Got the Rotel A11 Tribute from Crutchfield for $650 for the bedroom. Paired that with some Energy RC-10’s for $100 used. Bought an Onkyo 6 disc changer with Wolfson DAC open box $125 and a Klipsch 12inch sub used for $150. Total $1025. Sounds amazing!🤩
Enjoy your channel Michael. Your thoughts on this audio hobby a lot of us have is honest and on point. I've been in this audio hobby since 1985, spent tons of money on all kinds of audio equipment, started at 8-track ended on Digital. Ripped all my CD's to 16bit flac files, then donated them away, some to friends, some to goodwill. Once your music is digital you can now play it everywhere. I reencode 16bit flac to 320MP3 for any players that can't do flac, that use to be alot, better now. This is my one and done system now, remember source files matter, a good rip is a good sound, mine are all great rips, great sound. Raspberry Pi4, mated to a Raspberry Pi 7 inch touch screen, all in a Smarti Pi Touch Pro case, Running the best streaming software Moode 9.0, Usb out to a SMSL DO100 balanced dac, out to a SMSL AO200 amp, to a pair of $50 JBL E30 desktop speakers (amazing speakers) also out to a $50 JBL 10 Sub. All in price under $1000. When tuned right, I wouldn't trade this setup for all the tea in China, and I would be hard pressed to upgrade any one of these components, consider it a waste of money. Keep rocking theses reviews Michael
That’s a great outlook. I’m sad you gave away your CDs but perhaps it was an opportunity for someone else to discover new music. Awesome setup and I’m glad you like the channel!
Good advice Michael. I have always been very patient when buying audio gear. I'm 67 and my budget isn't very healthy. LOL I would recommend vintage gear too. My son gave me a Marantz 2220b a few years ago that sounded great but looked awful. I spent 129 bucks for a reproduction face plate, 13 bucks for an LED lamp kit and less than a buck for a piece of vellum paper. It looks new. I also bought a superb mint condition Sansui 5050 for 75 bucks. Be patient and keep your eyes open.
I can easily reccomend the Aiyima T7 tube preamp. Bass and treble tone controls. Has swappable opamps and you can roll a number of tube types with it. Comes with 6n3 dual triodes. I successfully tested the 5670, but with adapters: 6922, 6bq7, 12au7, 12ax7 as well. Each brings something different to the sound. Runs on 12v dc so adding a better power supply is easy. The bottom line is it sounds great. $73.99 on Amazon.
I'm using the wiim mini into an ayima T8 preamp with my vintage harmon kardon 730 pushing used focal speakers. Sounds amazing!! No crutchfield is needed 😉
Back in 2015 through end of 2019 it was easy to get very good sound finding quality audio pieces that were not ChiFi for reasonable cost, even if it meant saving up for a few months. Today, it is very difficult if not near impossible. The "high-end" gear I have is now 2.5 x what I paid and the same models are still being made! It is absurd! If I had to go out now and replace any one of the pieces of kit I have, I could not do it! (At least I have them covered by insurance on a RWN policy). It still makes me wonder though why all of the sudden in short order the stuff goes from save up to get it to don't even think about it. The starting used price on my gear is what I paid for it new 5 years ago! The only silver lining though is that with some free to cheap tweaks one can dial in their existing system whether it is $1200 or $120K and make it sing supporting the "live with and appreciate what one has" philosophy. I don't have upgradeidus or anything like that. Some curiosities from time to time, but those are ignored easily. The big secret has always been buying quality over quantity within one's budget. Some of the biggest personal examples for me have been RCMs. Investing in a good RCM if into vinyl is a game changer. Studying and becoming a custodian is an even bigger game changer. I refuse to buy new records both because of prices but equally because of poor quality. When I got into record care seriously, I was no longer afraid of $1 records (within reason). Sadly, used records have risen to ridiculously high prices as well, but one can still find $4 and $5 records and if one knows what they are doing and are nice to their sellers, some satisfactory deals can be had. (Today I am a full custodian so I go beyond cleaning, which only opened the door wider). Still, it is harder to find used records at Earth #1 prices because everyone thinks they are sitting on gold, but it is really only fools gold at best or brassed tin. Gone are the days when a $4 record was $4 or $10 record was $10. Now a $4 record is $10 and a $10 record is $60. It needs to stop!
My dad was an avid audiophile during my youth and I would pay for him to get back into it. But that ship has sailed unfortunately 😕 my parents just got their first 4k tv whenever they bought their new RV... kinda bass ackwards 😆 great video!
