Modest system that sounds pretty good, any similar experiences out there?

[Capitol C]

Starting with an old Nakamichi RS-1 "Auxiliary Music System" in my office at work, I added a Dayton Audio 8" Powered Subwoofer (Model SUB-800) and a DACO1 USB Audio DAC, also from Dayton Audio, so I could play my online FLAC files. Pretty inexpensive stuff, with the Nakamichi being pretty old, too. Today I had the unpleasant chore of grading exams, so I put on some non-distracting background music (Beethoven's Sixth Symphony conducted by Szell), then got distracted. The more I listened, the more impressed I was by the sound. After the symphony was over, I chose the Norrington recording of Ein Deutsches Requiem which is distracting, and listened to that, too, sometimes at volumes that probably annoyed people in adjacent offices.

It's been a while since I listened carefully to this setup, and I have to say it sounds pretty good. Not good enough to throw away the equipment at home, but enough to make me appreciate cheap kit.

Now back to grading those exams.

 

[Joe Smith]

I'd say mid-fi is my realm and I like all my setups! I do enjoy the discussions here, but have always been far more interested in how very good a $500 system can sound than a $5000 (or $50,000) system.

 

[Capitol C]

I'd say mid-fi is my realm and I like all my setups! I do enjoy the discussions here, but have always been far more interested in how very good a $500 system can sound than a $5000 (or $50,000) system.

I think you are right. I should probably have characterized it as lo-fi, I'll see if I can change the topic! How about that, I can change the title!

 

[Joe Smith]

I think you are right. I should probably have characterized it as lo-fi, I'll see if I can change the topic! How about that, I can change the title!

Oh, I think the title is fine...yours perhaps is the lower end of mid-fi...?
Hey, I'm always amazed how decent even an Anker bluetooth speaker can sound when my wife and I are on the road...

 

[Capitol C]

Oh, I think the title is fine...yours perhaps is the lower end of mid-fi...?
Hey, I'm always amazed how decent even an Anker bluetooth speaker can sound when my wife and I are on the road...

I'm always after my grad students to write what they mean, not just sort of what they mean, so don't tell them about this thread. So I've gone with attempt number three on the title.
To be more precise, as Joe implicity points out, there are two factors at play here. One is price, the other is fidelity. There are really expensive amps that color the sound. If that rings your (distorted) bell, great, but it isn't high fidelity. There are also inexpensive things like my 80s-era Nakamichi that have adequate electronics and surprising good but bass-shy speakers. Combined with a cheap sub-woofer, the system has pretty good fidelity. The frequency response is ok, there's enough volume, there's no audible noise, and the distortion is low enough that it isn't distracting. Definitely not low-fi.

 

[Zapper]

I'll go a step down the price scale - my office system is a 28 year old redundantly named Cambridge Soundworks "Soundworks" 2.1 computer speaker system designed by Henry Kloss, the king of budget hi-fi in an era spanning from the 1950's to the early 2000's. I bought it new in grad school and it's been on my desk ever since. While not strictly accurate and certainly not powerful, this little system has very pleasant tonality and has provided more enjoyable music over the years than any other system I've owned. And its bass is still remarkable for its size.

I contemplate dumping it for a new upscale model like a Genelec G One / F One system but I don't know. I've grown quite attached over the years!

 

[jae]

Got a pair of Pioneer SP-BS22-LR for $40 brand new and blew me away at the time for the price

 

[Inner Space]

Starting with an old Nakamichi RS-1 "Auxiliary Music System" in my office at work, I added a Dayton Audio 8" Powered Subwoofer (Model SUB-800) and a DACO1 USB Audio DAC, also from Dayton Audio, so I could play my online FLAC files. Pretty inexpensive stuff, with the Nakamichi being pretty old, too. Today I had the unpleasant chore of grading exams, so I put on some non-distracting background music (Beethoven's Sixth Symphony conducted by Szell), then got distracted. The more I listened, the more impressed I was by the sound. After the symphony was over, I chose the Norrington recording of Ein Deutsches Requiem which is distracting, and listened to that, too, sometimes at volumes that probably annoyed people in adjacent offices.

It's been a while since I listened carefully to this setup, and I have to say it sounds pretty good. Not good enough to throw away the equipment at home, but enough to make me appreciate cheap kit.

Now back to grading those exams.

Lovely post in every way, but really I think the core message is that great music will always captivate, given baseline competent, not-screechingly-bad gear - which can be extremely modest, and these days extremely cheap.

 

[Chrispy]

I hate the terms playing on levels of fidelity like lo-fi and mid-fi when all it is is sniping about price....not particularly about the fidelity involved. It's fairly easy to buy good audio gear for reasonable money, particularly electronics. Grading papers or music would definitely have me drifting towards music....but I didn't go the teaching route like my parents (I like toys too much?).

 

[Capitol C]

Got a pair of Pioneer SP-BS22-LR for $40 brand new and blew me away at the time for the price

A friend bought a pair a while back after I suggested he listen to them based on internet information. Then he moved away before I could hear them. Nice. But there is a review at https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...er-sp-bs22-lr-bookshelf-speaker-review.11303/ , and the review is ok. There was a related tower speaker, the SP-FS52, that presumably got lower bass out which I'd like to hear, especially given what my main system speakers cost!

