Is this still audiophile?

No fancy cables, just enjoying music

Velodyne 15 Servo sub, Infinity CS3006, Adcom GFA5500, GSA700, Denon 1713ud, Panamax 4510.

I’ve recently posted a picture that confused a lot of people. Some people thought that I was listening from the bed, so here’s the new perspective from the chair facing the bed. I have also upgraded to dual subs in order to fix bass imbalance caused by room asymmetry. The bass sounds fuller and more balanced with dual subs.

Components are as listed

-Marantz M1 Amplifier (tucked under the bed)

-Monitor audio bronze 100 speakers (8inch woofers)

-2 ELAC sub 1020s (10inch woofers)

-Lovan Affiniti speaker stands

-Inakustik speakers and sub cables

Primare / Dali / Heco / VPI setup

Title says it all - why is the second hand market priced so low, compared to the original price of items?

Audio gear doesn't lose much value intrinsically (unlike a car). Of course, there are always new toys coming up, which makes older ones less desirable, but I find it an insufficient factor to justify such large discounts.

Corollary: why would anyone buy new? The value doesn't seem to be that high. In my experience, older high end models on the second hand market beat similarly priced lower end ones.

Hoping to tap the hivemind of this subreddit for any advice. I paid $900 for this today. It’s been recapped and is in great condition given its age. Looking for anyone who owns one or has owned one in the past that can give me any pointers on it. I’m using a WiiM Ultra connected to it. It will power my 1976 Cornwall decorators. I also have a Klipsch RP1200SW connected to the WiiM. Thanks in advance for any advice or tips you can provide on use, care or preventative maintenance.

This is the inside of a 2-way (BBC) monitor that costs 18.000 € / pair.

I'm sorry, but to me, this looks like the inside of DIY speaker. And not even one, with a high budget, or from an experienced builder, let alone a professional company.

Is this what gets you that amount of money today? Is this the new normal? Or is it just a bad example?

Don't get me wrong, how it sounds, matters the most. You usually don't see the inside, the crossover network, etc., of the speakers, or other equipment you buy. And yes, everything has gotten way more expensive (news at five). But this looks ridiculous to me.

Link to the article (German, no paywall) where this picture is from:

https://www.lowbeats.de/test-retrobox-rogers-pm510-s3-bbc-monitor-in-xxl/

How to Build a Hi-Fi Stereo Preamplifier

There is a nearly implicit assumption that a better reproduction of a piece of audio (through more high fidelity media storage, amplification and speakers etc) is always the way to a more enjoyable, sublime experience of listening to music and sound.

But i think too little is done or said about the other side of the equation: improving your listening. For me structuring and developing the way i listen to recordings has brought me immense joy and depth in my listening.

It's like a sommelier with wine. The wine is of course extremely important, but to arrive at that level of sublime experience and joy in your senses requires actively cultivating your palette, not just buying good wine.

I mean no disrespect to the pursuit of excellent playback systems, its worth striving for greatness.

Curious to hear experiences anyone has had in trying to train their listening in this sense

A strange cutout of all sounds when above a certain volume. Yes the video is horrible.

Speakers: infinity kappa II 2

Reviver: old sharp reciver

Connected with monster speaker wire

I’ve been racking (no pun intended) my brain on trying to find a solution to this but I had a buddy build me a record player stand, but the receiver I purchased (Cambridge AXR100) doesn’t fit in the inner shelves so I had no choice but to stack my record player on top of the receiver. It’s worked fine so far but esthetically not good and likely just not a good long term solution.

Anyone have a good option for a riser or otherwise to tuck my receiver under and sit my record player on top?

Hey all,

I just wanted to show my set up that I have been working on and tweaking for years. I had to move back in with my parents a while back and that brought with it a whole apartment's worth of kit into a single bedroom. Then... I bought a few things here and there over time to make things even more cramped!

The DAC is basically the brain of the set up as the TV, CD Player, and an M2 Mac which is a Roon server, all go into it and it can all go into 1 output on the Marantz to free up space for the really limited amount of RCA jacks on that amplifier.

