The official NPR Audiophile thread.

[Line6 HXFX]

Just bought a couple of Kali Audio LP6'S for my home recording studio set up.
Apparently for the price (140 quid each) these are the shit.
They are the shit for three times the price.

My previous monitors were really struggling and failing with the Line 6 Helix.

Hopefully these will be more than enough.

https://www.cnet.com/news/kali-audio-lp ... ble-price/

[Lobby]

As this thread mainly consists of Refry boasting about the latest piece of cheap crap he has bought, wouldn’t it be better to retitle this as “the official NPR Amstrad home stereo thread”

[Line6 HXFX]

As this thread mainly consists of Refry boasting about the latest piece of cheap crap he has bought, wouldn’t it be better to retitle this as “the official NPR Amstrad home stereo thread”

Hah they look a bit amstrad to be fair. You can get them in white if that isn't too classy for you.
This thread really has covered a lot of ground though as previously stated.

I think it is my finest hour.

About the speakers Guttenberg the resident CNET audiophile said...

It's a two-way design with a 6.5-inch woofer and a 1-inch soft dome tweeter. The LP-6 is a powered, bi-amplified speaker with built-in 40-watt Class D amps, one for the tweeter and one for the woofer. Build quality is very decent for the price, and connectivity is above average with RCA, XLR, and TRS inputs. The rear panel has a volume control. The LP-6 is not small, it measures 14.1 by 8.75 by 10.25 inches and it weighs 15.5 pounds.

You can hook up the LP-6 to any stereo preamp or a CD player, DVD player Blu-ray player with variable analog outputs with standard RCA interconnect cables. Or any device with a headphone jack, like a phone, tablet or computer. For those you'll need a 3.5mm stereo plug to stereo RCA adapter cable like this one.

The rear of the speaker is more interesting than the front, as the back panel hosts seven Boundary EQ settings. With these settings you can optimize the sound for speaker placement close to or a few feet away from a wall, or on a shelf, wall bracket or what have you. Or use the EQ settings to create the sound balance you prefer. I auditioned the LP-6s up against a wall on my desktop, and on stands placed well out into the room, far away from walls.
Streaming tunes on my desktop from Tidal and Qobuz I was very close, 30 inches away from the speakers. Bass was deep and nicely defined. The LP-6 is a very powerful speaker

This guy who hates everything, and is about as big a jumped up dick about this stuff as anyone here said..

[Line6 HXFX]

12.99 if already a prime member.
Think you can have six devices going at once though, so hd may be cheaper than Amazon music between six friends etc.

Not sure how complicated it is, or whether they have to be on the same wifi network though.

Thanks will give it some thought.

If you sign up for Amazon music unlimited (9.99 pm) I believe you can currently get Amazon Music HD for free for 3 months.

[clive]

I did try Amazon, Ive also tried Qobuz and Tidal, I have to say the High Rez stuff was no different to the CD quality, I have serious doubts about this MASTER QUALITY, there may be some but you cannot say the whole catalog is MQA,
The other thing about streaming is I feel you never own anything its like borrowing from the library, my site of choice is now high Rez audio, a German company where I now just download.

[Tichtheid]

I have tons of vinyl, I love the "ceremony" of it, the taking the record out of the sleeve and putting it on the turntable,. I love the tactile nature of the format and I love the large scale artwork.

I got an old Linn LP 12 deck for pounds and spent lots on a tone arm and cartridge. The turntable was a bit of a sod to get set up and running just right, but it was a hobby as much as anything.
I bought a second hand Krell integrated amp and I kept my old Rotel phono stage, the speakers are large floor standing Audio Vectors which were a bit more than the amp.

I did a bit of research and bought cabling from Maplins and made up my own speaker cables and interconnects, it was the same cables a mate's brother uses for professional recording.

I'm happy with the overall sound and I've had the set up for over ten years. I seem to have collected a heck of a lot of CDs and I have a player that isn't in the same sort of class as the vinyl set up, but I've no real wish to spend any money on a new one.

I mainly listen to CDs through my laptop via a Scarlett interface as headphone amp/DAC and a pair of DT 150s.


Fender Tele and AC 30, various pedals - on loan from my daughter.