 

[Chrispy]

A friend bought a pair a while back after I suggested he listen to them based on internet information. Then he moved away before I could hear them. Nice. But there is a review at https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...er-sp-bs22-lr-bookshelf-speaker-review.11303/ , and the review is ok. There was a related tower speaker, the SP-FS52, that presumably got lower bass out which I'd like to hear, especially given what my main system speakers cost!

In that vein, Dennis Murphy modified some of those (and others) with his Affordable Accuracy Monitor series. Those Andrew Jones designed speakers from Pioneer were very well regarded in stock form (as well as his Elac speakers).

 

[Pretorious]

This thread speaks to me. I’ve contemplated “downgrading” to a much more simpler system with a soundbar as a main for my music listening. To me, convenience has always been paramount; if it’s too difficult or cumbersome or time consuming to setup and get my music playing, my enjoyment goes straight down. With fidelity of these wireless and Bluetooth speakers becoming so accurate these days, it makes my 2.0 system seem antiquated. I’m to the point in my life where I want to plug something in, go through as few steps as possible, start streaming my music and have perfectly good audio quality.

Between ease of use and fidelity that we can achieve with a small budget nowadays, it’s truly a wonder how far we’ve come in just the last decade alone. The diminishing returns on performance, and enjoyment, seem to me to be a lot more palpable than it has ever been.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

I'm not sure if this one fits the topic? -Anyway..

Years back, when we got our first son, I had to pack my amplifier and tower speakers away for some years from when he entered "the toddler phase".
I then got a bluetooth speaker. (Yeah yeah I know!)
It's called "Libratone Zipp". It surprised the hell out of me when I first played it in the living room. -It sounded alright. It filled the room with nice sounding music with some clever DSP profiles and dynamic compression effects.
This speaker is now tethered to the TV and we've got another, which we can unplug and take with us anywhere. It can play for 8 hr. on battery.

 

[Chrispy]

Why does progress in usability particularly annoy "audiophiles"?

 

[Deleted member 48726]

Why does progress in usability particularly annoy "audiophiles"?

I think it has to do with the lack of tinkering. And if it annoys that type of audiophile it's because he isn't in it for listening to music but for the gear itself and much new gear is just plug & play and it's good enough and it takes the fun out of it for that type.
That's my take on it.

 

[Chrispy]

I think it has to do with the lack of tinkering. And if it annoys that type of audiophile it's because he isn't in it for listening to music but for the gear itself and much new gear is just plug & play and it's good enough and it takes the fun out of it for that type.
That's my take on it.

Makes more sense than the other direction

 

[Waxx]

my poor man's soundsystem from when i was young and was unemployed were a pair of 1976's Goodman Mezzo Sl speakers that i bought second hand for 90€ and an old marantz 1050 amp that was "broken" said the former owner and he would throw it away so i got it for free. That "broken" on the Marantz was a blown fuse and a bad solder on the output connector, so a 5 min fix... The Goodman speakers are still in my collection and are still full orignal but the caps in the crossover (elco's were dried out and replaced with elco's of the same value). It's not my daily speaker, but it got regular use (as movable set). The amp was sold long time ago when a collector offered ridiculous money for it and replaced with a more modern and neutral sounding Marantz PM5004 that costed new a fraction of what the collector paid me for the 1050...

And that was how i husselled longtime with audio gear. I had no money, but buying cheap and selling expensive earned enough to have a quiet good set, even if i was unemployed and quasi broke.

And it also learned me that you don't have to spend a lot to get a good sound. It may not be the best, but good enough to not bother you when listening music. And that is the most important i think.

 

[Pretorious]

Why does progress in usability particularly annoy "audiophiles"?

I think it has to do with the lack of tinkering. And if it annoys that type of audiophile it's because he isn't in it for listening to music but for the gear itself and much new gear is just plug & play and it's good enough and it takes the fun out of it for that type.
That's my take on it.

This for sure. I went from my younger days of building my own computers, sound systems, etc., basically wanting to tinker with everything. Now I just want to buy something that works and works well. That's what good design and engineering is all about. Let the good folks who design such things do the tinkering, the engineering and designing. I want to be able to enjoy my free time of music listening without worrying about every link in the components being perfect.

I do enough tinkering and solving problems in my job to not want to keep pursuing that in my spare time. There is definitely a point where reason takes over. "Audiophile" means loving sound, at its most basic level. I love sound. I love good sound. I also appreciate technology, progress and skillful engineering. So many modern consumer speakers do all of these things very well, whether that be Bluetooth, lifestyle, or whatever they be called. If the measurements of frequency response bear out that these things are very accurate, then why does it offend "audiophiles" that we can just plug it in and get that accuracy through good design, without having to go nuts tinkering everything as we used to? So I agree with @Holdt and we have come full circle.

Progress, research, science and technology has benefitted us all. We no longer need to spend a fortune in both time and money to achieve accurate, enjoyable sound.

 

[computer-audiophile]

I do enough tinkering and solving problems in my job to not want to keep pursuing that in my spare time.

Maybe you'll start tinkering again when you retire. The free time wants to be filled with a hobby.

I think that certain skills that you have professionally are also useful in your private life.

When the Corona pandemic forced me to be at home more, I built two tube amplifiers in the old style, although I thought before that the topic was long closed. But now I'm glad that I did it.