S-Man
StrivingON
I thought everyone had chosen to ignore that post as it was so ridiculous.
(FWIW, I am not the biggest fan of ATC's ported speakers. But I would never call them mediocre).
Thinking of selling it all, or massive downgrade at least......
- Thread starter badger748
- Start date
I thought everyone had chosen to ignore that post as it was so ridiculous.
(FWIW, I am not the biggest fan of ATC's ported speakers. But I would never call them mediocre).
Elephantears
Trunkated Aesthete
That's important. What makes it a faff? Valves? Vinyl? They're certainly the biggest causes of faff for me. Do you have to wait a while for the amps to warm up, losing the spontaneity of 'I just have to listen to X now!'.
If this is the key, then worth seeing if you can try the Devores with an integrated amp/dac/streamer.
I doubt you'd find that easily, because I know how demanding Devores can be, but worth a try.
That's as good a reason as any. The upgrade is as you say endless, and if you so wish you can spend limitless sums searching for the grail. There is of course no grail, the joy is in getting that little bit closer to your imagined grail. You can only ever halve the distance between you and the end point, hence the failure to ever arrive. Somebody earlier was ta!king about his student syztem, and the mix tapes he made for his girlfriend. He bought hifi to recapture that. That's perfectly understandable but any thought reveals it as futile. He can't go back to bring 19, having a lovely young woman around who thinks he's great, and discovering great music, it's gone. But he can chase it.
I think that you could be very happy with a relatively modest hifi. If it's really about the music, get something that all the househo!d can use, use it every day. I do a lot of cycling. My favourite bike? 25 years old, 20,000 miles plus, it's been used on and off road, it's been over Mt Ventoux in vile weather. It has my history written in every scuff mark. Would I swap it for a £2k bike? No, because the old dog is part of me, and maybe it is just the bike that gets booted round town, it's my bike for booting round town and it makes me smile.
Lance Armstrong got one thing right. It really isn't about the bike. It's not about yet another power supply either.
badger748
Former bacon enthusiast
The faff of muiltiple valve amps and switch on/off/mute order of things + warm up + remember to switch off + fiddly turntable arm and v expensive carts.
The ability to switch on / listen / play, faff free appeals.
The plan is to try various options, no real time or money pressure.
Sometimes that hi-end sound can be too polished and equally unreal in a way of its own, like a lacquer has been applied. Listen to a piano in a room and it's never gonna sound 'impressive' or 'detailed'. It's just a piano.
badger748
Former bacon enthusiast
Cycling wise ive been there too. Dura Ace this, Super Record that. I now use my gravel bike quite a lot (me and Mrs B have identical bikes, which i know is very sad, but I didn't want a hierarchy like i have with the hi-fi).
badger748
Former bacon enthusiast
Reminding me of that scene in Trading Places where Dan Aykroyd tried to pawn his Patek and gets repeatedly told, "in Philidelphia, it's worth 50 bucks"
I remember watching it at a mate's house (probably when it first came out on video) and thought it was great, but I can't say I remember a single line
James Evans
Bedroom Bodger
vln
Shuns mooks. And MQA.
If you want to keep a TT in your system, there's always a bit of faff involved in using one, regardless of the costs involved.
If your family actually *wants* to use the TT but shies away from doing so because it's so expensive, have you considered getting one with multiple arms, and get one of the arms equipped with an inexpensive MM cart?
Other than that, thanks for reminding me to never get a tube amp!
I dunno, the DAC is kind of a source in that it has a signature, and you might want to change it.
Having said that, I would love a Yamaha A-S3000, Denon PMA-A110, Luxman L505Ux-II, or whatever if I cared enough to want to spend that much.
You still can change it, easy enough to run a standalone DAC into a spare input. People often run two phono stages for example.
The more I th
And to remember along the way that what you are going through is arguably a very very first world dilemma
We are meant to enjoy these things, the journey and the listening, if we are upset or getting stressed then something is really not right, I think. I would go on to say it’s all a bit pathetic...then I remind myself that I am going through something quite similar, just not always willing to admit it!
And to remember along the way that what you are going through is arguably a very very first world dilemma
We are meant to enjoy these things, the journey and the listening, if we are upset or getting stressed then something is really not right, I think. I would go on to say it’s all a bit pathetic...then I remind myself that I am going through something quite similar, just not always willing to admit it!
badger748
Former bacon enthusiast
Thanks, really appreciated and has made me feel great.
ampedup
Lost in audio
The notion of downsizing and simultaneously retaining great joy from music are very possible. @badger748 I don't know how you prioritize your component importance, but for me, buying a really good class D stereo power amp was the key. Everything else I hung off of it could be be very minimal. It works great with a passive preamp. The speakers are very small, high quality monitors. Add a couple small boxes for CD, DAC, it doesn't amount to anything huge, either in cost or footprint, and it sounds great. No one-box or streaming solution necessary. The other stuff I have is peripheral fun stuff, easy to let go off.
Last week, I realized that I have 4 box collections of Bruckner symphonies that I began to listen to back-to-back. I'm having a wonderful time without one thought to the components.
Last week, I realized that I have 4 box collections of Bruckner symphonies that I began to listen to back-to-back. I'm having a wonderful time without one thought to the components.
badger748
Former bacon enthusiast
Just to point out - pre lockdown - we went to gigs all the time and base our holidays and road trips around seeing the bands / artists we like. We have been all over the world seeing bands! Music clearly IS 'much of an interest'.
And i've never said i needed hi-fi at the level i got to, clearly i didn't - but i 'wanted' it so i went out, earned the money and bought it. Now my priorites have altered and it matters less. I am downgrading, not abandoning!
Phil Bishop
pfm Member
I also have read for years about people aspiring to create a "live" sound with their hi fi. Personally, I don't quite get this as most live music sounds pants to me, usually because venue acoustics are poor.
Tony L
Administrator
If the speakers are O93s you only need a nice amp to drive them, not a nice big one (which is much more expensive). I’d definitely keep them and try something like a Sugden A21 if you want solid state, or a Leben 300 if you want valves. I bet they’ll sound great. In fact I bet they’d sound amazing on a well serviced Quad 303!