Total Rethink

[MVV]

I have been musing on this for a while. My records have been in storage for about 6 months so currently use a Sonos 1 to stream. Can’t say I miss much other than the covers/artwork also without the collection to browse I don’t know what I want to listen to. I think I need to get rid of about 600 or so and simplify the system. But then I’m not sure I can be bothered.

 

[Evo]

Here's the rub. I've had hum issues in the past (a real puzzle with a wood bodied Grado) and they drove me crazy so I sympathise. It seems to me that getting to the bottom of your Minimax issue would be the best start. Have you established if it's a fault in the Minimax or a grounding/RFI issue in the system? If the former, could you contact Audio Emotion, since I think they are the distributor and are always super-helpful, I've found. If the latter, then I shall pray for you in an atheistic way.

It seems to me that you've got a great MC cartridge that you're not using, and a very good MC stage that you've left for dead. So whilst you may be delighted by the bargain fun of the Ortofon Bronze, ultimately you are not getting all that you could, and all that you've had in the past. I think that's bound to cause lingering disatisfaction. I do hope you find a way of sorting it, because you have brilliant amp and speakers and potentially a great vinyl system once you sort those issues.

Yes, the Transfig is good if a bit long in the tooth. I took the minimax out of the system and tried it in my Dad's setup and hum was gone! Next I need to nick my Dad's phono and try it with the Transfig in my system. There's no massive rush though
Although the Bronze is not as good as the Transfig and I'm not exploiting the phono fully I don't mind the change. I think the cart suits the arm on the Thorens very well.

 

[Hazelberry]

OT, but that's a nice Lophophora in your avatar, Evo. How old is it?

 

[Cereal Killer]

Dutch & Dutch 8c's and an Antipodes CX server = everything you need

 

[Evo]

OT, but that's a nice Lophophora in your avatar, Evo. How old is it?

I bought two about six years ago from the same grower at a flower show. They are both now significantly larger than in the photo (the photo must be 3 or 4 years old) and flower and fruit regularly. I have a small bank of seeds and about 30 pups on the go. Do you grow them too?

 

[Evo]

I have been musing on this for a while. My records have been in storage for about 6 months so currently use a Sonos 1 to stream. Can’t say I miss much other than the covers/artwork also without the collection to browse I don’t know what I want to listen to. I think I need to get rid of about 600 or so and simplify the system. But then I’m not sure I can be bothered.

Yes, it's a laborious task. I'm going through a few as we speak. Some for the bin and most to be sold.

 

[SteveS1]

I let my record player go a long time ago, concentrating on playing locally stored files, a mixture of vinyl rips and carefully selected digital editions. I have never regretted it and only miss the ritual/record fair type nostalgia.

Such thoughts soon dissipate when I play a great new 45RPM release without the annoyance of getting up every couple of tracks or the general convenience of easy selection and comparison. I did find the release of real estate and general de-clutter quite liberating too.

 

[Hazelberry]

I bought two about six years ago from the same grower at a flower show. They are both now significantly larger than in the photo (the photo must be 3 or 4 years old) and flower and fruit regularly. I have a small bank of seeds and about 30 pups on the go. Do you grow them too?

I don’t grow them. In fact I’ve only seen one in the real, owned by a friend. It was given to her and hasn’t done that well due to a couple of accidents and poor care. It’s never flowered.

Lophophora is illegal to cultivate in NZ so it’s something of an underground interest, rarely seen.

 

[Evo]

I don’t grow them. In fact I’ve only seen one in the real, owned by a friend. It was given to her and hasn’t done that well due to a couple of accidents and poor care. It’s never flowered.

Lophophora is illegal to cultivate in NZ so it’s something of an underground interest, rarely seen.

I believe it is also illegal to cultivate in the US and Canada. Legal here thankfully and a lovely plant to grow.

