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Compromising for less clutter and more style

Wow! That, on paper, sounds like a massive downgrade, but if you use/enjoy it more that's a great upgrade!

Naim make some damn good kit, no question. I just got a bit fed up with how much room it took up, regular tear downs, having it powered up 24/7 (ridiculous really) etc. Finding Yamaha was liberating (I’ve now got 4 Yamaha amps around the house). It wasn’t a financial decision either.
 
I dropped from 14 boxes of Naim to a Lyngdorf super integrated then back up to umpteen boxes of assorted kit Like the swapping/comparing part of things a lot and lockdown meant lots of time in the house to mess. Some of the super integrated amps that are around now do an amazing job packing so much functionality in and still sounding top class.
 
I’ve been in hifi mothballs for fifteen years so still plenty of boxes. AudioSynthesis/Avondale/S Arcs; so that’s eight plus a turntable. I doubt I’ll change that but my contribution to this thread is just how small you can get a satisfactory sound out of of a couple a fag packet sized items which allows access to a library of LPs that covers quite a few acres. It’s an astonishing advance when you parachute back in. Pi with DIgihat and a Mojo currently. You can disappear them quite easily. Cables remain a problem.
 
If you have active speakers it way to really drop the box count. I went from 252/SC2/250 to ATC active 40s fronted by CDA2. Also had a CDX/XPS2. System sounds better than ever. Still have LP12/lingo/Linto though.

I found the buzzing & the always on nature of naim a bit waring in the end.
 
When you add in all the power supplies yep, enjoyed it immensely and luckily I’ve never had any problems with buzzing/humming amps, first Naim was 32.5/110. Quite happily drop NDX2/282/300 into the main system.
 
Are there others that are happy to have compromised a little Sound quality for less clutter and a little bit more style?

Both are somewhat subjective I realise.
Looks do matter to me and too much clutter does affect the style although I understand some people don't bother. If it's a man cave then it becomes less of an issue but if the hifi is in the lounge or living room shared by other members of the household, there would be some compromises that have to be made.

Less clutter can sometimes equate to higher sound quality. If you are referring to equipment such as amplifiers, reducing boxes is sometimes not a bad thing. If you are referring to speakers ie. running 2 pairs of speakers close to each other, that clutter can be detrimental to sound quality. In this case reducing clutter and focusing on proper placement of speakers in the room will be beneficial to sound quality.

Lastly, room treatments. Everyone knows the room is one of the most important aspects that contribute to the sound of the system. When I had a dedicated room for hifi, I used to have extensive treatments applied in the room. Although music was good, the room didn't look too good with all that treatment as it looked more like a studio than a cosy environment. That was many years ago and I now have the hifi in the lounge without any commercial room treatment products on the walls. Instead, room furnishing such as thick curtains, thick rug, leafy plants, wall art and furniture such as fabric sofa (which really helped shape the sound) are used. It's a compromise but they work really well and managed to improve the sound quality of the system.

Coming back to your question, I do value the aesthetics of the room and managed to reduce clutter by reducing the boxes but sound quality is not compromised. In my case the music sounds better with the reduction of clutter. I reduced 4 Naim boxes to a single box integrated.

I also tried running 2 pairs of speaker side by side in the room which add to the clutter. This clutter brings no good to the sound so I settled with a pair in the room for optimal result.
 
I’ve gone from 2 racks of Naim to a single box, delighted. Funny thing is, I’m now listening to it more than I used to.

It makes sense. When you spend a lot on kit you are more demanding of it. Less likely to forgive the inevitable flaws. You don't sit in the car thinking about how bad the imagery is, you just listen to the tunes.
 
I’ve always preferred to keep things simple and good enough, and I Iike my hi-fi to be attractive. It seems to add to my enjoyment.

Lately I’ve been quite taken by an old Rotel amplifier. But man, does it look charmless compared to my teak A60 that matches the TT and coffee table they’re both sat on (and the Heybrook HB3 S2s I used when I had a bigger room).
 
For me, some of it is a little bit of pride of ownership of a setup that is so different from most-and I do not mean that in some prideful manner. I just have always liked good sounding gear from the fringes. Then I have to admit, when I sit and listen to music on my simple Naim Uniti1 and any of my speakers at hand, the musical enjoyment is every bit as good as the main rig. Guess I could have stayed put right there a few years back and saved some coin. Sigh....
 
I am down to two boxes, amp and turntable. The amp (Quad Vena II) was mostly chosen as it fits into an Ikea Kallax shelf and I think it looks quite nice. Altough I am annoyed with the volume knob.

I started with hi-fi 25 years ago and I love it but I am starting to find the bulk, cables too much these days. I miss the sound of my Harbeths like crazy but these little Dalis are nice enough. I have been looking at powered and active speakers but all the while I have vinyl I am not sure I want to do it. Plus I do like a good voume knob.
 
Two boxes for me , Amp and TT

Most I had was pre and power amps, CD transport and DAC, cassette deck and TT

Love the minimalism of my current set up
 
Went from a standard set up to Roon Nucleus with an SSD plugged into it, Mytek Brooklyn DAC and Dutch & Dutch 8c speakers. All controlled by Roon on an Android tablet. Could not be simpler and sounds great.
 
Went from a standard set up to Roon Nucleus with an SSD plugged into it, Mytek Brooklyn DAC and Dutch & Dutch 8c speakers. All controlled by Roon on an Android tablet. Could not be simpler and sounds great.
That sounds very simple and very nice. I predominantly listen to streams but I’d miss the TT and CD player too much at this time to go pure digital. That may come though.
 
Two racks of Naim coming down to an Innuos Zenith, Chord Hugo TT2 and an as yet undetermined integrated. Not regretting it so far.
I went from two racks of Fraim and 12 boxes driving SL2s actively to a Gato DIA250 driving the ART Alnico 8's I still use. I've gone back to a multi-box system since then though...:rolleyes:
 
I don't think good style is a compromise of sound quality, I wouldn't have anything that I couldn't bare the look of but that doesn't mean I've chosen it over how it sounds.

I've never been one for dedicated hi-fi furniture as all of it looks like it's been designed by Stevie Wonder.
 


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