I've done my own head in.........again

[karatestu]

This is where my stuff is going to go



AP20 and streamer/dac on the walnut cabinet under the TV. B&W P4's either side of the telly. Will move the TV and storage box in front of the radiator both a little to the left. RH speaker in front of the LP storage and the LH speaker will go just to the left of the TV. Cables would ideally be my one metre TIS and LS6 speaker cables BUT they are going to be far too long. Not sure what to do there. Speaker cables only need to be a metre long. TIS won't be as much of a problem.

It won't be perfect but I am past caring tbh. As those B&W P4's are point and squirt then I don't have to worry as much about what is around them. Also with them being a transmission line I don't have to get them as close to the wall as a sealed box with no baffle step compensation. They are now partially doc modded and the aspects of their performance which used to bug me are gone. The first order low pass on the mid bass used to let the kevlar cone's break up nasties through although at a reduced level. A bit of gutter sealant sorted that out. I changed the 1" dome tweeter and it's 3rd order electrical high pass for or a 2" wideband with single capacitor.

I'm quite excited about this in terms of taking streaming to a higher level than my current tablet and JBL charge5 Bluetooth speaker and the vast simplification of the set up and zero storage of media.

Am I off my head or what ?

[Latteman]

Look at the ifi range of products- stuff to suit all requirements from streamer transport to Bluetooth to dacs

[CN211276]

Streaming is very much what it is today as far as the mass market is concerned. I have become very much aware, even from my age group, that vinyl and CD are dinasours. With the advancement of technology streaming does not mean SQ compromises. IMO, with decent amps and speakers, it is the pinnacle. SQ aside it has so many other advantages, eg convenience and portability.

I have to agree with you there Clive. Six years ago when I joined this forum i would not have entertained it, it's funny how our prejudices shape what we do and the decisions we make. Blinkered.

I enjoyed getting the turntable out recently but it has been put away again. I don't see the point in CD's anymore because streaming is basically the same thing but you don't have to store the bloody things and you don't have to worry about the laser going pop.

Us "audiophiles" fail to appreciate how cut off we have become from the main stream and I have been as guilty as anyone. It must have been 25'years ago when I was introduced to MP3 on a primitive low storage device. I did not take it seriously and bought a Walkman at around the same time. I bought my first MP3 player in 2009,;welcome to the 21st Century.

By this time CDs had become really cheap and I was buying masses of them. I should have cottoned on that they were so cheap because no one wanted them anymore because streaming had taken over. Storage became a serious problem, especially as we were downsizing house in 2015. Luckily I became aware of lossless streaming and have not looked back. It took years to rip all the CDs and sell them.

I am still going through a learning experience as only the other day I discovered Soundiiz which has been around for ten years. Being an IT numpty I am trying to get my head round it, but the initial result is promising. I transferred the free Spotify classic rock playlist to Qobuz and play back was lossless. Dream On played at 192kHz 24 Bit. I want to transfer albums which are not available on Qobuz. It looks like I will have to pay a £3 subscription. I will investigate and report back.

[karatestu]

Streaming is very much what it is today as far as the mass market is concerned. I have become very much aware, even from my age group, that vinyl and CD are dinasours. With the advancement of technology streaming does not mean SQ compromises. IMO, with decent amps and speakers, it is the pinnacle. SQ aside it has so many other advantages, eg convenience and portability.

I have to agree with you there Clive. Six years ago when I joined this forum i would not have entertained it, it's funny how our prejudices shape what we do and the decisions we make. Blinkered.

I enjoyed getting the turntable out recently but it has been put away again. I don't see the point in CD's anymore because streaming is basically the same thing but you don't have to store the bloody things and you don't have to worry about the laser going pop.

Us "audiophiles" fail to appreciate how cut off we have become from the main stream and I have been as guilty as anyone. It must have been 25'years ago when I was introduced to MP3 on a primitive low storage device. I did not take it seriously and bought a Walkman at around the same time. I bought my first MP3 player in 2009,;welcome to the 21st Century.

