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Is this all you need?

Peter McDermott

Peter McDermott

pfm Member
My son is home from college and brought back the system I gave him to use there.

This was then borrowed by my younger son for his house party (the first one after they had completed their GCSEs). He put it in what we call our sun room.

We decided to keep in there for the next few months and I've really enjoyed listening to it (Spotify only).

Had me wondering if I really need much more than this level of system to enjoy music...….

Some photographs:

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Set up is:

Marantz integrated PM6004
Monitor Audio Bronze speakers
Musical Fidelity V90 DAC
MacBook Pro 2009
Whippet, approx. 10 years old
 
I'm not surprised that sounds good...

In my experience enjoying music and the quality of the system are somewhat independent of one another. and certainly not as tightly bound together as we may have kidded ourselves they are.

I can listen to the same music and enjoy it on equipment worth north of 20kor via a cheapie boom box. Is it the same experience? No. Is the enjoyment equivalent? Yes, in as much as the question "Am I enjoying/di I enjoy it as much as when I heard it in the lounge the other day?" never arises for me...!

As always, YMMV.
 
The most used bits of my sons bedroom system are:
- Chromecast Audio as a streamer into a cheap Argos DAC (mostly streaming from Spotify but can also stream from other services including the lossless stuff on our NAS) controlled from his phone
- Arcam Alpha 5+ amp
- Mission 731LE speakers

It does sound pretty good and it'll be better when I swap the amp for a Nait 3 that I have spare, and the speakers for a set of Rega Kytes that are also spare (if I can find them up the loft). Total cost - almost nothing. I could live with it if I really had to - but do prefer the sound of my own systems (although the Nait 3 and Kytes will close that gap a fair bit I expect) although they are rather more complicated/expensive. I have a system in my bedroom as well but it's massive overkill (I needed a home for my Naim set-up when I changed my office system) with a shitload of boxes (CCA, DAC, CD player, CD power-supply, Pre, Pre-amp power supply, active crossover, 2 x power amps and sizeable floorstanders) although does sound good!

He does also have a Rega Planar 1 which gets a fair bit of use and a Arcam CD player which never gets used.
 
You could argue that you could do with even less. If you replaced the Mac with a raspberry pi based streamer it may even sound better for less.
 
Mark Packer said:
I'm not surprised that sounds good...

In my experience enjoying music and the quality of the system are somewhat independent of one another. and certainly not as tightly bound together as we may have kidded ourselves they are.

I can listen to the same music and enjoy it on equipment worth north of 20kor via a cheapie boom box. Is it the same experience? No. Is the enjoyment equivalent? Yes, in as much as the question "Am I enjoying/di I enjoy it as much as when I heard it in the lounge the other day?" never arises for me...!

As always, YMMV.
Click to expand...

I've said it before but some of the most enjoyable musical experiences I've ever had have been from a ghetto blaster or similar... the people I was with, a shared memory... and the fact we were all maybe on our 5th pint by then and inhibitions had gone sufficiently for us to be doing our own "Bohemian Rhapsody in Wayne's World" thang... but probably in a kitchen.., where you'll always find me in such circumstances... and not to Queen...
 
Peter McDermott said:
Marantz integrated PM6004
Monitor Audio Bronze speakers
Musical Fidelity V90 DAC
MacBook Pro 2009
Whippet, approx. 10 years old
Click to expand...

Don't fancy the rest of it much but I'd definitely nominate the dog as the key 'component.'

Although I think if you check the small print, whippet owners should possess a Sugden a21, not that fancy Marantz.
 
notevenclose said:
Don't fancy the rest of it much but I'd definitely nominate the dog as the key 'component.'

Although I think if you check the small print, whippet owners should possess a Sugden a21, not that fancy Marantz.
Click to expand...

Agree re dog to a certain extent though not so much this morning after her diarrhoea attack in the only carpeted room downstairs...….
 
Discopants said:
You could argue that you could do with even less.
Click to expand...
Since having issues with my ears I have never enjoyed music so much as I have over the last 10 months through a cheap Bluetooth speaker streamed from my laptop with spotify. I have music at the touch of a button, it's convenient & sounds superb.

