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What's your dream system?

Dogan

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  • All my music plus similar material I don't know about should be at one easily located source.
  • This music should be available in the highest possible quality.
  • The sound should bypass my aging and faulty ears (and hence room), arriving at the relevant part of my brain which can hopefully still interpret the full range of frequencies. If not the music will be automatically adapted so that it can be correctly heard by my brain.
  • To 'listen' I would not be required to be attached to anything or any place - I can listen anywhere and whenever I want to with just a simple control (it could perhaps be controlled my brain but I'm not sure anyone's brain can be so controlling). In other words, I could for example just sit down in a comfortable chair, press a button to activate, and another button to indicate or type in my musical tastes at that moment. Press play.

Sounds like Neurolink 10 years from now + streaming service of your choice (or maybe not).

neurolink.jpg


Dogan
 

Aaron Garrett

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My Grimm Mu1 --LS1be system. For what I prize -- clarity, flatness across the spectrum and lack of cables -- I can't imagine that anything could sound better.
 

kach22i

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My dream system would be all DIY, where I would acquire all the time knowledge and skill to pull it off gracefully is but a mystery, but that's also what makes it a dream. Maybe I could hire out certain parts out of my skill range like a general contractor or architect does.

I have an audio rack that is DIY.

I have built six prototypes of a tension membrane loudspeaker that has tremendous potential. I really want to finalize some of the devilish details.

I have sketches and bookmarks for supplies on making my own turntable and CD player.

I have ideas brewing on tube hybridizing past amp designs and or modernizing existing amp designs with better parts.

Then reality sinks in, I have just as much stereo equipment in need of repair and refurbishment as I do in working order.

So in that respect my dream system is one that works and not one that lays dormant awaiting repair.

That is a smaller dream and perhaps a more realist one.

EDIT:

I should note than my dream car/truck, dream house, dream hovercraft, dream aircraft, dream anything are all of my own design and making.

It's a reoccurring dream you might say.
 

kach22i

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Oh I dream of the perfect room.. don't we all?
Yes, that is a good dream, and my wife just gave the green light for such a project.

I just have to get the finances worked out now.

A room where I don't bother neighbours with my music.

Here is how I see the room in relationship to everything else, it comes first.

Here is what it takes to get into better physical shape: dedicating the time.

For stereo you need the room, for getting into shape you need to allocate the time.

Once you have the room and or time, everything else at least has the possibility of falling into place.

You want the best stereo, start with the best room and fit into it.

You want to get into shape, start with dedicating 1-2 hours each day, you can walk, you can swim, to can hit a heavy bag, it does not matter, just get going and do it.

Once you have the 1-2 hours of each day blocked out you can fill it in with any activity and increase the intensity gradually.

Same with stereo room, once you have it blocked out you can gradually discover it's full potential.
 
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Killingbeans

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Okay, my dream system at this moment (could change in a heartbeat):

Amp: 2x Hypex NC400 monoblocks
DAC/preamp: SMSL M500
CD Player: Olasonic NANO-CD1
Speakers: Something DIY based on the new Purifi PTT6.5W04-01A
Misc: Some sort of bluetooth receiver with toslink output

Updated dream:

Genelec G Five + whatever DAC with volume control gives best bang for the buck (SONCOZ SGD1 at the moment).

I'd still like a cute CD transport, but the Olasonic NANO-CD1 seems to be no longer i production :confused:

And if I win the lottery.. Kii Three or Dutch & Dutch 8c :p
 

phoenixdogfan

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I'd dream of an OktoDAC with HDMI and USB inputs for a true Stereo + Mch system.
Oh, and maybe a JBL 4367...though I already have 1/3 of that:)
The Octo 8 Pro is probably my next acquisition unless may I can find a real steal on a pair of Revel F208s.
 

phoenixdogfan

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Yeah OK then i get wanting an upgrade.

I do recommend getting a modern i3, and not be temped to get an i5 or i7, it's pointless for most use cases. The i3 is really quite fast. Better put the extra money in a decent SSD.
I realize it's a bit off topic, but are the Nuc's quiet. I have a HP Envy with an I7 Processor, 16gb of DDR4 Ram, and a 256 Gig Samsung Evo SS drive, and it's wicked fast, but runs hot and has a noisy fan. Would I get a really quiet home theater server if I swapped in a Nuc, or just something with a smaller footprint?
 

rgpit

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TAD Reference One loudspeakers driven by dual Benchmark AHB2 power amps and DAC3HGC DAC/Preamp.
 

RayDunzl

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I'll settle for what's in the middle and I don't mean the greenery.

The picture could be as much as 23 years old now...

So, you'll have to age the scenery to some degree.
 

Aap op Sokken

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I realize it's a bit off topic, but are the Nuc's quiet. I have a HP Envy with an I7 Processor, 16gb of DDR4 Ram, and a 256 Gig Samsung Evo SS drive, and it's wicked fast, but runs hot and has a noisy fan. Would I get a really quiet home theater server if I swapped in a Nuc, or just something with a smaller footprint?

NUCs are quiet, but I could still just hear my NUC8i3BEH from the couch in a silent room. So i put it in an aftermarket case with complete passive cooling: The Akasa Turing. Makes it a bit bigger, but i like the look. I don't know if it can handle the heat of a sustained stress test, but the CPU tops at 45C during Netflix 4K, which is very decent. I recommend it!
 

