what are you listening on?

[Seren]

We had planned a trip abroad for my 60th this year, but I'm not getting on a plane at present...
   I've had my hi-fi for many years - CD and amp for 22 years, speakers for 17 and a DAC for about 5.
   So after some discussion we agreed I could upgrade my hi-fi...and spend an amount that I may not get the chance to do again
Pics are:

Technics SL-PS 770D CD player

Technics Su-A900mk2 amp

Beresford Bushmaster Dac

JMLab Cobalt 816

So after umming and ahhing and not being able to go into a shop to audition I decided to upgrade the CD player to a Naim CD5si

which has 28 less buttons on it.....
   also very minimal on features - only analogue audio out and no digital in. Not even a cd drawer mechanism, you lay it on, put on a magnetic puck and push the drawer closed. Almost the sense of laying a needle to a record....
   I also had to get new interconnects to go with it - Chord company Clearway.

The nice man in the hi-fi shop did me a deal on an ex demo model that has hardly been played due to lockdown and he had some speaker cable off cuts that were exactly the length I needed so he terminated them and only charged me for the termination  - so I got £120 worth of cables thrown in for free that direct from the manufacturer or amazon would have been about £220....

I picked it all up up last Friday, had it all set up in about 30 mins and spent a number of hours listening. I had thought my amp might not be able to cope, but it is doing a stirling job so far. the sound is so improved / different that after a few hours my brain was running out of my ears. Hearing things never heard before or hearing things i had heard but much more clearly (not always for the best - including my own music).
   Definitely a time of being halfway through one track and trying hard not to immediately put on another when I think 'my god, what will that sound like'.
   So I may be spending more time listening to music in the near future than making it...

...I'm always interested in what people listen on and in lockdown I can't get anyone round and say OH MY GOD LISTEN TO THIS...so sharing my excitement here....



   

[Seren]

Thanks, Jaja.
I am definitely having fun - and 'shock'  :o culling my CD collection. I have many I don't play so have been sifting through them - seeing how they sound and deciding whether or not to keep them....

[LNerell]

My living room setup is:

Yamaha RX-A3000 amp/receiver.
NHT 2.9 front speakers.
NHT SuperZero 2.1 rear speakers.
B & O Beogram RX 2 turntable.
Onkyo R1 CD player connected digitally to the Yamaha.
Marantz SD-57 cassette deck.
Sony BDP-BX39 Blu-ray player for SACD, HDCD, and 5.1 audio DVDs, and the odd movie or two.

[Julio Di Benedetto]

This would be my most "hifi" setup and at one time it was in the living room but now I use it for drum practice play alongs and dreaming Im in a band.  Does sound good.






NHT "Three" Bookshelf speakers


This is my main listening environment......my studio.   It is actually not the best because a dedicated listening place like a living room sitting in your favorite chair is the best.  Its easy to be distracted in here by a creative spark or a  email notification :o

[Seren]

Just sold my technics CD player and amp - been saving and selling things so hoping to get amp matching my CD player (ex-demo again) on order tomorrow... 8)

[Seren]

how do I add pictures from my computer - seems i can link to web, but not direct from here??

[Seren]

After selling some things including a drum and my old CD player + amplifier, I bought the amplifier to go with the new CD player. I built a rack out of Oak bannister staves [B+Q] and bamboo chopping boards [The Range] - with some 'audio quality' absorbothane pads [Elusive Audio] for the bamboo shelves to sit on. The circular 'buttons' are made from a Beech wood rolling pin.
   Although I'm happy to do DIY, I've not done actual joinery since I left school so very pleased with it.







Initially I had thought I might build the rack out of pine used for kitchen counters after I picked up some beautiful looking offcuts - but it did not like being cut and glued / screwed, so I made a stand for CD cases to sit in while the CD is playing.



I set up a red bike torch for night time / dark listening and the visuals when playing Ligeti's Requiem was very reminiscent of the Monolith from 2001...the camera picked up more light than I could actually see - so it was more like the film - seeing the monolith appear in space around Jupiter.

[chris23]

Oh my. That looks beautiful.

[Seren]

Oh my. That looks beautiful.

Thanks, I'm very pleased with it, feels a real achievement as I've not attempted joinery since school....

[Julio Di Benedetto]

That is some fine wood crafting skills Seren.....dont let the audiophile community see it or you may well be inundated with orders.  Interesting triangular structure to the component shelfs.  That system through your JMlab/Focal speaks must be a joy.   

[Seren]

That is some fine wood crafting skills Seren.....dont let the audiophile community see it or you may well be inundated with orders.  Interesting triangular structure to the component shelfs.  That system through your JMlab/Focal speaks must be a joy.

Thanks Julio,
I learnt that a 3 legged rack is easier to stabilise than a 4 leg. Also the length of the wood in the shop meant the three was cheaper as there was no off cuts left.
   I will post some system pics at some point on the Naim forum - and even if people do ask, I have no intention of making for sale (I'd have to practice more and buy the right tools for the jobs...I'd rather be listening...
        but I suppose, never say never - who knows where things may go.

I'm currently working on some speaker isolation - the Naim equipment has such a precise grip on the sound that more of it is going downstairs through the oak boards I've used for years - which is where Glenys watches TV, so she is having to turn the volume on that up. As nice as the Technics was, it was very smooth in comparism.
   I've ordered some more speaker spikes and made 2 H shapes out of the oak staves so the speakers will sit on those and then the H's will be spike and cups on the floor. I'm hoping the extra space will reduce the downward transmission and I will get some thick carpet offcuts to lay under as well.

P.S. the audiophile community is pretty vocal with it's opinions and I suspect the fact mine is solid and uses squishy stuff to isolate rather than each shelf seperate and isolated by spikes will not be in it's advantage....

[Seren]

The spikes came, so I put it all together - 2 H shaped oak plinths on spikes, which the speakers then sit on with spike cups.
   Same materials as the rack so all looks the same.

The result - much quieter downstairs, which is great.
   But even better - I was getting a certain level of bass boom in the music room, which I had thought was due to proximity to walls and meant I had to put soft plugs in the bass ports.
   The plinths have lowered the bass boom so much I was able to take the port plugs out of the speakers and the overall sound has improved again.