Hifi is about hifi, we can kid ourselves into thinking it' about the music but it's a hobby like any other, it's about collecting stuff & why there are forums dedicated to it.

Hifi Is mainly a middle class hobby, the rest just enjoy the music.
 
Can see where you are coming from Ragaman.

My youngest son's JBL Bluetooth speaker is outstanding really; packs an amazing amount of bass.
 
I think it comes down to expectation. When listening to an expensive system you expect it to entertain you rather than the music. When you also have a cheaper system the expectation isn't as great so it becomes easier to listen to the music and that then becomes the entertainment as it should do.
 
Rick_F said:
I think it comes down to expectation. When listening to an expensive system you expect it to entertain you rather than the music. When you also have a cheaper system the expectation isn't as great so it becomes easier to listen to the music and that then becomes the entertainment as it should do.
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I also think that ‘opening the window too far’ can be a very bad thing. Some of the least enjoyable systems I’ve encountered have been far too brightly lit or overly analytical to the extent they show every aspect of the recording rather than getting out of the way. A lot of high-end kit does this to my ear and whilst it sounds amazing on flawless recordings it starts to pick your music for you as anything less than perfect is all too often dissected into component parts, which is not a good look. It is one reason I run the sort of systems I do, e.g. I like a bit of additional warmth, space and heft from valves etc, it helps lose that analytical dryness that blights so much otherwise decent kit.
 
Ragaman said:
Since having issues with my ears I have never enjoyed music so much as I have over the last 10 months through a cheap Bluetooth speaker streamed from my laptop with spotify. I have music at the touch of a button, it's convenient & sounds superb.
Click to expand...

All I do is stream now too, Spotify and You tube. The amount of music that can be literally conjured out of thin air is astonishing.
 
Tony L said:
I also think that ‘opening the window too far’ can be a very bad thing. Some of the least enjoyable systems I’ve encountered have been far too brightly lit or overly analytical to the extent they show every aspect of the recording rather than getting out of the way. A lot of high-end kit does this to my ear and whilst it sounds amazing on flawless recordings it starts to pick your music for you as anything less than perfect is all too often dissected into component parts, which is not a good look. It is one reason I run the sort of systems I do, e.g. I like a bit of additional warmth, space and heft from valves etc, it helps lose that analytical dryness that blights so much otherwise decent kit.
Click to expand...


I have always put together systems to suit my musical tastes so as my tastes have evolved, so has the equipment. It's why the hifi world has lasted so long.

I remember the first time I set up my Bluetooth speaker & plonked it on the slab outside our back door in the searing heat last summer. I sat down with a cold one, sat back in anticipation of being underwhelmed but was greeted instead with a sound that really should not be coming from something the size of the bottle I was pouring my beer from.
 
While I can enjoy music on a lot of budget or even cheap systems but struggle with many super expensive high end gear, I'd have to argue that certain well-designed and put together high end systems do bring something extra to the table. I've found sometimes music that sound insipid on budget systems starts to reveal itself on these latter systems. I start hearing new things and subtleties and not just more "detail for detail's sake". Suddenly the music makes sense when it was just uninteresting before.

We can argue about 'diminishing returns' or poor value for money or what not but my personal experience is that sometimes more money (i.e. better systems actually) simply means more. And equally important, picking the right gear as a system regardless of the budget.
 
hockman said:
While I can enjoy music on a lot of budget or even cheap systems but struggle with many super expensive high end gear, I'd have to argue that certain well-designed and put together high end systems do bring something extra to the table. I've found sometimes music that sound insipid on budget systems starts to reveal itself on these latter systems. I start hearing new things and subtleties and not just more "detail for detail's sake". Suddenly the music makes sense when it was just uninteresting before.

We can argue about 'diminishing returns' or poor value for money or what not but my personal experience is that sometimes more money (i.e. better systems actually) simply means more. And equally important, picking the right gear as a system regardless of the budget.
Click to expand...

I'd have to agree with that. Buying a decent t/t - LP12 - at a young age - enabled me to appreciate (and 'get') a far wider range of music than I otherwise would have.
That said, I'm quite happy using phone/dac/headphones (all inexpensive) when travelling.
 
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