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Thinking of selling it all, or massive downgrade at least......

The Naim, whilst possibly a higher up the chain brand, doesn’t have the full feature set the M33 has. Needs to be few boxes remember!
 
badger748 said:
Anyway, more to follow i'm sure, and again, thank you to all who have contributed. I've read them all, and PFM is proving again to be a cracking bunch of sensible people :D
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Great thread, thank you, and refreshing to see so many here able to look at "the ladder" (or the rabbit hole if you like) from aside, with a cool head. I've never approached anything like your level of investments (although I have even bought stuff from you!:)) but my 2 systems together over time have come pretty close to a scary good proportion of it, especially during my "Naim period" (and I mean here their newer separates generations - what a silly waste of money for building an Altar of endless humming fussy boxes if you ask me now haha, better late than never!). I have since arrived not so much to the point of downgrading quality (as a primary thought process at least) but making my hifi simpler and smarter - reasonable quality, effort to match and fewer (way fewer actually!) boxes, not large speakers that you love - and as you say, anyone at home can pick up their phone or the remote and start playing music anywhere in a few seconds. Nothing dominates the room, our (vs mine, indeed!) hifi is now probably 60% of what it used to be as a cost, relatively invisible and fitting so much better in the living space. This has even allowed me to use less but better quality wiring instead. I am sure I can do even better than this but feel this kind of exercise could be done without a real feeling of sound quality compromise (actually, ironically could even be the opposite), and certainly no loss of music enjoyment.
 
EPear said:
Great thread, thank you, and refreshing to see so many here able to look at "the ladder" (or the rabbit hole if you like) from aside, with a cool head. I've never approached anything like your level of investments (although I have even bought stuff from you!:)) but my 2 systems together over time have come pretty close to a scary good proportion of it, especially during my "Naim period" (and I mean here their newer separates generations - what a silly waste of money for building an Altar of endless humming fussy boxes if you ask me now haha, better late than never!). I have since arrived not so much to the point of downgrading quality (as a primary thought process at least) but making my hifi simpler and smarter - reasonable quality, effort to match and fewer (way fewer actually!) boxes, not large speakers that you love - and as you say, anyone at home can pick up their phone or the remote and start playing music anywhere in a few seconds. Nothing dominates the room, our (vs mine, indeed!) hifi is now probably 60% of what it used to be as a cost, relatively invisible and fitting so much better in the living space. This has even allowed me to use less but better quality wiring instead. I am sure I can do even better than this but feel this kind of effort could be done without a real feeling of sound quality compromise (actually ironically could be even the opposite, and certainly no loss of music enjoyment).
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Very relevant commentary to my situation, thank you! You’ve summed it up very well, more space, more inclusivity. Taken me long enough to realise the living room and the hifi isn’t just about me!
 
@badger748 Call Emporium Hi-Fi, agree a price and have them collect it all next day...... then you can have that panic attack and momentarily thought of 'WTF have I done!' ........ it'll be liberating :D
Then buy the Soulution 330, a set of EWA LS-40 + full EWA loom and some Magico A1s...... then you can have that panic attack and momentarily thought of 'WTF have I done!' ........ it'll be liberating :D

I'm still here :p
 
badger748 said:
The Naim, whilst possibly a higher up the chain brand, doesn’t have the full feature set the M33 has. Needs to be few boxes remember!
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The M33 looked a great piece of kit, i'd have thought it worth listening to with your speakers first.

Depreciation on speakers is terrible with the hassle of transport and risk of damage.

You'll be looking at a limited market with higher risk going abroad now.

200 Watts doesn't sound much but going into sensitive speakers could be fine, Dirac's a nice bonus.

I've had plenty of the ordinary NAD products and been impressed.
 
Cereal Killer said:
@badger748 Call Emporium Hi-Fi, agree a price and have them collect it all next day...... then you can have that panic attack and momentarily thought of 'WTF have I done!' ........ it'll be liberating :D
Then buy the Soulution 330, a set of EWA LS-40 + full EWA loom and some Magico A1s...... then you can have that panic attack and momentarily thought of 'WTF have I done!' ........ it'll be liberating :D

I'm still here :p
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yeah I saw! Sorry but I won’t be dealing with Emporium!
 
On my hifi journey I’ve met some stellar dealers and resellers, some who have over and beyond on the service front.... and some who haven’t! I won’t name all the ones I would happily deal with again (or wouldn’t) but I’m very clear in my head with those I wouldn’t go near. Based on “my” experiences. Yours and others may differ of course!

Remember this is more about box count, inclusivity and not having so much space and money tied up in endless boxes of hifi. The Accuphase, Hegel, Naim Nova and Luxman super integrateds appeal, but they don’t have dac, streamer and phono in them, nor do they cost £4K! Absolute fidelity is also not the goal here - acceptable quality for all matters most.

I’m not ruling out anything, I only mentioned the NAD as it seems to do everything at sensible dosh and is one box. I have no time for hifi snobbery any more either!
 
vln said:
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! ;)
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Tube amp systems can be simple enough. I have a system that I just turn on and off with a remote control mains switch. All the power switches are "on". Then I choose a CD and press play. Sometimes this system has valves, sometimes not. It's still very easy to use and accessible to anyone.
 
One box is ambitious. I'd suggest aiming at two would give you a lot more options. For example, did I mention the Unison Research Triode 25 earlier in the thread? I forget. But this is a very nice integrated with a decent built in DAC. It's still valves, but it's very much a no-faff valve amp that doesn't take up much space and would probably work very nicely with the Devores. So all you'd need on top of that is a phono stage. You could always hide that.
 
Don’t let people put you off NAD. I moved from 52/Scap/250 to the Masters series M3 integrated and have never considered ‘upgrading’ since. The Stereophile review is pretty amazing. This is an old amp now and they have problems with the led display which I’m not sure can be fixed. But then I only use the on off switch as I only use a turntable.
 
badger748 said:
Remember this is more about box count, inclusivity and not having so much space and money tied up in endless boxes of hifi. The Accuphase, Hegel, Naim Nova and Luxman super integrateds appeal, but they don’t have dac, streamer and phono in them, nor do they cost £4K! Absolute fidelity is also not the goal here - acceptable quality for all matters most.

I’m not ruling out anything, I only mentioned the NAD as it seems to do everything at sensible dosh and is one box. I have no time for hifi snobbery any more either!
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Well I am obviously biased but the latest entry level Accuphase integrated now has 2 option slots, so can be equipped with a phono card and a DAC card, and it should be about 4000UKP.

I wouldn't want to put a streamer into an amplifier in order to keep it future proof*, but since I understand that the Roon Nucleus has a USB out, a USB DAC should have you covered.

If you stick with your one-tonearm-TT, (instead of going multi tone tonearm with one for the family) you will end up with just 2 visible components, which may not even need a dedicated rack but could be placed next to each other on a side board.

*Ask yourself if you feel like playing around with a 5-10 year old streamer (including its software) from an obscure brand that may or may not be around any more? Thought so. Not saying there are on exceptions here, but this is why I'd want anything streaming related in a relatively cheap external component (like a Raspberry Pi) that can be replaced when needed, while the more conservative stuff like pre/power/integrated amplifiers, TTs and speakers can stick around.
 
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