Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

duke86fan said:
Every review talks about it's huge performance though
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As someone who's written a few non-professional reviews, and even a few actually published reviews (not for audio stuff), I can tell you this... as much as you try to be objective in a review, it's MUCH easier to see the positives of gear when you didn't pay for it. Doesn't matter if it's a loaner demo unit, or gifted in exchange for a review. All reviews where the writer had someone else provide/pay for the gear will have a more positive outlook.

That includes channels like ZReviews where he is buying some of the gear, but he's buying it with "company" funds from his channel/patreon.

Not saying those reviews can't be valuable, they can. But this is why I like reviewers that 1 - talk about pros and cons, 2 - compare to other gear in as much detail as possible. Then if I've at least heard the other gear I have some type of reference point.
 
i just wanna feel the punch of high sound quality and that insane emotional experience but i dont have the power for a big DAC/AMP and i dunno if the problem is my headphones, what dac i should use, anything else.. i want to feel music
 
I’m pretty blown away by how well the AT VM95ML handles surface noise, so that has led me to wondering what types of styli and/or cartridges are the best in terms of “forgiveness” Coming from the grado black to something that although is affordable is twice the cost the improvement in this area is undeniable to me. At what price point does improvement start becoming less obvious and obvious, I’m big on value I’m sure that the more you spend the better it gets but diminishing returns and what not. I know it shouldn’t be my only consideration when looking at how something may sound different but I enjoy records so much when surface noise isn’t distracting and it’s worth it to do things that minimize this across the board.
 
Dylanfan253 said:
I’m pretty blown away by how well the AT VM95ML handles surface noise, so that has led me to wondering what types of styli and/or cartridges are the best in terms of “forgiveness” Coming from the grado black to something that although is affordable is twice the cost the improvement in this area is undeniable to me. At what price point does improvement start becoming less obvious and obvious, I’m big on value I’m sure that the more you spend the better it gets but diminishing returns and what not. I know it shouldn’t be my only consideration when looking at how something may sound different but I enjoy records so much when surface noise isn’t distracting and it’s worth it to do things that minimize this across the board.
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Somewhat related yet unrelated, but @Mather did you ever end up biting on the sugarcube?

For reference:
www.musicdirect.com

SweetVinyl - SugarCube SC-1

www.musicdirect.com
 
Melt Face Molly Drop said:
Somewhat related yet unrelated, but @Mather did you ever end up biting on the sugarcube?

For reference:
www.musicdirect.com

SweetVinyl - SugarCube SC-1

www.musicdirect.com
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I didn't yet only because they keep bringing our new models very frequently with significant upgrades on each one so I decided to hold off until they kinda settle on a final version... Also I don't currently have any way to take it out of the chain, I don't want all my audio going through it, only want to add it for bad pressings and copies, but I can't currently do that with my setup. Still interested though.
 
Dylanfan253 said:
I’m pretty blown away by how well the AT VM95ML handles surface noise, so that has led me to wondering what types of styli and/or cartridges are the best in terms of “forgiveness” Coming from the grado black to something that although is affordable is twice the cost the improvement in this area is undeniable to me. At what price point does improvement start becoming less obvious and obvious, I’m big on value I’m sure that the more you spend the better it gets but diminishing returns and what not. I know it shouldn’t be my only consideration when looking at how something may sound different but I enjoy records so much when surface noise isn’t distracting and it’s worth it to do things that minimize this across the board.
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One of my favorite discussions on diminishing returns was from Steve Guttenberg. He said that if you buy the cheapest Bluetooth speaker or the cheapest ear buds you can buy, and suddenly you have music. From there your spending can only go up, and your returns only diminish because you made the initial step of having no music, to having music.

Honestly I think diminishing returns are VERY hard to identify. Too many variables. Other gear can be limiting. Listening experience may more may not detect certain things. The room is a big factor. And also what you want. How much the expense means to me ($200, $500, $700... all different numbers to a lot of people). In your case, a cart that others find superior might be too unforgiving for your taste. It's just a lot of variables to consider.

