Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

Russ I said:
Kind of important to recognize that what actually brings the enjoyment is up to the individual, so while it surely is true there are many who tinker more than listen, drive, etc., who's to say they aren't experiencing lots of enjoyment? This shit wouldn't be weird if it wasn't, well, weird!
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It’s about the journey not the destination.
 
displayname said:
It’s like the million dollar audio man didn’t listen. That was the whole point of the analogy.

I’m just saying lots of hobbies have people that tinker more than enjoy. But it seems like I’m audio people are taken back by the constant tinkerer who has a low listen to tinker ratio.
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I think there are two things at play here.

One is that it’s clear from the article that mr stupid hifi was an arsehole. An utterly irredeemable human being. That article made me glad that his system was unceremoniously taken apart. It’s just a pity he missed it happening.

On the second I think the fact that it’s largely a medium to reproduce art kinda plays into that and if you love art the art is more important than the gallery. The two camps are so irrefutably different that it’s hard to reconcile them, and the snobbery from high end audiophiles and the finances required to get there does not help.
 
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When I recapped my old NAD amp, I got a lot of joy out of the process. Tinkering and making the improvements was fun. It's a different kind of enjoyment than I get from listening to the music. In some ways, even though the music is the goal, the tinkering wasn't about the music while I was doing it. It was a challenge and used a different part of my brain. I think I'd enjoy doing that even if it wasn't on my own equipment. So for me they are separate kinds of joy that can overlap.

But that's different than just having the money to buy the best gear that someone else already designed to be the best. The effort is what gives me the pleasure on the hardware side of things.
 
Hemotep said:
When I recapped my old NAD amp, I got a lot of joy out of the process. Tinkering and making the improvements was fun. It's a different kind of enjoyment than I get from listening to the music. In some ways, even though the music is the goal, the tinkering wasn't about the music while I was doing it. It was a challenge and used a different part of my brain. I think I'd enjoy doing that even if it wasn't on my own equipment. So for me they are separate kinds of joy that can overlap.

But that's different than just having the money to buy the best gear that someone else already designed to be the best. The effort is what gives me the pleasure on the hardware side of things.
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Yep and that’s kind of affordable and doable on any level of gear. Much like most of the car tinkerers I’ve known have been modding or creating track versions of very modest cars.
 
Hemotep said:
When I recapped my old NAD amp, I got a lot of joy out of the process. Tinkering and making the improvements was fun. It's a different kind of enjoyment than I get from listening to the music. In some ways, even though the music is the goal, the tinkering wasn't about the music while I was doing it. It was a challenge and used a different part of my brain. I think I'd enjoy doing that even if it wasn't on my own equipment. So for me they are separate kinds of joy that can overlap.

But that's different than just having the money to buy the best gear that someone else already designed to be the best. The effort is what gives me the pleasure on the hardware side of things.
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I have some KEF 101s that need fixing if you get a hankering for trying to tinker with something 😂😂
 
Alright. So I’m thinking the Kinki EX-M1 will be my next piece of gear, it will be replacing the NAD C 316BEE which currently feels like the weakest link in my system by far!

Anyone have any other integrated amp rabbit holes I should fall down before spiritually committing?
 
Found a used Kinki Studios EX-M1 at about $500 under the retail price on The Music Room and decided to pull the trigger. Now I can't stop refreshing my email for a tracking notification. I've instantly remembered how excruciating the wait for new gear is lol.

Overall very stoked about this amp, I feel like its really going to usher in a new paradigm for my set-up. The gradual progression up the gear ranks has been such a fun (and expensive) experience to move through. My poor wife did not realize what she was unleashing when was gifting me an Audio Technica LP60 Bluetooth 8 years ago lol.

Now we wait.

 
Ghost said:
Found a used Kinki Studios EX-M1 at about $500 under the retail price on The Music Room and decided to pull the trigger. Now I can't stop refreshing my email for a tracking notification. I've instantly remembered how excruciating the wait for new gear is lol.

Overall very stoked about this amp, I feel like its really going to usher in a new paradigm for my set-up. The gradual progression up the gear ranks has been such a fun (and expensive) experience to move through. My poor wife did not realize what she was unleashing when was gifting me an Audio Technica LP60 Bluetooth 8 years ago lol.

Now we wait.

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Prepare your back, the EX-M1 is HEAVY. It's extremely dense. I didn't fully blow out my back, but I tweaked it a little because I underestimated it. And have fun with it!
 
Ghost said:
Found a used Kinki Studios EX-M1 at about $500 under the retail price on The Music Room and decided to pull the trigger. Now I can't stop refreshing my email for a tracking notification. I've instantly remembered how excruciating the wait for new gear is lol.

Overall very stoked about this amp, I feel like its really going to usher in a new paradigm for my set-up. The gradual progression up the gear ranks has been such a fun (and expensive) experience to move through. My poor wife did not realize what she was unleashing when was gifting me an Audio Technica LP60 Bluetooth 8 years ago lol.

Now we wait.

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i love TMR! i frequently refresh their open box pages and drool looking at the stuff i can't afford haha
 
Probably not the best forum for this, admittedly, but anyone have recommendations for a cheap, reliable UHD player? I own very few movies but recently tried using my PS5 and holy shit this thing is loud and annoying for disc playback.
 
ngower said:
Probably not the best forum for this, admittedly, but anyone have recommendations for a cheap, reliable UHD player? I own very few movies but recently tried using my PS5 and holy shit this thing is loud and annoying for disc playback.
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I always trust in Wirecutter.

www.nytimes.com

The Best 4K Blu-ray Player

If you want the best AV presentation of your favorite films, we recommend 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs, and the Panasonic DP-UB820 is the best player we’ve tested.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
kvetcha said:
Whatever you do, skip the Sony UBP-X700m. It's a lemon. Has difficulty with triple-layer UHD Blu-rays, and mine eventually started freezing up an hour into movies.
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Yeah I'll likely avoid Sony as my PS5 is comically loud and though i LOVE their TVs, a lot of their other products have kinda taken a dump since the pandemic (IMO).

TenderLovingKiller® said:
I always trust in Wirecutter.

www.nytimes.com

The Best 4K Blu-ray Player

If you want the best AV presentation of your favorite films, we recommend 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs, and the Panasonic DP-UB820 is the best player we’ve tested.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
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Yeah that's what has me looking at those two Panasonics. The 420 is probably fine for my needs but some reviews suggest it's a bit of a poor performer.
 
ngower said:
Yeah I'll likely avoid Sony as my PS5 is comically loud and though i LOVE their TVs, a lot of their other products have kinda taken a dump since the pandemic (IMO).



Yeah that's what has me looking at those two Panasonics. The 420 is probably fine for my needs but some reviews suggest it's a bit of a poor performer.
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I replaced my Sony with a Panasonic DP-UB820 and have been very pleased. It's not the cheapest, but the playback quality is excellent and the fact that it automatically detects and switches to Dolby Vision (something most players don't do!) is really nice.
 
kvetcha said:
I replaced my Sony with a Panasonic DP-UB820 and have been very pleased. It's not the cheapest, but the playback quality is excellent and the fact that it automatically detects and switches to Dolby Vision (something most players don't do!) is really nice.
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I might hold off and see if it drops back to $350 again (holiday prices) sometime soon. I'm in no rush to get one, I have very few discs.
 
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