Audiophile question, What do you listen to your music on?

159596 Views 681 Replies 170 Participants Last post by MartinDB, 8 d ago

ScriabinMahler

Discussion Starter · Sep 27, 2009

At the moment im trying to decide which seperate system to get so that i can fully enjoy my classical CD collection, but i wondered what system do you currently use to listen to your music collection.

Has anyone got a NAD C545BEE cd player coupled with a NAD C326BEE Amp?

Or what couplings do you use?

Im a complete newbie to seperates so i think it may take me ahwile to decide which ones to get, alhtough ive read its best to have a CD player and amp from the same company.

Will be interesting to hear peoples fave systems.

Reactions: 1

661 - 680 of 682 Posts

drossy

· #661 · 5 mo ago (Edited by Moderator)

6

First, sorry at how dirty everything looks but I just finished moving in today and couldn't wait to get everything set up. I will be removing the big tv and furniture to something less busy.

My headphone system is a Woo Audio WA6 with the upgraded Sophia Princess rectifier driving a pair of AKG Q701. It has a beautiful Soundstage and my goto for listening to classical music.

My main system is a HP laptop with all flac rips from cds into a Cambridge Audio Dacmagic 100 and a NAD 2155 which drives a set of Elac 6.2 with a Elac sub 1010, it's quite a musical system, not tiring at all although definitely not open enough for classical. I am looking at some upgrades, probably the amp but, I am very happy and have started building my classical collection.

Wood Audio equipment Gadget Electronic device Home appliance

Audio equipment Gas Home appliance Electronic device Wood

Rectangle Road surface Asphalt Wood Grey

Camera accessory Output device Audio equipment Sound box Cameras & optics

Building Interior design Flooring Floor Hall

Gadget Audio equipment Cable Gas Electrical wiring

My headphonlistenig is a Woo wa6e

See less See more

Reactions: 2

Jokke

· #662 · 3 mo ago

Jokke said:
My listening equipment :

Speakers : B&W 803s 💋
Amp : Yamaha a-s700
CD : Yamaha cd-s700
Transport : Logitech Touch
NAS : Synology 213+ (all CD's ripped to flac)
Headphones : AKG 701 & Sennheiser RS180

Replaced the Logitech Touch with a Cambridge CXN.
Additional headphones Focal Clear with Marantz HD-DAC1 HP amplifier.

Reactions: 1

jegreenwood

· #663 · 3 mo ago

Is anyone else having trouble loading this page? I've tried two different computers (Windows 10 and 11, Google Chrome and Bing). I get one post with a number of photos at the top and then an enormous amount of white space before the previous post.

Reactions: 2

Malx

· #664 · 3 mo ago

Me too - maybe better than white noise on the HiFi thread!

Art Rock

· #665 · 3 mo ago

jegreenwood said:
Is anyone else having trouble loading this page? I've tried two different computers (Windows 10 and 11, Google Chrome and Bing). I get one post with a number of photos at the top and then an enormous amount of white space before the previous post.

Malx said:
Me too - maybe better than white noise on the HiFi thread!

Looks like the poster (accidentally) inserted a huge number of blank lines in the post. I could edit it, but that's ten minutes of my time I won't get back.

Reactions: 1

doctorjohn

· #666 · 3 mo ago

For CD I use an Audiolab 6000 CDT into a Topping DAC. A sony multi-player for DVD-A etc. For analogue I use a ProJect X TT, an Aiwa Cassette deck and a Sony FM tuner , into audiolab 8000 amps

Bkeske

· #667 · 3 mo ago

doctorjohn said:
For CD I use an Audiolab 6000 CDT into a Topping DAC. A sony multi-player for DVD-A etc. For analogue I use a ProJect X TT, an Aiwa Cassette deck and a Sony FM tuner , into audiolab 8000 amps

I picked up an Audiolab 6000CDT last year, run it into a Denafrips Ares II DAC. I’m amazed how good that Audiolab is for the money. Made my CD play much better. Very pleased With it.

Reactions: 3

Bachtoven 1

· #668 · 2 mo ago

I just received a Roon Nucleus Plus music server--so far I love it. I've had so many problems with both my HP laptop and MacBook Pro, that I decided to splurge on a dedicated server. It's not exactly an eye-catching piece of gear, but it works great. (I didn't take that picture, but my setup is identical: a Chord Qutest DAC and an external hard drive.)

See less See more

Reactions: 1

Bachtoven 1

· #669 · 2 mo ago

Well, that was short lived! I really dislike the library management compared to JRiver or Audirvana, so I'm returning it.

eljr

· #670 · 2 mo ago

Bachtoven 1 said:
Well, that was short lived! I really dislike the library management compared to JRiver or Audirvana, so I'm returning it.

How does one return things they simply don't like in 2023?

Bachtoven 1

· #671 · 2 mo ago

eljr said:
How does one return things they simply don't like in 2023?

There's no mystery about it: You buy it from places that offer a 30 day return window, as is the case with the Roon store.

Reactions: 1

eljr

· #672 · 2 mo ago

Bachtoven 1 said:
There's no mystery about it: You buy it from places that offer a 30 day return window, as is the case with the Roon store.