Love Schiit for their respect of the customer and their vision. Not really cheap audio but if someone wants quality without breaking the bank, I don't think you could get better new. I was about to buy a chinese preamp and headamp. I've felt that something was off. After hours of research, the conclusion was that they measured well but sound quality is somewhat random. Also one can see that build quality is subpar, weird choices on design, only marketing tricks that I don't care about. I'm sure they sound ok but...if you can get better without paying that much more! Then got my eyes on Jotunheim 2. Clearly well built, had everything I was after. Bought it without hearing it as I live overseas. I knew it would be good but it even exceeded my expectations. Now I know that I can trust this brand as everything they market for is true. Decided to test their lower priced headamps for nomad purpose : Magni unity and Heretic ( this one just to see as it was on discount). Same as advertised, both have their touch, no BS!
Thanks for the video. I agree the most important part of a system is the speakers. Get the best stuff you can afford start and upgrade over time. I’ve had good success buying used but using those 2 sites to buy locally. If I can’t test sound it or at least pick it up in person I pass. Another option is buying discontinued items from manufacturers or dealers when the latest product line comes out. I’ve been able to get new equipment up to 50% off. A great deal if you don’t mind not having the latest and greatest. Most importantly, enjoy your audio journey. Rock on!
I spent a lot of money on gear I now do not care for at all lol. I have found now what I tend to like and have given most of that former gear to people just geting started. Speakers are definitely the first priority. I found a set of Zu Omen Def Supreme's used and snatched them up. Before that I had bought and still have Klipsch RP600M bookshelf speakers and the RP600M ii as well. I also have a pair of Ohm Walsh FRS-15'S I bought used. Good video and good advice.
Michael I'm sharing this with my son for two reason's .....you are for certain close in age and really make sense to people like my son, the other is obvious, maybe he'll go to Crutchfield and get me a new cd player..? Nice job....
I would just like to get an awesome quality of ways are listening to music watching a movie where you get the complete surround sound and addition to not overly pay for something and then have to go to loops and troubles to look at other options. I don’t make like a lot of people who make six figures.😢😢😢
If you can feed your CD player's DAC from an external signal you don't need a separate DAC. However, that is a rare to unknown feature on 90's CD players, so you probably need something for a digital streamer IF you want a digital streamer in the first place. If you don't you are chilling. If you do, most have a built in DAC like your CD player, so you can just take it's line out to wherever you want, probably your preamp.
NEED HELP! I have a pair of Klipsch the Nines and love them. If I but a CD Player with an inbuilt DAC will the DAC in the CD player be used if I go from the optical out on the CD player to the optical in on my speaker? The RCA at the rear of my speaker is being used for my turntable and I don't really want to be unplugging the RCA's each time I want to switch between the two devices... Any suggestions????
OK, so the optical output of a CD player bypasses it's DAC. Your speakers have optical in, which is a digital input. Your speakers have a DAC. If you use the optical, the DAC in your speakers will be the one that is used. The Digital is only Converted to Analog once. If you are already using the USB or HDMI ARC inputs and like the sound you probably like the DAC in the speakers and will be fine. Otherwise, you could use an RCA to 3.5mm adapter or cable and just plug that into the AUX port I see in the Amazon photo. You do have that separate analog input.
I have that Fosi ZA3 running off of my PS Audio Stellar Gaincell DAC/Preamp, pushing a pair of Zu Omen speakers... Then in the main system, I went to China again, the ToneWinner AD-2PRO+ integrated amp. I paid $1899 delivered, me and a buddy each bought one. He is the audiophile... He compares this unit to a $12,000 Mark Levinson integrated. I went ahead and bought their preamp/DAC, their AD-1PRE+, my buddy bought one too... We put these ChiFi pieces up against a slew of DACs running from $80 to $6000, and this ToneWinner AD-1PRE+ kicked all of them to the curb. I am talking Bel Canto 3.0, 3.7, PS Audio Stellar and DirectStream, GD-Audio their chip and R2R offerings, Cambridge, SMSL, Denafrips Ares II and Venus II 12th, and a few more. We own some gear between the two of us, and these inexpensive pieces, at least to us, are a bargain. Check out ToneWinner.
A lot of the guys who start out cheap learn what they like and upgrade to better equipment.
I’m saving them the trouble ;)
Got the Rotel A11 Tribute from Crutchfield for $650 for the bedroom.
Paired that with some Energy RC-10’s for $100 used. Bought an Onkyo 6 disc changer with Wolfson DAC open box $125 and a Klipsch 12inch sub used for $150. Total $1025. Sounds amazing!🤩
"when i have to have something, i need it yesterday" lol too real 😅
I’m glad you understand lol
Enjoy your channel Michael. Your thoughts on this audio hobby a lot of us have is honest and on point. I've been in this audio hobby since 1985, spent tons of money on all kinds of audio equipment, started at 8-track ended on Digital. Ripped all my CD's to 16bit flac files, then donated them away, some to friends, some to goodwill. Once your music is digital you can now play it everywhere. I reencode 16bit flac to 320MP3 for any players that can't do flac, that use to be alot, better now. This is my one and done system now, remember source files matter, a good rip is a good sound, mine are all great rips, great sound. Raspberry Pi4, mated to a Raspberry Pi 7 inch touch screen, all in a Smarti Pi Touch Pro case, Running the best streaming software Moode 9.0, Usb out to a SMSL DO100 balanced dac, out to a SMSL AO200 amp, to a pair of $50 JBL E30 desktop speakers (amazing speakers) also out to a $50 JBL 10 Sub. All in price under $1000. When tuned right, I wouldn't trade this setup for all the tea in China, and I would be hard pressed to upgrade any one of these components, consider it a waste of money. Keep rocking theses reviews Michael
That’s a great outlook. I’m sad you gave away your CDs but perhaps it was an opportunity for someone else to discover new music. Awesome setup and I’m glad you like the channel!
Good advice Michael. I have always been very patient when buying audio gear. I'm 67 and my budget isn't very healthy. LOL I would recommend vintage gear too. My son gave me a Marantz 2220b a few years ago that sounded great but looked awful. I spent 129 bucks for a reproduction face plate, 13 bucks for an LED lamp kit and less than a buck for a piece of vellum paper. It looks new. I also bought a superb mint condition Sansui 5050 for 75 bucks. Be patient and keep your eyes open.
I can easily reccomend the Aiyima T7 tube preamp. Bass and treble tone controls. Has swappable opamps and you can roll a number of tube types with it. Comes with 6n3 dual triodes. I successfully tested the 5670, but with adapters: 6922, 6bq7, 12au7, 12ax7 as well. Each brings something different to the sound. Runs on 12v dc so adding a better power supply is easy. The bottom line is it sounds great. $73.99 on Amazon.
I'm using the wiim mini into an ayima T8 preamp with my vintage harmon kardon 730 pushing used focal speakers. Sounds amazing!! No crutchfield is needed 😉
Back in 2015 through end of 2019 it was easy to get very good sound finding quality audio pieces that were not ChiFi for reasonable cost, even if it meant saving up for a few months. Today, it is very difficult if not near impossible. The "high-end" gear I have is now 2.5 x what I paid and the same models are still being made! It is absurd! If I had to go out now and replace any one of the pieces of kit I have, I could not do it! (At least I have them covered by insurance on a RWN policy). It still makes me wonder though why all of the sudden in short order the stuff goes from save up to get it to don't even think about it. The starting used price on my gear is what I paid for it new 5 years ago!
The only silver lining though is that with some free to cheap tweaks one can dial in their existing system whether it is $1200 or $120K and make it sing supporting the "live with and appreciate what one has" philosophy. I don't have upgradeidus or anything like that. Some curiosities from time to time, but those are ignored easily.
The big secret has always been buying quality over quantity within one's budget. Some of the biggest personal examples for me have been RCMs. Investing in a good RCM if into vinyl is a game changer. Studying and becoming a custodian is an even bigger game changer. I refuse to buy new records both because of prices but equally because of poor quality. When I got into record care seriously, I was no longer afraid of $1 records (within reason). Sadly, used records have risen to ridiculously high prices as well, but one can still find $4 and $5 records and if one knows what they are doing and are nice to their sellers, some satisfactory deals can be had. (Today I am a full custodian so I go beyond cleaning, which only opened the door wider). Still, it is harder to find used records at Earth #1 prices because everyone thinks they are sitting on gold, but it is really only fools gold at best or brassed tin. Gone are the days when a $4 record was $4 or $10 record was $10. Now a $4 record is $10 and a $10 record is $60. It needs to stop!
Great video Mike! You are right. DIY can open doors that would remain shut otherwise. It has saved me many $$$ Thanks again!
I love DIY even though I’m not the greatest at it
My dad was an avid audiophile during my youth and I would pay for him to get back into it. But that ship has sailed unfortunately 😕 my parents just got their first 4k tv whenever they bought their new RV... kinda bass ackwards 😆 great video!
Yeah once you go down the RV retirement route it’s all downhill from there lol 😂
Love Schiit for their respect of the customer and their vision.
Not really cheap audio but if someone wants quality without breaking the bank, I don't think you could get better new.
I was about to buy a chinese preamp and headamp. I've felt that something was off. After hours of research, the conclusion was that they measured well but sound quality is somewhat random. Also one can see that build quality is subpar, weird choices on design, only marketing tricks that I don't care about. I'm sure they sound ok but...if you can get better without paying that much more!
