Your year in HiFi and Music – 2012

[toyota man]

I wondered why my bank account actually has some money left in it for a change! :?

I was thinking exactly the opposite and have already made my new years resolution....No more hifi - just enjoy what I've got as it sounds great.

Started the year swapping my Cyrus 8VS2 amp for a DAC XP+.

This was meant to be an upgrade for my CD player, but since I now had a DAC :?

I then purchased a squeezebox touch going cheap from Logitech - only £135

Slight problem as I had nowhere to store audio files, to be precise I had no audio files as all my music was on CDs.

Next up was a Vortexbox apliance, great piece of kit but took ages ripping 500 CDs, FLAC for the house, MP3 for the car (I now have my full music collection on a USB stick in the car - amazing that this can be done, but not easily skipping through it on the motorway!)

Chuffed to bits that I could now listen to CD quality music but without changing CDs, so to enjoy my new found music freedom of staying put in the armchair I upgraded my headphones to HifiMan HE-500s. They're not cheap but worth every penny.

And to finish it all off I've just upgraded my speakers to some great sounding handbuilt speakers that use SEAS drivers. :cheer:

This does sound rather lavish, but I've also sold a few bits on the way to help fund it all!

Music wise, I've bought a few CDs, but I have to be honest, nothing really stands out this year. Only been to one gig, Guns N Roses, been meaning to see them for 20 years and they were worth the wait even it if was just axle and friends. Also had a day pass to Download and saw a few bands inc Metalica.

Next year the plan is to sit back and enjoy what I have. But I do have an inclination to sell my CD player as its not been used, this would then free up a space on the rack

:rockout: :rockout: For me the highlite at download was Sabbath :rockout: :rockout: :rockout: