HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

Have you ever totted up how many items of hi-fi you've bought over the years?

And what it has cost you - net - over the years? My guess is probably not too much.

Nett outgoings every year are about £3k, mainly due to losses when kit is moved on.
I have a strict annual budget or things would get way out of hand and my marriage would go down the toilet.
Over-budget items [like my MBL speakers] are agreed in advance with the Mrs, but that's rare,

I'm sure she'd agree to up the annual budget, but it seems to me that £3k is enough, I have a huge amount of fun with that.
I don't drink or smoke or have fancy cars, so I don't think my hifi shenanigans are excessive as bloke-things go.

A few years ago I totted it all up at the end of the year, I had bought over £20k of gear, and of course sold most of it again. So losses are about 15%.

As for how many items, electronics maybe around 20-25 a year, plus a load of cables.

Have you ever gone through periods where you've struggled to find anything of interest that you'd like to try?

And have you ever thought about slowing down on the box swapping and maybe replacing it with something like DIY'd hi-fi?
After all you'd have a great perspective on whether anything you made or modded was any good or not?

And is there any chance of you exhibiting your MBL's at Kegworth?

Kegworth, no, sadly not.
7 years in what turned out to be a very slightly damp garage turned the boxes into mush. And those top drivers are just too vulnerable.

Yes, I do go through periods where not a lot happens. And then suddenly, Whoosh, like recently.

DIY, no, I know my limitations!

Are you going to try the new Topping D90 Jerry ?

Maybe, at the moment I've got my eye out for a used D70

Very interested to see how the battle of the dacs goes, Chord v Audiobyte.

antonio66 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 21, 2019 2:06 pm Very interested to see how the battle of the dacs goes, Chord v Audiobyte.

Me, too.

Although it's not really a direct comparison, as the Chord requires a means to control the volume to be added to the system, i.e. some form of preamp, while the Audiobyte has its own volume control.

I can tell you already that both are excellent DACs.

The Chord has necessitated an interconnect cable change as it is a little feistier up top than the Audiobyte, so I have swapped out the hyper-explicit Epiphany Acoustics Atratus 3 for some rather smoother Merrow Audio MA4 cables.
Massed vioins no longer have an unpleasant sting when playing loudly. [I only really care about how my system sounds playing classical music.]

The Chord also has a somewhat richer and fruitier midband, almost a golden glow, which is great on winds and brass, if perhaps not entirely accurate!

I guess that post has given us a taster of the differences between the dacs.

Doubled up, bridged and bi-amped.
And sounding great.

Apart Champ 2 amps
http://www.apart-audio.com/Category/Det ... de=CHAMP-2

350wpc with 700 watt dynamic peaks.