[adydula]

This is one of the reasons I am looking forward to the Schiit CD Transport!

Then at least I can rip my cd's to flacs and not have to pay for a streaming service that does who knows what with the bits!
I often have stated, "just give me the bits please...just the bits!!"...

Cant wait for this Schiit transport!! Fingers crossed...and in a few hours we might get a better insight to what the CD transport really is!!

Alex

 

[hearditontheX]

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?

Salk Song 3A

 

[NewSchiithead]

MQA

Wow indeed.

And yes, he's quite right. Many new releases are MQA only on Tidal.

Fortunately, I have Amazon HD and Qobuz as backups. Tidal cancelled.

 

[adydula]

MQA seems to be a way to make some people very rich....IMO.

 

[Plautus001]

It came out to $968.28 CAD which was just the US price plus shipping converted. It didn't seem to touch CRA hands so no tax or duties which is highly unusual. Normally Fedex calculates and charges that before they release the package. Who knows, maybe that will come through a month from now as a separate invoice?

Lucky... my Asgard 3 ended up costing $325 to my door in Vancouver... still worth it though... miss my US mailbox

 

[corndog71]

A good way to DIY a speaker enclosure. But, how much did it end up weighing?

56 pounds. The walls are 1” thick but no internal bracing. If I had to build another one I would add bracing and maybe made the walls a little thicker. It’s still a beast that plays down to 18Hz and will rattle anything on the walls. Being servo controlled means it stops on a dime and works really well for music.

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?

Maggies sound great but you need a good amp to drive them. I like some Wharfdale speakers and the Martin Logan box speakers. They have a good level of transparency for the money. Zu is good for rock but I haven’t heard them play other music. Elacs are good too. When it comes to speakers I always say listen before buying if possible.

 

[hearditontheX]

85 long minutes till livestream.

 

[macdonjh]

I used some headphones.com electronics back in the day, still use one of their preamps.

I like the Audio Engine 5+ speakers for a budget system, but I use a Schiit multibit DAC with them, not the stock one
Happy listening,
Noah

The only Headroom product I owned was a "Little". It chugged along long enough to be called an antique by the guys manning the store a year or so before they closed shop. It blew a gasket, so to speak, and that's when I found out Headroom was no longer in business. Then I found Schiit. Sad on one hand, happy on the other...

 

[macdonjh]

Underwood Deviled Ham for the win!

That's a guilty pleasure, once every five years or so. Takes me back to grade school lunches (Mom packed).

 

[macdonjh]

What you want is the Sub-ository, part of which is inserted -- um, somewhere -- and will rumble everything inside and out. Works really well when you have some Schiit upstream in the signal path.

I don't shop in stores like that...

 

[macdonjh]

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?

Holy cow! You are nearly at the end of my list of Schiit heads who would try to steer this thread back to audio.

I currently have a pair of Avalon Acoustics Eclipse Classics. They are pretty large 2-way floor-standing speakers. I like them quite a bit. I've had them for more than ten years. They replaced my Apogee Stage with home-made Mini-Grand(like) subs. I sometimes wish I'd never sold the Apogees. At the time, though, I wanted more floor space in the living room to goof off with our kids (who were little then). The Apogees imaged well, had good top-to-bottom coherency and weren't bright. I have no idea if they'd have the impact/ dynamics you're looking for. Recently it doesn't much matter, the only Apogees I've seen on the used market are rebuilt Full Range, which are outside your budget. The Apogees need a muscular amp, too. I drove mine with the Threshold SA-1.

I've wanted, and nearly bought three different times recently, a pair of Kef 104. Back in the mid-'80s I loved their sound. I haven't kept up with Kef, I don't know if we have any local dealers where I could hear a pair. You might try a small or medium size Thiel- one of Mr. Thiel's goals was phase and time-domain coherency. I've wanted to try the 3.6 for years (the 5 and 7.2 are simply too big).

 

[StevePNW]

MQA

Thanks for this @A Jedi - my 4 months for $4 trial runs out in 6 days! I've put a calendar reminder to disconnect it early next week. With Qobuz and the others I have no need for it and I was getting tired of music discovery being weighted too much on the hip-hop category. I also was porting my streamer over to my non-MQA DAC anyway

 

[StevePNW]

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?

