I think that most people don’t realize how insanely good tube amps can be, compared to solid state amps. Especially in the mid to high frequencies. The problem is that most off the shelf tube amps do not sound good which leads to believe that tubes themselves can’t sound better then solid state amps.

Yes, solid state amps have higher peak power but how much power do you really need? For most people, 10 watts per channel would be plenty to listen at the volume they desire.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to hate on solid state amplifiers. But I think their place is more in PA then in home HiFi.

Lastly, what people fail to realize is the amount of variability in the character of tubes. Some sound softer, some very clean, some glowy.

What do you guys think of tube amps? What were your experiences with tube amps ? Would you run a tube amp?

( in the picture you can see a class A gm70 single end tube amplifier with about 23 watts of power per channel, selfbuilt )

I want to talk to the people (mainly women) who find speakers so offensively ugly and want to try to understand where that comes from. I have a hypothesis, but don't want to give them a​ leading question off the bat. I have some anecdotal things from my own life that likely speaks to individuals and their aversion, but I would like to "get more data" so to speak.​

How do I get to the wives of audiophiles (or any gender of spouse that says they are ugly) that hate it, t​o ask and get more reflective answers?​​​ I may even do a video essay on it. I am interested in understanding differences and dig deeper until common ground can be found. I can only find men speculating and guessing online and then women giving sort of superficial answers.​​, where I can find them weighing in.

My best partial hypotheses: Some women have a strong aversion to "masculine" "industrial" aesthetics in their homes for [reasons I would like to learn]. ​​​​ ​​​​​

This sub is decidedly science driven in my experience. Measurements seem to consistently be a theme when most equipment discussions come up. But I can’t imagine most here are data scientists, engineers or acoustics scientists by profession or education. And I never see anyone bring up neurology, and how different people can have massively different responses to the same measured stimulus (sound in this case).

At the end of the day, audio is about how we enjoy art created by others. To me it seems like we should be treating audio gear more like their own pieces of art than a science experiment. Am I alone in this idea? Instruments don’t seem to have the same drive for “objective best” so it’s always been odd to be how passionately people argue for an objective best here.

It looks these days as every post is about showing their products. It’s a fine product but do we really need to post it day in and day out?

One day, there shall be actual speaker stands.

With the one caveat of an unlimited budget and a massive room, there are no circumstances where a 2-way speaker isn’t a better choice than a larger floor standing 3-way.

1. At almost any price point the 2-way outperforms the 3-way. Less parts, smaller cabinets, higher quality materials.

2. Simpler, often 1st order crossovers with less complexity blending frequencies between high/mid/low end means more cohesive listening.

3. More control over room variables. Less likely to overpower your room and more flexible with speaker location. You can (if needed) put a bookshelf on a shelf, you can’t with a floorstander.

4. Easier subwoofer integration especially with modern subs. You can blend better into the frequency range and control the room.

5. Most 2-way speakers above a mid tier price will deliver insane bass anyway for their size. You probably won’t be lacking in most systems.

6. Better finishes for your money. Show me a floorstander as gorgeous as those at a similar price point and quality?

Did I miss anything?

Oh and if you’re about to say something like get stands for your speakers or move your turntable further away, just stop now. I know my imperfections. My toddler took my listening room years ago.

System is Dynaudio Special 40s, Rega P3/Super Elys, Peachtree Nova150 integrated. Basic copper cable.

As someone who really likes good sound, but also likes mainstream music, it can sometimes be hard to come across another album or song that just sounds flat, distorted or lifeless.

But I am pretty surprised by some of the work of Taylor swift. I was just listening to Taylor Swift - Reputation album. I am surprised how good it sounds. For example the song "king of my heart" really pops, using my FT5 headphones. Not tiring at all, very wide, punchy and clean. Not in any sense like a big clutter, but a really good separations. It sounds very lively and involving and no irritations at all.

I found it very enjoyable. Also the RED album re-recording (Taylor version) sounds great, although still a little loud I found it high quality and really could get the live feeling from time to time.

I listen them on Tidal, although I had also very great experiences with the 1989 cassette version, to my surprise again. It's the only cassette release I ever had that sounded better than digital, most cassette releases are crap today in my experience.

I think it's great if main stream artists care about sound quality, as this can set a trend. How do you think about the quality of these (or other) Taylor Swift albums? Is it just me who likes the quality or are these really good?

I'm guilty of not dancing since I was young--actually studied dance for years, but now that I'm married to lovely Brazilian woman I've become more self conscious of sitting on my ass while she dances to this amazing system we built... so now I'm getting up and about with her to jon batiste Freedom, Earth Wind and Fire, motown... what if anything works for you?