[Spyglass]

Audiophile related.....I built a home theater 7 or 8 years ago and dumped around $6k into the following equipment::

RBH MC6 Series speakers - 2 x front, center and 4 x surrounds
2 x SVS PB12-NSD sub woofers
Marantz 6006 Receiver
Emotiva XPA-3 Power Amp for front 3 speakers

Sounds excellent to my 58 year old ears, but then I don't do much stereo critical listening, mostly just watching films in 7.2. The stars of the setup are undoubtedly the Emotiva amp and the SVS subs, truly outstanding bits of kit

[Dinsdale Piranha]

I did try Amazon, Ive also tried Qobuz and Tidal, I have to say the High Rez stuff was no different to the CD quality, I have serious doubts about this MASTER QUALITY, there may be some but you cannot say the whole catalog is MQA,
The other thing about streaming is I feel you never own anything its like borrowing from the library, my site of choice is now high Rez audio, a German company where I now just download.

You can't really get better than CD quality. Philips/Sony knew what they were doing when they wrote the spec. The best you can hope for is that a streaming service provides CD equivalent quality. I rip CDs as FLAC and convert to high bitrate MP3 for portable devices. MP3 encoders are very good these days.

[Lobby]

I have tons of vinyl, I love the "ceremony" of it, the taking the record out of the sleeve and putting it on the turntable,. I love the tactile nature of the format and I love the large scale artwork.

I got an old Linn LP 12 deck for pounds and spent lots on a tone arm and cartridge. The turntable was a bit of a sod to get set up and running just right, but it was a hobby as much as anything.
I bought a second hand Krell integrated amp and I kept my old Rotel phono stage, the speakers are large floor standing Audio Vectors which were a bit more than the amp.

I did a bit of research and bought cabling from Maplins and made up my own speaker cables and interconnects, it was the same cables a mate's brother uses for professional recording.

I'm happy with the overall sound and I've had the set up for over ten years. I seem to have collected a heck of a lot of CDs and I have a player that isn't in the same sort of class as the vinyl set up, but I've no real wish to spend any money on a new one.

I mainly listen to CDs through my laptop via a Scarlett interface as headphone amp/DAC and a pair of DT 150s.


Fender Tele and AC 30, various pedals - on loan from my daughter.

I have a Garrard 401 turntable with an SME arm. It’s currently being refurbished, and I’m looking forward to getting it back and revisiting my vinyl collection. I was amazed to see how much 401s go for now; starting price for a refurbished one seems to be about £2,500, but they can cost over £5k in the US and Japan!

[Line6 HXFX]

I did try Amazon, Ive also tried Qobuz and Tidal, I have to say the High Rez stuff was no different to the CD quality, I have serious doubts about this MASTER QUALITY, there may be some but you cannot say the whole catalog is MQA,
The other thing about streaming is I feel you never own anything its like borrowing from the library, my site of choice is now high Rez audio, a German company where I now just download.

Yeah it is interesting how things have changed..and agree with lots of that, a lot of our "audiophile hobby" involves hunting through a physical collection of albums, discovering something in a bottom of a pile of dusty records or CDs you haven't played in years..digging it out, remembering playing this album for the first time with a group of friends.
Owning old physical copies of music just evokes so many memories.
Interestingly my brother is of the generation of owning physical copies and a awesome HIFI too, and he discovered the spotify app on his tele last year (just playing spotify straight out of his shitty TV speakers) and hasn't bought an album or used his hifi in like 6 months.
Won't even let me connect his TV to his hifi.
I never thought I would see the day, convienence is often far far more important than anything.

For my part I am really enjoying Amazon HD through my Echo studio speakers. Cannot wait to hear the Amazon Ultra HD audio on these new speakers, it just sounded clear as a bell and just gorgeous pumping out of a 1200 watt FRFR PA speaker I own.
It is just a great time to be alive in regards to audio and music.
The advances they have made these days in terms of superb low priced music tech in all areas of music and music production, from guitar building to digital effects and amp modelling and speaker design is just mindblowing.

Just a real shame we will always have to drag all the miserable audio snobs around with us like a lump of misery, dragging us down, and telling us off.
Old technology owners will always have self serving contempt for the new.
They are terrified their expensive old gear will be as worthless and have the resale value of VHS video players.

[Sandstorm]

Yeah the value of classic cars continues to slide against the quality of amazing new Hyundai I20.

[Line6 HXFX]

Lol, the market for old consumer electronics is hardly inline with the vintage car industry, otherwise we would all be selling our old iPods for 5 grand.

[Tichtheid]

Some of the new digital amps are amazing, the punch you get out of the little blue tooth speakers is great. I mistakenly bought a large Marshall one, it was a mistake because I thought it was rechargeable but it plugs into the wall. The sound is very good though. My daughters have rechargeable speakers and they are very good and very convenient, they keep saying they are as good as my big stereo set up, I just smile through gritted teeth.