Jose Hidalgo

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My audio journey began nearly 30 years ago, when with a group of 30 students of my engineering school we fully designed an integrated 2x80W analog amp + radio tuner with a 2x16 char. LCD display, menus, options, etc.. We produced a series of 50 to 100 units that we sold to the other students. Since then I got involved in various audio projects with people that were way more knowledgeable than me.

In the 90s I was on the "audiophile" side, being fooled many times by snake oil professionals. I bought a 1500 € tube amp (Jadis Orchestra) with custom tube voltage tuning, various cables (Siltech power cable, Chord speaker cable, Audioquest Ruby interconnect...), and even a supposedly magical filtered multiple socket (HMS Energia). :facepalm: At that time my "dream system" would have been something like this :
  • Source : Wadia CD player
  • Amplifier : Mark Levinson
  • Loudspeakers : JM Lab Grande Utopia
  • Cables and magical stuff
But that was a long time ago. In the 00s I questioned everything I thought I knew, saw through the curtain of lies, and started from scratch on the "hi-fi" side, believing only what could be supported by scientific evidence. I went much further on the DIY side. So 10 years ago my "dream system" became this :
  • Source : dedicated fanless PC with a PCI professional studio soundcard and 6 analog outputs (Lynx TWO-B)
  • Amplifiers : a tri-amp with a DIY 6-channel high-end mosfet amplifier that I was involved with at the time (A6AM)
  • Loudspeakers : DIY 3-way loudspeakers with a 38cm (15") Beyma 115/N, an Accuton C90-T6 ceramic midrange, and some fancy tweeter
  • Digital crossover : IZotope Ozone
Today I'm 50 years old and my vision of the "ideal" system has clearly evolved and is now much simpler and straightforward while keeping an optimum and measurable performance level :

Loudspeakers :
  • Room 1 : a dedicated room of course, acoustically treated, possibly underground. But still cosy and enjoyable with my beloved one.
  • Source 1 : a dedicated fanless PC/server, with local lossless music storage (FLAC) and foobar2000 as player. There is nothing arguably better. I could go for Roon and its fancy interface, why not, but I'd be just as happy with foobar2000.
  • Audio protocol : no need for ASIO/KS as demonstrated recently, we just need a bit of headroom (-4 dB) in Equalizer APO for bit-perfect results.
  • Destination : a pair of endgame digital amplified cardioid monitors, such as Dutch & Dutch 8C (or Genelec, or Kii, or Buchardt, etc.). You can feed them a S/PDIF signal straight from your source PC, no need for DAC, they do everything internally... for 10.000 € of course.
  • Equalization : probably using REW and a microphone, generating a corrected response file then feeding it to a convolution plugin. But maybe by then the speakers will do everything themselves.
Headphones :
  • Room 2 : a nice living room, no need for any acoustic treatment here
  • Source 2 : a different PC, connected to source 1 via a high-speed LAN
  • DAC : any transparent DAC. Currently settling for a Topping E30, and I don't feel the need to go higher.
  • Headphone amp : same criteria. Currently on a Topping L30, and I would only change it for hypothetical extremely hard to drive HPs.
  • Headphones : my current collection for sentimental reasons (see my signature), plus maybe some fancy expensive headphones "just because" : HD800S, Focal Utopia, etc.
  • Equalization : EAPO + Oratory1990 presets + my own automation software
  • Virtualization : HeSuVi (with ooyh_0 preset) or Out Of Your Head.
  • Bonus : maybe a Realiser A16 or some equivalent, just for fun, to improve on what HeSuVi already brings.
If you think that this system can be improved in any way, then I'll be happy to hear any scientific arguments. :)
The good news is that I expect to fully realize this "dream system" within the next few years. Fingers crossed !
 
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Spocko

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...
Today I'm 50 years old and my vision of the "ideal" system has clearly evolved and is now much simpler and straightforward while keeping an optimum and measurable performance level :
...
  • Destination : a pair of endgame digital amplified cardioid monitors, such as Dutch & Dutch 8C (or Genelec, or Kii, or Buchardt, etc.). You can feed them a S/PDIF signal straight from your source PC, no need for DAC, they do everything internally... for 10.000 € of course.
  • Equalization : probably using REW and a microphone, generating a corrected response file then feeding it to a convolution plugin. But maybe by then the speakers will do everything themselves.
...
We're already there with the Genelec SAM/GLM speakers as this is definitely a room correction equalizer system that comes with its own microphone to allow you to tune to your listening preference while correcting for dips and peaks. @amirm currently has my Genelec 8351b with GLM for review (hopefully he has time to play with it!) and should be no less effective than DIRAC or Room Perfect.
 

Jose Hidalgo

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Yes, I know about that. :) I guess it's a solution that's comparable to REW and other DRC solutions, so I expect comparable results, no more, no less. In my post I was rather imagining that someday all that process could be included in the speakers themselves with no need for a PC. I would imagine the speakers being delivered with a microphone that you would connect to them directly. Then via the speakers' Smartphone app you would enter the specs of your room, distance to walls, etc.. Then everything would be done automatically. In theory it should be possible, and it would make things easier for all the "non-experts". :)
 

Wes

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Big Soundlabs - with the house built around them
 
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