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What were your upgrades of 2021?

AnilS said:
I had my hearing aids upgraded to custom moulded ones with a dedicated music setting. :)


Much better but you don't realise how lucky you are until certain things are taken away from you. :(
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Yes, it’s sucks what you are going through, it amazes me how upbeat you are about it!
 
I've been firmly in the flat-earth camp since late 80's but that changed over the pandemic. In early 2021 I was in a great place as had a Belles Aria matched with Spendor 3/1R2s which was one of best amplifier speaker combinations I've owned. Swore I was done with hot n heavy tube amps but an opportunity came up for a Jadis I35 that I couldn't pass up. I've been a fan boy of Jadis since first hearing them but having champagne taste on a beer budget made this the impossible dream. You can get seriously jaded in this hobby over the years but for me the Jadis delivered musically in every way possible. I'm currently in the process of trying to find "the" speaker combination for my small listening environment with very positive results with a recently acquired Stirling Broadcast LS 3/5a V3s. My dealings with Doug Stirling was another high point in 2021 as he was a gentleman of the highest order.
 
Cyrus One amp and Bluesound Node2i to Lyngdorf 1120

KEF LS50’s to Dynaudio Special 40’s

2 x REL T5i’s

Yamaha CDS300 to Rotel CD11

All the above apart from the Yamaha bought (and sold) in 2021…

I also bought a SL1500C turntable and a Salas VPI Valve Phono Stage. Went from the 2M Red to 2M Blue to ATVM95ML to AT OC9XML (arriving in the next day or two).KAB fluid dampener and funk firm achromat.

Prior to all the above box swapping I had the same system for 8 years. Lockdown boredom proved pretty costly, but I’m very happy with the results thus far.
 
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Living room: Bought a kel84 (I'd wanted to try one for a few years) and haven't been disappointed; it works so well with the Tannoy Lancasters. Swapped out the original valves (Golden Dragon and EI) for some NOS 6p14p-ev and Mullard ecf80 for a further worthwhile improvement. What a great little amp!

Home office: Not so much an 'upgrade' as I previously only used some old Apple ear buds with my laptop, but I'd decided to sort myself out with some decent audio so bought some (Spendor made) Quad 10L and a Quad Vena II. Sounds fine on the desk in the dining room listening to Spotify etc. However having yesterday installed them into the living room as a bit of an experiment I can now fully appreciate how wasted they are in such a compromised position. I shall have to give more thought to space and positioning!
 
For my office system I upgraded the PSU in a Bluesound Node 2i. Went for Fidelity Audio's reference psu and interface - made quite a difference imho. Replaced the cheapo stands I bought as part of the package in 2020 for office system and got KEF S2 performance stands for the LS50 Meta's. Changed the speaker cable from VDC to chord epic twin. Isoacoustic pods and Auralex subdude II platforms.

Next looking at getting replace the Rega Elex-R for something a bit more talented.
 
Moved house 2019 and only just finished building dedicated music room at the new place. Just started to re-assemble the system, with some changes (boring old school I'm afraid, so still Linn/Naim related.

I have moved from a config I used and was comfortable with for several years - LP12 (Pre Circus)/Lingo 1/Ittok/ATOC7/52/SC/135 (I like Olive fronted design so never felt the need to go for the replacement Naim design)/Passive NBL's. Over the last 4 months I've transitioned to LP12/Radikal1/Karousel/Ekos SE1/Kandid/52/2 x SC/Snaxo 3-6/3 x 250 on Fraims, with ultimately Active NBL (though currently still using the NBL's in passive operation with one of the 250's until I track down a third set of speaker cables long enough!
 
Part exchanged my Spectral DMC 3ss pre , and my DMA 360 mk 2 mono's, for an AudioNet Humboldt integrated amp, + an considerable lump of cash,
 
Just managed to squeeze in a CD upgrade today before they all become a thing of the past. Naim CD5Si now playing back through the Selekt dsm Katalyst and sounding very open and detailed, good bass, sweet highs and an un-muddled mid, loads more detail coming through.
 