Pound for pound the new gear is as good or better, but it wasn’t available ten to twenty years ago.

[dpedin]

OK guys, I apologise in advance for my lack of knowledge. I am in process of redecorating my lounge and really fancy the Ruark R7 Mk3 - I think it looks very stylish and apparently sounds very good. I like the idea of the simplicity of it. I will be getting a new top of the range TV - I can get access to Samsung products via a relative who gets a staff discount and will link them up. However I enjoy listening to music and would like a decent quality sound quality as well. I am slightly hesitant as the Ruark is pretty expensive- £2300 - so looking for views before taking the plunge. Help!

[sockwithaticket]

I did try Amazon, Ive also tried Qobuz and Tidal, I have to say the High Rez stuff was no different to the CD quality, I have serious doubts about this MASTER QUALITY, there may be some but you cannot say the whole catalog is MQA,
The other thing about streaming is I feel you never own anything its like borrowing from the library, my site of choice is now high Rez audio, a German company where I now just download.

That is exactly what it's like. It's been ages since I bothered paying attention, but over the years you'd hear of people who get locked out of their Itunes library due to some terms of use violation. I'm aware of people having similar issues with kindle purchases from Amazon.

Even if you go digital rather than physical (and high quality digital is pretty prevalent now for new releases) buying is so much better both for you and the artist.

[Tichtheid]

OK guys, I apologise in advance for my lack of knowledge. I am in process of redecorating my lounge and really fancy the Ruark R7 Mk3 - I think it looks very stylish and apparently sounds very good. I like the idea of the simplicity of it. I will be getting a new top of the range TV - I can get access to Samsung products via a relative who gets a staff discount and will link them up. However I enjoy listening to music and would like a decent quality sound quality as well. I am slightly hesitant as the Ruark is pretty expensive- £2300 - so looking for views before taking the plunge. Help!

No idea about the sound, you'd be best to audition it, but I've just searched for it and it's gorgeous retro looking piece of kit, thumbs up on looks from me

[Line6 HXFX]

I can highly recommend the Kali LP6's for both home studio and general use.
If you want to start a home studio or audiophile journey here you go.
Terrific separation, great bass, and just pinpoint clarity for days.
Using them to mix and record guitar is just an absolute treat.

Played songs like Diary of a Madman and Hendrix back catalogue using Amazon HD music and Amazon ultra HD music and they are just Jaw dropping.

Had to send one back as the cone was damaged and was giving a bit of distortion, someone during packing put the three pin plug in front of the cone..with inevitable consequences...but the guys came and collected it and swapped it out within 24 hours.

We live in wonderful times....apart from all the death, poverty inequality etc.

[Globus]

This will do.

[Line6 HXFX]

Looks great globby. As an HIFI fancier that is astounding.
Right up there with my dads.
Suits your specific needs though, not mine though.


My needs are fairly fuxxed up.
I need to use the speakers as part of a home studio to record and track guitars, bass and drums.
I need to use it as part of a home cinema and connect whatever Amazon firestick hdmi 2.1 to it.
I want it to do Dolby atmos and Amazon 3d audio, which may require it to bounce audio off the ceiling.
I need it handle a guitar amp modelling rig like a helix or a Kemper without it completely farting out.

...sits back and waits for globus to post a pic of his incredible home studio and home cinema..which he probably owns..

Lol.

[Tichtheid]

Audiolab pre & mono blocks?

What are the speakers?

[Tichtheid]

This is the Marshall bluetooth speaker I bought, I'll freely admit I was suckered by its looks.

Luckily it sounds pretty good too

pos-marshall-acton-ii-bt-black-02.png (448.83 KiB) Viewed 819 times

[Tichtheid]

pos-marshall-acton-ii-bt-black-01.png (486.78 KiB) Viewed 819 times

[tabascoboy]

Audiolab pre & mono blocks?

What are the speakers?

Look like KEF Reference to me

[clive]

This will do.

The Amp on view is a audio lab, lovely sounding.

[clive]

I did try Amazon, Ive also tried Qobuz and Tidal, I have to say the High Rez stuff was no different to the CD quality, I have serious doubts about this MASTER QUALITY, there may be some but you cannot say the whole catalog is MQA,
The other thing about streaming is I feel you never own anything its like borrowing from the library, my site of choice is now high Rez audio, a German company where I now just download.

