Need a home stereo receiver...

[wbradley]

There is a lot is snake oil in the audiophile hobby. Just look at what people pay for cables. I saw power cables that were selling (asking) for $3000.

I like using a computer or notebook to play digital music through streaming apps. No need to store music on a server, although I do have the Fubar app to play lossless files if needed.
I just think that a laptop with a much bigger screen is more useful and frankly cheaper than a network streamer. Also, I can use the laptop for more than just music. The key it to set up the sound card for full bandwidth, which Windows is not. Really easy to look up on web. Edit: you mentioned Winamp which I think was the tweak.
There are DACs for thousands$ nowadays, but with over 600 records purchased in the last 2 years I am pretty invested in a turntable, moving coil cartridge and phono preamp. I find the Cambridge DAC+ sounds great with 192MHz sampling. Only thing missing is DSL streaming which is a different tech (low MHz high bitrate, something like that)

[wbradley]

Originally Posted by jsimon7777

Why not? I mean, I'd prefer a streamer with an integrated amp, but that's gonna be expensive for something good, and I already have a good amp, so...

Cambridge DAC Magic + sounds like the perfect packaging. Its a DAC up to 384 MHz with a built in volume control to allow it to be used as a preamp. It comes with a rubber stand that allows it to stand up on its side for a small desk footprint as well. Thru Amazon or on US Audio Mart used every day. You could run your tv audio in as #2 digital source if your tv has digital audio out via optical cable or any type of USB.

Above that price wise, I recommend look at the Schiit (yes, I said it) Jotunheim or Lyr which are DACs with headphone amp (which means they have volume control and preamp out) to act as a preamp as well. Or Shiit Bifrost Dac with a separate volume box.
Above that Benchmark or Mytek Brooklyn which are in the $2000 range.

In summation, you never need to spend a dime more on mainstream (and some cases not so mainstream) music if you have Tidal or Spotify. The quality is excellent on both and I went from Tidal hifi to Spotify subscription and hear no discernible difference through my speakers. Sounds like someone is pretty invested in FLAC files. Perhaps for stuff not otherwise available it makes sense. Like a guy I bought my turntable from bought a Kronos turntable for $25K since he transcribes rare latin dance vinyl to 24 bit FLAC and he has the best quality setup to do so. Super hi-def is really only so through headphones and in certain conditions anyway.

[Clipdat]

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/f...gic-plus.6887/

[Clipdat]

Originally Posted by jsimon7777

Why not? I mean, I'd prefer a streamer with an integrated amp, but that's gonna be expensive for something good, and I already have a good amp, so...

Using a streamer as a preamp isn't the best for audio quality, but a lot of people don't mind/care.

[EAGLE5]

So laptop to USB to Cambridge DAC Magic + to amp seems a strong solution?

I just tried my Sennheiser HD 480s for the first time in a long while. They need new pads and a cable again. They sound muddy compared to what I remembered. Probably age caught up after almost 30 years, so they really just need the trash. I hooked them up to a O2 headphone amp and they sound slightly better, but still muddy.

I have a SMSL Q5 PRO that totally failed to drive the McIntosh speakers with any bass or power. It has a built in DAC but no line-level out.

I have both Sony earbud and Bose over the ear noise cancelling headphones. They all sound mediocre for music, though I only use them for TV, audiobooks, and gaming at night. The noise cancelling is wonderful. Bose are better than Sony, noticeably so.

[krayzie]

Best quality for me is to rip SACDs using my fat PS3 and play DSDIFF (*.dff) files off my Sony DAC that natively supports DSD stream. I find nothing else can match this at the moment to the point I listen to no other types of files on my Hi-Res setup.

Let's be honest Sony hasn't really made a good earphone since what we used in elementary school (this is coming from someone that primarily listens to their current flagship headphone right now at 40x the price and it's really not that much better).

[EAGLE5]

So what if I were going to stream from a server and just start from scratch otherwise. Laptop as the streamer source. Then USB DAC. Then preamp and/or power amp then new speakers and the budget is 5k? Perfectly happy to go used with everything. Like a Conrad Johnson amp - https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/ele...838140799.html

2.1 or 2.2 system. Mainly for listening to digital music plus some movie watching. Or nobody wants to talk audio anymore.

[bcj]

Local mom & pop enterprise.
Surprisingly good stuff.

[krayzie]

Don't you guys have something like Canuck Audio Mart down in the States?

Native DSD playback without PCM conversion (or 24-bit FLAC but why lmao) streamed from a computer I would go with this:

https://theaudiophileman.com/sl-g700...news-technics/



The rest you can buy used.

[krayzie]

This Conrad Johnson MF-200 looks like a school project inside for 55lbs and 200W lmao!



Here for 55lbs and 200W at least the Sony TA-N77ES gets a real vibration control chassis with a synthetic ceramic resin base:

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by krayzie

Don't you guys have something like Canuck Audio Mart down in the States?

the closest to premium audio chain stores is either fry's electronics, or best buy's magnolia stores. neither do the sort of obscure high end brands, mostly just the higher end stuff of brands they already have agreements to sell, which is mostly wow-factor exotic material stuff, not necessarily good-sounding high end...

it's sorta like walking into a chevy dealership with a million bucks to spend..

[krayzie]

Originally Posted by soundman98

the closest to premium audio chain stores is either fry's electronics, or best buy's magnolia stores.

Canuck Audio Mart is an online classified.

But in terms of stores it's all brick and mortar here around town, and mostly snake oil imo. All the honest ones closed down long ago.

[EAGLE5]

Originally Posted by soundman98

the closest to premium audio chain stores is either fry's electronics, or best buy's magnolia stores. neither do the sort of obscure high end brands, mostly just the higher end stuff of brands they already have agreements to sell, which is mostly wow-factor exotic material stuff, not necessarily good-sounding high end...

it's sorta like walking into a chevy dealership with a million bucks to spend..

I just stopped by Fry's. The speaker selection came down to Polk, Klipsch, and Jamo, the last of which I'd never heard of. The Klipsch towers were blasting movie intro music, and they didn't sound close to as good as the tower I heard at Magnolia in the local Best Buy. Then again, Magnolia had better amps and sources.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by krayzie

Canuck Audio Mart is an online classified.

But in terms of stores it's all brick and mortar here around town, and mostly snake oil imo. All the honest ones closed down long ago.

doh! i was thinking canuck audio mart was brick and mortar... ya'll have a place called 'canadian tire' that is a department store, so i figured anything goes up north!

anyways, there's someamerican online sites. i avoid them due to cost constraints.