming source + Nait2 + Rega kytes. TBH, in nearfield it's also the most I've been able to reach so far.

I could live with some clock radio, but it would very much degrade my enjoyment.
 
Well I would quite happily use the arcam alpha 5 I picked up on here along with the recently acquired marantz ose cdp and some cheap cables (I know right).
CCA or SBT for streaming.
Speakers are a bit trickier, my 2nd hand MA gold refs are pretty special and can be had for around £300 so cost wise around £500 all in.
 
Keeping it as simple as possible, I suppose I’d just use a digital source...but then I do find vinyl is a significant part of my enjoyment with hi-fi.

I used a Croft Phono Integrated plugged into Harbeths for a while last year (£600 pre-owned) and it did make me question the need for anything else. Same could be said of my NAD C316BEE which partnered my Harbeth P3ESR for a few months some years ago.

More recently, my discovery of old Quad solid-state gear has been quite a surprise. I love the sound, the design, the vintage feel - and the low prices and hence stress-free ownership experience. Could happily live with the 33/303 for years to come - assuming the preamp lasts, no such concerns with the 303 though.

Always been a fan of small speakers too, like Harbeth, Spendor, ProAc and my current Falcons, which give excellent value if you can live with the compromises.

So for a digital-only system the electronics I’d choose:

Quad 99 CDP-2 with a Chromecast (£350)
Quad 303 (serviced by Amplabs, £350)
Google Chromecast (£30, plus Tidal/Qobuz account)

(If I did choose to have a turntable in this system (so a preamp required too) I’d choose a Quad 33 or 34 for the pre and a second-hand Technics 1200 with a decent Audio Technica cart).

For speakers, depending on how tight the budget is I’d choose one of:

Falcon LS3/5a (or other LS3/5a versions)
Harbeth P3ESR (original version)
Spendor S3/5R (real bargain!)
Swisstone LS3 (not heard yet but surely good value)
KEF LS50 (again not yet, but worth checking out at this price)

Some variation on the above is pretty much what I use today. The only differences are the extravagances of the Roon Nucleus and Technics SL-1200G deck, which I’m sure I could survive without if I had to. In fact, I’d like to get a cheaper turntable round here one day to see how low I can take things.
 
I hooked up some serviced Meridian M3s I have the other day, and connected them directly to the BlueSound Node 2i streamer.
Very enjoyable, makes me wonder why I bother with the main system.
 
There is a line above which the deficiencies of the audio system do not greatly intrude on the enjoyment of music. When I was young a fading in and out signal from a portable radio was above this line. Today it is not. The sound quality of typical computer audio speakers is normally sufficiently intrusive that I will opt to do without music rather than get irritated listening to music through them. This is not the case with speech through the same speakers. I regret to some extent doing this to myself by training myself to expect higher sound quality.

I tend to use 6.5" ported 2 ways as an example of much that is wrong with home audio but the truth is that reasonable examples even in booming rooms are above the line where sound quality deficiencies intrude on my enjoyment of music to the extent I would turn it off. Sound quality deficiencies of other audio hardware are too small to intrude significantly in comparison so long as they remain within their comfortable operating range.

My minimum system would likely be something like £250 active 2 ways streaming music from somewhere. I doubt I would be able to resist making efforts to improve the sound quality but I would be happily listening to and enjoying music while doing it.
 
Interesting question.

I have a near £3k turntable and cartridges (WTA Simplex2 plus Dynavector XX2 mk2) which is sublime, but the reality is that I use it for about 1% of my listening as streaming is acceptable quality now . I have toyed with moving the TT on as it’s a lot of cash tied up doing nothing . I would replace it with something cheap as I have a lot of vinyl, what would be an acceptable entry level TT ( maybe second hand) to work through a good upstream system? Visually I like Rega decks but have heard mixed opinions
 
A simple system I actually had that would easily satisfy again;
Mantra/RB250/ATF5stilton
Marantz CD75tb
Inca Tech Claymore
Gale GS302
Just add simple streaming.
 
My now system. Kef LS50 Wireless II. Very simple, streaming only.

That is until the next thing I like comes along.
 
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