I will say that if you are spending an amount that you are a little uncomfortable with (really stretching your budget), don't buy blind. That's a recipe for disappointment unless are stepping in a line that you're in love with. But even then it's a bit of a risk.
 
displayname said:
I will say that if you are spending an amount that you are a little uncomfortable with (really stretching your budget), don't buy blind. That's a recipe for disappointment unless are stepping in a line that you're in love with. But even then it's a bit of a risk.
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Agreed, unfortunately our expectations go up with the dollar amount spent for something. As you mentioned, budget and sound, in this instance has a lot of personal implications that sway the formula. One thing I have realized is that you do need to be comfortable with your budget, regardless of what it is, and then push away the big ticket items, meaning, enjoy what you put together for a while, let it sink in, that will usually tell you what your ears may think they're lacking and what you might want to tweak, if anything.

And there are times where there is a trade off so to speak, with a cart, one may be more forgiving to surface noise, but you lose some of the spaciousness of the sound field, it really does boil down to what you personally like, or the sweet spot of sound and budget. Lots of little wrinkles to consider, but I'll be honest, the one thing I've learned with the help of members on this forum and personal experience, you don't need to spend a lot to have an "Audiophile" system and patience is your best friend ;)
 
debianlinux said:
The saga continues. I got the new Marantz setup today and it’s pretty great but it confirmed that one of the speakers is defective and it was not just a shitty signal chain in the old receiver. Fortunately the amazon return process is painless and I get the new one Thursday and can reuse the box (I cut the old ones up for record mailers lol) to ship the defective one back free of charge By Jan 14.
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I was wrong! I have defective receiver. I submitted for return/exchange with Accessories4LEss and got the following response:
Honestly, the NR series AVR’s only have 50wpc and are the least powerful receivers we sell. They are designed to run small speakers, in a small room, which you have limited shelf height.

I DO NOT recommend using this receiver with your speakers. The amp is not enough power, which is why it failed prematurely. The SR5013 is the best choice, DOUBLE the power, and will drive the Elac successfully.

We can credit the return and apply the credit towards the SR5013 ($499) and charge you the difference.
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I agree with a lot of what he is trying to say except the bit about the thing failing prematurely. That does not add up to me at all. Ostensibly, I should be able to run the thing at max output all the time and it never fail. Furthermore, I was getting sufficient output running it at 60% meaning there was plenty of headroom for my application (I am assuming). I'm a little offended that I am being treated as ignorant (I'm posting here to confirm I am not) and attempted to upsell. That said, I'm not completely opposed to spending the extra to move up a model although I REALLY like the small form factor of the NR1609. Anyone want to weigh in before I craft a response?
 
debianlinux said:
I was wrong! I have defective receiver. I submitted for return/exchange with Accessories4LEss and got the following response:


I agree with a lot of what he is trying to say except the bit about the thing failing prematurely. That does not add up to me at all. Ostensibly, I should be able to run the thing at max output all the time and it never fail. Furthermore, I was getting sufficient output running it at 60% meaning there was plenty of headroom for my application (I am assuming). I'm a little offended that I am being treated as ignorant (I'm posting here to confirm I am not) and attempted to upsell. That said, I'm not completely opposed to spending the extra to move up a model although I REALLY like the small form factor of the NR1609. Anyone want to weigh in before I craft a response?
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If you are running your system at 60% on the volume control, you are running near its limit. Think of the volume control like the accelerator on your car- just because it goes all the way to the floor doesn't mean you drive with your foot all the way in.

The Elacs are a little on the inefficient side and will benefit from more power. That said, please understand that a 100 watt amp will not sound twice as loud as a 50 watt amp. To get to a level you perceive as twice as loud takes 10x more power, or from 50 watts to 500.

Most home listening is actually done at 10 watts or less.
 
HiFi Guy said:
If you are running your system at 60% on the volume control, you are running near its limit. Think of the volume control like the accelerator on your car- just because it goes all the way to the floor doesn't mean you drive with your foot all the way in.

The Elacs are a little on the inefficient side and will benefit from more power. That said, please understand that a 100 watt amp will not sound twice as loud as a 50 watt amp. To get to a level you perceive as twice as loud takes 10x more power, or from 50 watts to 500.

