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What about the music? The art? The creativity? Most of your time, energy and money should be directed towards buying "music". If your sound system makes up 90% of the money you spent on your sound listening experience then you are either stealing music, dont have a wide taste in music, listen to the same limited range of bands or musicians or dont use your sound system all that often (ie it's a furniture item). And that's okay. Every person has their own motivation and tastes. (and neuroses) 😎
No matter how many hi Fi reviews you read or watch, you can't beat hearing equipment for yourselve partnered with the equivalent of what you are going to use it for at a dealers store - or a home demo unit 👍🙂
Love the intrapsychic process you demonstrate, with the neurotic decision making we all go through, seeking audio nirvana regardless of price point. The DAC segment was priceless. One of your best videos man.
I’ve got some “modern” mid to high end gear. But been looking to recreate the setup that was mine from the late 70’s when stationed overseas. A few years back goal achieved. Restored a vintage setup. Added a streamer and recently a sub. Stopped looking for ‘improvements’. It’s a keeper that I hope to pass on to my kids.
Same here. Absolutely love my vintage setup (Hitachi SR903, Marantz EQ20)..bought a second SR903 for the family room (each was snagged for under $150, delivered). Both are in mint condition and "modernized" by an external BT5.2 FiiO BTA30 Pro (with TX, RX, DAC modes). Bought all of the caps & transistors to fully revise both over time. They both checked out sat, so I can do these revisions in my leisure, as a hobby. Plenty of power too...Class G amps at 75W per channel with 160W peak transient capability. Solid state with premium build quality...can't beat good vintage for long term enjoyment!
I started out with my moms really nice Luxman amp from '82 and fully automatic Sony linear tracker with quartz lock. I've never felt need to improve from there so those are still my main system in living room😅
Audiophiles are former music lovers, who acquired a compulsive disorder. They can’t finish a song without adjusting something to get better sound. They usually don’t even finish a song before looking for another song that has the bass, treble, or midrange they are wanting to test. They watch Randy, and other You Tube reviewers trying to find the gear that they absolutely must have. You know they’re lost when they spend $12,000 on a power cable, and swear it was absolutely worth it.
Please don't lump us all in with those who you describe above lol. Most us just use the gear to listen to the music and increase engagement with our music The folk you describe above use music to listen to the gear (and if that floats your boat then good luck to you). Horses for courses
@@nwr99nwr99, I’m not trying to pick on anybody. I have some of the disease myself. I have a Geshelli stack on order, and have been buying moderately priced cables to “achieve better sound”. I ordered the Geshelli products based on Randy’s recommendation, but mostly because I want the burrito.
honestly when it comes to phono carts i find it fun to buy cheap ones. you might be surprised by the gems you find. my favorite cart right now was something like $20
I have been building a B&o system since I was 16 years old (25 now) and every time I upgraded my front towers the old ones would become surrounds. Every upgrade from Beolab 6000 to 8000 to 9 was an amazing upgrade, improvement in 2 channel stereo, and now I’m at 7.1 surround. I’m limited to my Beovision to drive everything so I have no 4k, no atmos, no hdr but the og Beovision 7 is an amazing looking panel and blu rays look and sound great. Haven’t been to the movies in a while and both my gf and I were like turn it up watching the Mario movie. I really want to experience the most out of my Xbox and movies but being able to enjoy something unobtainable as a kid is an amazing feeling and everything still holds up with modern sources.
I bought a Yamaha turntable (to match the rest of my stack, I know there were cheaper options available) with a decent, but cheap, $35 audio technica cartridge that I just upgraded to an Ortofon 2M Bronze for $400. It’s better. Quite a bit better. But certainly not 11x better. Realistically I should have gone with the Blue. Moral of the story is I feel guilty for blowing WAY past the point of diminishing returns, even though the purchase and sound is awesome.
Now this was a video FULL of great advice. I especially loved the end regarding FOMO and getting vintage items that you know you want ... could not agree more!!! What a great video, Randy. Thanks so much for this one.
A cheap audio guys absolutely correct stringers or streamers doesn't matter the brand of the price to lower the price the better because every streamer has an automatic upgrade for handling the new audio format when it comes to over-the-air experiences and collections
I ‘liked’ this immediately because you are telling the truth to people despite that it may counter to your own interests. Great job. Listener for life!
It seems to me that cheap turntables have $50 cartridges and $50 preamps and some have a noise gate to make you think the turntable is quiet. Unless you truly have a decent quality turntable, I wouldn’t get too crazy with cartridge or preamp upgrades. Get a better turntable, cartridge/stylus, and preamp combo that is a good match, and do a proper setup. My rule of thumb is to generally split the funds this way… about 50% for the turntable, and 25% each for the cartridge/stylus and the phono preamp. You really don’t want the cartridge, and/or the preamp to identify faults with the turntable and you certainly don’t want to go too cheap with the preamp or too expensive with the cartridge. A good match is certainly prudent, but note that there will always be outliars that undermine any rule of thumb, so just think of it as a sanity check. Don’t spend $600 on a preamp and cartridge without upgrading your $200 turntable lol
I agree, nothing wrong with being a gearhead if one is careful, but for me personally, it is far more about the music than the gear. In other words, I personally have an end goal, which is to have the beast playback equipment for me to listen to the music. I'm practically already there, just need to see if having an outboard DAC makes any difference from the one in my CD player and need to get a headphone amp (not the highest priority). Do I have a DAC and headphone amp already in mind and chosen? Yup, Gheshelli Labs on both. I always suffered from paralyzing anxiety or more accurately "analysis paralysis", which I hate with a purple passion. For me it is not "the next best thing or new thing and all that, it is more "is this the best right thing for me"? It is bad enough it takes me forever to save up for even $100 gear, but then I add several months to that researching and trying to evaluate before pulling the trigger, sometimes I take so long the product goes out of production before I can pull the trigger and I have to start over again! I'm glad those days are now pretty much behind me in regards to audio gear. I already have the "perfect speaker" (really no such thing) and my problem is should something happen (I hope not) it will be impossible to replace! There is nothing else out there right now that matches it. The speakers the same company replaced it with are awful and nowhere near the ones I have currently. (Big mistake in their part in my opinion).The speakers I have are very difficult to find on the used market as well. So while they would have to be pride from my stiff dead hands, it is also not possible to replace them. The only time to replace a cartridge is when the one you are using wears out (typically 1000 hours). If said cart is MM and you really like it, then all you have to do is replace the stylus (provided the cart is still in production). Another reason is if you have the bread, you may want to try a different sounding cart to learn what you prefer. I have found that most carts are built the same within their respective types (MM, MC etc). What changes and changes what we hear is the stylus (conical, microline, elliptical, etc). Different styli retrieve different levels of information as they ride differently in the grooves of the record.
Great advice, Randy. I agree your point on cartridges. Manufacturers generally put a reasonable cartridge with their decks, otherwise customers will complain about how rubbish the sound quality is and lose faith. A decent step up should be possible but only to a point. If you upgrade your cartridge too far, your turntable becomes the bottleneck to the performance of the system.