Interesting. I did not think this existed any longer. Even in audio.

Curious, why do you still use JRiver or Rooney?
What advantage do you feel it offers you?
I abandoned self stored digital music around the same time I stopped buying cds.

Bachtoven 1

· #673 · 2 mo ago

eljr said:
Interesting. I did not think this existed any longer. Even in audio.

Curious, why do you still use JRiver or Rooney?
What advantage do you feel it offers you?
I abandoned self stored digital music around the same time I stopped buying cds.

I use Audirvana for streaming Qobuz and downloaded FLAC/DSD files--I used to use JRiver for downloads, but I prefer Audirvana's interface. I like the way they organize files, allow for user created playlists, etc. It works for me and that's what is important.

Reactions: 1

Bachtoven 1

· #674 · 2 mo ago (Edited)

I received this Mark Levinson No.5101 SACD/CD player today--wow! Amazing transparency and detail--seems to mitigate the typical "digital glare."

Light Home appliance Audio equipment Heat Gas

See less See more

Reactions: 1

Bachtoven 1

· #675 · 11 d ago

2

Well, after living with it for a month, I decided to return the Levinson SACD/CD player. (The dealer has a 60-day return window.) It just doesn't sound much, if any better, than my Esoteric K-03, which is certainly better built and has more spacious sound. I was alarmed when I read a review of the Levinson that stated the transport is made by Sony and is basically a Play Station 5 drive! Really? Wow. I guess that's one way they reduced the cost. I think the Levinson is a good value, and it certainly sounds good, but one is also paying for the name, and they really aren't truly Mark Levinson anymore, and haven't been for years. (They are currently owned by Harmon International.)

Play Station/Levinson transport:

Esoteric transport:

See less See more

eljr

· #676 · 11 d ago

Bachtoven 1 said:
Well, after living with it for a month, I decided to return the Levinson SACD/CD player. (The dealer has a 60-day return window.) It just doesn't sound much, if any better, than my Esoteric K-03, which is certainly better built and has more spacious sound. I was alarmed when I read a review of the Levinson that stated the transport is made by Sony and is basically a Play Station 5 drive! Really? Wow. I guess that's one way they reduced the cost. I think the Levinson is a good value, and it certainly sounds good, but one is also paying for the name, and they really aren't truly Mark Levinson anymore, and haven't been for years. (They are currently owned by Harmon International.)

Play Station/Levinson transport:
View attachment 191042

Esoteric transport:
View attachment 191043

It's pretty common for high end audio to use mid, very affordable, components and wrap it in a beautiful case.
I am done with that. I have not heard a sonic differance, other than speakers in decades. Well, I do rave about my new Dac but how much of that is confirmation bias?
Didn't your return something else recently? Or was that a different poster?

It was like when I bough my big McIntosh mono blocks, teh dealer was honest as hell with me. He told me I just did not need them. I did not care, it was a want. It make me feel good to own them.

Reactions: 1

Bachtoven 1

· #677 · 10 d ago

eljr said:
It's pretty common for high end audio to use mid, very affordable, components and wrap it in a beautiful case.
I am done with that. I have not heard a sonic differance, other than speakers in decades. Well, I do rave about my new Dac but how much of that is confirmation bias?
Didn't your return something else recently? Or was that a different poster?

It was like when I bough my big McIntosh mono blocks, teh dealer was honest as hell with me. He told me I just did not need them. I did not care, it was a want. It make me feel good to own them.

Truly high end companies, such as Esoteric , make their own components as much as possible. I know it was a cost savings effort on Levinson’s part, but I think they could have used a more robust transport.

Yes, I returned a Roon server.

OCEANE

· #678 · 10 d ago

Bachtoven 1 said:
Well, after living with it for a month, I decided to return the Levinson SACD/CD player. (The dealer has a 60-day return window.) It just doesn't sound much, if any better, than my Esoteric K-03, which is certainly better built and has more spacious sound. I was alarmed when I read a review of the Levinson that stated the transport is made by Sony and is basically a Play Station 5 drive! Really? Wow. I guess that's one way they reduced the cost. I think the Levinson is a good value, and it certainly sounds good, but one is also paying for the name, and they really aren't truly Mark Levinson anymore, and haven't been for years. (They are currently owned by Harmon International.)

Play Station/Levinson transport:
View attachment 191042

Esoteric transport:
View attachment 191043

"I think the Levinson is a good value, and it certainly sounds good, but one is also paying for the name, and they really aren't truly Mark Levinson anymore, and haven't been for years."

This is very true and the reason I pay no more attention to this brand.

Reactions: 1

Art Rock

· #679 · 10 d ago

Art Rock said:
Looks like the poster (accidentally) inserted a huge number of blank lines in the post. I could edit it, but that's ten minutes of my time I won't get back.

I figured out (in another thread) how to do this efficiently. I cleaned the first post on this page.

Forster

· #680 · 10 d ago

eljr said:
It was like when I bough my big McIntosh mono blocks

Residing on the bottom rung of the hifi ladder, I've no idea what these are...but I'm sure I misread the price when I looked them up.

I wish I had ears that were that discerning. 🤷‍♂️

661 - 680 of 682 Posts