Yeah it is interesting how things have changed..and agree with lots of that, a lot of our "audiophile hobby" involves hunting through a physical collection of albums, discovering something in a bottom of a pile of dusty records or CDs you haven't played in years..digging it out, remembering playing this album for the first time with a group of friends.
Owning old physical copies of music just evokes so many memories.
Interestingly my brother is of the generation of owning physical copies and a awesome HIFI too, and he discovered the spotify app on his tele last year (just playing spotify straight out of his shitty TV speakers) and hasn't bought an album or used his hifi in like 6 months.
Won't even let me connect his TV to his hifi.
I never thought I would see the day, convienence is often far far more important than anything.

For my part I am really enjoying Amazon HD through my Echo studio speakers. Cannot wait to hear the Amazon Ultra HD audio on these new speakers, it just sounded clear as a bell and just gorgeous pumping out of a 1200 watt FRFR PA speaker I own.
It is just a great time to be alive in regards to audio and music.
The advances they have made these days in terms of superb low priced music tech in all areas of music and music production, from guitar building to digital effects and amp modelling and speaker design is just mindblowing.

Just a real shame we will always have to drag all the miserable audio snobs around with us like a lump of misery, dragging us down, and telling us off.
Old technology owners will always have self serving contempt for the new.
They are terrified their expensive old gear will be as worthless and have the resale value of VHS video players.

Ive nothing against vintage but I would say technology has improved things vastly, you can get a fantastic sounded system without breaking the bank.

[Sandstorm]

OK guys, I apologise in advance for my lack of knowledge. I am in process of redecorating my lounge and really fancy the Ruark R7 Mk3 - I think it looks very stylish and apparently sounds very good. I like the idea of the simplicity of it. I will be getting a new top of the range TV - I can get access to Samsung products via a relative who gets a staff discount and will link them up. However I enjoy listening to music and would like a decent quality sound quality as well. I am slightly hesitant as the Ruark is pretty expensive- £2300 - so looking for views before taking the plunge. Help!

Those are quality speakers. Do you have the amp to drive them properly?

[Globus]

Audiolab pre & mono blocks?

What are the speakers?

Correct on the amps. Speakers are:

Kef Reference Series. They were used to test other components. They are astounding.

The amps were bought from the designers and manufacturers of Audiolab in Huntingdon. Derek Scotland and Philip Swift. I used to mow Derek's lawn.

The deck is a Linn. The CD Player a Sony Pro. It weighs a ton as it's all metal, not plastic.

I do have decent bits of other kit but this is a purring Rolls Royce.

[Raggs]

Bit of a resurrection I'm afraid. I've got an old z680 5.1 system, and just now heard two knocks (thought it was something hitting the window, I was wearing headphones at the time), but noticed my speakers crackling. Turned it all off, turned it on, and wasn't getting any sound. Then I began to notice a burnt smell. The smell was coming out the back of the sub woofer. I've no idea what exactly has gone, but the fuse looks OK (I'll check it) but strongly suspect it's buggered.

So what's my best step to getting 5.1 sound back? Or at least 5 and forget the woofer temporarily. I'm obviously working on the assumption that the 5 speakers are all still working fine. I use it connected to my PC, direct channel.

What do I need for it all to make noise again, and how do I keep costs down to an minimum. I've watched some repair videos on the 680, and it's not for me. Or am I better off just trying to find another cheap 5.1 system in it's entirety?

EDIT - With a quick search, there's an ebay seller selling just the woofer with built in amp, for £70 (including delivery). I'm thinking it may be my best shot?

EDIT EDIT - I can see now I can get a new z607 system for £95... makes a lot more sense. I know these aren't the perfect audio experience, but it's really not what I'm after. Just want 5.1 sound for the rare occasions I actually use it.

[dpedin]

Bought the Ruark R7 with the AV mount for new Samsung Q55Q90T tv (I got it cheap as I know someone who works for Samsung).

Over the years I have had various pieces of kit from Denon decks to B&W speakers, etc etc but got fed up with all the separates and the wiring so went for the Ruark R7. It is a stunning piece of furniture, really well made and top quality. However I am so impressed with the sound quality - I stream from laptop or phone and I use it as a soundbar for tv. It has a phono connection for a turntable but not got round to that yet. I am now having to go through all my CD collection to listen to it all again. It is also remarkably easy to set up and to use. Although not cheap I would recommend it for old codgers like me who just want a high quality sound with minimal fuss from a real classy looking piece of kit.

[SaintK]

I posted this on another thread having forgotten about this one.
£500,000 plus for some new HiFi kit

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Dan D’Agostino Relentless power amplifier, from £250,000 forapair; dCS Vivaldi system (DAC, upsampler, transport and clock), £85,000; Dan D’Agostino Momentum HD preamplifier, £81,000; and Transparent Magnum Opus cable, from £23,000; all from Absolute Sounds (absolute sounds.com)
Start saving guys

[tabascoboy]

Partner it up with these speakers?