Man… so much sense in what you said … i’ve had a pair of polk RTi A3 for 10 years.. one day i deceided to buy the monitor audio Silver 100 gen6 .. just based on reviews … man… i hated them… days later i even got a new amp so they Would sound the way the are supossed to … (blaming my faithful pioneer sx-626 for the bad sound ..) Turns out, i ended coming back to my old polks… no one wants to buy the monitors and i’m almost giving them away with 10 hours of use … lesson learned the hard way…
Never have I felt so called out by a CAM video. It's like you could hear my internal dialog - that's pretty much exactly how my thought process goes. :) I think you're exactly right, we need to exercise control over our purchase impulses... however, the last time I gave in to the FOMO and changed from a ESS to AKM version of the Geshelli J2 DAC (because you were so enamored with it!) , I heard a huge difference. So, that only strengthened my FOMO on equipment. :)
Glad to hear you say it was worth the upgrade to the AKM version. I have that, and a headphone amp on order from Geshelli. Should be here in a couple of weeks. Excited to get it.
Wow what I'm hearing from this guy here who runs and operates and broadcast starts on this channel it's like listening to myself going as far back as 1976 God made first 4 pair of speakers wine for pair of speakers because my receiver had connections for up to 8 speakers so you want to feel all of that up and spread the sound out your home... so when I discovered what's called a splitter or a little device from RadioShack that will allow you to add additional speakers to your receivers body World opened up to the point where I never wanted to leave the house because the sound was so good... and those eat speakers or four pair speakers that I purchased from the eclectically wonderful Pioneer HPM series they were so perfectly balanced comfortable enough to wall mount just above your level when you're sitting good. And you know what this guy is right it's no 2023 and I always go back to that original purchase of those eight or four pair of pioneer HPS.. Soon as I had my first listen to Pink Floyd's wish you were here I was so hooked on expanding my audio system the other album that was so eclectically wonderful for spreading out the sound was called Fly Like an Eagle by the Steve Miller Band which was the most wonderfully recorded album little value to experience multi-channel audio the other to me was Peter Frampton's double live album the next was Emerson Lake & Palmer Brain Salad Surgery Adventure ultimately I would always go back and bring a copy of Quadrophenia by The Who on cassette with me wherever I went in case I had the opportunity to Premiere and audition speaker setups perfect. The point is this being that the more and the longer you live with audio the more you want to expand your experience so there is a very good point about searching out some of those speakers that were available back then which you're not available now and if you're lucky enough to find them in excellent shape by someone you took care of their audio equipment you will find yourself in 7th Heaven when it comes to cracking concrete or shattering pane glass and that's the truth.. Just don't buy used equipment that is overpriced because of the Romantic connection you have to the old stuff.. Be Frugal with your money when it comes to buying speakers period. Only because the world audio is so saturated with speaker brands in different types of speakers that it will without a doubt plug you into that rabbit hole of a constant need to upgrade when there is no need to upgrade back in those days and they still tell you that it's the truth when you find a receiver that is bright in sounding fulfilling or maybe amplifiers that are bright and fulfilling why do you need to upgrade?? Honestly if I were going to spend money to upgrade I would upgrade my domicile the home in which I live to a much more spacious and larger atmospheric pressure period.
My strategy is not replace a component with another of the same type. DACs, for instance, don’t replace a delta-sigma DAC with another; look at R2R or some other topology. Speakers, switch from bass reflex to something else, open baffle, transmission line, horn, etc. Amps: AB, A, D, single end tubes push pull. (Note, care needs to be taken to have adequate speaker efficiency when moving to lower wattage amps). Let your FOMO be that of missing out on experiencing a type of component.
Agree, I had a tube dac and want to hear r2r so I recently got an r26. Also, have a receiver, class A/B, Class A hybrid and a Decware SET for my Klipsch Forte IV's. I don't think I'd have so many different types if I'd just started with the hybrid where I got the sound I wanted for classic rock but definitly my thing is being able to play all media and have all available formats with the best of the older plus most of the newest available tech. Some older is better such as buying well regarded pieces from the heyday of HT and SACD as opposed to relying on cheap hdmi only blueray players an example.
My failed upgrade story... A couple of years ago, my old Dual CS505 turntable was starting to get a bit wobbly, so I treated myself to a shiny new RP3. I've never regretted it, despite the lack of any comforts such as autostop or speed change button. But the cartridge... I had been using an old Nagaoka MP-11 fitted with a MP-110 stylus. I fitted this to the RP3, but then I thought it might be nice to treat my old ears to something a little brighter. On the basis of reviews, I thought the Ortofon 2M Red would be perfect. Well it wasn't. It sounds thin and scratchy and it just doesn't track tricky grooves anything like as well as the Nagaoka. It lasted a day before it went back in the box and into a drawer where it sits to this day. The MP-11/110 is back on and it sounds just as good as ever, helped by a bit of EQ whenever I think the record needs it. I am tempted to buy a new pair of speakers though, my ancient pair of Acoustic Research AR94 are a bit bass-heavy. Maybe if I sold that old cart...
Hard to beat Nagaoka carts if you like the sound. If you want brighter, the 150 is a tad brighter than the 110. The mp300 and 500 are also known to sparkle quite a bit more than the rest of the line.
My turntable is nearly as old as me, and I'm almost 50 (TBH I bought it second hand together with some other components two years ago), so from time to time I look at new turntables, but in the end I'm like "It works well, it sounds good and has a nice vintage Ortofon cartridge barely used, and I really don't play many records this days", so I save the money and stop looking... until the next time 😂.
Pretty sure my Paradigm Atom speakers, 5-disc Yamaha CD changer, Yamaha dual cassette deck are all older or as old as me, being my Father's old gear, still sound awesome, got a used Sony turntable , only new-ish thing I really want is a decent subwoofer. The only thing with mostly new parts is the audio path for my PC, with a cheapish but good DAC and a Xduoo MT-602 "Hybrid tube amp" to drive my HE-4xx headphones, I make small changes now and then like changing tunes or swapping to a iffy cable but it's been mostly the same for years now. IEMs though, I have quite a few now, fun shiny sound-rocks, a lot easier to collect a bunch of affordable IEMs and play with different combos of cables and tips lol
It's all good advice if you can stick to it. I noticed a big difference in going from streamers in the $500 range to the $1,000 range. I had the Lumin U1 Mini, but eventually decided on the Auralic Aries G1. IMHO it's a significant difference.
You know guys way back in 1966 1974 I had a good friend who is a 15 years older than I was you had a wonderful setup interpret the life of me I could remember the manufacturer the turntable he had all I can remember it's the price of replacing the cartridge each time some moron thought it would be really cool to rub his thumb across the needle to remove a bit of dust detected in 1972 the cost to replace that cartridge that fine men me diamond Sapphire needle crossed about as much as one half the price of the original turntable so if you bought a Technics cartridge in 1972 for 18 bucks that's fine because because technique cartridges were everywhere ubiquitously added to every turntable that was new or purchased except for some Sony turntables where the cartridge replacement cost was approximately 50 to $75.. And I swear to God it really doesn't make a difference that whether you have in today's world a $100 cartridge in 2023 for your turntable or $1,000 cartridge in 2023 for your turntable period. Most cartridges for turntables, are usually exactly identical and their prices do not reflect how they will DB listen to or heard 210 hours so be careful with turntable cartridges because you could end up spending much more than necessary period. The only piece of equipment that I have ever been hunting for on a constant basis are amplifiers I've settled on preamplifiers that I've owned for better than 35 years.. But it's all about the amplifier a b of course and once you find that sweet spot for let's say up to a 13 Channel surround amplifier be satisfied for at least three to five years because that is the amount of time usually between one type of upgrade to another so Be Frugal and satisfied with what you have. Upgrading your audio equipment is like upgrading your car why spend more for the new shiny object when your original Wheels work just fine and sound freaking fantastic
That's the issue I'm having. Should I buy the amp I really want, or should I wait and hope that it goes on sale even though if the price changes it's likely to increase?
