Hi Fi Gear

[paul.woolrich]

Just wondering if anyone else on here is also into collecting Hi Fi gear and into highend audio.

This another passion of mine and another way to blow my salary lol. I mainly listen to vinyl, but I also discover new music via Tidal.

My main setup is Teac 500 reference series seperates + a Sony PS-X65 turntable + Cambridge Audio Cxn V2 streamer and a set of classic Celestion speakers.

I also have a portable setup which I recently got which consists of a ibasso Dx220 dap + Focal elegia headphones which sound friggin awesome!

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

[redkite]

LP12, NAIM, B&W 802 ....

[paul.woolrich]

LP12, NAIM, B&W 802 ....

That's a next level setup, very nice! I would love a tube amp some day maybe from mcintosh

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

[ktmog6uk]

my modest set up is a Linn Axis tt with Basik plus arm, Linn lk 85 power amp, Pioneer pd-s505 precision tuned cd player, Denon pma-355 bridged as a pre amp, plus akg 240s phones and Linn Ninka speakers.

[Rod]

Rare old mixture!
Eclipse TD512 speakers, Rogers LS/35A,
KEF LS50, Marantz PM17ki Signature amp, Eclipse 502 amp, Teac A501 amp,
Rega P2 turntable, Musical Fidelity CD,
Netgear NAS drive. Arcam DAC.
Sonos for streaming.
I alternate speakers but mainly use KEF LS50 with the Teac A501.
The Eclipse speakers are frighteningly accurate...I was invited to Abbey Rd studios to audition them.
https://www.eclipse-td.com/uk/index.html
love my music more than TV 😅

[pugster]

like most ive had lots of different gear over the years, now settled on naim 5i-2 with neat motive 2 speakers running through an arcam ir dac (all my music is stored on a netbook in Flac format ) , im pretty happy with the sound from this setup and the only thing i might change (if a used pair come up) is to try a pair of duevel planet omnidirectional speakers .

[subseastu]

Dali Royal Tower speakers
Roksan K2 amp
Roksan K3 dac
Synolgy 213 nas with music on FLAC
SONOS to stream it all

Portable is
Fiio X5 gen 3
1964 CIEM'S with Null audio balanced cryo copper cable

Would love to upgrade my amp to Roksan M2 and move up the dali speaker range but I'd be looking at thousands now for a mark improvement in sound.

Sent from my H8314 using Tapatalk

[Gyp]

Marantz CD10
Rega DAC
Michi RHC-10/RHB-10 passive pre/power
Kef Reference 105/3

Though these days we more often use a £20 Amazon Echo Input as a source to stream from Spotify rather than the £1800 CD/DAC combo...

It is nice though that when Alexa tells me the weather it's through amps, speakers and cables that cost me about £7k back in the mid 90's rather than through a tiny bluetooth speaker :-)

[paul.woolrich]

Dali Royal Tower speakers
Roksan K2 amp
Roksan K3 dac
Synolgy 213 nas with music on FLAC
SONOS to stream it all

Portable is
Fiio X5 gen 3
1964 CIEM'S with Null audio balanced cryo copper cable

Would love to upgrade my amp to Roksan M2 and move up the dali speaker range but I'd be looking at thousands now for a mark improvement in sound.

Sent from my H8314 using Tapatalk

This is always the challenge, the more you spend you end up with ever diminishing returns.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

[subseastu]

Dali Royal Tower speakers
Roksan K2 amp
Roksan K3 dac
Synolgy 213 nas with music on FLAC
SONOS to stream it all

Portable is
Fiio X5 gen 3
1964 CIEM'S with Null audio balanced cryo copper cable

Would love to upgrade my amp to Roksan M2 and move up the dali speaker range but I'd be looking at thousands now for a mark improvement in sound.

Sent from my H8314 using Tapatalk

Since this I've stopped using the Sonos. I built a raspberry pi4 with ropieee to use with a NUC with Roon installed on it. The Nas is used as back up.

I felt there was something more to get from the system and looked into room correction. I settled on a minidsp 2x4 HD with linear power supply. A complicated thing (to me) to set up but I think I got there in the end. It certainly made a difference to the sound of the system for the better.

Trouble is now we're moving house I think I want to reduce the footprint of the system and now I'm eyeing up the NAD M10 v2 to go with the dali Royal tower speakers and flog the rest of the gear.

Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk

[julian2002]

I used to be into my hiding big time and at peak had the best part of 20k tied up in naim, b&w and audio synthesis. Sold most of it when my first business foray went south.
I’m now starting to build it back up again with the only bits of kit I kept from those days. Current system is.
Cambridge audio streamer
Audio synthesis dax decade pre/day
Audio synthesis desire decade amp
IPL S5TL speakers

Chord poly/mojo and Hugo as alternate sources

Also have
Thrones TD105 turntable
Various technics integrated amps as ‘backup’
B&O Beomaster 5000 picked up on a whim and stuck in a cupboard.
Obligatory box of foo wires, plugs and cables which make no difference to the sound at all.

Some of which will be used to make a new system once we have moved.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SimonH]

My main setup is Teac 500 reference series seperates + a Sony PS-X65 turntable + Cambridge Audio Cxn V2 streamer and a set of classic Celestion speakers.


Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

I have a Teac 500 reference I bought new over 20 years ago! Still a great bit of kit.

Also have a Cyrus 2, Beomaster 4000 (bought on here), Thorens TD125 turntable and a Rega Planar 3 my Dad bought me for my 21st in 1985!

[j0hnbarker]

Beosound 9000 and Beolab 5s.

[Kitz]

Primare amp and CD player,Audio Physic Virgo speakers ,lovely.


Sent from my iPad using TZ-UK mobile app

[stefmcd]

A numark tt-1510 turntable
NAD cd transport
QED digit reference DAC
Feeding an...
Exposure super xv amp
Polk audio rt12 floorstanding speakers

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

[MrSmith]

now my kitchen/painting/flooring is finished it was time to sort my hi-fi out. looks like my Rega P3 needs a new bearing or a least a re-lube of the housing (if you are buying a pot of oil you might as well get a fancy ruby or ceramic ball while you are at it.

after playing a a few sides it started to slow right down which i thought was a belt slipping but belt is brand new so google tells me the bearing is dry. however i feel i want to upgrade my amplification from a naim NAC92/NAP90/3 to something with streaming/DAB. i have a Musical fidelity Vdac but end up putting the laptop next to it to listen to digital which isn’t ideal.
thinking of a S/h naim Uniti? anyone have one?
anyone interested in my pre-power set-up? it has MC ‘k’ phono board fitted.

[TimeThoughts]

Amp - NAD
TTable - Rega P2
Streamer - Yamaha
CD - Pioneer (rarely used now)
Speakers - Monitor Audio floorstanders

Recently purchased a set of bookshelf Cambridge Audio speakers and I love them. Floorstanders were getting in everyones way.

[Pitfitter]

ProAc have just released a new version of my speakers with a ribbon tweeter, and I got notice of a nice income tax rebate, going to demo the new style soon, if it's a goer I'm not telling SWMBO, I don't think she'll notice.

[jwillans]

I have a lovely Arcam setup but need to find a streamer that can handle all typical files including FLAC and ideally work with Alexa. Any suggestions?

[pugster]

I have a lovely Arcam setup but need to find a streamer that can handle all typical files including FLAC and ideally work with Alexa. Any suggestions?

i run an arcam irdac which just plugs into the amp , music is kept in flac (and other formats) on a netbook which runs jriver/foobar (the netbook can be put in another room completely away from the hifi , all you need to do is switch it on ).
i keep an ipad in the same room as the hifi which has jremote and monkeymote on it - from these remotes i can access all my music on the netbook.

a bit different from a dedicated streamer but most ppl have a netbook /laptop and ipad / samsung tablet lying about these days.

[jwillans]

i run an arcam irdac which just plugs into the amp , music is kept in flac (and other formats) on a netbook which runs jriver/foobar (the netbook can be put in another room completely away from the hifi , all you need to do is switch it on ).
i keep an ipad in the same room as the hifi which has jremote and monkeymote on it - from these remotes i can access all my music on the netbook.

a bit different from a dedicated streamer but most ppl have a netbook /laptop and ipad / samsung tablet lying about these days.

That would work for me - although looks to be discontinued. Thanks for the suggestion. I have a NAS that can serve content.

[julian2002]

I have a lovely Arcam setup but need to find a streamer that can handle all typical files including FLAC and ideally work with Alexa. Any suggestions?

I'm looking at changing my Cambridge Audio NP30 streamer to the later CA CXN V2 does everything you list apart from the alexa stuff directly although it does support spotify connect so if you use that service you may be able to control spotify via alexa with the ouptut set as the CA device.

