What electronic audio products you want tested most

[rgdawsonco]

Capital idea. This incredible theme created by a contributor has breathed new life into my Squeezebox setup. It's a joy to use. https://github.com/CDrummond/lms-material

+1, Craig has done an amazing job with his Material Skin plugin for LMS. I have been using the Logitech Squeezebox since the early days. I have 5 of the squeezebox receivers, plus Raspberry Pi as the server. Btw, I’m the author of a Windows 10 app called Squeezelite-X, available for free on the Windows store. It basically a progressive web app the integrates the squeezelite software player, and Craig’s Material Skin (As well as the default interface). So, it gives you a nice player and control combo on a Windows PC. Not gonna lie, it’s my best work, haha.

 

[JWAmerica]

It's obviously important to keep up with the latest and greatest DACs and 2ch power amps, but I think AVRs and vintage gear (speakers and amps) is important to establish a baseline and a history of how gear has improved over time. Old gear was reviewed subjectively and I think that seeing obvious flaws and short comings in historically revered designs would be educational.

 

[beeface]

I’d like to see more <$1,000 integrated amps measured

 

[DanielT]

Vintage is fun. If I may come up with a concrete proposal for an amplifier? Have any serious measurements been made on NAD 3020?

It would have been really exciting to read those results. Wikipedia:

"The NAD 3020 is a stereo integrated amplifier by NAD Electronics, considered to be one of the most important components in the history of high fidelity audio.[1] Launched in 1978, this highly affordable product delivered a good quality sound, which acquired a reputation as an audiophile amplifier of exceptional value. By 1998, the NAD 3020 had become the most well known and best-selling audio amplifier in history.[2]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAD_3020

So a test of Nad 3020 can almost be considered as a cultural-historical deed in technology.

 

[Headchef]

The new nordorst Valhalla cat 5 cables could be interesting…

 

[jtwrace]

Metric Halo LIO-8

 

[flatstanley]

i think it would be interesting to test some equalizers to see how they affect sound quality and noise floor and all that good stuff

 

[amirm]

i think it would be interesting to test some equalizers to see how they affect sound quality and noise floor and all that good stuff

Do they still make hardware equalizers?

 

[flatstanley]

ive only seen a few that are just e.qs that are still being made, but i have seen quite a few combo active crossovers and eqs

Do they still make hardware equalizers?

 

[Doodski]

Do they still make hardware equalizers?

My Google search resulted in nothing at the AV mass merch store, the musical instruments store has rack mount stuff and some assorted componentry and amazon.ca was a mish mash of the cheesy to the car gear, some home audio and rack mount stuff. Yamaha offers nothing in EQ and Technics does not too. Accuphase is offering it's touch display DIGITAL VOICING EQUALIZER DG-68. US Audio Mart has 2 pages of EQ and what people deem to be EQ related.

 

[Rja4000]

Do they still make hardware equalizers?

Not sure.
Last one I bought was this one, 10 years ago.

Excellent, by the way, if somehow mechanically fragile.

 

[duppy_conqueror]

This guy...

https://www.amazon.com/AIYIMA-T8-Pr...e+amp+preamp+dac+remote&qid=1632176023&sr=8-3

 

[pseudoid]

Do they still make hardware equalizers?

I think those are now called 'hearing aides' and some of them are super hi-tech w/costs well into the 4 figure$.
They are totally wireless but well-connected, noise-cancelling but w/hearing compensation.
I would like to suggest testing one of these for April Fools day 2022!
It would be interesting, entertaining and even educational in attempts to devise just a basic THD measurement/setup.

 

[duppy_conqueror]

Do they still make hardware equalizers?

Pardon my ignorance if I'm wrong, but:

Schiit Audio: Audio Products Designed and Built in Texas and California

www.schiit.com

Schiit Audio: Audio Products Designed and Built in Texas and California

www.schiit.com

 

[MinMan]

Active Crossovers w/o dsp

agreed:
maybe you can borrow one of these:

DIY Biamp 6-24 Crossover

The DIY BIAMP 6-24 kit is a stereo analog active biamp crossover circuit designed for high flexibility. Featuring 12 discrete Jfet buffer circuits operated without negative feedback, it offers 16 continuously adjustable filter elements in two low-pass and two high-pass filters with slopes of 6...

diyaudiostore.com

from one of many who post here

DIY biamp 6-24 crossover

A question about how to set up the crossover. In the manual for the B5, @Nelson Pass describes the following procedure: If you have the ability to measure the response curve of the woofer / full range combination you can speed up the process. You can assume that you are looking for flat...

www.diyaudio.com

Are these Xovers are in a different class from the ACA panned so brutally on this site?

 

[EJ3]

I'll suggest focusing on current equipment versus the novelty of obsolete equipment due to Amir's time constraints. But not necessarily excluding obsolete equipment with current resale value. Practical solutions are needed for prohibitive obstacles associated with shipping cost, insurance, weight, and packaging of larger and heavier equipment.

It's also important to note the ongoing proof in the value of ASR causing current manufacturers to improve designs when their equipment measures poorly. That's exactly how a free market is suppose to work.

Sometimes that means comparing the current equipment to obsolete equipment (which may do as good or better job than the latest equipment). Therefore, having properly working obsolete or vintage equipment (even if it has been brought forward in it's internals (without changing the circuit design) provides a great reference point.

 

[EJ3]

Possible solutions:

Move lab to ground floor.
Hire a man servant to do the heavy lifting.
Get a dumb waiter installed.
Get a high lift capable indoor flying drone to fly it to your lab.
Get a set of hand trucks (one with large inflated tires). These can be much easier on your back going up and down stairs.

I have used the dumb waiter design for heavy automotive HD truck stuff that needed to go up a floor or 2 to a disassembly station.
It worked very well. I'm on board with that one. The other ones have their own issues: (drone: the what if something happens & downs it or just the stuff it's carrying comes); hand trucks: flat tires, still highly heavy and awkward on stairs. Man servant: one going pay & feeding expense. Moving lab: Very Big upfront expense.

 

[EJ3]

I agree with your second part about NAD and I think this is great progress indeed! I just hope that the next step will be not two boxes but one, not $10K but 3 or 4, and SINAD of 110 instead of 100 And I see no higher priority now than getting such product designed, independently tested here and available for purchase ASAP

P.S. The iPhone camera was fighting an uphill battle because it was severely handicapped it terms of size of lens and sensor that it could use and so it had to invest heavily in the image processing algorithms, whereas an AVR maker can more or less pick the best of the already available components and just think of how to isolate them better within one box.

I prefer separate boxes (even if it costs more). Because if one thing goes down, you only have one part of your system is out being repaired. Not the whole damn thing.

 

[EJ3]

Wow, so it is obviously a culture thing between the USA and UK/EU.
Yet another big difference but one I was unaware of.

Even though I have owned a couple of AVR's, I now just run stereo TV or disk through my system. Never liked the sound of any AVR's.

 

[EJ3]

And with HiFi dongles, there is no reason to exist for HiFi smartphones.

I am not like city folk (nor do I think that the City is the place to be). There are many places that I am without a phone signal (Thank God). There fore, I just want a DAP that I can run through my stereo.