I have never used a separate DAC, I have one in my Cambridge Audio CD that the repair guy said was excellent when I had it in for a belt replacement so why bother. So much crap is spoken about speakers when the shape and decoration of your room and placement mean a lot more than marginal speaker performance. If what you got sounds good to you stay with it.
These companies do this because they know there are lots of people who are constantly in the market for the next thing they *think* will improve their system and their confirmation bias usually supports that.
I am NOT falling for your 3D chess reverse psychology marketing warfare. Just to prove it, I'm going to fill my basket with Fosi gear. (Charlton Heston voice) Damn You!
Amazing video! How about the musical quality of the Denon x1500h AV receiver? I now mostly listen music and am wondering if upgrading from this AV receiver to a decent stereo amp or adding a DAC in between the receiver and my cd player (Marantz CD6000) will be a decent upgrade..
Lol I can't relate I've been wanting a decent setup for over a decade and just started digging through the dirt and have been saving for months. I spend 5o much on my never ending hobbies so it's a slow process plus theres so many other necessities I've been avoiding. I'd be happy with a mediocre setup
Great video ! I have a Fiio BTR5, bought it in 2020. Lo and behold, a newer model came out the very next year. I did NOT upgrade, and this video backs up my decision :D. Thank you. Also, any suggestions for a CHEAP/GOOD VALUE portable (true HI-RES) DAP?? I'm tired of using my phone and it's glitchy when attaching my DAC to bypass :O
Best and cheapest upgrade that can be A/B tested ad infinitum?........... a bottle of wine under £10. Everything sounds epic after you've downed a bottle of wine AND you get to watch unicorns and butterflies in the room with you whilst you listen 😊😊😊😊😊😊.
Thanks for the information and talking me back off the ledge. So far, with your help, I have, for the most part, hit my Goldilocks list and don't have the urge to buy the next greatest thing. 🤔 OK, maybe headphones still, but thank goodness I'm not into vintage or vinyl.
Likewise - as I don't pay for streaming. Just physical format, mainly cds - because they are much better value than the equivalent "fashionable" vinyl & more than often feature more tracks 🙂 🇬🇧
Cartridges - I have to slightly disagree. Everything depends on what is your initial setup. Some of the entry-level cartridges are simply not worth your time.
Well, I own a used vintage accuphase set with the dp57 CD player that I also use as DAC. Goes only 24/96. But it has one of the best sounding DACs I have ever heard. This set is going nowhere. Streaming on a CXN V2.
Love this video topic. This is one thing I’ve learned over the years of being in this hobby. I have the Schiit Modi+, I enjoy it so much. I don’t plan on upgrading the dac for a while. The speakers I have aren’t the newest version, I enjoy them. Streamers aren’t something that I’m not that into.
I After seeing 100s of positive reviews on many sites, I purchased an inexpensive Audiolab £100 🇬🇧 (Around 💲120 USD) retail mains conditioner for my amplifier a few months back I was getting seriously downgraded sound at peak national energy use times like early evenings It really has solved that 👍🎶🙂
Agreed Quik, me too. And in the spirit of this video, I’m tempted to get another as I approach 1000 hrs. instead of the Black of LVB “upgrade” that I hear may not perform as well as the Bronze.
My uncle has the largest Vinyl collection I've ever seen, and he's super into it, he currently has the 2M Blue and loves it, I've been debating getting him the 2M Bronze for his 55th birthday, should I?
I've probably bought 50 audio/video items through the years. 90% of them purchased used or returned items. My main audio/video system: I used a used Lexicon Cp1 plus surround preamplifier, yes not digital until my second one broke and replaced it with the Emotiva umc-200 used two years ago. Powered by my 30 year old Carver 405 five channel amp. Main speakers are used MBQUART 1000 factory updated crossovers used for trade shows. A/D/S passive sub powered by Proton integrated amplifier. MBQUART center and surrounds. Used PS audio Digital Link 2 dac into the Cp1 processor. Sounded great to me since 1995. And that's what matters. I actually prefer my setup over a friend's $100,000 setup.
I'm going to add I have Klipsch RP to ADF towers RP 250 C Center and just are 41 bookshelves as my side Surround no one a lot of people upgrade speakers they actually listen hard-core and then they say they hear things in the music they never heard before because the new speakers are playing it and their old ones didn't I called BS on that here's my reasoning I have a pair of Sennheiser momentum for headphones through Bluetooth. There are things in those songs I had never heard before or even noticed but here's the kicker guess what I go back to my home theater system. I look up that exact same song and lo and behold guess what my clips are playing that exact same sound? I just never noticed it before but guess what they're plenty capable of playing that sound I just never noticed it, but they're still playing the exact same sound. My headphones are.
How do we know if all the data we're seeing is actually data and not lore, because they look just alike? I'm exercising self control in that I'm running a Chrome Audio puck (via Toslink) into a used integrated amp from 2015 with a built-in DAC (Sabre ES9018K2M). I keep expecting the Chrome puck to kick the bucket, so I can buy a new streamer. Unsure with my old ears (my degraded hearing has been authenticated with an audiologist) if I would hear a noticeable sound difference with a new DAC (and streamer). I'm all ears to any input if a more recent DAC processor is something that could be noticed (by at least those with standard hearing for the above 50 crowd)?
Great advice. When I was younger I was flipping around to anything that looked good, it was fun, and it wasted lots of time and money. What I should have done was land on something that I really liked and get to know what’s really to like about it, and NOT to like about it. By the time I got to 30 I started doing exactly that and have had the same speakers for the last 27 years. I just love listening to just about anything on them now. I’ve swapped from all separates and In To Recievers and so on but I’ve always had the hardware for years rather than trying everything under the sun. It just takes time try different things and to process in your head what you do and don’t like.
Depends what sound characteristics are "missing" from your Kef Q150s? I know Cheap Audio Man is a fan of those speakers 🔊 It's all about enjoying your music 🎶🙂
🇬🇧 Why do I even NEED a separate DAC 🤔 My Rotel Tribute CD 💿 player has a built in DAC & produces fantastic micro detail - even through my decade old Marantz PM6006 45wpc amplifier⚡& laid back Mission QX2 Mk 2 speakers🔊 🙂
If there's someone out there who can modify an Arcam CD23 to accept digital inputs (and thus to function as a DAC), I would be extremely interested. I have the schematic and the technical manual, if that makes a difference.
