What are you listening ON..Audio thread

Cuprajake

Shamelessly stolen from another thread to go in hand with the photography thread.

Do you listen to music? Well what on?

I listen in bed most nights, listen to anything and everything, stream via Deezer hq onto my fiio k7 balanced amp, and into a set of Dan Clark audio ether cx planar headphones.

Gagaryn

No photos for the moment but depending on where I am I listen to:

radio on a Revo SuperCD or a tiny Roberts Revival Petite or the early Blaupunkt DAB that I fitted in my ancient car in about 2003 - in-car DAB was still very new then!
or digital music on an Astell & Kern SR25 MkII and a pair of Shure SE846,
or records on a pimped Technics 1210 through a EAR 834P and a Lehman Linear and Audeze LCD X.

EDIT - should probably add guitars and amps too as also spend a fair bit of time listening to them , a 12 fret Guild Orpheum, couple of Jazzmasters, Telecaster, old Gibson ES-347 through a Fender Princeton Reverb or a Tweed 5F2A Princeton clone that I built, or a Roland Jazz Chorus.

Cuprajake

I had a pair of audeze classic 2, but I had to move to closed back.

How do you like the Shure?

Gagaryn

Cuprajake Yup - I really rate them. When I first tried a pair they absolutely blew me away. They don’t get as much love as they used to as I exclusively work from home - and they are my going out earphones! Common view on the internet is that they are outdated and the new kids on the block like Campfire Audio and others make better, more feature rich stuff. I’m not sure that holds much water - boutique manufacturers often spend more on marketing than R&D. Shure know what they are doing - mic and earphone technology has been well understood for decades. I’m no Audiophile though - I know what I like and I like simple and no frills.

Rob666

Despite the fact that I have a 5.1 setup with Dynaudio Pro monitors and a pair of Leema Xen Mk1s as an alternative I mostly listen on an ancient Logitech sub and satellite system. Lazy I know but after many years spent listening critically for work the content is more important to me than the ultimate sound quality.

wintoid

Rob666 What was work, if you don’t mind me asking?

Hotmetal

Depends what I’m listening to. I have got quite into Internet radio as I’ve found a bunch of like minded DJs and listeners for all the kind of mod/soul/ska/skin stuff from my younger days on Mixcloud, Twitch etc. For that I need to use an ipad or mobile, which I hook up to the main valve system. Yes that exposes the compression etc but at least it doesn’t sound tinny. “Proper” digital radio goes through the same amps from the Innuos Zen, as do all the CDs I ever bought. And of course the vinyl on the TW Raven One. For headphones I’ve an old pair of Sennheiser HD440 II but living alone I generally can have the system on if I wish.

Nightrider_1uk

Hotmetal TW Raven One

Thats a fab looking Turntable, bet it sounds Lush

MattH

So, I seem to rotate through hobbies - coffee being the latest… but AV and hifi have come in and out of fashion with me for years.

I seem to have a small pile of various headphones along with a couple of portable dace - the audioquest dragon and chord Hugo. TBH at the moment non of which I use that much (if at all) - I normally just grab AirPods when listening in the gym etc.

At home I have collected quite a bit of kit - having 2 sons as I keep changing it they get it for their bedroom systems.

I am not a “audiophile” in the sense of all the various expensive tweaks - but I do want my hifi to look as good as it sounds.

Currently the boys have a variety of Belcanto amps/dacs - always loved the small sized components. They use them with a couple of streamers and wharfdale/DIY speakers I got from eBay.

For me I fell for Italian components by Gold Note - so have an all in one amp - along with a dac/preamp and power amp combo. The lockdown spurred on this revamp - and way too much time was spent looking for exdemo/used bargains.

Speaker wise I have the Wharfdale Linton heritage and the JBL L82 with the funky orange grid covers :)

Lastly in the office I have some active Genelec speakers/sub - long with a R2R dac and a nice meridian headphone amp which also has the pc wired into it for gaming/sound etc.

Most music is now streamed - though I use ROON to store my own ripped music - and I still like a cd player using a belcanto cd2 (nearest I will get to a record player) and recently a Rega saturn v2/3 I picked up - again I love the industrial design of the player!

I will see if I can sort out some pics…

1984FXSE

After years of cynicism we’ve converted mostly to Sonos after being blown away by the ‘Beam’ soundbar. We now have the little speakers all over the house and the sound quality is surprisingly good and I love being able to pair up all the speakers on a whole floor so music is playing everywhere.

However I’m still a sucker for vinyl so I have this modest setup, not ideally positioned, still need to mount the speakers but it still sounds great.

SL1210, a Marantz PM-something and B&W 685. You can get those B&W for like £250 which is absolutely nuts considering the quality.