Then got my eyes on Jotunheim 2. Clearly well built, had everything I was after.
Bought it without hearing it as I live overseas. I knew it would be good but it even exceeded my expectations.
Now I know that I can trust this brand as everything they market for is true. Decided to test their lower priced headamps for nomad purpose : Magni unity and Heretic ( this one just to see as it was on discount).
Same as advertised, both have their touch, no BS!
I agree with you, a lot of times marketing fluff is their sales strategy and we must learn how to differentiate between a good build and fluff.
I'm also loving my Jotunheim 2 that I picked up recently. Glad to hear that I am not alone!
Thanks for the video. I agree the most important part of a system is the speakers. Get the best stuff you can afford start and upgrade over time. I’ve had good success buying used but using those 2 sites to buy locally. If I can’t test sound it or at least pick it up in person I pass. Another option is buying discontinued items from manufacturers or dealers when the latest product line comes out. I’ve been able to get new equipment up to 50% off. A great deal if you don’t mind not having the latest and greatest. Most importantly, enjoy your audio journey. Rock on!
Agreed 👍
I spent a lot of money on gear I now do not care for at all lol. I have found now what I tend to like and have given most of that former gear to people just geting started. Speakers are definitely the first priority. I found a set of Zu Omen Def Supreme's used and snatched them up. Before that I had bought and still have Klipsch RP600M bookshelf speakers and the RP600M ii as well. I also have a pair of Ohm Walsh FRS-15'S I bought used. Good video and good advice.
Michael I'm sharing this with my son for two reason's .....you are for certain close in age and really make sense to people like my son, the other is obvious, maybe he'll go to Crutchfield and get me a new cd player..? Nice job....
Thank you my friend. Once I have a son I’ll be able to do the same.
Really enjoying your videos lately. Keep up the great work! ✌🏼
I’m rejuvenated and ready for more. I got a really good one coming up on something I found on Temu lol 😆 should make for a fun video!
I would just like to get an awesome quality of ways are listening to music watching a movie where you get the complete surround sound and addition to not overly pay for something and then have to go to loops and troubles to look at other options. I don’t make like a lot of people who make six figures.😢😢😢
I don't understand why the dac in my 26 year old Cd player sounds amazing? But im told I need a $500 external dac to stream music ?
If you can feed your CD player's DAC from an external signal you don't need a separate DAC.
However, that is a rare to unknown feature on 90's CD players, so you probably need something for a digital streamer IF you want a digital streamer in the first place.
If you don't you are chilling.
If you do, most have a built in DAC like your CD player, so you can just take it's line out to wherever you want, probably your preamp.
It's called the "used" market...
NEED HELP! I have a pair of Klipsch the Nines and love them. If I but a CD Player with an inbuilt DAC will the DAC in the CD player be used if I go from the optical out on the CD player to the optical in on my speaker? The RCA at the rear of my speaker is being used for my turntable and I don't really want to be unplugging the RCA's each time I want to switch between the two devices... Any suggestions????
OK, so the optical output of a CD player bypasses it's DAC.
Your speakers have optical in, which is a digital input. Your speakers have a DAC. If you use the optical, the DAC in your speakers will be the one that is used. The Digital is only Converted to Analog once.
If you are already using the USB or HDMI ARC inputs and like the sound you probably like the DAC in the speakers and will be fine.
Otherwise, you could use an RCA to 3.5mm adapter or cable and just plug that into the AUX port I see in the Amazon photo. You do have that separate analog input.
I have that Fosi ZA3 running off of my PS Audio Stellar Gaincell DAC/Preamp, pushing a pair of Zu Omen speakers... Then in the main system, I went to China again, the ToneWinner AD-2PRO+ integrated amp. I paid $1899 delivered, me and a buddy each bought one. He is the audiophile... He compares this unit to a $12,000 Mark Levinson integrated. I went ahead and bought their preamp/DAC, their AD-1PRE+, my buddy bought one too... We put these ChiFi pieces up against a slew of DACs running from $80 to $6000, and this ToneWinner AD-1PRE+ kicked all of them to the curb. I am talking Bel Canto 3.0, 3.7, PS Audio Stellar and DirectStream, GD-Audio their chip and R2R offerings, Cambridge, SMSL, Denafrips Ares II and Venus II 12th, and a few more. We own some gear between the two of us, and these inexpensive pieces, at least to us, are a bargain. Check out ToneWinner.
We’re all looking for the audio Unicorn 🦄 😎
They’re out there for sure
@@audioarkitekts ...for much money!!! (i suppose).
i'm also an impulsive buyer and i am not into diy!!! btw, also you don't "cover" fat people like me with your t-shirts sizes...8xl please!!!(lol).