Nice idea, if you look at how complex and tiny these surface mount components are you'll realise how difficult that would be, you'd have to buy an spdif interface board and be really good at micro soldering. Not saying its impossible just highly complex, one mistake and its ruined, may not be reliable. Compare to buying a dac which would have a guarantee and definitely work.
@@TechStuff365 There seem to be two camps -- one saying it's not possible and another saying much more encouraging things but not actually offering to try to do it. Yours is the closest to being what strikes me as a proportional reaction. If I can find a CD23 for ... I dunno, $350? Then the ceiling on the maximum possible regret is pretty low there, for the benefit of seeing if it can be done. But literally nobody has yet come forward to say, "Yes, I can do that," which is telling, considering how many mods are available out there for similar components (like the Sony 9000ES).
@@CinemaDemocratica oh if you're going to buy a junker and do it fine little risk. I see why now presumably Ring Dac but that was 20 years ago, Arcam moved on to wolfson. For that money you could get a Cambridge bd752 which does have a spdif input for using the dual upsampling Wolfson DACs, as well as being a cracking blue ray player. Ifi dacs are very impressive too with fempto clocks. There some interesting discussions out there on spdif interfacing.
@@TechStuff365 The Arcam piece was the only mid-priced transport ever made with a licensed RingDAC by DCS. Today a comparable product made by DCS themselves costs, like, upwards of ten grand.
hehehe... say Patreon very quickly 10 times...^^ I'm lucky in a way that i can't run Speakers in my appartment - i'n confined to head- and earphones. That ..should.. save me a ton of money.
I've had an Infinity Interlude system since 2003, consisting of IL50S, IL10s and IL25c. I would have to spend $5k to get an Improvement I would feel is worth it.
im actually in the market for a new dac but i really want an R2R dac problem is there so expensive,,currently have a topping DX3 Pro the old one not the plus one lol and its ok but lacks detail has the AK4499 i think..not a fan of it....so im prolly going to go with the hifiman ef400 as thats in my budget,,really want the denafrips ares 2 but cant find one for 600 or less (my budget) any other R2R's out there you know about Randy?
I was fortunate to need a dac when the mojo 2 was just coming out. IMO nothing touch it since. I use it as mobile AND in my living room. With integrated Eq this is a steal. Your headphones are bit to bright? No problem. You want to enjoy an old recording? No problem, boost the bass or use eq to have a loudness button.
Hey Mr. Cheapaudioman, what do you think of the Soundcore X600 . I remember listening to what Apple had in their store a few years ago, and it was ridiculously bad. I often am on the road overseas and have used the FoxXL. It is satisfactory for what it is and what was available at the time I bought it, but it is old and discontinued. It certainly is time for an upgrade. What is the best for taking in your carry-on ( or personal item) bag when traveling overseas?
I own the Motion+ and find it perfect for travel. Smaller, yet packs all of the features...and with the SC App! Paid around $80 at the time (on sale). Two tweeters, two bass, and one center resonator. EXC product, IMHO. PS: water safe but doesn't float.
Good video Randy. I have the Marantz NR1200 with Heos. While a little clunky--HEOS sounds really good streaming Amazon Music. I don't need a streamer. I have never bought a new turntable and I've been itching to get one. My best one is a Realistic Lab 440. My concern is that old tank will sound better than most new stuff out there in my price range.
I have three digital-to-analog converters of different chips...the differences in sound are minimal, so you really have to think twice before opening your wallet... But I'm happy that I have three different ones...that's why I'm calmer.
@@crazyprayingmantis5596 I have audiolab m dac mini (sabre es 9018k2m), atoll IN100 with dac board (akm 4490) and CHORD qutest (chord custom coded fpga).The differences are there, but not dramatic.
I'm one of those that didn't change my speakers this century. 😂 Time to step up a few notches. Waiting for something for the right price on the used market though.
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What about the music? The art? The creativity?
Most of your time, energy and money should be directed towards buying "music".
If your sound system makes up 90% of the money you spent on your sound listening experience then you are either stealing music, dont have a wide taste in music, listen to the same limited range of bands or musicians or dont use your sound system all that often (ie it's a furniture item).
And that's okay. Every person has their own motivation and tastes. (and neuroses)
😎
Agreed. I usually research for so long that the gear I am looking at is already replaced by the new version and is on sale.
Known as window shopping 🙂
So true😂 But when you (rarely) do buy that stuff!? Priceless and sweet😁👍🇸🇪
Yes it is! And you had plenty of time to read all of the reviews and know what your buying.
No matter how many hi Fi reviews you read or watch, you can't beat hearing equipment for yourselve partnered with the equivalent of what you are going to use it for at a dealers store - or a home demo unit 👍🙂
The hype train has brakes. Can tell a lot once it slows down.
Love the intrapsychic process you demonstrate, with the neurotic decision making we all go through, seeking audio nirvana regardless of price point. The DAC segment was priceless.
One of your best videos man.
I’ve got some “modern” mid to high end gear. But been looking to recreate the setup that was mine from the late 70’s when stationed overseas. A few years back goal achieved. Restored a vintage setup. Added a streamer and recently a sub. Stopped looking for ‘improvements’. It’s a keeper that I hope to pass on to my kids.
Same here. Absolutely love my vintage setup (Hitachi SR903, Marantz EQ20)..bought a second SR903 for the family room (each was snagged for under $150, delivered). Both are in mint condition and "modernized" by an external BT5.2 FiiO BTA30 Pro (with TX, RX, DAC modes). Bought all of the caps & transistors to fully revise both over time. They both checked out sat, so I can do these revisions in my leisure, as a hobby. Plenty of power too...Class G amps at 75W per channel with 160W peak transient capability. Solid state with premium build quality...can't beat good vintage for long term enjoyment!
I started out with my moms really nice Luxman amp from '82 and fully automatic Sony linear tracker with quartz lock. I've never felt need to improve from there so those are still my main system in living room😅
@@jhutt8002 The Japanese-made Luxman's from that era are usually topnotch and keepers. I would take care of that one.
Hi. My name is Carl and I'm a recovering gear head. It has been 30 days since my last purchase. 😪
Hi Carl. Welcome to the group. You are safe here.
Welcome to our meeting.
Welcome Carl. I'd offer to be your sponsor, but I have some old gear I'm trying to sell and I'd just end up enabling you.
@@eddents Now ain't that the truth!
Audiophiles are former music lovers, who acquired a compulsive disorder. They can’t finish a song without adjusting something to get better sound. They usually don’t even finish a song before looking for another song that has the bass, treble, or midrange they are wanting to test. They watch Randy, and other You Tube reviewers trying to find the gear that they absolutely must have. You know they’re lost when they spend $12,000 on a power cable, and swear it was absolutely worth it.
And they have a lot of disposable income.
Please don't lump us all in with those who you describe above lol. Most us just use the gear to listen to the music and increase engagement with our music
The folk you describe above use music to listen to the gear (and if that floats your boat then good luck to you). Horses for courses
@@nwr99nwr99,
I’m not trying to pick on anybody. I have some of the disease myself. I have a Geshelli stack on order, and have been buying moderately priced cables to “achieve better sound”. I ordered the Geshelli products based on Randy’s recommendation, but mostly because I want the burrito.
Audiophiles: Too much disposable income with questionable outcomes.