JahLaza

1984FXSE Marantz PM-something

I have the same one in silver, they are great eh?

Cuprajake

i had the sonos beam and the ikea made by sonos wireless speakers, they were really good. i only got rid as i had lip sync issuses with my lg oled tv, i ended up with a denon amp, and some q acoustics speakers for dolby atmos

1984FXSE

Cuprajake

Yeah both us and my other half’s Dad has the same issues with sync. Ours seems to have been inexplicably fine for quite a while but I’ve spent many frustrated minutes faffing with the sync settings on both Sky and Sonos to sort it.

It’s usually worse on movies with HDR/4K so I’m guessing it’s something to do with bandwidth or connection.

Pompeyexile

Like many I have moved with the times and have Sonos speakers in the kitchen and solid roofed conservatory/dining room. Because of that I have ripped all of my CD’s onto a NAS and the Sonos picks it up from there.

So, if I’m baking on goes the Sonos, but to be honest I tend to listen more to my comedy stuff (Gloomsbury, Bleak Expectations, Elvenquest etc) on that. My other half listens to the music through the Sonos more than I do.

I’m still a stickler for the hi-fi and have just recently had my Linn Sondek serviced and a new stylus fitted and will be spinning some vinyl very soon, as we have just had major work done on our lounge and I am just about to put the hi-fi which has been packed away back together in a rack I had specially made.

Part of the re-imagining of our lounge, was to have one of the spaces next to the chimney breast where the TV once stood made into a listening/reading corner. So, I have bought a comfy fireside chair and stool and had a cupboard built below the wall unit I already have there (which contains some 800 plus LP’s) in which will go a selection of CD’s which I will rotate from my 2000 plus collection. On the top of the cupboard will sit a banker’s lamp for reading, and my Graham Slee headphone amp and my Sennheiser HD540 Reference headphones, where I will listen to music in comfort.

The last coat of paint goes on the cupboard tomorrow and the joiner comes to fit the walnut veneered top sometime next week. So, by next weekend I will be rockin once again.

MattH

Pompeyexile Still looking for the perfect chair - what did you get for your comfy listening chair ?

Cuprajake

yeah defo a code issue with them,

Pompeyexile

Okay now don’t judge and stay open minded.

I’ve been suffering from a bad back and I looked for ages and whilst there are tons to choose from out there, like when buying a bed it is no good not trying it or sitting in it for longer than a minute or two. What may seem fine for a couple of minutes, won’t necessarily be good for a long sit. Believe me, that is exactly what happened to me with my last chair purchase. It seemed OK in the shop but once home after sitting in it for half an hour I regretted buying it.

I eventually came across a company called HSL. When I first looked I thought they only did chairs for retirement homes and people over chuffin eighty, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. So, I went along to the shop we have here in York and couldn’t believe it. Not only did they have ranges differing in sizes, but so many fabrics/patterns including leathers to choose from. They consentrate on support and posture as well as comfort when designing a chair.

We were there half an hour and I sat in a chair (petite range) for the whole time and it was so comfortable.

Yes, I could have gotten a chair for half the price or even less, but this will see me out and more importantly in comfort without compromising my back.

MattH

Pompeyexile Totally agree currently hate our sofas with a passion and have done since day one. So next time its try all the way..

Hotmetal

Nightrider_1uk

Cheers matey, yes, it’s flipping awesome. I am extremely lucky in that I’m friends with Thomas Woschnik and Graham from Tron Electric so I have been very well advised and also got good deals on my TW and Tron stuff without which I would never have afforded it. That was in better times, if anything happens they won’t be replaced. I’m very appreciative of the sound.

Pompeyexile

Finally got everything set up and up and running…

Spun a couple of LP’s and was immediately taken back to my youth. Then sat in my comfy chair with feet up and had an hour on the headphones…sublime!

That’s me sorted now. Just a trip to the local record shop that opened up last year. Oh and a night of vinyl and beer with a neighbour who also loves his music….Happy Days!

wintoid

I’m using Roon for all my listening. I have music in 4 rooms of the house now, on systems varying from proper hifis to Sonos speakers (driven by Roon). I don’t think I’ve ever listened as much as I do now.

MattH

wintoid Roon is excellent ! Use it around the house as well !

DavecUK

wintoid I’m using Roon for all my listening. I have music in 4 rooms of the house now, on systems varying from proper hifis to Sonos speakers (driven by Roon). I don’t think I’ve ever listened as much as I do now.

I just looked up the price of Roon server…wowsers. I Use a Raumfeld Connector, had it years, manages all my music and I access from a smartphone…keeps a nice library.