Question Is expensive hifi worth it today?

[JDL]

Not getting into political aspirations.

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"..... entrepreneurship, education, women's leadership, medical support, and environmental protection." All very laudable.

 

[davidf]

Site still sells counterfeit products.

 

[Roog]

Regarding the OP, If you value nicely machined thick aluminum case work, consider weight (high) to be a measure of quality, sure.

 

[leemccann1]

I have a Marantz PM6007 with a pair of Dali Spektor 2 speakers. I play all my music (mostly classical) via my Samsung S20 phone, and I stream using Amazon HD. The image below shows the location, a room about 9ft by 15ft, with soft furnishings/carpet. I find the sound quality really good and although I have heard other systems in other locations I think I could only really tell any difference if I could listen to them side-by-side. The important point is I really enjoy listening to the music because of the music itself, and as long as the music is played on fairly good quality equipment, as I have, then is there any point in paying thousands for something that is supposed to be superior?

The best piece of music I ever heard was All Along the Watchtower (Hendrix) in 1970 at a friends house where about 10 people were relaxing and perhaps smoking something they shouldn't have (but not me). It was played on vinyl on a slightly dodgy old record player. It sounded so good because of the vibe that was going on. The equipment didn't seem to matter too much.

So, is it worth upsetting my wife (a lot) and spending some money?


View attachment 4217

Buy a dac for your phone and don’t stream via blutooth. The sound will be night and day

 

[Jasonovich]

Maybe you should consider an all in one Streamer/DAC and kudos to you, for bringing it home, it's about the enjoyment of music.

I believe the Eversolo DMP-A6 is about £700? It is all you ever need if you like streaming and it also makes an excellent stand alone DAC player.
I stream occasionally, I find it great for discovering new artist and a test bed for exploring different types of music and then decide if it is worth investing my money.

I suspect, judging by the tone of your message, you were alluding to:

"I enjoy my music first and foremost and see no need for outlaying great sums of money for the hardware"

In that case, save your cash, and get the Wiim streamer, it has excellent host of features, great sound through the digital outputs, including Bluetooth and; if I recall, when I last browsed on eBay a couple of days ago, some vendor was selling brand new for £130, these little boxes normally retail for £159.

 

[roaduck]

You might do better because of your contacts but, I wouldn't even consider spending £thousands on sites like aliexpress.

Haha I already have and the kit was well-built, good sounding, reliable and fantastic value.

 

[AJM1981]

Buy a dac for your phone and don’t stream via blutooth. The sound will be night and day

Not for my amp, but maybe I could use a Dac between my phone and Grado headphones during the holidays.

My "biggest fear" with Dacs is that I get one that it cost quite a bit and that I eventually might conclude that there is no significant difference in the experience. There is no guarantee that what works for someone works for someone else too. I know that this also applies to amps and speakers, but that is a different world which is far more managable and measurable.

My amp has two Dacs and there is a minor difference in, let's call it harmonic distortion (often regarded as pleasant) in slight favor of the Dac of my amp that handles inputs from devices and the one that handles the built-in streamer. But since this amp has two and was reasonably priced containing these two, I think the ones that are sold seperately are heavily overpriced and there is loads of air between price and the illusion of experience.

 

[NADman]

I heard the Sgt Pepper album for the first time on a small portable record player in June 1967, i still enjoy this album but it never sounded so exciting as it did then!

 

[Revolutions]

China is brilliant for clones of expensive guitar pedals. So I imagine you could get some great electronics cheaply. But I’d need someone else to buy & test them first 🫠