[Randolf711]

I'd gladly stop if Qobuz came to Hungary, although I hear its catalog may not be up to par.

Qobuz’s catalog is good now. Two years ago was rough but I no longer need another service.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I'm currently on a free 6 month trial for Tidal so I'm just going to let that run its course. However I just signed up for 3 month free trial of Amazon Music HD. For my musical interests, it seems that Amazon has better selection. Don't need MQA.

I'm curious about Spotify Hifi later this year.
I always prefered their Interface and music collection, however Tidal had way superior sound quality.

 

[ev666il]

I'd be interested in Spotify HiFi too, but only if they offered WASAPI Exclusive and support for VST3 plugins. (Integration with Audirvana would be best but it's not gonna happen, alas.)

 

[singlestack]

If Spotify HiFi rolls out in Canada I would naturally check them out too.

 

[438555]

Aside from me using an iPod for the analog source, and no speakers on the desk, that is the same setup I am using at work.

I usually put my phone in the dock, but it was easier to get the picture with my phone and put the iPod in there

 

[438555]

Nice use of the lab jack! I assume a matched pair?

Two different brands of old lab jacks that don’t easily move up and down anymore without pliers, so this seemed a good use for them

 

[golfbravobravo]

Hey,

I hate to do it, but I have an audio related question. (Sorry).

I know Schiit-Heads tend to focus on headphones. But, I'm curious as to how many speaker users are here? Also, what type/brand?

The reason I ask, is I'm getting the urge to upgrade. While my AR's are great, I want something different. Something phase coherent. KEF or Elac, Magnepan, Martin Logan, even vintage, like Acoustat or Apogee. Looking for feelings on panel speakers. More curious, mainly. I've heard Acoustat and Magnepan, but it's been years. Do the Uni-Q type coaxial speakers compete with those? If I could afford an Alsyvox, I'd do it. Most likely, I'll look for used, since I'm cheap.

Ideas?

We have pretty much all combinations. In my office I have Modi MB > Vali2+ > Opposition Planars. Jody has Fulla > Grados.

The media room (grandly named as it has the HT/TV plus our books), has no Schiit, but the old Elac towers that used to be our main listening speakers. Bedroom has Elac B5s.

Main room has Freya+ > Vidar > Tekton Double Impacts with the upgrades. There is no doubt that the DIs are superb in this setup for jazz, voice, especially and mid volumes up. At lower volumes they are good, but definitely come into their own when driven. I'm less enamored with the DIs for MOST classical stuff which seems very one-dimensional. Ms Jody loves very loud rock on the DIs.

Cheers

 

[Mike-WI]

Hey,

I hate to do it, but I have an audio related question. (Sorry).

I know Schiit-Heads tend to focus on headphones. But, I'm curious as to how many speaker users are here? Also, what type/brand?

The reason I ask, is I'm getting the urge to upgrade. While my AR's are great, I want something different. Something phase coherent. KEF or Elac, Magnepan, Martin Logan, even vintage, like Acoustat or Apogee. Looking for feelings on panel speakers. More curious, mainly. I've heard Acoustat and Magnepan, but it's been years. Do the Uni-Q type coaxial speakers compete with those? If I could afford an Alsyvox, I'd do it. Most likely, I'll look for used, since I'm cheap.

Ideas?

Not as "active" as this thread, but maybe more relevant for you:

Schiit Two Channel Clubhouse
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-two-channel-clubhouse.843459/

 

[golfbravobravo]

I don't think that it is possible to hijack this thread.


I would answer your question with Drobo 5N2 for network storage. The 5D is direct attached storage

Drobo are one of the few external storage systems I had real (lost data) issues with. Always wanted to like them, but in the end it went. I was a RadyNAS supporter until Netgear bought them. I went FreeNAS on big Dell Servers for a while. Now happy (well, I will be when I work out how to map their shares into a Docker container) with QNAP very affordable systems, regular updates and a very good OS.

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

Grappa = Italian moonshine On a visit, several years ago now, I (and my son) tried a different offering after every supper. Found some amazing flavors. One bar had several different offerings, tried them all and had a great discussion about Grappa and American moonshine with us offering very little Italian and the staff offering very little English. Too much fun. Have three bottles in the current booze collection.

Grappa is NOT Italian moonshine.

 

[artur9]

Those Wilmslow Audio transmission line kits are fantastic! Very much in line with something from ATC. A shame they aren't available here. Those would be epic.

Thanks...!

I think one of the pairs of subwoofers I have are folded transmission lines. No fat on those!

If you like the idea then Role Audio Sampan may work out: https://www.roleaudio.com/sampan
Their higher end model was recently reviewed: http://v2.stereotimes.com/post/role-audio-starship-se-loudspeaker-by-terry-london/

 

[valiant66]

Totem Acoustics makes some fantastic gear that should be in your range used. Clean clear sound.
Maybe GoldenEar? They sounded harsh to me when I heard them.

