What equipment might you buy or sell in 2023?

Will do! I likely will not hear its true potential until I get it properly paired with a Shindo preamp. But it will be interesting to see how it sounds with DAC and phono stages plugged directly in and also through my VAC preamp in the meantime.

 

Agreed!

 

I might be going for a yet-to-be-announced 300B Integrated amplifier from Audio Note UK. We shall see if my budget will allow for it.

A headphone amplifier and upgraded headphones might also be in the works. Currently looking at headphone amps that can also serve as a preamp - Schitt Lyr, Wyred4Sound mPre, Woo Audio WA6SE. The Woo Audio and mPre have the advantage of universal voltage and as I will move from Hong Kong to Canada - it would be nice to be able to convert the voltage. I am not sure about Schitt - if anyone knows if their amps can be converted either with an external switch or internally - please let me know. And possibly ANKits headphone amplifier.

Woo Audio WA 6SE (with power supply)

Wyred4sound mPre

Schitt Lyr+


ANKits


Headphone C core EL84 Amplifier “Virtuoso” – ANK Audio Kits

 

I'll likely buy a pair of Ascend Acoustic Sierra-2EX V2 bookshelf speakers.

THINKING of selling my KEF LS50 Metas but I'll probably box them up and revisit them again at some point.

 

Well heck… I posted my amp for sale with a “make me sell” it price on local Craigslist and haven’t been refreshing as I don’t really want to sell it other than for some marital peace. Someone reached out and wants to buy it, and actually ends up it’s the individual who bought the Jena labs conditioner I was thinking about purchasing off Craigslist haha. Anywho, guess I will be telling the wife I have a buyer and see what she says, and then may be back hunting for a solid state amp, leben 300, or audio note oto se.

 

Had a medical issue so canceled my Zu order. **** happens.

 

Latest addition is my 2nd Sony PS-2251. My other one is out of commission presently as the SME 3009 arm that came with it is being used on my Thorens TD-124. But as I was waiting to buy another SME(armboard is already cut for it) this very clean example with an original Sony arm came up for sale for a price that would be about the same, or less, for what a decent arm would've cost. A couple of days after spotting it, it arrived today safely packed and I couldn't be happier. The 2251 was made to compete with the Technics SP-10, and while I've never had the opportunity to hear that table, I do know that these Sony direct drives are essentially bullet proof and made to last. My other one has never needed any type of maintenance and keeps perfect speed, and this one is no different.

 

Hi, I have a 7.2.4 home theater.

I've just sold my Emotiva BasX-A3 (has lots of power but not very good dynamic range) so I have money to help buy a Parasound 2125 and run in bridged mode (400 watts 8 ohm) for the center channel.

I'm currently powering:
- Front L and R by Parasound 2250 V.2
- Arcam AVR5 receiver powers the center, surround L and R.
- 3 repurposed Denon receivers power the rest (4 atmos and 2 back surrounds).

I'm thinking of changing my Arcam to only power the surround L and R

QUESTION: If I buy a Parasound 2125 to power only the center channel, should I bridge it (400 watts) or just hookup only 1 channel (and leave the 2nd channel unused)?

NOTE: The Parasound 2125 has a switch to run in either stereo mode or bridged mode so it's engineered for this and has 35 amps peak per channel.

Parasound manual says that running in bridged mode creates more heat. (My center speaker can handle up to 175 watts at 8 ohm and go down to 70 hz; my 5 bedlayer speakers are identical) What are the benefits of more power? (From my couch 14' away from the screen, I don't listen to movies past 80 db or 2-channels music past 90 db).
I'm looking for more sound quality like when I upgraded from the Arcam AVR5 to the Parasound 2250 V.2.

Would listening at the low-average volumes that I've mentioned improve the center channel's sound quality from the Arcam's 80 wpc to the Parasound 2125 in bridged mode (400 watts @8 ohm)?
I know that the disadvantages of bridged mode is also noisier but people have said that it's not audible.

If I buy the Parasound 2125 for running in bridged mode (400 watts) but the sound quality is not as good as my Arcam, I guess I could just use the Parasound 2125 in stereo mode (125 wpc) and only use 1 channel to power the center channel speaker, and that should sound better than my Arcam AVR5's 80 wpc, right?

 

Which one?

I'm still at 19 months, only change has been a new CD player.... rocking the same stuff, keeping it dialed in and enjoying it.

Next step, patiently decide what tube preamp to build around.... start with SS amp, optionally add a tube amp later. But keep all the SS stuff, it took to long to build it!

That's the big priority set for the next couple of years. Some tubes, this time hopefully done right as I never spent enough before to make it a "keeper".

 

I really want to get the latest iteration of the Monbrison. It's MM-only and the output impedance is dropped from 5K ohms to 600 ohms - making IC lengths a fairly moot point. I like bringing my own SUT so this is perfect for me. Art Dudley gave it a great review in 2017. I would also considered a Masseto in good condition.

The Montille CV391 sounds fantastic and definitely punches harder (with juice left in the tank) compared to my Apetite. The soundstage is much larger with greater impact, texture, refinement and palpability. Paired with my VAC Ren MKV preamp it presents a bit more neutral and clean compared to my Apetite integrated - some may actually prefer this but I feel that a wee bit of that Shindo magic is missing without being paired to a Shindo pre.

 

As always you have me pulling up Google with one or two to go look at! Thanks.

BTW, I should embed this answer in the thread I just started about tube pres....

 

Just ordered these. ZMF Atrium. I finally found my endgame headphones after looking for years.

 

My wife once said "you're not going to be buried with your speakers you know" and I said back "yeah, but I could be with a cool pair of headphones!"

These made the shortlist!!

 

For those interested there is a pair of Omega K8 in the Omega Store right now....

 

Bought Q acoustics M20 powered speakers in May. Very happy with them.

 

Just received a HiFi Rose RS150B streamer/server.

Love it.

 

What did you have before that?

 

Ortofon Blue stylus installed 5 days ago!

 

I did not have any streamer. Just played CD's.

 

Yes, get a shindo pre to match with the wonderful Montille. The sonics will significantly improve and some say the preamp is the most critical piece. The inner detail , soundstage depth, width, decay of notes and overall transparency will improve.

 

The preamp is the most important component in my opinion. Get it wrong and it’s the worst bottle neck in the system as everything runs through it and it drives your amps.

looking back at all of my systems the preamp made the most difference and it was the component I would always stretch my budget on.

 

I think that I’m going to sell my Klipsch The Fives soon. I recently built a SET amp and some parts express speakers that sound pretty damn good, so I don’t really need The Fives anymore.

 

If you believe this to be the case, why did your recent upgrade path begin with the Toolshed amp and not the preamp since you had excellent Quicksilver amps in place at the time, if I recall correctly.

Cheers,
Robert