The other option is one of amazons own devices echo link in conjunction with the Cambridge audio may do everything you want.

[jwillans]

I'm looking at changing my Cambridge Audio NP30 streamer to the later CA CXN V2 does everything you list apart from the alexa stuff directly although it does support spotify connect so if you use that service you may be able to control spotify via alexa with the ouptut set as the CA device.

The other option is one of amazons own devices echo link in conjunction with the Cambridge audio may do everything you want.

Thanks. I've looked at the CXN V2 and it is very well reviewed. It feels to me rather expensive for what it does - I guess that's the world of Hifi!

[julian2002]

Thanks. I've looked at the CXN V2 and it is very well reviewed. It feels to me rather expensive for what it does - I guess that's the world of Hifi!

There are cheaper streamers available on amazon, I received one as an xmas present last year but after 15 minutes of playback it would introduce random clicks and pops into the music and had to go back. The other option might be a cheap pc / tablet / Rasberry Pi and a usb dac or digital output converter but then you are wholly responsible for support and life is too short (for me anyway).

[stiglet]

Mine is fairly old now, but still sounds OK to my aging ears

Revolver deck with Linn arm
NAD 3020 ( using preamp stage only )
2 Cyrus smartpower amps
Quad 23L speakers

All sourced 2nd hand for not a lot...

[SeanST150]

I'm looking at changing my Cambridge Audio NP30 streamer to the later CA CXN V2 does everything you list apart from the alexa stuff directly although it does support spotify connect so if you use that service you may be able to control spotify via alexa with the ouptut set as the CA device.

The other option is one of amazons own devices echo link in conjunction with the Cambridge audio may do everything you want.

Anyway mentioned by me above, the Blue Sound Node II is worth a look. It's £500, not cheap, but cheaper than the Cambridge Audio. It does look with almost all streaming services and had Alexa functionality, albeit I'm not sure exactly how much you can control it with Alexa.

[paul.woolrich]

Anyway mentioned by me above, the Blue Sound Node II is worth a look. It's £500, not cheap, but cheaper than the Cambridge Audio. It does look with almost all streaming services and had Alexa functionality, albeit I'm not sure exactly how much you can control it with Alexa.

I have the Cambridge Audio CXN V2 and have to say I've been super impressed with it. I would say the only down side is the mobile app. You can however just use chromecast. It would be nice if they offered MQA support also.

Overall the build quality is really good and it sounds fantastic.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

[SeanST150]

I have the Cambridge Audio CXN V2 and have to say I've been super impressed with it. I would say the only down side is the mobile app. You can however just use chromecast. It would be nice if they offered MQA support also.

Overall the build quality is really good and it sounds fantastic.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

I'm sure it does, and it was second on my short list. Herein lies the issue with modern hi-fi and modern sources of music. It's no longer just down to sound (and build) quality; consideration is also given to app and music format support. The best sounding can be rendered useless if the app won't work!

[MrSmith]

Have finally dipped my toes into the waters of proper hi-fi and picked up a nice Denon micro system (DM41DAB).

Without wanting to be churlish that’s not really ‘high-fidelity’ though a step up from a soundbar/bluetooth speaker. DAB radio is not a patch on good FM broadcast, it’s only 128k data rate.

[cnjm1]

Has anyone experienced a Naim Uniti Nova and can say how it compares to the set ups in this thread?


Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app

[SeanST150]

Mine is far from high end, but it does me well.

For TV/Movies/Games

Mission 796 and 79c with some small Mordaunt-Short Premier for the rear.

Sony dn1050 AV Receiver

BK Electronics Gemini II sub

QED cables all round

For music;

I switch the 796 over to a Marantz KI Pearl Lite amp.

Music is supplied via a Blue Sound Node II which is ace.

Music is either from a NAS or streamed from Qobuz.

In the dining room I have 2 Blue Sound Pulse Flex 2i paired in sterio. The Blue Sound are an excellent, great sounding alternative to Sonos. To me they sound significantly better.

THREAD HIGHJACK......

I'm currently signed up to the 90 day trial of Amazon Music Unlimited HD. Annoyingly Amazon has chosen badge HD and UHD rather than Hi-Res. I love what Qobuz has to offer, but at £25 a month, Amazon is very tempting at £13! If it sounds as good I could very well switch permanently.