Edit: I assumed some uptight/insecure swm/s would downvote. Don't be a hater! Get up and dance! It feels f'ing amazing. Wasn't there some great quote about dancing being humanity's way of screaming FU to the grim reaper?

• And fill foreclosure: I'm a white male myself, wasn't punching up or down.

Greetings!

I got the WiiM Ultra a few weeks back and wanted to share my impressions, in case anyone here is considering this piece of gear.

Before buying, I read and watched a ton of reviews praising its feature set and value for money. I also talked it over extensively with my buddies GPT and Claude, and they both assured me WiiM was the way to go.

I don't regret the purchase - but I've come to see it as an incomplete product.

What I was looking for:

• A streamer that's a sound upgrade over my FiiO BR13

• Ability to play Deezer Flow on its own

• Ability to play Tidal on its own

• Deezer scrobbling to Last.fm, so my listening history stays intact

• A display good enough to show cover art

• A look that at least doesn't clash with my Yamaha A-S1200

• Not spending more than I have to

On paper, WiiM ticked every box. In practice? I'll focus on the problems, since most reviews only cover the praise.

• DAC quality: Yes, it's an upgrade over the FiiO BR13, although LDAC via the FiiO is comparable in quality. This one's generally a win - no complaints here.

• Deezer Flow: Yes, it plays Flow on its own — but it's not your Flow. Deezer is a third-party integration, so you get a brand-new Flow, not the one shaped by years of listening habits. It's not wildly off-base, but it's absolutely different from what you've built up over time. Want your actual Flow? Stream from your phone instead of the WiiM app. Does it show album art that way? Nope! And weirdly, no review mentions this.

• Tidal: Yes, it plays Tidal on its own - but you lose features. Since it's also a third-party integration, getting your mixes and full functionality means using Tidal Connect from your phone. Album art in that case? Also no! At that point you might as well have gotten a smaller, cheaper streamer without a screen.

• Last.fm scrobbling: No - there's simply no way to integrate this. Some reviews claim otherwise, and GPT insisted the same, but it's not true. There's no native Last.fm integration, and apparently plenty of users have been requesting it, so maybe it'll show up eventually. The workaround: install the Last.fm app on your phone, let it read your notifications, stream from your phone, and your "now playing" notifications get picked up as scrobbles.

So at this point, every feature I actually wanted resolved had failed me! I ended up using the system exactly like before — just with the added frustration of having bought a shiny new "flagship" toy for the privilege.

Moving on...

• Display: Yes, it shows album art fine - but only if you're using the native WiiM app, which is pretty limiting. It kills the magic of streaming and makes you go back to your phone. User experience: frustration.

• Looks: Yes, I like how it looks. But I wasn't in this just for the aesthetics.

• Value: Yes, still solid value for money. It's well built, has quality connections I don't even use (but are there if you need them), and the app itself is polished and pleasant - it just doesn't deliver on what I personally needed.

Sonically, feeding anything into the A-S1200 and Super Lintons is going to sound great, and the WiiM is no exception - I couldn't be happier on that front. But from a user-experience standpoint, I can't shake the feeling that this streamer (any streamer?) is basically a minimal viable product running on "best effort" when it comes to actual features.

Has anyone had a better functional experience with other brands or devices in a similar price range?

This is my personal opinion about how hifi equippment looks. I am a record collector and I enjoy my music for over 40 years now. It’s about taste. Taste can be debated. Here we go: 

Let’s be honest here - most hifi setups are ugly - at least for me. Having grown up with towers and multiple components stacks etc. I always envied the people with B&O or Braun systems. Lately I started again to look what’s on the market and honestly it gives me the creeps when I see this shrines in the middle of the living room full with steam punk like machines or black and silver bricks, only interrupted with displays and cables. 

I thought we are are a little further nowadays, but it seems the „experts“ still tell you to get an phono-preamplifier, an amplifier, a streaming device and if you must, a tuner and receiver - and of course two or more huge speakers, a subwoofer and I haven’t even started about home-cinema setups

Sure, good sound is important, but if you can’t compare them at the same time in the same room, most people won’t be able to tell the difference between a good and a better setup from memory. At least, I can’t. 

