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Best hifi you have or have had?

MakeMineVinyl

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The best one I have had is the one I have now. That doesn't mean I'm forever satisfied with it, with changes in the future surely to come.
 

Robin L

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Getting a couple of nice sounding acoustic guitars [Martin DRS2, and an old Washburn 12-string] made it possible to stop worrying about the sound quality of my stereo.
 

Doodski

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The best is what I use right now because that's wot I have now... lol and I see now that @MakeMineVinyl answered the same as me.
 
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Pdxwayne

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Yeah, like a few already said, the best I have is what I have now.
 
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DanielT

DanielT

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The internet.

Of course. Agree 100% there.:)

I say hmm my first stereo. In the summer I worked my a..s of as a 14 year old teenager to afford it.
Among other things, a Technics amplifier, Technics SU-V3. I have no idea how I would think one would be today.Although it is probably only nostalgia that speaks.

A large bundle of speakers, rca, plus various other cables for a few $, nice to have lay in the closet and bring out if needed.:)
 

Doodski

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a Technics amplifier, Technics SU-V3. I have no idea how I would think one would be today.
I had a SU-V303 that I purchased ~1983-84. I think the SU-V3 is actually a bit nicer and maybe even better inside. I used it till about the year 2000 and it finally fried itself. I engaged the protection circuitry so many times that I was convinced it was infallible. I drilled it out for additional RCA pre-out terminals at the back plate and it served me well as a bench head unit for many years. Great unit.
 

Balle Clorin

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Every change should be an upgrade.. and good things I do not sell.. so now I am here.

Trinnov Room Optimizer DSP&preamp&streamer&DAC. Because it is a magic box

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Accuphase A48 because is is beautiful, silent, low distortion and powerful enough for my cheap Revel F36 speakers
, Someday I will upgrade the speakers and be "finished..."
 

Robin L

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Seeing as you're a nice chap and all . . .

This whole "High Fidelity" phase has been going on as long as I can recall [a toddler listening to Nat King Cole singing "Unforgettable" on the record player, the smell of tubes, transformers and caps outgassing . . .] and to attempt to point out the high points requires consideration of environmental factors.

Case in point, the best turntable I ever had, a Linn Sondek LP-12 with most of the trimmings [Valhalla mods, upper grade Ittok arm, nice high output AT MC cartridge], nice and stable, suspension tuned by its owner, a lute player of some distinction [lute players are experts on tuning, you know]. Only had it for a year, in the worst year of my life. So there's that.

And one might have one's best effort foiled by the room---my 5.1, multi-sub system in the garage/mancave was nice as long as the weather was nice. Which wasn't all that often.]

And if the question is "Tubes" the answer, after long involvement and consideration, is "No".

Right now I have a very nice system over speakers [a/d/s/400e] that I almost always play at a low volume level, which is fine, as I have Drop 6XX headphones if I really want volume. I've got a near-ideal acoustic environment for these small speakers, a powered sub to fill out the bottom octaves. And I'm finding that the Drop headphones really don't need the boost in the bottom octave when listening to Bach on my tiny but very hi-fi DAP. The actual physical environment I'm in is more conducive to listening to music for long periods of time, it's quiet here, we are pretty much in the middle of a park with very tall pines, quiet neighbors, and plenty of sonic isolation between units.

When somebody speaks of the advantages of LP based playback [including the ritual of flipping the disc every (approximately) 20 minutes,] I would point to the ability to stream 5 hours of Eno ambient non-stop. And that's possible thanks to streaming [though my DAP plays through folders, enabling for me to play four different versions of Bach's Art of Fugue back to back, nonstop like I am right now]. My amp is a Yamaha 5.1 AVR, the sub out is very useful. In the sense of the biggest or grandest, this is one of the smallest systems I have owned over 50 years. But for listening to music it is the best it has ever been right now.

Edit: DAC is the Topping E30, the Topping L30 serves as headphone amp and level control to the AVR with digital sources.
 
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Jim Matthews

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I had a set of Apogee Duettas driven by an Aragon 4004.

In a BIG room, with a decent "front end" - scary Soundstage.
They disintegrated very quickly, at considerable expense - before any repairs were possible.
 

Grotti

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Like it was said before by others, the best hifi is what I own now. But subjectively i had the most fun with my first "real hifi speaker" : a pair of Energy. 1e, which were hyped about 1990 or so and I purchased it in 1991. Being a student back then, it was expensive for me, but I adored it and couldn't let go for about 10 years.

But I got sick by that time (SHV... Subjective Hifi Virus) and started earning money, so the little Energys had to go....

And, of course, the more expensive stuff did not make me happy, even though I made my hifi addiction a profession. Step by step I lost interest in my hobby and quit my job as a salesman. Some years later my amplifier died and since I was not willing to do without music I had to deal again with hifi, bought a Class D amp and a analog pre and than I discovered ASR... Swaped the little pre against an RME ADI-2 pro fs and was instantly lost to the dark side ob objectivism. I consider myself very much cured by now :)
 

Godataloss

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I've had a lot of fun modifying these. I know there isn't much love for Klipsch on this forum, but the cabinet is the only original part here. BMS 4592nd driver on a proper 2 inch tractrix horn solved many issues and the cherry on top is literally the Fostex t500a MK3 tweeters which are quite good. Dirac smoothed out most of the rest of the warts resulting in a very involving listen that is neither colored nor austere. Came here researching the Benchmark amp originally as the next step will be active crossover and time-aligning and I'm not really interested in running 6 channels of tube amplification. Perfect they will never be, and that is ok. They are the right speakers for me at the moment and I enjoy the hell out of them.
 

Chrispy

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I've had very good audio systems for quite a while, all being of "high fidelity", perhaps not the "highest" fidelity, but certainly fine in terms of audibility. I have five systems in use in various rooms through the house to put it all to use and am not likely going to change anything for quite a while barring failure of something. Biggest difference among them aside from the rooms they're in is the speakers, tho, not the electronics. Improving the source from vinyl-only in the first half of the last 50 years or so has been more important than the electronics, too.
 

Oldasdrt

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Pioneer VSX D1S 2,
901s,front
501s,rear
301s special edition,center
Polk sub sat,second rear

It rocked,:)
 
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DanielT

DanielT

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Topping 10Balanced. 130€

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Aha Topping. I think one of the best things I will have is my Topping E30. Eagerly waiting for it. Like a kid who waits for presents on his birthday.

Although Topping E30 in particular is neither large nor directly expensive. Incredibly much DAC you can get for your money nowadays.:)
 

Doodski

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Pioneer VSX D1S 2
Nice display on those 90s and 80s receivers. The display driver or display occasionally went kaput but most of them worked well and survived a long time. This Pioneer takes VFD to a whole new level. :D
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Oldasdrt

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Nice display on those 90s and 80s receivers. The display driver or display occasionally went kaput but most of them worked well and survived a long time. This Pioneer takes VFD to a whole new level. :D
1060021-b4720139-vintage-pioneer-vsxd1s-flagship-reciever.jpg
Yep,,,,it was fantastic with a ton of power,
I liked the 501s and the Polks the best,,
You could get warmed up standing by it :)
I had an output transistor go on it, no replacement available,I had it for many years
 
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