Anymore sweeping generalizations you'd like to make?
honestly when it comes to phono carts i find it fun to buy cheap ones. you might be surprised by the gems you find. my favorite cart right now was something like $20
I have been building a B&o system since I was 16 years old (25 now) and every time I upgraded my front towers the old ones would become surrounds. Every upgrade from Beolab 6000 to 8000 to 9 was an amazing upgrade, improvement in 2 channel stereo, and now I’m at 7.1 surround. I’m limited to my Beovision to drive everything so I have no 4k, no atmos, no hdr but the og Beovision 7 is an amazing looking panel and blu rays look and sound great. Haven’t been to the movies in a while and both my gf and I were like turn it up watching the Mario movie. I really want to experience the most out of my Xbox and movies but being able to enjoy something unobtainable as a kid is an amazing feeling and everything still holds up with modern sources.
I bought a Yamaha turntable (to match the rest of my stack, I know there were cheaper options available) with a decent, but cheap, $35 audio technica cartridge that I just upgraded to an Ortofon 2M Bronze for $400.
It’s better. Quite a bit better. But certainly not 11x better. Realistically I should have gone with the Blue.
Moral of the story is I feel guilty for blowing WAY past the point of diminishing returns, even though the purchase and sound is awesome.
Now this was a video FULL of great advice. I especially loved the end regarding FOMO and getting vintage items that you know you want ... could not agree more!!! What a great video, Randy. Thanks so much for this one.
A cheap audio guys absolutely correct stringers or streamers doesn't matter the brand of the price to lower the price the better because every streamer has an automatic upgrade for handling the new audio format when it comes to over-the-air experiences and collections
I ‘liked’ this immediately because you are telling the truth to people despite that it may counter to your own interests. Great job. Listener for life!
I have a matrix dac amp combo I’ve used for a few years but have been getting Dacism a lot lately. The ares 2 r2r sounds like a good contender 😅
Topping E50 199 dollars, Elac UB5 260 dollars . I jumped on the Elacs I had the funds this time they went cheap.
It seems to me that cheap turntables have $50 cartridges and $50 preamps and some have a noise gate to make you think the turntable is quiet. Unless you truly have a decent quality turntable, I wouldn’t get too crazy with cartridge or preamp upgrades. Get a better turntable, cartridge/stylus, and preamp combo that is a good match, and do a proper setup. My rule of thumb is to generally split the funds this way… about 50% for the turntable, and 25% each for the cartridge/stylus and the phono preamp. You really don’t want the cartridge, and/or the preamp to identify faults with the turntable and you certainly don’t want to go too cheap with the preamp or too expensive with the cartridge.
A good match is certainly prudent, but note that there will always be outliars that undermine any rule of thumb, so just think of it as a sanity check. Don’t spend $600 on a preamp and cartridge without upgrading your $200 turntable lol
I agree, nothing wrong with being a gearhead if one is careful, but for me personally, it is far more about the music than the gear. In other words, I personally have an end goal, which is to have the beast playback equipment for me to listen to the music. I'm practically already there, just need to see if having an outboard DAC makes any difference from the one in my CD player and need to get a headphone amp (not the highest priority). Do I have a DAC and headphone amp already in mind and chosen? Yup, Gheshelli Labs on both. I always suffered from paralyzing anxiety or more accurately "analysis paralysis", which I hate with a purple passion. For me it is not "the next best thing or new thing and all that, it is more "is this the best right thing for me"? It is bad enough it takes me forever to save up for even $100 gear, but then I add several months to that researching and trying to evaluate before pulling the trigger, sometimes I take so long the product goes out of production before I can pull the trigger and I have to start over again! I'm glad those days are now pretty much behind me in regards to audio gear.
I already have the "perfect speaker" (really no such thing) and my problem is should something happen (I hope not) it will be impossible to replace! There is nothing else out there right now that matches it. The speakers the same company replaced it with are awful and nowhere near the ones I have currently. (Big mistake in their part in my opinion).The speakers I have are very difficult to find on the used market as well. So while they would have to be pride from my stiff dead hands, it is also not possible to replace them.
The only time to replace a cartridge is when the one you are using wears out (typically 1000 hours). If said cart is MM and you really like it, then all you have to do is replace the stylus (provided the cart is still in production). Another reason is if you have the bread, you may want to try a different sounding cart to learn what you prefer. I have found that most carts are built the same within their respective types (MM, MC etc). What changes and changes what we hear is the stylus (conical, microline, elliptical, etc). Different styli retrieve different levels of information as they ride differently in the grooves of the record.
That last piece of advice about rare gear that comes up for sale...so true. Go get it!
Great advice, Randy. I agree your point on cartridges. Manufacturers generally put a reasonable cartridge with their decks, otherwise customers will complain about how rubbish the sound quality is and lose faith. A decent step up should be possible but only to a point. If you upgrade your cartridge too far, your turntable becomes the bottleneck to the performance of the system.
Man… so much sense in what you said … i’ve had a pair of polk RTi A3 for 10 years.. one day i deceided to buy the monitor audio Silver 100 gen6 .. just based on reviews … man… i hated them… days later i even got a new amp so they Would sound the way the are supossed to … (blaming my faithful pioneer sx-626 for the bad sound ..)
Turns out, i ended coming back to my old polks… no one wants to buy the monitors and i’m almost giving them away with 10 hours of use … lesson learned the hard way…
Never have I felt so called out by a CAM video. It's like you could hear my internal dialog - that's pretty much exactly how my thought process goes. :) I think you're exactly right, we need to exercise control over our purchase impulses... however, the last time I gave in to the FOMO and changed from a ESS to AKM version of the Geshelli J2 DAC (because you were so enamored with it!) , I heard a huge difference. So, that only strengthened my FOMO on equipment. :)
Glad to hear you say it was worth the upgrade to the AKM version. I have that, and a headphone amp on order from Geshelli. Should be here in a couple of weeks. Excited to get it.
@@tpr299 Don't get me wrong, the ESS version was great... Better than any other DAC I'd owned prior...But the AKM version is even better. 😀
Wow what I'm hearing from this guy here who runs and operates and broadcast starts on this channel it's like listening to myself going as far back as 1976 God made first 4 pair of speakers wine for pair of speakers because my receiver had connections for up to 8 speakers so you want to feel all of that up and spread the sound out your home... so when I discovered what's called a splitter or a little device from RadioShack that will allow you to add additional speakers to your receivers body World opened up to the point where I never wanted to leave the house because the sound was so good... and those eat speakers or four pair speakers that I purchased from the eclectically wonderful Pioneer HPM series they were so perfectly balanced comfortable enough to wall mount just above your level when you're sitting good. And you know what this guy is right it's no 2023 and I always go back to that original purchase of those eight or four pair of pioneer HPS.. Soon as I had my first listen to Pink Floyd's wish you were here I was so hooked on expanding my audio system the other album that was so eclectically wonderful for spreading out the sound was called Fly Like an Eagle by the Steve Miller Band which was the most wonderfully recorded album little value to experience multi-channel audio the other to me was Peter Frampton's double live album the next was Emerson Lake & Palmer Brain Salad Surgery Adventure ultimately I would always go back and bring a copy of Quadrophenia by The Who on cassette with me wherever I went in case I had the opportunity to Premiere and audition speaker setups perfect. The point is this being that the more and the longer you live with audio the more you want to expand your experience so there is a very good point about searching out some of those speakers that were available back then which you're not available now and if you're lucky enough to find them in excellent shape by someone you took care of their audio equipment you will find yourself in 7th Heaven when it comes to cracking concrete or shattering pane glass and that's the truth.. Just don't buy used equipment that is overpriced because of the Romantic connection you have to the old stuff.. Be Frugal with your money when it comes to buying speakers period. Only because the world audio is so saturated with speaker brands in different types of speakers that it will without a doubt plug you into that rabbit hole of a constant need to upgrade when there is no need to upgrade back in those days and they still tell you that it's the truth when you find a receiver that is bright in sounding fulfilling or maybe amplifiers that are bright and fulfilling why do you need to upgrade?? Honestly if I were going to spend money to upgrade I would upgrade my domicile the home in which I live to a much more spacious and larger atmospheric pressure period.
