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You who have several sound systems, what do you listen to the most?

Old Listener

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Fun and interesting with so many different ways you listen to music. Variety pleases as they say. It would have been sad if everyone had more or less the same setup and HiFi stuff. But that is not the case.:)

...

Destop solutions have been mentioned in the thread. That might be something to think about. Advantage, little power is enough with the speakers so close. Reflections from side walls might be reduced and increase of the direct sound occur (at best). But putting speakers on a table, hm the first bounce of the sound goes on the table and then to the ears. It mixed with the direct sound. I wonder if it is optimal?
-Maybe if you have some broadband element that is placed directly on the table (element as close to the table as possible) to remove that table reflection?
-Maybe put some thick blankets under the speakers if they are on the table?
-Maybe then have speakers with waveguided speaker elements with narrow vertical and horizontal dispersion?
The bounced sound from the ceiling, I don't know if it is something to worry about with speakers placed close but that can be taken up in another thread, some other time.:)

In any case, it gave me ideas.:)
I use a stack of books under each desktop speaker to get the tweeters to ear height (roughly) and to get the speakers 6" away from the desktop.
 

Plcamp

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I have a paradigm tower system in the family room with optical from tv to DAC to refurbed Adcom 535II, it is Spotify for music and I suppose YouTube as well.

Basement has big open baffles from Hafler power amp plus a sub on main preoutputs of a Yamaha AVR, that can do minor dsp corrections and handle all the analogue things like my old cassette deck, turntable etc. I actually never use those analogues anymore. I’ll probably dump the AVR and get a Minidsp flex eight so I can have fun changing my open baffles. This is the party room.
 
OP
DanielT

DanielT

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I use cat beds (see pic below). They work great, and when cats are in them, even better. I highly recommend doing something if you can, as the desk bounce is real and measurable. As for directly under the speakers, I use IsoAcoustics stands. If you don't decouple the speakers from the desk with something, resonances can be quite noticeable.

I didn't know if ceiling bounce was a problem, because I didn't know how to pick it out of the sound. I didn't know what it sounded like. Less than 2 weeks ago I put some 2" absorber diffusors over my desk and the difference was huge. Unfortunately now I know the negative effect it's been having on the sound, so I ended up ordering thick 6" versions to put up there permanently.

View attachment 245725

I use a stack of books under each desktop speaker to get the tweeters to ear height (roughly) and to get the speakers 6" away from the desktop.
Good tips!:D

Hm, ...destop solution, keep the speakers close. Maybe I should work on that and find a solution that fits and sounds good. There seems to exist a good sound potential in that type of solution, I think. :)
 

Waxx

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I got many systems, mostly diy, but all but my main system work with music stored on my NAS over lan. I don't use streaming services. On my main system i also have a turntable and i have a huge vinyl collection that get played regulary, collected the last 30 years or so. But I mostly listen to music in my car, because i'm often on the road for my job. At home it's mostly my office system or my main system that plays music.
 
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DanielT

DanielT

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Speaking of source and physical format. I sometimes buy CDs, if I find some old ones that haven't been exposed to the loudness war. Unfortunately, it is not so easy to find such anymore at, for example, flea markets. There are more people than me who are looking for such CDs.

OT:
Vinyl has a dynamic range of around 60 dB. I wonder how an uncompressed, not lodnessized vinyl record compares to a new release that has gone through this lodnessization process and can be found at some lossless streaming provider stands?There are probably already threads on ASR that address that topic. :)
 
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Martin Takamine

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Because I still work 40 hours a week, the system I use most to listen to music is a DAP and portable speaker.
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Joe Smith

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Various systems throughout the house - many get no use at all or just occasionally. Main ones are the living room system - Speakers (ADS L520s) are on stands so they work well for background music or for parties with the volume a bit higher. Amp there is a restored Kenwood KA-3500. Turntable, cassette, Sony multiformat player. My workroom/office system - I rotate equipment here but am currently using a new SMSL AO100 amplifier, restored NAD 1020 preamp, AT-LP120xusb turntable with an AT microline cartridge, Marantz cassette, Marantz CD-63/Mark II CD player, streaming from Spotify through either a JDS or Schiit DAC. Speakers at present are older KEF Q15.2s which are perfect for nearfield listening, being concentric. The other amp that lives here is a restored Marantz 2216. This is a very small room (about 7' x 16') so I don't need much power.

Other smaller systems in dining room, bedrooms, the basement (where technically I have the most room & volume, but the room is continually torn up with sorting projects so not that great to lounge in). Mix of new and vintage equipment.

As to playing - I'd say I'm currently doing about 50% streaming, 20% CD, 20% vinyl, 10% cassette. Streaming is easy, I have to kind of force myself to use the others, but I like to use the formats, I get a kick out of all of them.

I rarely play very loud - usually when my significant other is out and about, as my workroom/office is directly over the kitchen!

Too much equipment, really. But I enjoy rotating it around and changing components from time to time. Keeps it interesting.
 

Joe Smith

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I will add, the one big social change in my lifetime has been the diminishment of music in parties and gatherings. It is rare to be at a party, even with the younger people we're involved with because of theater or our kids, where music is played loudly. Our living room system rarely gets played beyond a 10% listening level - poor little Kenwood, that's barely on for what it can do.
 

melvinjames

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I think my work system gets more play than the home system but it’s close. For the most part I stream Radio Paradise during work. My home system is used for both music and video. These days my music collection (flac) has taken a back seat to Qobuz.
  • home - Bluesound Node (N130) > SMSL DO100 > SMSL AO200 > Mark & Daniel Ruby
  • work - Bluesound Node 2 > Fleawatt Audio TPA3116D2 > Pioneer SP-BS22-LR
I also have a couple of Bluesound Pulse Flex speakers for use in other rooms and outdoors.
 

