Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

MikeH said:
i like my NAD316BEE V2. have it hooked up to my Wharfedale Denton bookshelf speakers + phono stage + DAC + SACD player. the main complaint for me is that it doesn't have a replaceable power cable. I have issues in my home with some noise likely coming through the power. It's not due to the NAD as my other amp has the same issue. but my options with how to deal with it get limited by the fact that i can't change the power cable.
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Hmmm so you had the same with another amp too? Maybe it’s not a ground loop or transformer hum….

Is this system plugged into some form of power conditioner or just the wall/a standard power strip?

Is there any other devices plugged into/on the same circuit that could be inducing noise (dimmer/kitchen appliance/chordless device?
 
Joe Mac said:
Hmmm so you had the same with another amp too? Maybe it’s not a ground loop or transformer hum….

Is this system plugged into some form of power conditioner or just the wall/a standard power strip?

Is there any other devices plugged into/on the same circuit that could be inducing noise (dimmer/kitchen appliance/chordless device?
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Yea. I had it plugged into a PANAMAX MR4300 conditioner then ended up buying an Emotiva CMX-2. That’s plugged into the wall. On my office setup though there’s loads of other stuff plugged in. Computer and monitor, Modem, eero for wireless network, Lutron and Hue for smart lights…

Also haven’t had a chance to trace what else is on that same circuit. We have a subpanel on our 2nd floor so when I find the time I’ll do some testing and see what’s on each circuit on the breaker. They aren’t all clearly labeled.
 
MikeH said:
Yea. I had it plugged into a PANAMAX MR4300 conditioner then ended up buying an Emotiva CMX-2. That’s plugged into the wall. On my office setup though there’s loads of other stuff plugged in. Computer and monitor, Modem, eero for wireless network, Lutron and Hue for smart lights…

Also haven’t had a chance to trace what else is on that same circuit. We have a subpanel on our 2nd floor so when I find the time I’ll do some testing and see what’s on each circuit on the breaker. They aren’t all clearly labeled.
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Is it the office setup that’s humming? That might make some sense with all the other stuff. Modem and hue definitely could be noisy.

If it’s the other one and that’s into a conditioner then maybe less likely. Just a random though that popped into my head!
 
Joe Mac said:
Is it the office setup that’s humming? That might make some sense with all the other stuff. Modem and hue definitely could be noisy.

If it’s the other one and that’s into a conditioner then maybe less likely. Just a random though that popped into my head!
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Thanks! Yea the office is humming. My downstairs setup is running through an Audiolab DC block and doesn’t have much noise at all. Weirdly that room has 4 lamps on Lutron smart dimmers in it haha.
 
MikeH said:
Thanks! Yea the office is humming. My downstairs setup is running through an Audiolab DC block and doesn’t have much noise at all. Weirdly that room has 4 lamps on Lutron smart dimmers in it haha.
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The DC block is more fixing transformer hum but if it’s also running though a conditioner that is probably filtering out the crap the lutron is adding.

Maybe worth investing in a conditioner for the office system and plugging the hifi into it and plugging the computer into a different strip from a different outlet.
 
Joe Mac said:
The DC block is more fixing transformer hum but if it’s also running though a conditioner that is probably filtering out the crap the lutron is adding.

Maybe worth investing in a conditioner for the office system and plugging the hifi into it and plugging the computer into a different strip from a different outlet.
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Forgot I have an Audioquest Powerquest 2 that most of my audio stuff is plugged into at the moment in my office haha. I’ll double check that none of my computer stuff is plugged into it. I’ve tried all sorts of stuff at this point! Have pretty much given up
 
MikeH said:
Forgot I have an Audioquest Powerquest 2 that most of my audio stuff is plugged into at the moment in my office haha. I’ll double check that none of my computer stuff is plugged into it. I’ve tried all sorts of stuff at this point! Have pretty much given up
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Steeling my resolve for one complicated system. But then for background listening my system is well positioned to everything except the bed rooms. Semi open floor plan assists in that regard.
 
