Hmmm. If you want to stick with planars, you should also look into the Drop x THX Panda. It’s in the same price range, and I don’t recall anyone having any major gripes about it.
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Bought an iPOD mini to mod as a little project. It is probably kind of a dumb idea, the project might be more fun than the end result. I am planning on flash modding it and putting in a new battery.
Also it was interesting to find out about what bitrates are best, how people are sharing music these days, etc. I don’t have a CD-ROM drive to even rip music any more!
Quick question for you guys.
What was that small or not that small upgrade that made the biggest impact in sound quality?
Eloi, I like listening and I have decent gear, but I’m not an audiophile (I think). So, with that out of the way: Specific to my chain, parametric equalization (via DAC or Roon) likely had the biggest impact. But that delta is still pretty small, since the baseline sound quality of my gear is already satisfactory for me.
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IMO just decent headphones. I got an AKG K7XX and while I had a schiit dac/amp setup for a while I found it wasn’t a noticeable difference to using the soundcard built into the motherbooard on my computer besides that it got louder but I never needed it to be that loud.
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the sundaras supposedly measure pretty well.
It’s considerably a lot more expensive but I’ve been eying Dan Clark’s Aeon RT a lot.
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Anybody got phono preamp recommendations? I use a Sonos amp so it doesn’t need to be the absolute best. Maybe between 200 and 400 USD.
I have the schiit phono preamp and it’s developed a really loud buzz lately so I think it’s on its way out. All ready got a new ground cable and that didn’t help.
Unrelated but how do you like your Sonos Amp? I’ve been eying picking one up to replace my old receiver.
I really like it. It’s not too big, packs a lot of power for its price and works well with hdmi-arc if that’s something you want to do. All the integrations are super legit EXCEPT spotify. Spotify has issues with accounts and disconnecting your computer or mobile so that sonos can use it. Since sonos needs its own connection, pretty often it will be refused by spotify cause your phone or computer etc is still “connected”. I haven’t found a solution to this even after two years. BUT every other integration works flawlessly. We recently got a sonos sound bar for our TV and its pretty legit to play a record in the other room and have the audio play in the living room too.
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Oh, interesting, I haven’t had any issue with Spotify and Sonos, but that does seem vexing. But, I like it too—I replaced the receiver and amps for my whole house system with a few Sonos Amps, and it works great.
Nice! Yeah the multi room is definitely a big part of what’s drawing me to it, our turntable is in our living room but I’ve got this dream of putting a Play 5 in our home office to listen to records while my partner and I work. Everyone I know who has Sonos generally raves about it but man that price does start to add up.
here’s my SOtM streaming set-up. I have it paired with Roon / Tidal and a MacBook Pro. Headphones are a trusty pair of Seinnheiser HD 650s with an aftermarket cable and a Grace Design m920 headphone amp or my electrostatic set-up with Stax SR-007s.
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dont kill me pls, but can anyone recommend an amp that would allow me to run 150ohm headphones for around 50 bucks? i’m not expecting top tier audio, i’m also not using top tier headphones, i just need something to drive them.
Always love to have a hifi installation in my living room to listen my CD collection.
I have for the moment a good old Pioneer A-676 Reference, i love it, with my B&W the sound is great for classical and rock 
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That’s gorgeous, it reminds me of Pioneer’s classic a-400x 
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Listening the Violin Concerto No. 3 from Mozart right now, that’s just gorgeous on this amp !
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Check out any cheap DAC on PartsExpress with a phones output.
Just replaced the bulbs in and cleaned the face/knobs on my Marantz Model 2015 after getting it back from my brother. It still needs some new paper as well as a more thorough internal cleaning, but boy does it look better (and sound just as nice as I remember). It’s driving a pair of Altec Bolero 890c speakers (those with the horns) as well as some Koss CM-530s. The Altecs obliterate the Koss when it comes to mid-range clarity, so I think the 530s will be finding a new home soon. Can you tell we prioritize audio over video quality in my household? 
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Man old hi-fi sure is pretty.
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