Arriving to H-FI world

[FLima]

Is it possible to search the forum in this new horrible version? The used to be someone from Porto who posted quite regularly. Was it HiFi Outlaw? It might be good to put the guys in touch with one another.

Hi,

You are saying that someone from Oporto used to post here? It would be very nice to "meet" him. Perhaps he could indicate me some stores or listening points to make some demos! That would be really usefull!!

Do a Google search for Hi-FiOutlaw. He has been active on other fora than this one and some posts are in Portuguese. You might find him.

Thanks a lot... I already found the HIFI Outlaw forum.. it seems to its now called audiokarma! I will try to find the portuguese people. It would be great to get some advices about stores near me!

 

[FLima]

I was trying a few things the other day and was played an A19 into Zensor 5s, front end was my Macbook though an irDac.

The sound was flat and dull, the music had no presence, it just didn't engage at all. I thought that the system was underpowered for my tastes so asked for a more powerful amplifier, to keep the cost down we used the 651 power amp with the irDac and the difference was night and day (to coin a phrase).

The combination was so much better I was surprised, the 651 was better in every respect, whether it was the extra power or the lack of a pre-amp I don't know and sadly did not have the time to investigate further.

One setup though, do not take too much from that.

At first I understood you were pairing it with 651A... But I was wrong, right? You paired the DAC with 651W, the power amp. That is an unsual and interesting aproach. Never thought about it. Surelly you can plug a cd transport to the DAC, but what about a turntable? Is is possible to connect a phono pre amp to DAC?! Or it would connect directly to power amp?

Where do you play your cds? With this question i'm assuming your home system has this configuration...

Apologies for not being clear.

The 651A is no use to me as it does not have Spdif inputs so I tried the 651w instead. The volume is controlled on the computer (or via the remote on the irDac) so a very short simple signal path.

I was primarily auditioning amp/speaker combos and this was really just to see if the Zensor 5s would respond well to a more potent amplifier, which they did. I like my music to be dynamic, assertive even, smooth and easy going does not do it for me.

The 651w on it's own is not really a practical solution but it did reinforce my preference for better amplifiers, given my listening style I would not contemplate an amplifier that cost less than the speakers, in general terms anyway.

My home setup is the simplest possible, Spotify > AEX > active speakers, no cd, no analogue. This is essentially my desktop system pressed into use as a main system, I want to go better so was looking at options.

Apologies not needed and obviously accepted! Not your fault!! I see you are almost at the same point i am. Right now my listening "system" it reduced to my laptop and (not active speakers) headphones, a fine sennheiser set. Spotify its almost all the time the source, but I also have some audio files on the HD. Its ok, but not good... Not least because I have a decent cd collection that I almost dont use since my microsystem broke down (the cd player part).

It would be nice we could share some ideias and opinions about components, sets and brands, since we are both in a similar process!

 

[ifor]

Is it possible to search the forum in this new horrible version? The used to be someone from Porto who posted quite regularly. Was it HiFi Outlaw? It might be good to put the guys in touch with one another.

Hi,

You are saying that someone from Oporto used to post here? It would be very nice to "meet" him. Perhaps he could indicate me some stores or listening points to make some demos! That would be really usefull!!

Do a Google search for Hi-FiOutlaw. He has been active on other fora than this one and some posts are in Portuguese. You might find him.

Thanks a lot... I already found the HIFI Outlaw forum.. it seems to its now called audiokarma! I will try to find the portuguese people. It would be great to get some advices about stores near me!

I think you'll find that Audiokarma is the forum and Hi-FiOutlaw is a member of it as he is of this forum.

 

[davedotco]

I was trying a few things the other day and was played an A19 into Zensor 5s, front end was my Macbook though an irDac.

The sound was flat and dull, the music had no presence, it just didn't engage at all. I thought that the system was underpowered for my tastes so asked for a more powerful amplifier, to keep the cost down we used the 651 power amp with the irDac and the difference was night and day (to coin a phrase).

The combination was so much better I was surprised, the 651 was better in every respect, whether it was the extra power or the lack of a pre-amp I don't know and sadly did not have the time to investigate further.

One setup though, do not take too much from that.

At first I understood you were pairing it with 651A... But I was wrong, right? You paired the DAC with 651W, the power amp. That is an unsual and interesting aproach. Never thought about it. Surelly you can plug a cd transport to the DAC, but what about a turntable? Is is possible to connect a phono pre amp to DAC?! Or it would connect directly to power amp?

Where do you play your cds? With this question i'm assuming your home system has this configuration...

Apologies for not being clear.

The 651A is no use to me as it does not have Spdif inputs so I tried the 651w instead. The volume is controlled on the computer (or via the remote on the irDac) so a very short simple signal path.

I was primarily auditioning amp/speaker combos and this was really just to see if the Zensor 5s would respond well to a more potent amplifier, which they did. I like my music to be dynamic, assertive even, smooth and easy going does not do it for me.

The 651w on it's own is not really a practical solution but it did reinforce my preference for better amplifiers, given my listening style I would not contemplate an amplifier that cost less than the speakers, in general terms anyway.

My home setup is the simplest possible, Spotify > AEX > active speakers, no cd, no analogue. This is essentially my desktop system pressed into use as a main system, I want to go better so was looking at options.

Apologies not needed and obviously accepted! Not your fault!! I see you are almost at the same point i am. Right now my listening "system" it reduced to my laptop and (not active speakers) headphones, a fine sennheiser set. Spotify its almost all the time the source, but I also have some audio files on the HD. Its ok, but not good... Not least because I have a decent cd collection that I almost dont use since my microsystem broke down (the cd player part).

It would be nice we could share some ideias and opinions about components, sets and brands, since we are both in a similar process!

I doubt very much that my views on budget equipment would be all that useful to you. My opinions are quite extreem and rather a long way from the views of the majority and the overall collective views of this forum. I rarely get into specifics of what I think is good and bad at this level, prefering to comment on technical and practical matters.

In general terms I am a believer in keeping things simple, for example, if my cd collection (the stuff I actually listen to that is) was not too big I would rip it to computer so that I had everything in one place, online streaming, local lbrary etc.

If I was spending a few hundred pounds now, I would decide how I wanted to connect a dac to the computer (or in my case, streamer) and choose something accordingly, then, given that Thomann (german online retailer) are selling Equator D5 monitors for less than £300, that is what I would buy to complete the system.

The cost is sensible and, particularly as mid range clarity is important to you, these will do a fantastic job for you. My opinion, not shared by many on here, is that this combination will outperform any conventional system you can buy even close to that price, and will do so with ease in all but the largest rooms.

Edit. Take a look at this....

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec12/articles/equator-d5.htm

 

[FLima]

Is it possible to search the forum in this new horrible version? The used to be someone from Porto who posted quite regularly. Was it HiFi Outlaw? It might be good to put the guys in touch with one another.

Hi,

You are saying that someone from Oporto used to post here? It would be very nice to "meet" him. Perhaps he could indicate me some stores or listening points to make some demos! That would be really usefull!!

Do a Google search for Hi-FiOutlaw. He has been active on other fora than this one and some posts are in Portuguese. You might find him.

Thanks a lot... I already found the HIFI Outlaw forum.. it seems to its now called audiokarma! I will try to find the portuguese people. It would be great to get some advices about stores near me!

I think you'll find that Audiokarma is the forum and Hi-FiOutlaw is a member of it as he is of this forum.

OK... Thanks to your help I found it right now!! *good*