Has anyone given the service a decent run/test yet? Thoughts?

[subseastu]

Mine is far from high end, but it does me well.

For TV/Movies/Games

Mission 796 and 79c with some small Mordaunt-Short Premier for the rear.

Sony dn1050 AV Receiver

BK Electronics Gemini II sub

QED cables all round

For music;

I switch the 796 over to a Marantz KI Pearl Lite amp.

Music is supplied via a Blue Sound Node II which is ace.

Music is either from a NAS or streamed from Qobuz.

In the dining room I have 2 Blue Sound Pulse Flex 2i paired in sterio. The Blue Sound are an excellent, great sounding alternative to Sonos. To me they sound significantly better.

THREAD HIGHJACK......

I'm currently signed up to the 90 day trial of Amazon Music Unlimited HD. Annoyingly Amazon has chosen badge HD and UHD rather than Hi-Res. I love what Qobuz has to offer, but at £25 a month, Amazon is very tempting at £13! If it sounds as good I could very well switch permanently.

Has anyone given the service a decent run/test yet? Thoughts?

I was recently thinking about the blue sound node. How are they compared to the sonos play 5

Sent from my H8314 using Tapatalk

[SeanST150]

I was recently thinking about the blue sound node. How are they compared to the sonos play 5

Sent from my H8314 using Tapatalk

Much better as far as I'm concerned. Of all of the Blue Sound products compared to their Sonos counterparts the Blue Sound sound so much better.

Their app may not be as good as Sonos, but it works, works well, and easily integrates with Qobuz and Tidal. I've not tried other subscription services as they don't offer Hi-Res. Of course that now includes Amazon, but I've only just starting using that.

[subseastu]

Much better as far as I'm concerned. Of all of the Blue Sound products compared to their Sonos counterparts the Blue Sound sound so much better.

Their app may not be as good as Sonos, but it works, works well, and easily integrates with Qobuz and Tidal. I've not tried other subscription services as they don't offer Hi-Res. Of course that now includes Amazon, but I've only just starting using that.

Thanks, I'll take a look.

Sent from my H8314 using Tapatalk

[paul.woolrich]

Mine is far from high end, but it does me well.

For TV/Movies/Games

Mission 796 and 79c with some small Mordaunt-Short Premier for the rear.

Sony dn1050 AV Receiver

BK Electronics Gemini II sub

QED cables all round

For music;

I switch the 796 over to a Marantz KI Pearl Lite amp.

Music is supplied via a Blue Sound Node II which is ace.

Music is either from a NAS or streamed from Qobuz.

In the dining room I have 2 Blue Sound Pulse Flex 2i paired in sterio. The Blue Sound are an excellent, great sounding alternative to Sonos. To me they sound significantly better.

THREAD HIGHJACK......

I'm currently signed up to the 90 day trial of Amazon Music Unlimited HD. Annoyingly Amazon has chosen badge HD and UHD rather than Hi-Res. I love what Qobuz has to offer, but at £25 a month, Amazon is very tempting at £13! If it sounds as good I could very well switch permanently.

Has anyone given the service a decent run/test yet? Thoughts?

I use Tidal masters for MQA and Flac. In my car I use Deezer as its built into my M3. I also have local flac's running from my synology via Plex server.

I haven't tried Amazon unlimited, do they have any 24bit 192khz tracks?

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

[SeanST150]

I use Tidal masters for MQA and Flac. In my car I use Deezer as its built into my M3. I also have local flac's running from my synology via Plex server.

I haven't tried Amazon unlimited, do they have any 24bit 192khz tracks?

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

They do, albeit the only album in 192khz I've found so far is from Norah Jones.

[IanV]

My gear has been relegated to the cupboard under the stairs and my BK 12" sub is for sale on EBay at the mo, due to new baby. I have

Cyrus CD7q
Sugden A21a
Sugden A21p
PMC FB1s
Isotek cleanline mains conditioner
Atacama rack
Can't remember what cables/leads but decent for the set up

One day I'll have it all set up again!

[gavsw20]

Mine is far from high end, but it does me well.

For TV/Movies/Games

Mission 796 and 79c with some small Mordaunt-Short Premier for the rear.

Sony dn1050 AV Receiver

BK Electronics Gemini II sub

QED cables all round

For music;

I switch the 796 over to a Marantz KI Pearl Lite amp.