@nolalady was using a Rolls VP-29 preamp for her Fluance RT85 and after trying to sort through a number of issues I swapped it for my Darlington MP-7 and almost every issue disappeared. The Rolls is garbage. Since the MP-7 is going back on my table, I am considering a Darlington MM-5 for hers. I assume it trounces a Schiit Mani 2 which is the closest competitor that I am aware of. What other considerations are there in the $200 price point or am I wasting time even looking elsewhere?
 
debianlinux said:
@nolalady was using a Rolls VP-29 preamp for her Fluance RT85 and after trying to sort through a number of issues I swapped it for my Darlington MP-7 and almost every issue disappeared. The Rolls is garbage. Since the MP-7 is going back on my table, I am considering a Darlington MM-5 for hers. I assume it trounces a Schiit Mani 2 which is the closest competitor that I am aware of. What other considerations are there in the $200 price point or am I wasting time even looking elsewhere?
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i think quite a lot of people like the iFi Zen? But no clue how it compares to the Darlington off the top of my head.
 
debianlinux said:
@nolalady was using a Rolls VP-29 preamp for her Fluance RT85 and after trying to sort through a number of issues I swapped it for my Darlington MP-7 and almost every issue disappeared. The Rolls is garbage. Since the MP-7 is going back on my table, I am considering a Darlington MM-5 for hers. I assume it trounces a Schiit Mani 2 which is the closest competitor that I am aware of. What other considerations are there in the $200 price point or am I wasting time even looking elsewhere?
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MikeH said:
i think quite a lot of people like the iFi Zen? But no clue how it compares to the Darlington off the top of my head.
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I think I’d probably, even without hearing them, spring for the Darlington. I heard reliability issues with earlier models of the Schiit and ifi phono stages due to cheap components and the bulid quality of the Darlington ones seems to be very good.
 
debianlinux said:
@nolalady was using a Rolls VP-29 preamp for her Fluance RT85 and after trying to sort through a number of issues I swapped it for my Darlington MP-7 and almost every issue disappeared. The Rolls is garbage. Since the MP-7 is going back on my table, I am considering a Darlington MM-5 for hers. I assume it trounces a Schiit Mani 2 which is the closest competitor that I am aware of. What other considerations are there in the $200 price point or am I wasting time even looking elsewhere?
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I have a musical fidelity lx-lps that I just replaced that I can pass on for a good deal.

Edit: I see that ghost has one too. Reach out if you’re interested.
 
Ghost said:
Just some shameless promotion: I’m selling a Musical Fidelity LX-LPS if anyone is in the market for a pre-amp!
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Kris said:
I have a musical fidelity lx-lps that I just replaced that I can pass on for a good deal.
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dammit @Joe Mac beat me to it.
 
I really like the Darlington Labs I received BStock and Keith has great customer service too. He not only was timely in response but hooked me up also.

That said to make this messy as possible, I was between that and the Musical Fidelity LX-LPS when I got it if you can get a solid price point on that.

Am I the only one who upgrades and still has problems going to sell the old equipment? I got my original (non USB) Vincent Pho-8 in the original box in my basement. Makes no sense but no idea what I would sell it for or why I would sell it (even though I should).
 
debianlinux said:
@nolalady was using a Rolls VP-29 preamp for her Fluance RT85 and after trying to sort through a number of issues I swapped it for my Darlington MP-7 and almost every issue disappeared. The Rolls is garbage. Since the MP-7 is going back on my table, I am considering a Darlington MM-5 for hers. I assume it trounces a Schiit Mani 2 which is the closest competitor that I am aware of. What other considerations are there in the $200 price point or am I wasting time even looking elsewhere?
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I have the Mani 2 and think it's quite good, but haven't tried the MM-5 to compare. Double the price but the new Schiit Skoll is my next want.
 
debianlinux said:
@nolalady was using a Rolls VP-29 preamp for her Fluance RT85 and after trying to sort through a number of issues I swapped it for my Darlington MP-7 and almost every issue disappeared. The Rolls is garbage. Since the MP-7 is going back on my table, I am considering a Darlington MM-5 for hers. I assume it trounces a Schiit Mani 2 which is the closest competitor that I am aware of. What other considerations are there in the $200 price point or am I wasting time even looking elsewhere?
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I have an MM-6 and a Mani gen 1. I like both companies and their products, I think she'd be happy with either. Here's how I would break down the choice between the two specifically.
  • Better Sound (imo): Darlington
  • Flexibility in cart choice: Schiit
  • Availability of a mono switch if needed: Darlington (this bumps the cost to $279)
  • Lower Cost: Schiit
I should caveat that reports are Mani 2 sounds better than Mani 1 so it's very possible the two are closer on which sound "better".
 
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