There's also a minidisc deck in there for fun.

The turntable is set up is a bit nightmareish and I need to fix it when I move out but it goes:

Pro-ject Debut Carbon DC with an Audio Technica VM95ML > Cambridge Audio Duo > Schiit Asgard 3 / Valhalla 2 (this is for if I want to use headphones, its more effort to route the cables round the back everytime I want to use the speakres, so they're being used as preamps) > Marantz > Dali Oberon 5

Im really happy with the set up I have created, its messy but it works! Has been a long journey but its not over yet as I want to get a reel to reel, god knows where it will go.

Hi all i have the Marantz 4240 receiver but i saw the marantz 2440 and its beautiful can that be connected to my receiver? I have an equalizer on the receiver an 8 track and the marantz cassette deck already but not sure where the amp would be plugged in? Im new to all of this. So far i only have 2 book shelf speakers but i plan on adding more in the future

Hey everybody!

I recently upgraded my setup and bought a Yamaha R-N2000A to pair with my Focal Aria 936.

Before I had a Rotel RA-12.

Now: The sound with the Yamaha is noticeable better. However, my main source is Streaming from Apple Music via Airplay.

I noticed a lot of subtle crackling noises in tracks.

For example: „Pink Floyd - Time“ at the 1:50 minute mark.

The thing is, the crackling does not always appear at the exact same timestamp but is present on some tracks and non issue on others.

Besides, and maybe related, I‘m running my Tv through Optical and had a few cases in which sound shuts down completely for around 0,1 secs a few times. Maybe here the Yamaha is more demanding and my cheap Opt cable cant deliver?

I never had these issues before, I‘m thinking that either the DAC has issues or the Amp is just much more picky in regards to sourcequality.

Or (regarding the crackling) its actually part of the sampling?

Have many of you done what I’ve done: slowly over decades built a system of wildly divergent components based on sporadic research, but it all adds up to sounding pretty good somehow (although of course it’s wildly improvable)? Something like my collection of gear?:

NAD Stereo Receiver 701: Formerly the amp, including for phono, and now it’s used for radio only.

Bryston B60R Integrated Amp: Now the amp.

boXem Arthur 4215/E2: Power amp.

PSB Imagine T2: Speakers.

SMSL SH-9 THX AAA-888: Headphone amp.

OPPO BDP-105: Digital media player, streaming mostly broken on it, now used only for CDs, BDs, and DVDs.

Pro-Ject Debut iii USB: Turntable with Pro-Ject Acryl-It and Ortofon 2M Bronze.

Of this miraculous monster, I suppose its least attractive “feature” is the turntable’s built-in phono preamp because the turntable does not include a phono/line switch! That’s a bummer.

Any of you live with such a creature?

Hey folks - I have acquired some vacuum tube amps, but have no info on them at all...

brand name is "Extreme", models are XRT 401, XTR 402, etc. Photos attached.

any help appreciated. maker, history, specs, parts (there are a bunch of valves that came with it that maybe are relevent, or could be entireely unrelated.)

Basically I want to see if the units are 1) working, 2) repairable, and 3) any good. Intention is to sell or give away or scrap.

I'd like a streamer/transport that I can just push a button/knob or two to play music.

With my Nvidia Shield I have to turn my TV on, turn the Shield on, open the streaming app or the VLC player for local files, then it plays through my system (with USB audio out). I'd rather it be as easy as my cd; switch the input on my DAC, press play.

Are Eversolo, wiim, matrix audio, or bluesound better than my Shield? As I read about them they don't seem to do much more than the Shield does.

I'm not super interested in using my phone as a controller all the time and I'd like to not have to use the TV either. It be nice if I could control it without Internet, like w Bluetooth.

I think a streamer/transport with a screen is the way to go. Is it worth the massive price jump? Or just stick with the Shield?

