Recent content by manicm

If you want to keep your speakers, I think this is a sleeper amp that will be overlooked by many to their great loss, It's a unanimously praised amp insofar every review I've read, this being the latest. The Arcam A15+. And although it does not do streaming, it has the latest Bluetooth aptX...

Shanling, SMSL make several SACD transports - but your DAC will need to have I2S inputs. That's the norm today. DSD rarely, if at all, is capable via optical/coaxial. Which is why I say I2S should become the new norm for digital inputs. Coax/optical just don't cut it today. As for the price...

A 'transport' CD DAC. A CD player by any other name, but it's clearly been following what Shanling, SMSL etc have been doing. https://www.whathifi.com/hi-fi/cd-players/pro-jects-new-flagship-cd-transport-has-a-built-in-dac-and-plenty-of-versatility

The Audiolab 7000a can sound brilliant with the right speaker like the Wharfedale Linton.

If one buys a multichannel receiver, it is then reasonable to assume that you'll use it to watch movies. In which case I will argue a 2k soundbar system is going to net you a better compromise than an equivalent priced A/V system including speakers. In fact with soundbar quality improving all...

The Platina amp is only Roon Tested not Roon Ready, and since you'd need a Roon server, be it a PC or standalone device, you're still better off with a seperate streamer.

Listening to music videos on YouTube is actually tiresome - you're constantly on the remote, and while you could make a playlist it's still a major pain. The odd thing though, is that the sound quality of tracks on YouTube (not YouTube music I must emphasize), often sounds better than Spotify...

Get the new model as it has a fleshed out streaming platform with Spotify, Tidal Connect etc. It is competing with the likes of the KEF LS50 Meta Wireless though, and the latter could be discounted this season.

It's an abomination.

Name me another 200w amp in the IAG group, before you shoot your mouth off?

So the streamer may be based on the 9000N, but the amp is all-new.

NOT the Platina, it's a ground up new design, not based on any IAG group products.

Just listened to him for the first time. He has heart - albeit coming across as the new Springsteen.

Streaming has probably made us lazy insofar as attending performances to discover new artists. In that respect it has definitely been detrimental. Just like COVID killed off cinema.

I don't think streaming makes you lazy. There's no lazy way of listening to music. It's shortened attention spans, that's for sure, like my kid, he's 8, he loves the Beatles, Beach Boys, Michael Jackson, recently Daft Punk apart from all the modern stuff he listens to and at home he's all over...