How to emerge unscathed from the last century................?

[The Audiophool]

Hello All
As a newbie I need some advice.
I have finally been successfully cut from the wreckage of the 1980's and 1990's. Poorer and wiser.
Recently recommissioned some boxes from over decade in the loft. A Linn LP12, Akito/K9 ( basic I know - but even when rich and single, this was a stretch),a Musical Fidelity A3.2 Dual Mono Integrated, Arcam DT91 for FM only and Celestion A1 standmounts. The Celestions have to go. Apparently it's aesthetics and way above my paygrade. I fancy Revel based on this community, but I have more chance of auditioning Donald Trump for the school nativity play here in the UK. The speaker change is pretty much non-negotiable. But where from there.? Start at source? I see science and electronics in much the same way a shepherd would have seen Ripon Cathedral when it went up in the 12th century. Terrifying, and baffling in equal measure. But compelling nonetheless. Sound must be ace at low/med volumes more so than high. Some simple help and guidance for the hard of thinking would be very much appreciated.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Welcome to ASR.

What size room and what budget do you have in mind? And is your preference to use all the old gear with only speakers new?

And being in the UK KEF is almost surely worth a look.

 

[tw99]

Does the amp still work OK ? No reason not to carry on using it if it does.

If you want to add a digital source, the WiiM streamer seems to offer almost anything one could need. https://wiimhome.com/WiiMMini/Overview

Perhaps look at KEF for speakers, they're well regarded on here and there are plenty of UK dealers. Bookshelf/floorstanders are all available at multiple price points.

If you still have LPs you want to play, it might be worth servicing the turntable, presumably there's a belt that degrades, bearings that dry out, or something.

 

[The Audiophool]

Thanks for all your replies - really appreciated.

The room is big by UK standards - 20 x 16. I listen across the width with the system in front of solid outer walls (block+ brick skin). Speakers need to be pretty close to the walls. New wall unit going in so looks like one speaker shelf mounted on this unit and the other either stand or wall mounted on the opposite side of the chimney. So, smallish speakers.
I must admit to owning a Node 2i streamer - less convinced of absolute sound quality and a budget purchase. Idea to buy vinyl from anything I fancy from streaming. And streaming is great for parties of course. I do like Vinyl, it's physical! - a bit like buying books not downloads for Kindle. Feels better. Not massively scientific of course.
Regular listening is low to mid volume and I really do get that some speakers only really perform at higher levels. I have no preferred genre either. Punk/New Wave, Classical, Jazz, Electronic and some modern stuff occasionally creeps through my prejudices.
I have an eye on the Kef LS50 Meta. And interestingly there is a dealer closing out Revel M16 at £550/pair which is half UK retail. That's me being seduced by a bargain and maybe I should lie down for a bit. The Kef would need a sub I think based on the review here. Back in the day that would have been heresy, but I understand they are allowed these days. The Revel looks great though. I think the current sound is very laid back and rich - but maybe veiled and so a bit more detail would be appreciated. Of course I could afford a better speaker and am prepared to buy used if it's right. No home theatre plans. We get great FM radio here as well - I mean really great. Hence the tuner and a roof mounted aerial.

 

[The Audiophool]

Wife is appearance only speakerwise. Smallish black and invisible would meet her needs. I just want sound. The Linn has been serviced by an authorised dealer.

 

[sergeauckland]

Does the amp still work OK ? No reason not to carry on using it if it does.

If you want to add a digital source, the WiiM streamer seems to offer almost anything one could need. https://wiimhome.com/WiiMMini/Overview

Perhaps look at KEF for speakers, they're well regarded on here and there are plenty of UK dealers. Bookshelf/floorstanders are all available at multiple price points.

If you still have LPs you want to play, it might be worth servicing the turntable, presumably there's a belt that degrades, bearings that dry out, or something.

Not to derail the thread, but looking at the Wiim information, I don't see whether gapless playback is possible (probably is, they just don't mention it) and for UK users, there's no BBC Sounds app, a serious omission. Good Old LMS does both, plus Spotify and Tidal etc. Even after all these years, I still haven't found anything that's more usable than LMS.

S.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Should look at Kef LS 50 Metas definitely, also the Ref 3 which will work better in a bigger room. The LS 60 Wireless would be perfect if the budget could stretch.

 

[TimW]

The Revel looks great though. I think the current sound is very laid back and rich - but maybe veiled and so a bit more detail would be appreciated.

Neutral speakers do tend to sound veiled when listened to at lower volumes. It's an effect that can be scientifically explained with the Fletcher-Munson or equal loudness curve:

The graph is not very easy to interpret but the important take-away is that our hearing is less sensitive to bass and treble at lower volumes. This means things can sound dull, boring, and lacking in punch or detail when the volume is turned down low. The traditional solution to this is the loudness button or knob found on old school receivers and the like. The best implementations of these would vary their treble and bass boosting with volume, so that once a loud enough volume position was reached, the frequency response was flat again. Theoretically the ideal loudness compensation would make the music sound identical no matter how loud or quiet you listen.

There are modern implementations of loudness control like Audyssey Dynamic EQ found in Denon and Marantz AVRs. Loudness is also a feature built into the excellent RME ADI-2 DAC. Unfortunately a lot of modern high end gear eschews Loudness and EQ knobs.

 

[LuvTheMusic]

No need to apologize for the Node2i: its admittedly mediocre DAC performance still is very much "HiFi" by any reasonable definition, and adding even a low cost but higher performance DAC would make it first rate. (And it's doubtful that you would hear any difference between the built-in DAC and an external one most of the time.) Meanwhile, the Node gives you streaming of vast libraries of music at CD and higher resolution with any of several streaming services at amazingly low cost, i.e., monthly subscriptions in the USD 10 -15 range monthly.

 

[The Audiophool]

I agree. For the money it is very impressive. Also with the price of decent vinyl these days it really is the perfect way to listen without commiting, as it were. No need for a CD player either (I sold the MF 3.2)
It looks like we'll settle on Tidal for streaming once we've exhausted all the trial periods. A lot better value than a cartridge upgrade for the Linn!