My strategy is not replace a component with another of the same type. DACs, for instance, don’t replace a delta-sigma DAC with another; look at R2R or some other topology. Speakers, switch from bass reflex to something else, open baffle, transmission line, horn, etc. Amps: AB, A, D, single end tubes push pull. (Note, care needs to be taken to have adequate speaker efficiency when moving to lower wattage amps). Let your FOMO be that of missing out on experiencing a type of component.
Agree, I had a tube dac and want to hear r2r so I recently got an r26. Also, have a receiver, class A/B, Class A hybrid and a Decware SET for my Klipsch Forte IV's. I don't think I'd have so many different types if I'd just started with the hybrid where I got the sound I wanted for classic rock but definitly my thing is being able to play all media and have all available formats with the best of the older plus most of the newest available tech. Some older is better such as buying well regarded pieces from the heyday of HT and SACD as opposed to relying on cheap hdmi only blueray players an example.
@@davidwald2938 Cool… I’m happily currently using a Decware Zen SET with a pair of Zu Dirty Weekends (previous model).
@@crazyprayingmantis5596 Go big or go home!
Thanks Randy, this is what I feel right now. If I miss something in my system or I should spend more to get more in my system.
I miss the Sound Design receiver that I bought at TG&Y in 1970.
All 25 watts per channel, and it's 1/8" paperboard panel speakers.
My failed upgrade story... A couple of years ago, my old Dual CS505 turntable was starting to get a bit wobbly, so I treated myself to a shiny new RP3. I've never regretted it, despite the lack of any comforts such as autostop or speed change button. But the cartridge... I had been using an old Nagaoka MP-11 fitted with a MP-110 stylus. I fitted this to the RP3, but then I thought it might be nice to treat my old ears to something a little brighter. On the basis of reviews, I thought the Ortofon 2M Red would be perfect. Well it wasn't. It sounds thin and scratchy and it just doesn't track tricky grooves anything like as well as the Nagaoka. It lasted a day before it went back in the box and into a drawer where it sits to this day. The MP-11/110 is back on and it sounds just as good as ever, helped by a bit of EQ whenever I think the record needs it.
I am tempted to buy a new pair of speakers though, my ancient pair of Acoustic Research AR94 are a bit bass-heavy. Maybe if I sold that old cart...
Hard to beat Nagaoka carts if you like the sound. If you want brighter, the 150 is a tad brighter than the 110. The mp300 and 500 are also known to sparkle quite a bit more than the rest of the line.
My turntable is nearly as old as me, and I'm almost 50 (TBH I bought it second hand together with some other components two years ago), so from time to time I look at new turntables, but in the end I'm like "It works well, it sounds good and has a nice vintage Ortofon cartridge barely used, and I really don't play many records this days", so I save the money and stop looking... until the next time 😂.
Pretty sure my Paradigm Atom speakers, 5-disc Yamaha CD changer, Yamaha dual cassette deck are all older or as old as me, being my Father's old gear, still sound awesome, got a used Sony turntable , only new-ish thing I really want is a decent subwoofer.
The only thing with mostly new parts is the audio path for my PC, with a cheapish but good DAC and a Xduoo MT-602 "Hybrid tube amp" to drive my HE-4xx headphones, I make small changes now and then like changing tunes or swapping to a iffy cable but it's been mostly the same for years now.
IEMs though, I have quite a few now, fun shiny sound-rocks, a lot easier to collect a bunch of affordable IEMs and play with different combos of cables and tips lol
It's all good advice if you can stick to it. I noticed a big difference in going from streamers in the $500 range to the $1,000 range. I had the Lumin U1 Mini, but eventually decided on the Auralic Aries G1. IMHO it's a significant difference.
You know guys way back in 1966 1974 I had a good friend who is a 15 years older than I was you had a wonderful setup interpret the life of me I could remember the manufacturer the turntable he had all I can remember it's the price of replacing the cartridge each time some moron thought it would be really cool to rub his thumb across the needle to remove a bit of dust detected in 1972 the cost to replace that cartridge that fine men me diamond Sapphire needle crossed about as much as one half the price of the original turntable so if you bought a Technics cartridge in 1972 for 18 bucks that's fine because because technique cartridges were everywhere ubiquitously added to every turntable that was new or purchased except for some Sony turntables where the cartridge replacement cost was approximately 50 to $75.. And I swear to God it really doesn't make a difference that whether you have in today's world a $100 cartridge in 2023 for your turntable or $1,000 cartridge in 2023 for your turntable period. Most cartridges for turntables, are usually exactly identical and their prices do not reflect how they will DB listen to or heard 210 hours so be careful with turntable cartridges because you could end up spending much more than necessary period. The only piece of equipment that I have ever been hunting for on a constant basis are amplifiers I've settled on preamplifiers that I've owned for better than 35 years.. But it's all about the amplifier a b of course and once you find that sweet spot for let's say up to a 13 Channel surround amplifier be satisfied for at least three to five years because that is the amount of time usually between one type of upgrade to another so Be Frugal and satisfied with what you have. Upgrading your audio equipment is like upgrading your car why spend more for the new shiny object when your original Wheels work just fine and sound freaking fantastic
Totally agree Randy.?Self-control is definitely needed/ learned with this hobby.
I don't have fear of missing out, but I do have fear of inflation...I got my Model 5's for $1900 when they first came out and now they're $2500.
Avoid the latest hi Fi models
Look for outgoing models that are only marginally different but heavily discounted Eg dealer display 👍
@@andrewbrazier9664 This a solid tactic when applicable. Love me some B-stock as well.
That's the issue I'm having. Should I buy the amp I really want, or should I wait and hope that it goes on sale even though if the price changes it's likely to increase?
I have never used a separate DAC, I have one in my Cambridge Audio CD that the repair guy said was excellent when I had it in for a belt replacement so why bother. So much crap is spoken about speakers when the shape and decoration of your room and placement mean a lot more than marginal speaker performance. If what you got sounds good to you stay with it.
These companies do this because they know there are lots of people who are constantly in the market for the next thing they *think* will improve their system and their confirmation bias usually supports that.
Placebo effect.
I am NOT falling for your 3D chess reverse psychology marketing warfare. Just to prove it, I'm going to fill my basket with Fosi gear. (Charlton Heston voice) Damn You!