Music is supplied via a Blue Sound Node II which is ace.

Music is either from a NAS or streamed from Qobuz.

In the dining room I have 2 Blue Sound Pulse Flex 2i paired in sterio. The Blue Sound are an excellent, great sounding alternative to Sonos. To me they sound significantly better.

THREAD HIGHJACK......

I'm currently signed up to the 90 day trial of Amazon Music Unlimited HD. Annoyingly Amazon has chosen badge HD and UHD rather than Hi-Res. I love what Qobuz has to offer, but at £25 a month, Amazon is very tempting at £13! If it sounds as good I could very well switch permanently.

Has anyone given the service a decent run/test yet? Thoughts?

Get a 30 day trial on TIDAL. I guarantee you won’t go back.

[SeanST150]

Get a 30 day trial on TIDAL. I guarantee you won’t go back.

I have tried Tidal. To me the sound quality was ever so slightly better, but not material. The issue I had with Tidal was the constant pushing of Rap and Hip-hop. I guess being owned by Jay-Z that's what you're going to get.

I like rap, but I also like dance, rock and classical music. Qobuz I find caters to a more varied taste in music and fairly/equally promotes good music from across all genres.

[gavsw20]

I have tried Tidal. To me the sound quality was ever so slightly better, but not material. The issue I had with Tidal was the constant pushing of Rap and Hip-hop. I guess being owned by Jay-Z that's what you're going to get.

I like rap, but I also like dance, rock and classical music. Qobuz I find caters to a more varied taste in music and fairly/equally promotes good music from across all genres.

This was the same for me, I joined when it first came out and couldn’t find about 80% of my Spotify artist list.

I returned last year and since then haven’t not found an album I needed so have stuck with it and sacked off Spotify. The UI has also improved massively.

[paul.woolrich]

This was the same for me, I joined when it first came out and couldn’t find about 80% of my Spotify artist list.

I returned last year and since then haven’t not found an album I needed so have stuck with it and sacked off Spotify. The UI has also improved massively.

Also you need to use it a bit for the AI to kick in and recognise what type of music you like. Then the recommendations you don't want start to go away.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

[ALindsay]

Was into it big time for several years but haven’t bought anything for ages after finally realising the law of diminishing returns is a very slippery and expensive slope to go down. Plus, there is a lot of snake oil pedalled in the industry. My final system consists of 30 year old Rega Planar 3 (modded) Naim CDS3 with 555PS olive NAP 135s upgraded by Avondale olive 52 NAC & supercap. All pumping into Shahinian Obelisks. Sounds great to me even though now well outdated wrt to sources.


Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app

[Tifa]

Feeling the OCD starting to come back.....

[paul.woolrich]

I use my CXN & ibasso dx220 dap to discover new music via Tidal. Once I find an album I like I always then go and get it on 180gram vinyl. You can't beat that analogue sound, for me the only format the beats vinyl is SACD but that never took off.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

[Pitfitter]

I let my wife see some of the pictures........... she’s destroyed my credit card, just in case upgradeitus takes hold. Bitch.

[paul.woolrich]

I let my wife see some of the pictures........... she’s destroyed my credit card, just in case upgradeitus takes hold. Bitch.

Lol - my wife gave up years ago she knows I'm a lost cause. I convinced her that my watch collecting hobby is one of the less crazy hobbies I have.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

[gavsw20]

I have the CXN (v1) and it’s probably the only bit of kit I wouldn’t replace.

I use it with TIDAL but the only issue is you need to use the CA Connect app which could be better. I also stream to a Google Chromecast audio (direct from TIDAL) but obviously don’t get album artwork.

I have it running to a an Arcam AVR390 in stereo to a pair of B&W CM6S2’s. Sounds fantastic at low and high volumes.

[xellos99]

I have 2 Cyrus 8 powers, Cyrus pre amp and Cyrus CD player with all the stupidly expensive cables .

I did have Spendor SA1 but sold off a couple of years back.

Use Dali Lektor 1 now, I love Dali speakers - they are epic for dance music

[MrSmith]

radio paradise is one of my go-to streams on internet radio. mellow/rock/eclectic mix depending on the mood.

[pete-r]

radio paradise is one of my go-to streams on internet radio. mellow/rock/eclectic mix depending on the mood.

Agreed, and also some of the SOMA FM stations. Anywhere playing Prefuse73 followed by Interpol on radio must be celebrated.