Please review my first HiFi setup

[Bubba60tackle]

Looking to dive in. I have a 10x15 reflective office that will serve as my listening room. I have been interested in the hobby for a while. I am the type of person that if I am going to invest my time into something I want to do it right. From the research I have done I think this will meet my goals. I listen to classic rock and country. This is almost 3x what I set as my target budget but have settled that this will probably be something I can appreciate for a while before wanting to upgrade.

Questions-
Is there any component here that bottlenecks the system significantly?
Is there anything here with significant quality/longevity concerns?
Is there anything here that has a significant upgrade or alternative within a few $ I should explore?
What piece will I outgrow first?

Core System
Speakers: KEF Q1 Meta
Amp: Yamaha A-S501
Sub: SVS SB-1000 Pro

CD Path / Headphone Path
Samsung Blu ray CD Transport
FiiO K7 DAC/Headphone Amp
Sennheiser HD 600

Vinyl Path
Fluance RT85
iFi Zen Phono 3

 

[Power Pop 23]

Welcome to ASR !

No real bottlenecks or issues with durability, and all gear you can use for more than a few years, but.....

Consider whether an amplifier from WiiM can offer the functionality you desire from the Yamaha A-S501 integrated amplifier.

A WiiM amp can give you the option of applying Parametric EQ to headphones and loudspeakers and room correction to your listening space.

 

[Keith_W]

Well i'm not so sure about those Sennheiser cans. They are tuned to a non-Harman curve - ASR review. They sound to me as those measurements suggest ... rather thin and lacking in bass. Despite their flaws, Amir liked them. I didn't. I suggest you listen to them before buying.

 

[MaxxC]

Looking to dive in. I have a 10x15 reflective office that will serve as my listening room. I have been interested in the hobby for a while. I am the type of person that if I am going to invest my time into something I want to do it right. From the research I have done I think this will meet my goals. I listen to classic rock and country. This is almost 3x what I set as my target budget but have settled that this will probably be something I can appreciate for a while before wanting to upgrade.

Questions-
Is there any component here that bottlenecks the system significantly?
Is there anything here with significant quality/longevity concerns?
Is there anything here that has a significant upgrade or alternative within a few $ I should explore?
What piece will I outgrow first?

Core System
Speakers: KEF Q1 Meta
Amp: Yamaha A-S501
Sub: SVS SB-1000 Pro

CD Path / Headphone Path
Samsung Blu ray CD Transport
FiiO K7 DAC/Headphone Amp
Sennheiser HD 600

Vinyl Path
Fluance RT85
iFi Zen Phono 3from

 

[MaxxC]

From a long time audio enthusiast. You’ve done extremely well.

A few suggestions:

1) interconnects get the Primida on Amazon Red and Black color. Around $30 I have them in both my systems. They bested some $700 Nordost Red Dawn in one review

2). Impeto speaker cables on Amazon. Those were recommended to me. As good as any I’ve had in my systems

3) Get the Fiio K13 DAC and headphone amp instead. It’s about $100 more than the K7. It’s getting rave reviews.
Being an R2R vs the K7 being a Sigma Delta. I should work very well with Sennheiser. R2R to my ear tend to have a sweeter, more relaxed more natural sound. If your sensitive to listener fatigue

I won’t go in to too many reasons. Single driver speakers like the KEF Are the only
100% point source and Time aligned speakers. It has no crossover so it’s phase coherent. Point source generally results in a more focused soundstage Time aligned means all the sound arrives at your ears at the same time

Enjoy

 

[Chrispy]

Looks like a nice set of gear. Eventually you might want better speakers and bass management/eq....

 

[kemmler3D]

Welcome to ASR! I don't see any major issues with your shopping list but agree with @Keith_W you should listen to headphones before you buy them if at all possible.