Final Audio Opus 204 – $450,000

[Lobby]

Partner it up with these speakers?

Final Audio Opus 204 – $450,000

All very well, but these are intended to have the house built around them, rather than being installed, which might limit their usefulness. Perhaps go for the Kharma Grand Enigmas instead, a snip at $1m

[Sandstorm]

Partner it up with these speakers?

Final Audio Opus 204 – $450,000

All very well, but these are intended to have the house built around them, rather than being installed, which might limit their usefulness. Perhaps go for the Kharma Grand Enigmas instead, a snip at $1m

Waste of money! You'd get the exact same sound from an Amazon Echo. You guys don't know how good these sound. Truly audiophile quality.

[tabascoboy]

Partner it up with these speakers?

Final Audio Opus 204 – $450,000

All very well, but these are intended to have the house built around them, rather than being installed, which might limit their usefulness. Perhaps go for the Kharma Grand Enigmas instead, a snip at $1m

Can't call yourself a true audiophile if you're not prepared to go that extra mile for sonic perfection.

[clive]

Partner it up with these speakers?

Final Audio Opus 204 – $450,000

All very well, but these are intended to have the house built around them, rather than being installed, which might limit their usefulness. Perhaps go for the Kharma Grand Enigmas instead, a snip at $1m

Waste of money! You'd get the exact same sound from an Amazon Echo. You guys don't know how good these sound. Truly audiophile quality.

Love to play Moterhead, through that set up.

[Tichtheid]

All very well, but these are intended to have the house built around them, rather than being installed, which might limit their usefulness. Perhaps go for the Kharma Grand Enigmas instead, a snip at $1m

Waste of money! You'd get the exact same sound from an Amazon Echo. You guys don't know how good these sound. Truly audiophile quality.

Love to play Moterhead, through that set up.

I saw Motorhead on the Overkill, Bomber and Ace of Spades tours. Each time it got louder, by the AoS tour it was just white noise after about ten minutes, followed by tinnitus for several days.

edit, Ted Nugent was pretty loud too - I was 15 and didn't know any better.

[Torquemada 1420]

So this thread = one tetchy guy in a massive outraged snit about people who enjoy music that doesn't come from some sterile tinpot Amazon speakers?

One tetchy guy with a very tenuous grasp on electronics or physics,

[Torquemada 1420]

OK guys, I apologise in advance for my lack of knowledge. I am in process of redecorating my lounge and really fancy the Ruark R7 Mk3 - I think it looks very stylish and apparently sounds very good. I like the idea of the simplicity of it. I will be getting a new top of the range TV - I can get access to Samsung products via a relative who gets a staff discount and will link them up. However I enjoy listening to music and would like a decent quality sound quality as well. I am slightly hesitant as the Ruark is pretty expensive- £2300 - so looking for views before taking the plunge. Help!

Advice is simple. DON'T buy anything you've not demo'd. Preferably, although hard these days, in your own home because every room is different.

[SaintK]

edit, Ted Nugent was pretty loud too - I was 15 and didn't know any better.

Old mate of mine was UK tour manager for him some time in the 80's.
Saw him at the Hammersmith Odeon and couldn't hear properly for 2 days
Was introduced to Lemmy backstage. Bloody hell could he put the drink away. Friendly bloke mind

[Line6 HXFX]

Look the problem with audiophile threads in the past is the audiophile stuff is solely the domain of rich, snobbish, unpleasant arseholes who can barely disguise their contempt for other people, their tastes and possessions.
Yes, they came here..and did precisely that what was expected.
Expressiing their contempt..but we collectively rode it out.

So we begun by examining what it is to be a audiophile, and asked if they are basically all mugs, created by hifi salesmen and if all the hifi salesmen whet their knickers when someone identifies as one.
We then asked what does a audiophile want.
Do they lust after great equipment, great sound, do they crave to re-experience a concert in their front room or if they want to know what it was like to sit in the recording studio when an album is being created.

We then looked at the future of technology..where I educated audiophiles about the sheer silliness of spending money on amps, loudspeakers and how all of their expensice equipment can be recreated digitally and cheaply, like it is in the guitar world.
We then fascinated about the advances in modern technology.

Then we all decided it was a silly stupidm, expensive hobby and to just go learn a instrument and set up home studios instead..ok maybe not.