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I bought an ex display Bluesound Node 2is for £150 off. Very pleased with it, sounds great and very easy to set up and use.

The only other thing I did was replace XLR leads. Mine were cheapos from a guitar shop, with noisy plugs when wiggled, connection was always a bit dodgy. Replaced with star quads from Design a Cable and was surprised by the improvement. Four cables came in at under £50 which was an absolute bargain.
 
I've been trying to get a Schiit Loki mini+ for ages but stuffed because of covid. Nevertheless the thought was there ;) It will go in one of the tape loops to give me EQ for low volume - eventually.
 
I changed two thirds of the system last year. I don’t think I’ve ever made so many changes!

First came a Well Tempered Amadeus 254 and Dynavector XX2 mk2, which replaced a Pink Triangle PT1/Helius Orion/Ortofon MC70 anniversary.

Then a Krell KSA50 mk1 in place of the Dynavector HX1.2 and then an Audio Research LS7, in place of the Dynavector L300//P300.

I’m still working on the phono stage but a Rega Aria is proving an enjoyable listen at the mo.

Its never been better!
 
I sidegraded from a Naim NAC 112 preamp to a NAC 122X.

I also replaced an Argos pressboard AV stand with a bespoke hi-fi/AV stand built from real oak by a local furniture maker. No idea if it affected the sound (so probably not), but it looks nicer and is easier for reaching stupid rear-mounted power switches or dealing with cabling.

I added a Denon DCD-1520 CD player to play my growing cd collection rather than just ripping and streaming locally.

Finally I've just bought some Rothwell attenuators, yet to arrive, to facilitate volume control at the low levels I'm forced to listen at lately. I'm hoping getting out of the low end of the volume pot will also bring improvements but that is secondary to the ergonomic goal.
 
Swapped the standard NA323 cards in my NAC72 for RSL Z150 MC cards, better in every way and exactly the step improvement I was looking for without having to move to an external phono stage, saw off a Prefix comfortably too.

Bought a worn Asaka and a worn Troika and got them rebuilt by Goldring - now I just need more time to fit them and find out which I prefer :)

Added a CDi making CDs much more enjoyable
 
Finally finished renovating the living room so was at last able to get the hi-fi and music back out of several years storage start enjoying it again.

Then realised that:
1)there's no space for our CD collection in the living room;
2)DAB turned out to have poor sound quality and disappointing reception strength;
So came back on here for the first time in ages and wound up buying a Bluesound Node and an NAS. DAB tuner back in storage, cd player staying (for the moment..?)

Continued enjoying music until my 3 NAPs went pop. 2022 begins with a boatload of new caps on the way...
 
I concentrated on my home studio last year and bought a pair of Adam A7X monitors and an RME Babyface Pro FS audio interface. I also bought two ADAT expansions. One was a 2nd hand focusrite and a Behringer ADA8200. I thought I would be keeping the focusrite but I found the Behringer worked better and sounded as good. I only use the Behringer to create more headphone outputs and just in case I need to record a full drum kit.
 
I replaced my 4 Linn LK100 power amps with two Linn Magik 4200's, had a Karousel bearing fitted, upgrade my ethernet cable to a Chord Epic and upgraded my Innuos ZenMini2 to a mk3.
 
Replaced my second hand but newish ATC40As for second hand but newish 50As.

Phenomenal difference in term of SQ and volume. Everything (good) they say about the 50As is true IMO which is a big shame as the price increase from the 40As to 50As is intimidating.

I absolutely love my ATC50As but now I have the bug and want at least 150As. I missed out on the last pair of 150As that were on auction on eBay for what now seems like a bargain price. Grrrrr…. That must have been around July or something like that. I thought other pairs would pop up every now and again but they haven’t.

Still using an RME ADI2 DAC with Bluesound 2i steamer and I’m quite happy with them. But I feel that I’m missing out and will upgrade if cash allows.
 
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