Ah
Amazing video! How about the musical quality of the Denon x1500h AV receiver? I now mostly listen music and am wondering if upgrading from this AV receiver to a decent stereo amp or adding a DAC in between the receiver and my cd player (Marantz CD6000) will be a decent upgrade..
I just pick up Klipsch 600m for $250 on Offer Up. Perfect condition!
🔊Sounds like you got a real hi Fi bargain 😀
El Randy!!! Keep trailblazing brother! Happy Easter to you and all the Cheap Audio Man Crew!!
Lol I can't relate I've been wanting a decent setup for over a decade and just started digging through the dirt and have been saving for months. I spend 5o much on my never ending hobbies so it's a slow process plus theres so many other necessities I've been avoiding. I'd be happy with a mediocre setup
Great video ! I have a Fiio BTR5, bought it in 2020. Lo and behold, a newer model came out the very next year. I did NOT upgrade, and this video backs up my decision :D. Thank you. Also, any suggestions for a CHEAP/GOOD VALUE portable (true HI-RES) DAP?? I'm tired of using my phone and it's glitchy when attaching my DAC to bypass :O
Thanks. Needed to hear this.
Best and cheapest upgrade that can be A/B tested ad infinitum?........... a bottle of wine under £10. Everything sounds epic after you've downed a bottle of wine AND you get to watch unicorns and butterflies in the room with you whilst you listen 😊😊😊😊😊😊.
I’m gonna save thousands cause I’m not buying anything!!!😂
Thanks for the information and talking me back off the ledge. So far, with your help, I have, for the most part, hit my Goldilocks list and don't have the urge to buy the next greatest thing. 🤔 OK, maybe headphones still, but thank goodness I'm not into vintage or vinyl.
So I have the good old PeachTree DAC-iTx from 2013. Loving it still, I think. What should be my upgraded DAC be? Thx.
Some day I'll get a DAC :D I have an Onkyo 6-CD changer with its own DAC. Haven't figured out yet what I'd need an extra DAC for?
Likewise - as I don't pay for streaming. Just physical format, mainly cds - because they are much better value than the equivalent "fashionable" vinyl & more than often feature more tracks 🙂 🇬🇧
@@andrewbrazier9664 Rock on my man! :D
You don’t. I bought the denafrips ares 2 and can’t tell any difference
Uh. FLAC. Pirate. Torrent. RIP. Hi-Res.
@@NightFlight1973 No wonder, I don't have any of that stuff. Just records and CDs (which I actually pay for).
so what Dac should i buy ? ... 🙄....😄
FOMO... also known as the Hedonic Treadmill.
I love your t-shirt Randy!
It's from The Vinyl Attack here on RUclips
@@craigrobertson9667 thanks! I may need to get one for myself!😁
Cartridges - I have to slightly disagree. Everything depends on what is your initial setup. Some of the entry-level cartridges are simply not worth your time.
Best upgrade is speaker set up.
Randy, where can I get one of the record/album abduction t-shirts you are wearing?
Awesome advice! Thanks for sharing.
Well, I own a used vintage accuphase set with the dp57 CD player that I also use as DAC. Goes only 24/96. But it has one of the best sounding DACs I have ever heard. This set is going nowhere. Streaming on a CXN V2.
Hi-Isn’t a streamer something that just decodes 0-1 and pumps that to your dac .
So don’t you think a better dac is more important don’t you think?
Love this video topic. This is one thing I’ve learned over the years of being in this hobby. I have the Schiit Modi+, I enjoy it so much. I don’t plan on upgrading the dac for a while. The speakers I have aren’t the newest version, I enjoy them. Streamers aren’t something that I’m not that into.
Are you implying that they’ve made something that sounds better than my 1981 Pioneer boombox blasting Blitzkrieg Bop?
GREAT content Randy, ty! Saving me $ by using ears....
A decent power supply made a huge difference for my Chromecast Audio
Which did you go with?
I After seeing 100s of positive reviews on many sites, I purchased an inexpensive Audiolab £100 🇬🇧 (Around 💲120 USD) retail mains conditioner for my amplifier a few months back
I was getting seriously downgraded sound at peak national energy use times like early evenings
It really has solved that 👍🎶🙂
@@salazarray Ifi power X. I had bought it for my Dac. But I upgraded so the Chromecast got it.
I have that 2M Bronze cartridge in the thumbnail and I love the way it sounds
Agreed Quik, me too. And in the spirit of this video, I’m tempted to get another as I approach 1000 hrs. instead of the Black of LVB “upgrade” that I hear may not perform as well as the Bronze.
I have the Bronze as well and am very satisfied with the sound. I also have Grado Red2 on my second turntable and am happy with that one as well.
My uncle has the largest Vinyl collection I've ever seen, and he's super into it, he currently has the 2M Blue and loves it, I've been debating getting him the 2M Bronze for his 55th birthday, should I?
@@neutron564 I upgraded from the Blue and to me it was worth it. More detail and tighter bass on the Bronze.
Thanks!
I've probably bought 50 audio/video items through the years. 90% of them purchased used or returned items.
My main audio/video system:
I used a used Lexicon Cp1 plus surround preamplifier, yes not digital until my second one broke and replaced it with the Emotiva umc-200 used two years ago. Powered by my 30 year old Carver 405 five channel amp. Main speakers are used MBQUART 1000 factory updated crossovers used for trade shows. A/D/S passive sub powered by Proton integrated amplifier. MBQUART center and surrounds. Used PS audio Digital Link 2 dac into the Cp1 processor. Sounded great to me since 1995. And that's what matters.
I actually prefer my setup over a friend's $100,000 setup.
I'm going to add I have Klipsch RP to ADF towers RP 250 C Center and just are 41 bookshelves as my side Surround no one a lot of people upgrade speakers they actually listen hard-core and then they say they hear things in the music they never heard before because the new speakers are playing it and their old ones didn't I called BS on that here's my reasoning I have a pair of Sennheiser momentum for headphones through Bluetooth. There are things in those songs I had never heard before or even noticed but here's the kicker guess what I go back to my home theater system. I look up that exact same song and lo and behold guess what my clips are playing that exact same sound? I just never noticed it before but guess what they're plenty capable of playing that sound I just never noticed it, but they're still playing the exact same sound. My headphones are.
Lways told my computer customers to put away 60% around 2 years
How do we know if all the data we're seeing is actually data and not lore, because they look just alike?
I'm exercising self control in that I'm running a Chrome Audio puck (via Toslink) into a used integrated amp from 2015 with a built-in DAC (Sabre ES9018K2M). I keep expecting the Chrome puck to kick the bucket, so I can buy a new streamer. Unsure with my old ears (my degraded hearing has been authenticated with an audiologist) if I would hear a noticeable sound difference with a new DAC (and streamer). I'm all ears to any input if a more recent DAC processor is something that could be noticed (by at least those with standard hearing for the above 50 crowd)?
Speakers are like streetcars. If you miss one another will come along in about five minutes. 😂
The clickbait titles are out of control, lol
Your mom is out of control
I can’t even watch this anymore. What happened to this channel?