 

[topoxforddoc]

There is a ritual about playing a record, which makes listening to music just a bit more enjoyable. Your current system doubtless sounds fabulous and has given you much joy.
Putting that aside, my concern would be the longevity of any active system you might purchase. If the built in amplifiers are made with surface mounted components, repairs would be difficult. If you were no longer able to source replacement boards or components for your active speakers, you are in trouble. I believe that the Devialet Phantoms suffer from an even worse issue, as they are not serviceable at all, if they break.
However, you current system uses high quality discrete components, which can be easily repaired or restored if you ever get a problem. In fact, Radfords and Tannoys could easily outlive any of us on PFM.
If you need to free up space, prune your record collection and declutter that way. I have to do that at some point too, as I have 2000 LPs, some of which I haven't listened to in 25 years.

 

[Evo]

There is a ritual about playing a record, which makes listening to music just a bit more enjoyable. Your current system doubtless sounds fabulous and has given you much joy.
Putting that aside, my concern would be the longevity of any active system you might purchase. If the built in amplifiers are made with surface mounted components, repairs would be difficult. If you were no longer able to source replacement boards or components for your active speakers, you are in trouble. I believe that the Devialet Phantoms suffer from an even worse issue, as they are not serviceable at all, if they break.
However, you current system uses high quality discrete components, which can be easily repaired or restored if you ever get a problem. In fact, Radfords and Tannoys could easily outlive any of us on PFM.
If you need to free up space, prune your record collection and declutter that way. I have to do that at some point too, as I have 2000 LPs, some of which I haven't listened to in 25 years.

Thanks Top, I started the process today cutting about 25 records amd earmarking another 20 for sale at some point. It will be a long process!

 

[Jono_13]

My system of P6/Fono MM>Atom>Cheviots covers all my needs and takes up very little space. My Cheviots were restored by RFC a couple of years ago and are the one thing that will not go!
I find that the streaming capability of the Atom is plenty for me and anything more would be a waste.
A part of my record collection was my dad’s and this cannot be let go…
Good luck with your journey.

 

[biquer]

A different point of view…
While streaming services have their place, and given that my LP12 is serviced by 50 years of LP acquisition plus the 35 years of CDs there is something important that motivates me. I do not want to rely on “services” that provide rental music that I will never actually control. Relying on third parties for something so important conflicts with my reluctance of trust.

 

[Puggie]

A different point of view…
I do not want to rely on “services” that provide rental music that I will never actually control. Relying on third parties for something so important conflicts with my reluctance of trust.

Easily mitigated by supplying your own service, store your digital audio on an small NAS server locally and stream your music from there. The convenience of streaming with the confidence of your owned music. I was doing this with the original logitec squeezebox years before Spotify and qobuz was a thing. I think your reluctance of trust with streaming services and their catalogues is very justifiable.

 

[biquer]

Easily mitigated by supplying your own service, store your digital audio on an small NAS server locally and stream your music from there. The convenience of streaming with the confidence of your owned music. I was doing this with the original logitec squeezebox years before Spotify and qobuz was a thing. I think your reluctance of trust with streaming services and their catalogues is very justifiable.

If I was just starting on this journey, I might consider purchasing digital music and implementing your suggestion for storage. I do use a NAS for managing digital and digitized photography using RAID 10 with regular backups to two external drives. At this point in my life, I would not look forward to doing the same with music. While I spent much of my career in the world of digital graphics and photography, my physical music library will continue to grow.

 

[fim]

A couple of years back I went through a similar exercise, moving from pre/power to an integrated and digitising all of my cd collection (~1500 albums) and storing away my cd player.

Can't say I miss the cds too much but shortly after that I started getting back into vinyl so now I'm using a combination of streaming and vinyl. Streaming takes care of most of my listening needs (and works nicely in my office setup as well) but for when I do want a bit of a ritual, I thoroughly enjoy handling vinyl and getting it to play. I'm a bit more cautious on what I buy so the LPs don't get way out of hand and take over a large chunk of space but besides that I think either that TT + integrated/streamer + speakers or TT + active speakers are a good middle ground for me (I have both setups). The TT itself doesn't take too much space and can look nice as well. The LPs are a different story though...