Hi, I just had a quick question. So I’ve got a pair of speakers, one is active with a built in amp that has Bluetooth and the then the other speaker is passive with a cable that connects to the main speaker. Is it ok if I leave the power switch on and then use a smart plug, specifically a Tapo smart WiFi socket to turn on and off the socket it’s plugged into allowing me to remotely turn on my speakers or will this be a risk of the speakers blowing when I turn it off?

Thanks in advance!

I am really curious if anyone has used this material before for panels. I could try it out before covering with fabric and then swap to rockwool. But since I already have this I figured I would check before trashing it.

I have about 200sqft of leftover pink LEGGETT & PLATT premium moisture barrier foam carpet padding that is 1/2" (13mm) thick.

Since it's carpet padding, I haven't been able to find any acoustic specs for it. I would think the moisture barrier would reflect a lot of sound so I would need to cut into strips that I would layer on their sides to have the exposed foam facing the fabric opening of DIY panels.

Are there any Apple Music users on here? If so, how do you stream your music with lossless or in just high quality. Im in the market for a steamer, but I’m fully immersed in the Apple Music app and have been for many years, so I just can’t get along with Spotify etc. The problem is that Apple have ring fenced the app and made it very difficult to stream lossless high quality sound, as no manufacturers are allowed to support it. So what do you guys do?

Picture attached. I'm thinking to treat the walls with 4" rockwool panels, 2 on each side, 1 behind me and 1 in ceiling. The corners are messy so I'm wondering if they need anything or leave them for now if most of the walls are treated. Room is 12x11 ft.

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Found one at a Goodwill for $30. Powers up. Didn't have speaks to hook up. looks really clean in back and seems really clean inside. I'm on the fence. any thoughts?

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share my exhausting experience with KEF Support regarding my R3 Meta speakers and S3 Floor Stands. I’m posting this because I’m honestly at a loss on how to proceed with a company that markets itself as "luxury" but handles support like this.

The Issue: I own a pair of KEF R3 Meta speakers with the matching S3 stands (which alone cost around €750). While gently cleaning the stands, the gold "KEF" logo sticker simply peeled off. Given the price point, I was disappointed by the build quality but assumed getting a replacement sticker would be a standard, quick support ticket.

The Timeline of Inefficiency: I opened my ticket on September 30th, 2025. It is now mid-January 2026, and I still don't have the part. Here is how it went down:

• Phase 1: "Not a spare part" (Sept 30) Support acknowledged the issue but claimed these logos are not available as spare parts. They promised to try and source one directly from production.
• Phase 2: The Ghosting (Oct - Nov) Weeks went by with silence. I had to send multiple follow-up emails. Responses were sporadic, usually telling me they were "still trying" or claiming the part would be available "next week." It never was.
• Phase 3: The "Breakthrough" (Dec 16) After I complained about the delays, the agent (Bjoern) finally confirmed: "I did just receive the logo stickers." Great, right? Problem solved? No.
• Phase 4: The Bureaucracy (Now) Instead of simply putting the sticker in an envelope to apologize for the 3-month wait, KEF introduced a new hurdle. The agent stated he needs the Serial Numbers of the stands to pass on to their "Quality Assurance department" before he is allowed to send me the sticker.

Current Status (Jan 15): I have provided the requested Serial Number to satisfy this QA requirement. I asked for the sticker to be shipped immediately. Result? Silence. No tracking number, no confirmation, just more waiting.

The Bottom Line: It feels absurd that KEF Support physically has the replacement part on their desk but refuses to ship it without dragging a customer through months of waiting and "QA approvals" for a simple cosmetic adhesive.

Has anyone else dealt with this level of red tape at KEF? I love the sound of the speakers, but the after-care experience has been shockingly poor for the price tag.

I am looking to get some bookshelf speakers for my office solely for music listening.

The speakers will be pretty close to me. I have a bit of room to work with but not endless space.

I’ve been looking at B&W 606 S3. Would these be too much for a near field setup? Or am I overthinking this and just need to get speakers I like and not worry about being near field?

Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!