The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.

[KutuzovGambit]

what cable is that?

Looks like the Penon PAC480.

 

[Rockwell75]

Great review of the Shanling M8 by @Adnan Firoze

 

[Rockwell75]

For fun: Your long lost grandmother leaves you $10,000 on the condition that you have to spend it on audio gear tomorrow. What do you get?

 

[endless402]

Chord mscaler and TT2

 

[Adnan Firoze]

Great review of the Shanling M8 by @Adnan Firoze

Thanks man. Really appreciate it. Means the world coming from you.

 

[Adnan Firoze]

For fun: Your long lost grandmother leaves you $10,000 on the condition that you have to spend it on audio gear tomorrow. What do you get?

hmmm ... the Susvara and the Mola Mola's Tambaqui.

 

[DanielListening]

Ooh. I dunno.

Probably:
- Shanling M8 $2,350
- EE Odin $4,300
- Isabella $750
- MacBook Air for storing putting music on the DAP $2,500

 

[Rockwell75]

Ooh. I dunno.

Probably:
- Shanling M8 $2,350
- EE Odin $4,300
- Isabella $750
- MacBook Air for storing putting music on the DAP $2,500

I meant $10K US, so you've still got some wiggle room

For me:

Traillii $6K
n6ii TI $2K
Warbler Prelude $1K
Bandcamp Shopping Spree $1K

I didn't even think about full size...that opens up a whole other can of worms lol

 

[DanielListening]

I meant $10K US, so you've still got some wiggle room

For me:

Traillii $6K
n6ii TI $2K
Warbler Prelude $1K
Bandcamp Shopping Spree $1K

I didn't even think about full size...that opens up a whole other can of worms lol

Okay. Okay. The rest would be spent at Bandcamp too. I previously had budgeted about $1000 but had to make room for the Odin. $$!!!!!$$$!!!!!

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

For fun: Your long lost grandmother leaves you $10,000 on the condition that you have to spend it on audio gear tomorrow. What do you get?

Chord TT2 (used), AmpsandSound Forge (new), Hifiman Susvara (used).

 

[feverfive]

For fun: Your long lost grandmother leaves you $10,000 on the condition that you have to spend it on audio gear tomorrow. What do you get?

Elysian Acoustics X
Sony DMP-Z1 (used, cuz these be crazy expensive, and I still would probably exceed the $10k, so would need to put in some cash too)

 

[Rockwell75]

Been working on updating the index to this thread. It's a work in progress lol. I've started including contributions from other users (I hope that's ok-- let me know if it's not and I can remove anything). Sometime soon I'll go back and look over the first 60 pages of the thread because I know there is some good stuff in there by others.

 

[Tchoupitoulas]

I love these kinds of shopping-spree, retail therapy daydreams! I pretty much know what I'd like for a full size setup (Raal Requisite SR1a with Schiit Jotunheim R amp, and ZMF Vérité Open with Pendant amp). That's $7K gone. I’d keep my Focal Clear as an everyday all-rounder but I’d sell a bunch of my current gear to put $2K back into the piggy bank, leaving ca. half of grandma's largesse for portable audio. So, here goes:

• Shanling M8: $1700
• Soranik Bastille Audiophile: $1300 (a great pair of hybrid, tubeless/crossoverless DD and BA IEMs, with a total of 5 drivers: I heard them on a SBAF loaner tour; for me, they’re an ideal combination of musically engaging and yet technically proficient IEMs; they also have the single most spacious and open soundstage I've heard from IEMs, better even than the Solaris)
• I’d keep my Andromeda 2020 for the time being

I'd then go hog wild auditioning the following, also dipping temporarily into savings to make it possible:

• Campfire Ara, Solaris LE (the abalone one), Legend X, the two MESTs, VE Elysium, QDC Anole VX, Vision Ears V8, 64 Audio U12t, Hidition Viento, JH Audio Jolene, and based on recent posts by you guys, the Oriolus Isabellae, Reborn, and Percivali

Finally, I’d sell everything from the above that I don’t want, keep my favorite single pair of IEMs from that list (using the remaining $2000), and perhaps keep a second pair, if funds permit. This would depend, of course, on how the auditioned IEMs compare with (and complement) the Bastille Audiophile and the Andro 2020, which might also go up for sale.

The overall goal would be to have three transducers each for full-size and portable setups: one set as all-rounders, another for a darker/warmer and more musically engaging experience, and the other for a neutral/bright tuning with a more technically proficient listening experience.

 

[Neweymatt]

For fun: Your long lost grandmother leaves you $10,000 on the condition that you have to spend it on audio gear tomorrow. What do you get?

Umm, I've just spent the last 12 months doing that already....

 

[pbui44]

Umm, I've just spent the last 12 months doing that already....

What if your grandmother has to leave in a few days and wants to hear the audio gear with you?

Anyways...here is my travel list:

1. like-new Shanling M30 @ MusicTeck for $2.9k
2. factory refurb Sennheiser HD820 @ Official Senn Store for $1,360
3. open-box Empire Ears Odin universal @ Bloom Audio for $3k
4. open-box Geek Squad certified excellent Apple Macbook Pro 16" i9 16gb with Radeon R5500 @ Best Buy for $2,225
5. open-box Geek Squad certified excellent Apple iPad 8th gen 128gb with wifi only @ Best Buy for $416
6. Mark Ryden 38L Carry-On Travel Backpack @ Amazon for $54
7. Romoss USB-C PD 50W 20,000mAh power bank @ Amazon for $38

Hope that the $4 extra does not catch your crawl, especially with taxes and shipping not being included.