Most ‘ground breaking’ item you have purchased …

Tinman1952

Well-known member
Just out of curiosity…
What would you consider the most ‘ground breaking‘ HiFi product you have bought. Either in terms of technical development or indeed the way we enjoy music at home.
For me I would say it was the original Slim Devices Squeezebox which I had to order direct from Slim Devices in the US. No UK availability at that time.
Sitting there watching that scrolling screen display with a remote control (!) and connecting to music on my server or internet radio was really a revelation. Sound quality was excellent for those days….
I truly think that one device changed the face of HiFi as we know it. 😁
Any thoughts?
 
That's a difficult question to answer, because things that I think make a great difference and deserve to be ground-breaking aren't really, because they have resolutely not taken off in anything other than a niche way - I'm thinking of vibration absorption here.

The most game-changing things have been in home cinema over the last few decades.

I'm going to plump for my Pronto - makes a complex setup useable by someone who's never seen it before.
 
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abacus

Well-known member
Harmon Kardon AVR8500 Home Cinema Receiver as it was the first home cinema receiver I had heard that sounded as good as a stereo amp with music, (I just sank back into the sofa and thought wow) all the rest available at the time Denon, Yamaha etc. sucked big time when it came to music production.

The AVR8500 was expensive but worth every penny, its only downside was that it produced a lot of heat when pounding out all channels in spite of the large heatsinks. (Like most high end receivers today (Lexicon, Lyndorf etc.) it lacked the multiple features of the mainstream brands, but the sound was unbeatable)

Bill
 
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Deleted member 116933

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@Tinman1952 I'm going with the "way we enjoy music at home." and groundbreaking to me and that has to be the Klipsch heresy 3 speakers, they are a revelation to me.

Tech-wise groundbreaking? there really hasn't been a lot over the years at all. Maybe minidisc it's what got me started in this hobby in the first place.

The best money i spent just recently was 30 quid for a lightning to USB connector for apple music
 
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Not a piece of kit but experiencing a perfect stereo image for the first time where the speakers just disappeared... a definite wow moment. A bit like a drug as I've never experienced the same feeling ever again, but it hasn't stopped me chasing that audio nirvana moment. Like an addict my pocket has taken a hit over the years with upgrades, but I think I've now kicked the habit.
 

jjbomber

Well-known member
Naim N-vi, all-in-one DVD player and 5.1 channel amplifier. It's very sad that they never continued with these.

Oppo Darbee DVD player, as well as upscaling, a quality DAC and streamer, Tidal built in, HDMI input for Fire TV stick, Digital inputs for HDD, and headphone amplifier. Again, it's very sad that they never continued with these.
 
Just out of curiosity…
What would you consider the most ‘ground breaking‘ HiFi product you have bought. Either in terms of technical development or indeed the way we enjoy music at home. Any thoughts?

Based on my experience over the last thirty five years one of the most impressive products I have come across and one that makes my top ten list of products and one that I'll be getting is the Denafrips GAIA DDC (Digital to Digital Converter).

I would say the GAIA DDC is along the lines of the audio equivalent of the Hubble telescope fix for digital signals feeding DAC's. The GAIA DDC enables DAC's to breathe freely and the result is that everything simply snaps into focus :)
 

Oxfordian

Well-known member
A USB-C to USB-B cable to connect my iPad to my amp allowing me stream Apple Music lossless and hi-res (ish) lossless into my system.

This might sound a bit daft but seeing others pay a fair bit more to stream music the £39 I spent seems like a bargain.
 
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Gray

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A USB-C to USB-B cable to connect my iPad to my amp allowing me stream Apple Music lossless and hi-res (ish) lossless into my system.

This might sound a bit daft but seeing others pay a fair bit more to stream music the £39 I spent seems like a bargain.
You no doubt could have done it for less than a fiver....but let's not start on about cables 🤐
 
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A USB-C to USB-B cable to connect my iPad to my amp allowing me stream Apple Music lossless and hi-res (ish) lossless into my system.

This might sound a bit daft but seeing others pay a fair bit more to stream music the £39 I spent seems like a bargain.

have you really spent less though? you had to buy that iPad/idevice, so anywhere from 400-1k,
 
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Oxfordian

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have you really spent less though? you had to buy that iPad/idevice, so anywhere from 400-1k,

Haha, I bought the iPad to replace my series 1 version which had given so many years service that when it died a new one had to replace it. The iPad came before I had access to streaming, the iPad came before the new hifi system, streaming came when I changed phone provider, O2 offered six months of Apple Music free as part of the package, so I signed up for the trial.

Then Mr Apple says you can have free lossless music to stream.

So I’ll stand by my investment, it is a cheap way to get into streaming and now I have worked out how to set the high res and get semi hires I’m happy.
 

Markmaguire

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Mar 8, 2012
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Not technically Hi-Fi but...
For me it would be on demand video services. Back in 1995 I remember getting cable TV for the first time and they showed a documentary by Cable & Wireless about how in the future you would be able to choose a film to watch at any time. This blew my mind at the time. Fast forward to today and the plethora of streaming and download services in phenomenal.
 
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