Bye Falisha
But they're right on target! lol
Great advice. When I was younger I was flipping around to anything that looked good, it was fun, and it wasted lots of time and money. What I should have done was land on something that I really liked and get to know what’s really to like about it, and NOT to like about it.
By the time I got to 30 I started doing exactly that and have had the same speakers for the last 27 years. I just love listening to just about anything on them now.
I’ve swapped from all separates and In To Recievers and so on but I’ve always had the hardware for years rather than trying everything under the sun.
It just takes time try different things and to process in your head what you do and don’t like.
What magic speakers are these?
@@KillerKlipsch Oh no, you have to go on your own quest for your forever speakers 😉
What I like has no Bering on what you might like 😉
@@yourdiytechlife No... I just want to know what speakers you liked.
😂Why... How... Are you describing me?!
Perfect timing. I have a pair of KEF Q150 and looking at used B&W Matrix 3 series 2. Want to pull the trigger but might wait. Any thoughts?
Depends what sound characteristics are "missing" from your Kef Q150s? I know Cheap Audio Man is a fan of those speakers 🔊
It's all about enjoying your music 🎶🙂
My MTMs are 20 years old and my bi-amped 15" woofers are 30 years old (new surrounds).
🇬🇧 Why do I even NEED a separate DAC 🤔 My Rotel Tribute CD 💿 player has a built in DAC & produces fantastic micro detail - even through my decade old Marantz PM6006 45wpc amplifier⚡& laid back Mission QX2 Mk 2 speakers🔊 🙂
If there's someone out there who can modify an Arcam CD23 to accept digital inputs (and thus to function as a DAC), I would be extremely interested. I have the schematic and the technical manual, if that makes a difference.
Nice idea, if you look at how complex and tiny these surface mount components are you'll realise how difficult that would be, you'd have to buy an spdif interface board and be really good at micro soldering. Not saying its impossible just highly complex, one mistake and its ruined, may not be reliable. Compare to buying a dac which would have a guarantee and definitely work.
@@TechStuff365 There seem to be two camps -- one saying it's not possible and another saying much more encouraging things but not actually offering to try to do it. Yours is the closest to being what strikes me as a proportional reaction.
If I can find a CD23 for ... I dunno, $350? Then the ceiling on the maximum possible regret is pretty low there, for the benefit of seeing if it can be done. But literally nobody has yet come forward to say, "Yes, I can do that," which is telling, considering how many mods are available out there for similar components (like the Sony 9000ES).
@@CinemaDemocratica oh if you're going to buy a junker and do it fine little risk. I see why now presumably Ring Dac but that was 20 years ago, Arcam moved on to wolfson. For that money you could get a Cambridge bd752 which does have a spdif input for using the dual upsampling Wolfson DACs, as well as being a cracking blue ray player. Ifi dacs are very impressive too with fempto clocks. There some interesting discussions out there on spdif interfacing.
@@TechStuff365 The Arcam piece was the only mid-priced transport ever made with a licensed RingDAC by DCS. Today a comparable product made by DCS themselves costs, like, upwards of ten grand.
hehehe... say Patreon very quickly 10 times...^^ I'm lucky in a way that i can't run Speakers in my appartment - i'n confined to head- and earphones. That ..should.. save me a ton of money.
Uploaded today? Awesome!!!!
I'm more into "Preampism".
I have purchased 3 dacs. One for my main, a Prozar for the living room and a dongle.
I've had an Infinity Interlude system since 2003, consisting of IL50S, IL10s and IL25c. I would have to spend $5k to get an Improvement I would feel is worth it.
im actually in the market for a new dac but i really want an R2R dac problem is there so expensive,,currently have a topping DX3 Pro the old one not the plus one lol and its ok but lacks detail has the AK4499 i think..not a fan of it....so im prolly going to go with the hifiman ef400 as thats in my budget,,really want the denafrips ares 2 but cant find one for 600 or less (my budget) any other R2R's out there you know about Randy?
I was fortunate to need a dac when the mojo 2 was just coming out. IMO nothing touch it since. I use it as mobile AND in my living room. With integrated Eq this is a steal. Your headphones are bit to bright? No problem. You want to enjoy an old recording? No problem, boost the bass or use eq to have a loudness button.
But I don't wanna wait! I just want new toys! 😅
Hows the cayin idac6
Hey Mr. Cheapaudioman, what do you think of the Soundcore X600 . I remember listening to what Apple had in their store a few years ago, and it was ridiculously bad. I often am on the road overseas and have used the FoxXL. It is satisfactory for what it is and what was available at the time I bought it, but it is old and discontinued. It certainly is time for an upgrade. What is the best for taking in your carry-on ( or personal item) bag when traveling overseas?
I own the Motion+ and find it perfect for travel. Smaller, yet packs all of the features...and with the SC App! Paid around $80 at the time (on sale). Two tweeters, two bass, and one center resonator. EXC product, IMHO. PS: water safe but doesn't float.
Good advice.
Nowadays I don't upgrade as much, once I find good synergy between the components I prefer to build a new system. Great video!!!
Good video Randy. I have the Marantz NR1200 with Heos. While a little clunky--HEOS sounds really good streaming Amazon Music. I don't need a streamer. I have never bought a new turntable and I've been itching to get one. My best one is a Realistic Lab 440. My concern is that old tank will sound better than most new stuff out there in my price range.
I have three digital-to-analog converters of different chips...the differences in sound are minimal, so you really have to think twice before opening your wallet... But I'm happy that I have three different ones...that's why I'm calmer.
@@crazyprayingmantis5596 I have audiolab m dac mini (sabre es 9018k2m), atoll IN100 with dac board (akm 4490) and CHORD qutest (chord custom coded fpga).The differences are there, but not dramatic.
I don't know DAC Schiit.
What is the best place to buy used, but recent models of equipment you review here? I hate using ebay, offer-up and craig's list.
Is my old dac good enough? My ears aren't good enough to notice.
if the path is taking you towards emotiva...its the wrong path
Totally disagree, love my T1+ towers
Emotiva is my end point. There's surely something better out there but I love what I have. No more dumping money on audio for me.
Brilliant sir thank you right on.
Timely info as always
So true about DACs, speakers and streamers, etc. now I always look forward to the intro and outro of these videos lol
My name is JS and I’m an audioholic
overthinking it sometimes has its benefits...
how so?
@@moonytheloony6516 no impulse buys, weighing pro's / con's. Keeping money in pocket and doing proper research first. That's my take on OP's comment
Just pay attention.
I’ve always wanted Buchardt speakers but the price is just too steep. Maybe I should save some money aside?
Yeah. And they do show up occasionally. Very good speaker. Slightly warm
@@gunnerdunbar I’ve read that too. I prefer a dynamic and warm speaker. Hopefully I can find an older one used… haha
there is a way out of chifi for good the border patrol se i dac no filters no firmware updates only up to 24/96 eats denafrips for breakfast.
Does it beat gustard and holo too?
@@lextr3110 what about smsl and topping? i'm not so into crappy chifi
I bought a new power cable for my old system that didn't have one. Sounded 100% better.
I'm one of those that didn't change my speakers this century. 😂 Time to step up a few notches. Waiting for something for the right price on the used market though.
I just switched from AVR to Separates