Most home listening is actually done at 10 watts or less.
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I understand and basically knew all of the above. In your opinion is it worth another $100 to double the power output when I was getting sufficient for my uses output at 50wpc? I knew the Elacs were somewhat inefficient. Also, do you find any merit to their assertion that my running th thing at 60% for less than a week was sufficent to destroy an output channel? That, in particular, seems ludicrous and puts everything else into deep question.
 
debianlinux said:
I understand and basically knew all of the above. In your opinion is it worth another $100 to double the power output when I was getting sufficient for my uses output at 50wpc? I knew the Elacs were somewhat inefficient. Also, do you find any merit to their assertion that my running th thing at 60% for less than a week was sufficent to destroy an output channel? That, in particular, seems ludicrous and puts everything else into deep question.
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I do think it's worth $100 to double your power assuming you aren't losing any features that are important to you.

I don't think that running the amp hard for a week caused your issue. Some models are more reliable than others, even from the same manufacturer.
 
HiFi Guy said:
If you are running your system at 60% on the volume control, you are running near its limit. Think of the volume control like the accelerator on your car- just because it goes all the way to the floor doesn't mean you drive with your foot all the way in.
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Totally agree.. my volume knob never gets past 10am on the dial.
 
debianlinux said:
Clearly, neither of you have ever been in the car with me driving!

I just authorized an exchange and upsell to the bigger unit.
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I love my tunes as loud as anyone, I was just pointing out that I get ear splitting levels well below 60%, so I think that amp may have been asked to work a bit too hard! lol

Best of luck with the new gear! Enjoy the ride and report back once you get it!
 
Are there any integrated amps out there without an onboard phono input? With the Insight, I feel there's no need for this and I'd like to keep the system as tight as possible with no extra hardware baggage. Likely would be looking in the $1500-2500 range. I'm just not sure if this is a thing. Is it a stereo amp that would fit the bill better?
 
Melt Face Molly Drop said:
Are there any integrated amps out there without an onboard phono input? With the Insight, I feel there's no need for this and I'd like to keep the system as tight as possible with no extra hardware baggage. Likely would be looking in the $1500-2500 range. I'm just not sure if this is a thing. Is it a stereo amp that would fit the bill better?
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There are lots of integrateds out there with no phono stage. At that budget, JoLida/Black Ice Audio makes some nice options, in case you want tubes.

Underwood Hi Fi has a killer deal going right now on a Jolida 60 watt per channel integrated- @kvetcha owns one. Scroll down to see the deal.


Also, Uncle Kevin (Upscale Audio) has an on fire deal on a Naim preamp/power amp combo that is 62% off and comes in under budget. Don't be put off by the plain Jane wrapper, Naim gear is stellar solid state.

upscaleaudio.com

Naim NAC 152 XS & NAP 155 XS Preamp/Poweramp Bundle

Naim NAC 152 XS & NAP 155 XS When Naim recently discontinued these pieces, Upscale bought the entire inventory. Why? So we could get you a bad-ass, $5990 Naim stack for only $2249! That's over 62% off!Don't mind that it's been opened? Save even more on an open stock bundle while supplies...
upscaleaudio.com upscaleaudio.com

Either are pieces I'd gladly own.
 
Melt Face Molly Drop said:
Are there any integrated amps out there without an onboard phono input? With the Insight, I feel there's no need for this and I'd like to keep the system as tight as possible with no extra hardware baggage. Likely would be looking in the $1500-2500 range. I'm just not sure if this is a thing. Is it a stereo amp that would fit the bill better?
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The Kinki Studio EX-M1 in fantastic solid state, and is within your budget without a phono, or a dac, or anything really. Just a straight up simple and well designed integrated amp. R2R volume is pretty cool too.

It also weights a ton. I legitimately tweaked my back moving that thing around.
EX-M1 | kinkistudio

If you want to go just over budget and need a couple more features, the EX-M1+ would work for you as well. It might not seem like many features, but I think most of the money goes to this: "improved the internal wiring with pure OCC copper and overly well-made gold plated connector"
www.kinki-studio.com

EX-M1+ | Kinki Studio

www.kinki-studio.com www.kinki-studio.com
 
yeah im definitely gonna get a DAC because i just now noticed that the headphone jack i have on my laptop is doing a high pitched hiss

all i need for mine is to be portable enough... support 96Khz (196 is too much of a luxery and HD tracks can let me buy american idiot in 96Khz), and sound generally better
 
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