Audiophile geek out

[Thomas savage]

thought I would start a thread for anybody who wishes to wax on about equipment they like and/or want to discuss.

What audiophile stuff are you interested in at the moment?

 

[Old Listener]

It's time to replace the speakers in our main system in our library. We've had 3-way active Waveform Mach 17 speakers for almost 20 years. The speakers still work and I don't have complaints about the sound. I'm just tired of the clutter and complication that comes with that system. (6 pairs of interconnects and 6 pairs of speaker wires.) Here are some pictures of the room and current gear. (And one of the desktop setup in our home office.)

https://naturelover.smugmug.com/Other/Library-music-system

I've been looking for much smaller active speakers with crossovers and amp channels built into the speakers. Fewer boxes, fewer wires. Current candidates:

KEH LS50w - has extra functions like uPnP/DLNA via wired ethernet or WiFi and USB and optical digital inputs. And a smartphone phone app and some room correction functionality. Early user experience is that some of the functionality is still buggy.

Dynaudio LYD7 or the 3-way LYD 42 - high crossovers

Genelec M040

JBL 705P - the descriptions sound good. I'm waiting to read reviews and hear from early adopters.

 

[Thomas savage]

I'm waiting for my JBL 705p still but will be taking them on a tour of a few interested mates along with a simple arcam idac that I plan to pair with my phone..

Can't get simpler than that, tried the idac linked over Bluetooth with my phone on my main system and was impressed, going back and forth between my TAD CDP feeding a CD to my pre amp and the IDAC feeding the 320k MP3 via my phone to another input on my pre there really awas little in it imo.

I could hear differences but they were small and I'm sure I'd foul it up if I was blind.

No fancy cables on the IDAC side either, bog standard that came with it.

 

[Old Listener]

I finally got fed up with continually rising cable TV bills for services that didn't fit my needs. I cut the cable and now use the internet service for everything.

Getting a 43" TCL Roku TV to replace an old Sony 36" WEGA CRT TV was a first step. Getting Netflix was another step.

The TV has both wired ethernet and Wifi inputs. So far, WiFi has worked fine. The TV also has a DLNA player function that can be used to play videos from our NAS or to play music.

No extra boxes! And no commercials! And I get to choose what I watch and when. By far the best acquisition of this year.

 

[Fitzcaraldo215]

I finally got fed up with continually rising cable TV bills for services that didn't fit my needs. I cut the cable and now use the internet service for everything.

Getting a 43" TCL Roku TV to replace an old Sony 36" WEGA CRT TV was a first step. Getting Netflix was another step.

The TV has both wired ethernet and Wifi inputs. So far, WiFi has worked fine. The TV also has a DLNA player function that can be used to play videos from our NAS or to play music.

No extra boxes! And no commercials! And I get to choose what I watch and when. By far the best acquisition of this year.

The expensive cable box thing was part of my aims. But, I went even far beyond that. First, I decided decades ago to integrate my best TV watching with my best sound system. So, that was part of my stereo since 1991. Loved it for critical watching, but the less exalted bedroom system was ok too, with sound not as good.

In 2007, I finally went hi rez, and I decided to add 7.1 audio. Loved it, and it changed my music listening too.

Then, about 3 years ago, I decided to go with a HTPC. A PC replaced a separate player, a preamp/processor, and my cable box. I used JRiver software in conjunction with a Silicon Dust HD Homerun Prime tuner to replace the cable box. It uses a Fios Cablecard (for a small monthly rental) and attaches to my cable feed and to the PC via Ethernet. Tuning is done in JRiver, and all channels can be viewed or recorded via JRiver. The give ups are no On Demand, and no Netflix. But, meanwhile, all TV comes though my main audio system, Dirac Live, etc.

Quality is awesome, and the cable box is gone. But, there are a lot of gotchas. Netflix can't be viewed because they are touchy about the PC environment and their PC client will not integrate properly with JRiver. I have not tried other PC clients for other video streaming services. But, I am still happy with my choice.

 

[egellings]

I decided to get a subwoofer for my setup, first sub ever. The Rythmik Audio Direct Servo products look appealing to me.

 

[Midwest Blade]

Keep on debating with myself about how to upgrade my small set in our condo - Amazon Echo Link streaming Amazon Music HD, Yamaha AS-301 and System-Audio 1110 bookshelf speakers. The speakers are just about 20 years old, they sound fine, bought the Yamaha about 3 years ago on special at Amazon for $249, everything connected with Blue Jeans Cables. Not sure if I gain anything, it's not like I can do any real critical listening as the set up is limited due to room shape and size, have to keep the volume levels reasonable so as not to disturb the neighbors. I have a decent set of headphones but I still prefer listening with my speakers. Amp? Speakers?

So...once again, just talked myself out of it...

 

[MattHooper]

My audiophile nerves are tingling because it might be "upgrade time." I've enjoyed my Joseph Audio Perspective speakers and recently auditioned the newer upgraded version (new drivers/crossover). (All rational caveats aside..) I was impressed and may send mine to be upgraded. Because...well...because

The rational side of me says "you really should try and set up those nice subwoofers you bought over a year ago." But I still find it such a hassle, and I don't find myself pining for more or better bass with either the Joseph or Thiel speakers, that I can't be bothered. So I keep them around "just in case."

 

[vitalii427]

I decided to get a subwoofer for my setup, first sub ever. The Rythmik Audio Direct Servo products look appealing to me.