By this time CDs had become really cheap and I was buying masses of them. I should have cottoned on that they were so cheap because no one wanted them anymore because streaming had taken over. Storage became a serious problem, especially as we were downsizing house in 2015. Luckily I became aware of lossless streaming and have not looked back. It took years to rip all the CDs and sell them.

I am still going through a learning experience as only the other day I discovered Soundiiz which has been around for ten years. Being an IT numpty I am trying to get my head round it, but the initial result is promising. I transferred the free Spotify classic rock playlist to Qobuz and play back was lossless. Dream On played at 192kHz 24 Bit. I want to transfer albums which are not available on Qobuz. It looks like I will have to pay a £3 subscription. I will investigate and report back.

There's a subject in there that deserves a thread of it's own - cut off from the mainstream and so far up our own arses that we are a laughing stock and missing out due to our stupid prejudices and refusal to embrace new technologies.

[SteveTheShadow]

That makes me positively antediluvian, what with the valves and everything.
On the positive side though, I’ve been streaming with Apple Music via an AppleTV since 2015. It’s so convenient, the LP only gets a look in with a couple of records per week and CD maybe once a month.

But you’re right Stu, DIY hi-fi can be a complete pain in the arse. My attitude these days, is about a love of making things rather than trying to get ultimate sound quality (whatever that means.) I simply don’t have the means to be buying Lundahl output transformers, silver wound chokes, boutique capacitors, so I try to make the best of the cheap ass parts I have.

[Fretless]

We are the dinosaurs. Domestic audio for the millenials is provided by smart speakers - wireless and voice-activated.

Music selection is made by algorithms that generate streaming playlists to suit your tastes and mood.

[SteveTheShadow]

….Music selection is made by algorithms that generate streaming playlists to suit your tastes and mood.

Aye I have my own ‘station’ on my Apple Music subscription. it changes according to my listening habits.

[Fretless]

Note on Volumio. Devices running on this system are controlled by either a smartphone app or PC web-browser. Very simple to set up and use.

SQ from Volumio streamers is superb

Reasonably future-proof as the software is regularly updated to provide access to Qobuz, Tidal, Spotify etc. And there is built-in web radio with a vast selection of stations.

[Vinyl-ant]

One i am looking to buy at the moment it a WiiM mini.
About 100 quid ish, plugs into an amp or a dac, controlled via either its own app or spotify connect or tidal connect. It can either connect to a dac via optical or use its own internal dac and analogue out.
The tidal connect and optical out is what inerested me because i use the tablet and a cable to the dac to stream at the moment, and being able to just use the phone to tell it what to play rather than using wires frees it up.

[SteveTheShadow]

Don’t feel too down about the DIY Stu
Us DIY simpletons can't resist faffing, but that way lies madness if you get obsessed.

A musician mate on AT and me even faffed about, writing a half finished song about faffing in 2017.
It went to the tune of “When I'm Cleaning Windows" by the great George Formby:

"Now, I like valve amp building,
Speakers and all that stuff.
Some of them they turn out nice,
But most turn out dog rough!"

There's plate chokes, grid chokes, 2A3s,
Forty-fives, three 'undred Bs
Tetrodes, pentodes, DHPs
When I'm building valve amps!

Now valve amps are addictive
And it's very 'ard to stop.
I'll crank that blinkin' DC
Until all the caps go pop!

Anodes, cathodes, grids and grounds,
Silver coils, a thousand pounds,
Sparks and bangs and screeching sounds,
When I’m building valve amps.


Now seven 'undred fifty quid
Buys me a PX4.
But please don't tell the missus
Or she'll knock me through the floor!

Now for the wife, life's gettin' hard,
Front room looks like Steptoe's yard.
She's confiscated my bank card,
To stop me building valve amps.

Middle eight inst.......

A neighbour knocked upon my door
“Turn it down cant take no more,”
The watts it puts out, only four
When I'm building valve amps

Turned out nice again a’nt it !