I would also +1 that you should maybe look for an amp with PEQ / room correction. WiiM stuff tends to be a good choice if you're not looking to break the bank. I have several of their devices myself. Also lets you do multi-room (like Sonos) if you decide you want that. (I also have two of those subs, they do the job.)

Especially if you are putting a sub in a small room, the EQ can make a massive difference.

I think you will probably outgrow the speakers first, but maybe not for a long time... nothing on this list is a joke compared to really expensive stuff.

IMO you can probably also save a few $ by going with a smaller / simpler DAC/AMP setup than the FiiO - JDS is worth a look for being good US-made stuff, Topping and SMSL if you want to save $$.

 

[Keith_W]

interconnects get the Primida on Amazon Red and Black color. Around $30 I have them in both my systems. They bested some $700 Nordost Red Dawn in one review

Oh realllllllllllllllllllly. What were the differences in your opinion?

 

[DWPress]

Just the speakers over time and depending on your space and listening habits. Good to go.

 

[MaxxC]

Looks like a nice set of gear. Eventually you might want better speakers and bass management/eq....

Oh realllllllllllllllllllly. What were the differences in your opinion?

Serious question. What brand and model. of interconnects do you use?

Why did you choose them? There has to be a reason

Thank you

 

[JSmith]

What brand and model. of interconnects do you use?

Any brand that appear well constructed and not expensive... brand isn't really relevant here.

Why did you choose them?

Because I needed some cables.

I urge you to stop worrying about cables and focus on the things that actually matter, so you don't waste your time.


JSmith

 

[Keith_W]

Serious question. What brand and model. of interconnects do you use?

Why did you choose them? There has to be a reason

Well given it is an 8 way active system, I need a lot of interconnects. All of them are Neutrik or Mogami, maybe a couple are some really no-name IC's I bought because I needed them and that was what was on special.

 

[VTKZ]

Before speaking about interconnects & cables, the most important point : room treatment, DSP Correction and see where the Problems in the Freq. Response are. Thats the points how a system performs, doesnt matter how the price of the gear is. Cable are also an Part of the Gear, but thats are the last few procent. Specially when you use an sub the integration is key

A few personal opinions :
- I personally wouldnt buy passive speakers in 2026 but thats taste. You get also good results with an KEF, but only if the room is capable of.

- For the sub, i would use always at least two (crosspositioning or both in the front / rear) and not premade Subs because of the form & price/performance.

- add an DSP (minidsp or similiar) at least for the sub to get the best possible response. The most important point is the crossover. I'm not sure if this Amp is an good option. Its always difficult to implement Subws with these Amplifiers without much connections on the back or any kind of integrated DSP

 

[ehabheikal]

Looking to dive in. I have a 10x15 reflective office that will serve as my listening room. I have been interested in the hobby for a while. I am the type of person that if I am going to invest my time into something I want to do it right. From the research I have done I think this will meet my goals. I listen to classic rock and country. This is almost 3x what I set as my target budget but have settled that this will probably be something I can appreciate for a while before wanting to upgrade.

Questions-
Is there any component here that bottlenecks the system significantly?
Is there anything here with significant quality/longevity concerns?
Is there anything here that has a significant upgrade or alternative within a few $ I should explore?
What piece will I outgrow first?

Core System
Speakers: KEF Q1 Meta
Amp: Yamaha A-S501
Sub: SVS SB-1000 Pro

CD Path / Headphone Path
Samsung Blu ray CD Transport
FiiO K7 DAC/Headphone Amp
Sennheiser HD 600

Vinyl Path
Fluance RT85
iFi Zen Phono 3

The q concerto meta is a much more refined speaker if you can afford it.

KEF Concerto Q META Bookshelf Speaker Review

KEF Concerto Q META

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

 

[Holmz]

The q concerto meta is a much more refined speaker if you can afford it.

KEF Concerto Q META Bookshelf Speaker Review

KEF Concerto Q META

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

How do you explain the step function response?

…
I won’t go in to too many reasons. Single driver speakers like the KEF Are the only
100% point source and Time aligned speakers. It has no crossover so it’s phase coherent. Point source generally results in a more focused soundstage Time aligned means all the sound arrives at your ears at the same time

Enjoy

I would like to see the step function response for ^those^.

 

[MaxxC]

Well given it is an 8 way active system, I need a lot of interconnects. All of them are Neutrik or Mogami, maybe a couple are some really no-name IC's I bought because I needed them and that was what was on special.

Sounds like a great setup. I have a Mogami Coaxial in one of my systems and a Blue Jean in the other . Belden and Deuland are two other companies that use Microphone cables

My expensive cables I bought used I’ve sold all those. I have Mogami, Impeto and Primida in my primary Total cost about $150. If they are just as good. There is no point in expensive cables.

This sounds totally made up. I know a guy who has $400,000 system He has floating walls in his listening room and 6 foot copper rods buried in the backyard to clean up the power supply. For interconnects he uses some Chinese Bootleg that he paid $40 for on Alliexoress Another guy in his Audio club. Sold his 15k interconnects and uses these. Another guy says it’s a draw between his 25k interconnects and the $40 Chinese Bootleg cables

Crazy stuff. Take care

 

[somebodyelse]

I won’t go in to too many reasons. Single driver speakers like the KEF Are the only
100% point source and Time aligned speakers. It has no crossover so it’s phase coherent. Point source generally results in a more focused soundstage Time aligned means all the sound arrives at your ears at the same time

Except the Q1 isn't a single driver - it's a 2-way coaxial, and it has a crossover.

 

[RandomEar]

[...]

3) Get the Fiio K13 DAC and headphone amp instead. It’s about $100 more than the K7. It’s getting rave reviews.
Being an R2R vs the K7 being a Sigma Delta. I should work very well with Sennheiser. R2R to my ear tend to have a sweeter, more relaxed more natural sound. If your sensitive to listener fatigue
[...]

It's getting "rave reviews" because people fall for the marketing hype word R2R. There is no inherent audible difference between Delta Sigma (DS) and R2R DACs. Even the best R2R designs are technically inferior to most good DS DACs, but that distinction is only about the measured performance - not audible differences.

The main point is that many R2R DACs also offer a NOS mode, which most DS DACs don't do. There is a multitude of good reasons not to use NOS, it is a broken operating mode and results in bad non-reconstruction of the original audio, unless you upsample the signal correctly in your source before sending it to the DAC. NOS mode when used incorrectly with non-upsampled 44.1 or 48 kHz material will result in a treble roll-off which is likely audible and might be pleasing to some people. It inherently also comes with copious amounts of ultrasonic noise and, as mentioned, does not faithfully reconstruct the original audio signal, though. Therefoere, I would never recommend to use NOS mode outside of some edge cases like scientific lab experiments where actual square waves are the desired signal.

 

[kemmler3D]

This sounds totally made up. I know a guy who has $400,000 system He has floating walls in his listening room and 6 foot copper rods buried in the backyard to clean up the power supply. For interconnects he uses some Chinese Bootleg that he paid $40 for on Alliexoress Another guy in his Audio club. Sold his 15k interconnects and uses these. Another guy says it’s a draw between his 25k interconnects and the $40 Chinese Bootleg cables

Crazy stuff. Take care

Actually, this is completely believable since a normal copper wire of short (say less than 200 feet) length is totally capable of handling all audio signals with no distortion. So the expected result is not hearing any difference. What's actually a bit surprising is your friend didn't get caught up in cognitive biases based on price - it happens a lot.

For $40 you can get a copper wire with really nice connectors and everything, but that still sounds a little pricey to me.

 

[Ruediger]

The Yamaha amp is great, but not for subwoofer handling. It just has a basic sub connect with a ~90Hz crossover from main. No highpass filter, bass also goes to main.

My recommendation is to get a WiiM amp instead. It can do so much more in every area.