Head_Unit

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In the cars. That is far and away the most listening time I have without "turn it down!!" or "can I watch the TV?" interfering. Ah those joyous times nobody is home and I can crank up the Wharfedales whilst I shower :D
 

Head_Unit

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As soon as Spotify offers lossless I will cancel the Apple Music subscription. It has awful UI. Unlike the accepted belief Apple doesn’t care about UX.
Incredibly, I've found fewer errors and playing silence and failure to load and other cockups with Apple Music lately. My recollection of Spotify is it had much better user playlists-like "All these odds and ends [Drake, Rihanna, whoever] has released not on an album but I did all the work collecting them so you don't have to"
BUT until Spotify lets me upload my own content and stream it wherever, no dice.
 

GXAlan

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1) 5.2.2 home theater with massive JBLs imported from Japan (S/2600) powered by Yamaha separates.

2) 2.0 precision setup with JBL 708P fed by a YellowTec AES3 interface.

3) 2.0 euphonic setup with a Linn LP12 with Ittok LVII and Sigma 2000 MC, Marantz SC-11s2, Marantz PM-10, and Onkyo D-TK10 and JBL XPL90A speakers.

4) Euphonic headphone setup with the Sony TA-ZH1ES and Sennheiser HD820.

I have other gear in storage.

My most frequently listened to system? My car…
 

Trell

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Apple is like the Mob: once in you can’t get out without consequences.
Reminds me of Hotel California:

>>>
Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
"Relax, " said the night man
"We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave"
<<<
 

mhardy6647

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I've been using that dump find Yamaha RX-V1050 and Polk R200 loudspeakers more than anything else lately. Not sure why, other than it's easy and sounds good, especially for "background" listening (e..g, when keyboard warrior-ing).
When I listen to listen, I prefer the SE 2A3 amp and the Frankenaltecs. They do sound better -- but, then again, they should.
 

JohnBooty

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I listen to my very un-audiophile Bose QC25/QC45 headphones and car stereo the most, as opposed to any of my audiophile-ish gear. Because I am married.

Also if I am walking around doing yardwork or housework, the wireless and portable nature of the QC45 kind of trumps everything else.
 

MacCali

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I listen to my very un-audiophile Bose QC25/QC45 headphones and car stereo the most, as opposed to any of my audiophile-ish gear. Because I am married.

Also if I am walking around doing yardwork or housework, the wireless and portable nature of the QC45 kind of trumps everything else.
Hey man my hats off to you. All that matters is your happy and you aren’t in the rabbit hole.

I get a few friends who I allow over at my home. They are really blown away by my multiple systems and they’re like man I want one and I always tell them no you don’t lol

They look at me like I’m crazy
 

Chr1

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Using a Marantz m-cr610 in my kitchen. Got it cheap second hand. It has several inbuilt digital eq and crossover options and wifi. Powering an old pair of cast aluminium Technics SB-F3s and a B&W ASW-608 sub. Super compact, sounds good and goes pretty loud comfortably whilst cooking.

A Roberts Stream 93i radio to a single KRK ROKIT 10-3 (due to lack of space) in my spare room. Again, sounds good and goes loud, tho only in mono obviously.

Mainly used as Upnp endpoints for my music stored on a NAS, and controlled by my phone with Hifi Cast.
 
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JohnBooty

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Hey man my hats off to you. All that matters is your happy and you aren’t in the rabbit hole.

I get a few friends who I allow over at my home. They are really blown away by my multiple systems and they’re like man I want one and I always tell them no you don’t lol

They look at me like I’m crazy

Yeah, absolutely.

To expand slightly farther (not that anybody asked) my audiophile-ish systems are for active listening. That's my favorite kind of listening, but unfortunately isn't the most common.

(Also, people can laugh at them, but the Bose QC headphones sound pretty good to me. I mean... they've got active DSP and Bose aren't dummies. It would be more surprising if they didn't sound good. I know Bose is a joke in the audiophile world but these headphones are right in their wheelhouse and they're popular for a reason.)
 

tmtomh

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I have one main setup - a stereo-only, audio-only system in a dedicated room in the basement that serves as my listening room, study, and hobby area. I don't subscribe to a streaming service. I listen mainly to locally stored files on a computer-based music server, and secondarily I listen to physical CDs and the occasional music DVD, on the same system.

My "secondary system" is just that same stereo, but with me listening at my desk, a few feet back and to one side of the main listening position, while working or messing around with hobbies.

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 650s I like a lot, but I almost never listen with headphones, as I vastly prefer speakers.

My wife has a nice system in her study/hobby space, with gear that used to be my primary gear. Occasionally she'll come down to my space and we'll listen together for awhile, or vice versa. We also have a pair of AudioEngine A2s in the kitchen/great room area for background music when we have people over, for music while cooking, etc. And in our TV room we have a tiny SMSL stereo amp and a pair of tiny 1980s Mission stand-mounts that sound shockingly good for what they are. I sometimes will listen to music there, via the Smart TV's YouTube app - for some reason I've always enjoyed YouTube as a sort of manual music-discovery tool.

Sometimes I listen to music in the car, via my iPhone plugged into the car's USB port. But for some reason as I've gotten older, I prefer NPR in the car and I like to reserve my music listening mostly for home.

Overall, I would say I do 90% or more of my music listening in my listening room with my main setup. I feel very fortunate to be able to do that on a daily basis.
 

Chrispy

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My various systems (5) are mostly oriented towards audio but also incorporate video as that's another strong interest of mine. I don't see any reason to make them different things based on what some call "for music".
 
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