Hey @StimpyWan your question is tough as speakers are such a personal thing, and this pandemic has limited our ability to hear some of the speaker choices. Additionally, there some of the choices are not even carried or stocked by a local dealer if you even happen to have them in your area. But I will give you my input as a couple of data points.

My speaker journey over 45 years or more started with my dad and his friends who ventured in the JBL and KLH arena driven by Fischer tube gear and Thorens turntables. I built a couple Speakerlab kits starting my own system with a classic integrated from Japan. Moved over to a high efficiency Koss CM1020 ported which is still running at my parents house. I then went over to Paradigm in numerous iterations based on their value proposition considerations with a growing family. I then upgraded to a set of B&W 685S2s which I loved and now handed down to my daughter and partner. I think the KEF Q350 would be a competitive upgrade from those.

What I've ended up with now are 2 flavors. 13 months ago I received my Maggie LRSs after a 3-1/2 month wait and they have been fantastic. I had always wanted a pair of Maggies, hearing different models over the years and I think it is hard to beat, especially for the money for the kind of music I like. My wife loves their sound too but didn't like the height of them, especially on stands. They are easy to pull out when I want to listen to them though only being 20 something pounds and an inch thick, easy to store. I was able to audition the KEF LS50 Metas at a dealer and came home with them that same day about 5 weeks ago. After a month of break-in they smoothed out like the dealer pair and we are very pleased (took about 3 weeks to break-in). The latest iteration of the Uni-Q driver has to be heard as the level of detail and soundstage/imaging is amazing. Very versatile in placement. The tweeters do not have to be at the same exact level as your ears. I don't have them but the matching stands from KEF are 24" high.

Both the LRSs and the LS50s Metas benefit from a good fast subwoofer with texture and I've blended them both well with a KEF and Sumiko/REL sub on both.

I was very temped by the Zu Omen Dirty Weekends previously....they come factory burned-in and have a good in-home trial policy.

Driving both with Vidars and Freya S.

Good luck with your journey!

 

[StimpyWan]

Holy cow! You are nearly at the end of my list of Schiit heads who would try to steer this thread back to audio.

I currently have a pair of Avalon Acoustics Eclipse Classics. They are pretty large 2-way floor-standing speakers. I like them quite a bit. I've had them for more than ten years. They replaced my Apogee Stage with home-made Mini-Grand(like) subs. I sometimes wish I'd never sold the Apogees. At the time, though, I wanted more floor space in the living room to goof off with our kids (who were little then). The Apogees imaged well, had good top-to-bottom coherency and weren't bright. I have no idea if they'd have the impact/ dynamics you're looking for. Recently it doesn't much matter, the only Apogees I've seen on the used market are rebuilt Full Range, which are outside your budget. The Apogees need a muscular amp, too. I drove mine with the Threshold SA-1.

I've wanted, and nearly bought three different times recently, a pair of Kef 104. Back in the mid-'80s I loved their sound. I haven't kept up with Kef, I don't know if we have any local dealers where I could hear a pair. You might try a small or medium size Thiel- one of Mr. Thiel's goals was phase and time-domain coherency. I've wanted to try the 3.6 for years (the 5 and 7.2 are simply too big).

What can I say, I like to keep people guessing.

I'd love to find a pair of Apogee's, even if my amps aren't worthy (yet). As long I get some sound out of them, I'd be happy. Also, a dealer about an hour south of me has a pair of Slant 6's, for $900. I don't know enough about them, to know if they're worth that or not?

I did find a potential pair of Magnepan 1.6/QR's for $225. One panel has some wire delamination, resulting in the low price. I haven't heard back from the seller yet, to see if they're still available?

Still have Kef's and a few other brands under consideration. No rush. Waiting for the right pair to show up.

And finally, thanks to everyone for the suggestions! It's very much appreciated. Now I just wish there were more local dealers where I could hear some of the candidates. I really miss brick and mortar HiFi shops.

Now, back to Spam and BBQ...!

 

[33na3rd]

Your family needs to admit it has a shoe-polish-on-the-face problem.

It's not shoe polish.
It's blood, sweat, and tears.
Mostly tears. Lots and lots of tears.