Do you want big floorstanders or monitors to pair with the sub? (The latter is probably more economical)
Also, don't forget about https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-two-channel-clubhouse.843459/

Can you do a kit?

I have Totem Mani-2s. I love them, but even used they're probably out of your budget.

Standmount (too big to be called bookshelf, but ymmv), they image -almost- as well as my LS3/5As but go down below their specc'd 32 Hz.

I have heard other Totems, and while there's nothing quite like the Mani-2s in their current lineup, their speakers all sound really good. Worth investigating.
.

 

[Randolf711]

Hey,

I hate to do it, but I have an audio related question. (Sorry).

I know Schiit-Heads tend to focus on headphones. But, I'm curious as to how many speaker users are here? Also, what type/brand?

The reason I ask, is I'm getting the urge to upgrade. While my AR's are great, I want something different. Something phase coherent. KEF or Elac, Magnepan, Martin Logan, even vintage, like Acoustat or Apogee. Looking for feelings on panel speakers. More curious, mainly. I've heard Acoustat and Magnepan, but it's been years. Do the Uni-Q type coaxial speakers compete with those? If I could afford an Alsyvox, I'd do it. Most likely, I'll look for used, since I'm cheap.

Ideas?

I listen to Speakers 90% of the time and have limited experience. When my Father in Law passed, he left me his Dahlquist DQ10s with sub (mirrored from the early 80s). They were way too sentimental and there was no way I was going to not use them. Luckily there are the guys at Regnar Audio who sell upgrade packages. I spent a little over 500 for the cross-over upgrade kit. I know this is NOT a traditional route and would take enjoying this kind of thing. If I didn't have sentimental attachment I would have gone new. However, after hearing my DW10's with refreshed cross-overs, I was absolutely floored! The sound stage and separation is lovely. Music that leans acoustic (solo to orchestral) really shines on them. I run them both off of mono-Vidars and it gives them a lot of dynamic range. I believe a pair of DQ10s can be had without going broke. I compare them very favorably to the fancy speakers I have heard in the high-end audiophile rooms. There are just too many options nowadays and you can't go wrong with any of the companies you mentioned.

 

[ImagesbyMurray]

I need some help from some IT-savvy folks. I don't want to hijack the thread with something not on the sine-wave, so I'd appreciate a PM. I need to expand my storage and need some advice about external hard drives (SAS? SATA? 2.5"? 3.5"?) and racks/ back planes.

Choosing a good storage solution really depends on your situation:

NAS - Network Attached Storage; good for general purpose file access, obviously, only accessible via network. Various RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) configurations natively supported ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID#Standard_levels ). With multi terabyte drives, you best choice is RAID 1 (mirrored) - RAID 5 or 6 (striped w/parity) will take over week to rebuild if using 4+TB drives. Note that RAID is NOT a BACKUP! It is fault tolerance, nothing more.

DAS - Direct Attached Storage; better performance as can be SATA, Thunderbolt, or USB connected. It CAN just be a single USB/TB connected external drive. Native RAID may or may not be available, but ANY modern O/S cand handle RAID 1 with no real performance downside. If you are running a general purpose O/S, that can be used to host network shares as well.

My preference? TB2 connected OWC 4Bay enclosure to a Mac Mini Server, running ROON Core. I'm not bothering with RAID at all, using one 4TB volume for ROON + Video library. 2 drives host my photography, Cynthia's dog treat biz files via network shares. The 4th drive hosts daily incremental backups using Rsync.

 

[StimpyWan]

I listen to Speakers 90% of the time and have limited experience. When my Father in Law passed, he left me his Dahlquist DQ10s with sub (mirrored from the early 80s). They were way too sentimental and there was no way I was going to not use them. Luckily there are the guys at Regnar Audio who sell upgrade packages. I spent a little over 500 for the cross-over upgrade kit. I know this is NOT a traditional route and would take enjoying this kind of thing. If I didn't have sentimental attachment I would have gone new. However, after hearing my DW10's with refreshed cross-overs, I was absolutely floored! The sound stage and separation is lovely. Music that leans acoustic (solo to orchestral) really shines on them. I run them both off of mono-Vidars and it gives them a lot of dynamic range. I believe a pair of DQ10s can be had without going broke. I compare them very favorably to the fancy speakers I have heard in the high-end audiophile rooms. There are just too many options nowadays and you can't go wrong with any of the companies you mentioned.

I've never had the opportunity to hear DQ-10s. But, I have a lot of time on DQ-20s, and I've heard Carl's Alon and Nola designs. All wonderful speakers, that work well on tube gear.

In 2004, I had the chance to attend CES in Las Vegas. Carl Marchisotto was demoing a $55K pair of Nola speakers, on 100 watt tube monoblocks. Some of the best drum reproduction that I've ever heard.

A fun CES, as I got to meet Carl, Jim Thiel, Arnie Nudell, Brian Cheney, and Jim Bongiorno, in a Zoot Suit too! Most of those guys are gone now, but they designed and built fabulous gear.