Most common setup
- Thread starter G.smith310
- Start date
Lee Patterson
Soundguy2
Main system....3 Turntables, Laptop and Dac, Streamer and Dac, pre and power amp.
Second system....Turntable, MiniPC and Dac, Streamer and Dac, Integrated amp.
Second system....Turntable, MiniPC and Dac, Streamer and Dac, Integrated amp.
Tony L
Administrator
I think more significant is only 12% are streaming only, the implication being the rest use some form of physical media. That’s the interesting thing for me. The complexity of a system has no relevance to price/size, e.g. a full dCS CD/DAC stack, huge McIntosh integrated driving a pair of Tannoy Westminster Royals would count as ‘2’ on the list!
FWIW I consider myself primarily a music fan, and my systems reflect that. I can play pretty much every format of my lifetime. I’m missing a few as I never bought source material, e.g. 8-track, Elcassette, minidisc, DCC, DAT, but I can play 78s, 45s, LPs, CDs, SACDs, DVDAudio, cassettes, 7” reel to reel tapes, and stream anything that appears on a computer (aside from MQA as I don’t have the hardware). If I want to hear something chances are I have the tools to hand to do so.
Big Tabs
looking backwards, going forwards
Before I got a decent c.d. player, and then another better c.d. player, I have been mostly records for years.
After the recent initial excitement and consequent heavy usage of the c.d. player, I think I am about 70/30 records/c.d. play time.
I have more records to listen to compared to c.d’s, and records are far more interesting to me.
(ignoring the Fela Kuti c.d. boxset…)
I do enjoy having a decent sound from both types of media, makes it more pleasurable.
After the recent initial excitement and consequent heavy usage of the c.d. player, I think I am about 70/30 records/c.d. play time.
I have more records to listen to compared to c.d’s, and records are far more interesting to me.
(ignoring the Fela Kuti c.d. boxset…)
I do enjoy having a decent sound from both types of media, makes it more pleasurable.
G.smith310
pfm Member
@Tony L interesting. Would you consider you a music lover or a music collector ? Perhaps those that stream only get a different kind of pleasure from their listening. Or maybe your music tastes are just wider?
I am a music lover. I love song writing and lyrics and moods. I have a narrow music taste where I can get all my music streaming. I have only recently got a cd and tt but that’s to support the artists I love by buying their music new.
Secondary to that I’m a hifi lover. But I find it off putting and without doubt I prefer to listen to music on my Google mini where I can follow the melodies and forget about the sound.
I am a music lover. I love song writing and lyrics and moods. I have a narrow music taste where I can get all my music streaming. I have only recently got a cd and tt but that’s to support the artists I love by buying their music new.
Secondary to that I’m a hifi lover. But I find it off putting and without doubt I prefer to listen to music on my Google mini where I can follow the melodies and forget about the sound.
Andy1912
pfm Member
I have a tv with streaming apps feeding a naim 200/202 combo, and turntable / laptop feeding a couple of EAR pre and power amps.
I have CD player sitting under my bed that I don’t really have any use for nowadays.
I can stream the radio via my tv and laptop but I would consider a tuner in my main system, I just never get round to doing anything about it.
I’d also consider trying active speakers.
I have CD player sitting under my bed that I don’t really have any use for nowadays.
I can stream the radio via my tv and laptop but I would consider a tuner in my main system, I just never get round to doing anything about it.
I’d also consider trying active speakers.
darrenyeats
pfm Member
I went for 'Other' anyway.
uncl_nigel
pfm Member
9 boxes (excluding mains conditioning/ddistribution) plus a pair of speakers
Tony L
Administrator
Due to my age I consider both to be inseparable. I am 58 years old, I’ve been collecting records since I was 10 or 11. I am also a record dealer and I have the sort of record collection one would expect a meticulous record dealer to have (CDs too). I love collecting music and I make good money out of it too, so there is a professional aspect. I have traded music since my teens. No matter what my day job of the time I just won’t ever leave something on a market stall or shop rack I know I can double, treble or better my money on.
If I was a teenager now I’d likely have a very different perspective as getting to where I am now is all but impossible. It is a lifetime’s work even in a good marketplace (which today isn’t, it is very much a sellers market), and I don’t have a lifetime left. To put it another way if my house burned down I’d not even think of getting back into vinyl. I’d unquestionably replace the hi-fi with something very similar (giant Tannoys plus mini-monitors), but I’d likely admit defeat and stream. Likely by subscribing to multiple services (which would still be a tiny fraction of what I spend on vinyl and CDs).
Streaming is a very recent phenomenon and one I’m not personally comfortable with as I remember back when I tried Spotify years ago the whole of the ECM label vanished one night. It simply wasn’t there anymore due to a licensing dispute, so overnight the ability to play Keith Jarrett, Avo Part, Charles Lloyd, Paul Motain etc had been taken away without warning. Seriously, screw that! I just won’t relinquish control over my musical taste to that degree. Then there is the mastering. That thing I bang on about everywhere on this site. I do so because I am a record and CD dealer so have had the opportunity to compare countless different matrixes of the same titles, copies from different countries, different times etc, and I am obsessive enough to enjoy doing so. It fascinates me just how different things can sound, and I certainly know what I like! Streaming services tend to serve up whatever the current remaster of a title is, and experience tells me that is often far from the best. I also don’t like that it pays musos a pittance, especially the independents I tend to like. I like spending money on Bandcamp for limited vinyl etc direct from the artist as they likely makes >£10 themselves, when they get fractions of a penny for streaming. I also like that I get a potentially increasing asset for my money!
dave charlton
pfm member
My hifi system consists of a turntable, external phono stage, integrated amplifier and loudspeakers. I also have a computer to which I connect headphones to check out / watch / listen to music, a portable mini-disc player and a shuffle device (both of which I haven't used in ages). I don't class these last three as systems but I suppose technically they are.
Tony L
Administrator
It’s down to my superpower of quite exceptional geekiness! I obviously end up buying and selling a lot of records I also have myself and I’ll sometimes upgrade my own collection in that process, e.g. if I find a -1 matrix of a title and my own copy is a -3, a later reissue or whatever I’ll compare them and keep whichever is the best to my ears. Likewise if I have a 80s French, 90s 180g or whatever Blue Note and I stumble across an early US or Japanese pressing I’ll very likely keep that one myself and stick my copy in the shop. I compare a lot of records, just as I discover new music when buying collections etc. I’ve always viewed my own collection as very fluid. I also try never to keep duplicates of a title, best to let them fight and keep the winner. I have got some though! Usually ones where I really can’t decide or are so different they are interesting in their own right.
stormyuklondon1
pfm Member
Gyrodec—> Bryson pre/dynavector phonostage—> pmc analogue actives. No digital at the moment.
I voted other:
TT (Rega P6);
Roon via NUC (using local files and Tidal);
Phono Pre and DAC integrated into Pre amp (Mola Mola Makua);
Using power section of integrated amp (Luxman 590AXII)
I plan to upgrade the integrated amp to a power amp - but not in a rush as it sounds good currently.
Also need to upgrade the TT as it is currently the analogue bottleneck.
TT (Rega P6);
Roon via NUC (using local files and Tidal);
Phono Pre and DAC integrated into Pre amp (Mola Mola Makua);
Using power section of integrated amp (Luxman 590AXII)
I plan to upgrade the integrated amp to a power amp - but not in a rush as it sounds good currently.
Also need to upgrade the TT as it is currently the analogue bottleneck.