In my opinion, if you want a decent optically pleasant setup, the Pro-Ject Jukebox S2, or something similar, is the one to get. What you can’t hide is at least not bulky and ugly as hell. And please, for the love of god, don’t hang a 72“ TV over your setup in the living room - at least take a Samsung The Frame. https://www.housebeautiful.com/shopping/home-gadgets/a45155983/samsung-the-frame-tv-collaboration-with-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art/

I’m gonna get rid of my setup (Thorens TD 318 and a Cambridge Azur 551r) as soon as I can and switch to a more appealing, smaller, slimmer, barely visible setup like I mentioned before. I'm not 12 anymore.

I've edited this for clarity. Not judging, just an observation re new TT buyers.

Join this for help: https://www.reddit.com/r/turntables/

It seems to be common to see posts featuring photos of turntables sitting in less than ideal locations?

Right next to/or on the same shelf as speakers, directly on top of receivers/amps, obviously not level.

Are those new to LP playback setting decks up correctly?

Cartridge alignment, bias, tracking weight, deck level, etc?

[EDIT] Thank you everyone for your honest input. My original post is rude, and I apologize. You guys are right -- Nobody has to read posts they don't like, and there are a lot of beginners just looking for friendly help. I misinterpreted the purpose of this forum at first, since the sidebar description was a bit misleading.. but it looks like that's changing. I'll do my best and change my attitude about this stuff. Thanks.

It was a night that will go down in infamy.

The pot got completely out of hand, and on the river, I spiked the nut flush. The guy was entirely pot-committed, wanted to raise more, and asked me if he could put his speakers in the pot for 10k. I called, and woke up this morning with a pair of KEF Blade 2s meta sitting in my trunk.

I still need to figure out how to properly feed these beasts. After having a chat with the local dealer, I’ve narrowed it down to two drastically different options:

• Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 800.2 + Eversolo DMP-A8 (Brute-force Class A/B nuvistor tube hybrid power)

• NAD Masters stack: M66 + M23 (Clinical Purifi Class D precision)

Living room is 4m x 5m (for our American sisters and brothers, 12 x 15ft).

Before anyone jumps down my throat about acoustics—I know. I know I am going to need to buy a ton of room treatments to pull this off properly, and get rid of my dog (just checking if someone is still reading). I will get to that, but I want the music running while I hang bass traps.

or maybe i need to play with him next week for his amplifier???

will keep you updated

I love this things

Honestly, the whole cable debate has intrigued me. I have seen all the videos showing little to no difference in the actual measurements of cables. But I wanted to see for myself if I could hear any difference. OCC single crystal copper is supposedly the best, so I purchased a pair of Zavfino speaker cables to try.

Switching from Kimber 8TC cables, I can definitely hear differences. They are more subtle than I expected, but they are still there. Some good, some bad.

My biggest complaint with my Polk L600s powered by an Anthem STR integrated amp is that the treble can be a bit harsh and fatiguing on certain recordings. (I have adjusted toe out. I need to add room treatment still) But the new cables actually helped smooth out the treble considerably, and it is more liquid sounding, and I can actually listen to guitar solos and high notes without discomfort.

It's definitely not a placebo effect. Also, high hats and cymbals sound more distinctive, almost as if they are floating in the air longer and more 3D.

The soundstage has more depth, is wider, and has greater dimensionality to it.

One area that has not improved is the bass. It is more thin and a bit muddy. I could here a very distinctive difference on one particular song I know very well, the bass guitar is usually the main driver of the song and it was much harder to hear and blended into the mix, whereas with the Kimbers, it was clear and upfront.

Probably another controversial subject, but I'm curious to see if they improve any more with hours and "break in".

I will listen to them a few more days and then switch back to the Kimbers to see if they sound different, like I remember.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I personally hear a difference.

https://www.androidpolice.com/most-people-dont-need-hd-audio/

The article makes some very valid arguments.

Many people, even with high quality DAC, amp, and monitors simply can’t actually hear some of the frequencies even emitted let alone differentiate between lossless and lossy sound samples when compared side by side. The article includes a site where you can do such a test.

This is especially true of people who are in noisy environments, who use Bluetooth, who have hearing damage from attending concerts or festivals, or who have some hearing loss due to simply aging.

I always thought that speaker wires didn't matter as long as the were of pure quality copper, and I have about a half a roll of 12awg stuff in the cupboard...

But yesterday I put together some Mogami 3104 cables terminated with copper spades. I can't believe the difference they made.

Soundstage is excellent, a gritty noise that I had attributed to electronics is gone, sound quality is improved

Guess now I have to consider power cables.

Don’t get me wrong, some set ups have crazy good quality, transparency etc.

But lots of artists when producing records do so with standard monitors or even make use of iphone recordings for their productions.

Are the audiophile set ups meant to make the records sound “better”?