@decooney ....well, I’d be the last to blow off a MC variation on a JBL theme, but sitting in between my omnis’ doesn’t flip the soundstage on you...but I’ve got this bias.... :)
Besides, I’d suggest sitting ’back’ a tad and rotating the speakers’ tops ’facing’ you...makes it make sense imho....
Any flat & vaguely level surface around us ’grows stuff’ and is a non-starter...
Auto-style subs, don’t have a couch that cats can destroy and you get to chose between drivers, asshakers, or both.....we’ve enough choices already on stuff....
...and the KEF ’living room’ pic....how many of us listen like that?
...curious....like the market is lashing around, trying to find The Niche.....🤷♂️
Not like I’m crusin’ to bruise, but a thought about the intended perception issues become kinda....’bent’....*sly grin*
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I had a separates system for decades. Conrad Johnson, Pass Labs, Luxman, Joseph Audio, Martin Logan, MBL, REL, Shunyata Research, etc. Good stuff but I wanted a small, simplified, good sounding alternative. Pretty easy in my case. KEF LS50 Wireless II speakers. For best sound, plan on stands and add a sub. Choose your streaming source. I love classical so I subscribe to Adagio for $10 / month. For better sounding source use Qobuz, Tidal or other hi def / lossless services. Without sub, the "system" consists of two really compact speakers, two power cords, one lap top. Buy from Crutchfield. If you don’t like it, return and get refund. Proceed to Plan B. If you like it, you are done.
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one of the things you should not underestimate is the music app that goes with the hardware. If it is difficult to use, your enjoyment will be tempered. This was the factor that tilted me to the Naim.
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All in one units? I guess it’d be really challenging to learn about all these magical boxes can do. I remember buying a Nice sounding receiver from marantz and I found the thing incredibly complicated and challenging to deal with with respect all the settings. Connectivity issues with the HDMI cords abounded. The manual was extremely long and the interfaces were challenging because everything has to be connected to Wi-Fi and the web and accessible via an app. So while this magical box may end up doing just about everything under the sun it’s worth exploring the interface and the convenience of using it before you get excited about purchasing it. I don’t understand why this effort simplifies the situation. Isn’t there a chance you could have things going wrong with the device and then part of it works some part of it doesn’t and then it becomes very annoying and you basically wanna jump out the window but because you live in a ranch with no second story you’re confined to a one floor House so jumping out the window doesn’t really accomplish anything. All this because you want to get an all in one solution
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Hey decooney...this is a story around the topic. I submitted it as a topic which was seemingly rejected...oh well, here goes:
Raising consciousness around modern DIGITAL PLAYBACK
As a passionate audio geezer with a limited budget, my SOTA Sapphire, Fidelity Research FR64 arm and Grado was my "end of the line" for analog back in the 1990's. I could not pursue both sources at the higher end, financially. I sold the vinyl stuff and never looked back. An Arcam Alpha 9 CD player with dCS ring dac technology fell in my lap, a Z-Man tube buffer, and on I went.
Later came a used NAD M2, full retail $6K...a cutting edge integrated, which included a DAC, somewhat refined Class D plus the ability to select ohm output levels to a lovely pair of Salk monitors. (Enjoy your retirement, Jim...and thanks) THEN, a friend sent me a Music Reference RM-10 MKII EL84 based tube amp followed by a pair of Revolution BE loudspeakers (beryllium tweeters) for my small, dedicated studio. This partnership turned out to be the room / loudspeaker matching at its finest!
With wise counsel from my San Jose Tech, Mike, I selected an outboard pro dac, the Focusrite Clarrett and began streaming lossless files. This served well for several years. During this time, I established a close friendship with a nearby friend who was extremely active in audio, maintaining three systems. The experience was like living near a start-up brick & mortar hi-fi store in the 1980's. He rotated really cool stuff the likes of Von Schweikert, VPI, Tannoy, Pass, McIntosh, Devialet, Audio Matiere (Equilibre & Paraphrase,) King stats, legendary AR9s, Dynaudio Heritage, Music Reference RM200, KEFs and many, many more.
Excuse the rather long backstory as I found it necessary to establish a little cred. The topic, of course, is digital to analog conversion. Before my Focusrite Pro dac, I had an AURALiC dac player on loan. The experience helped convince me NOT to devote a lot of my audio budget towards digital to audio conversion. The upgrade path was costly and the returns seemed relatively minor, compared to analog.
My friend landed upon a Lampizator DAC and he fell in love with its flavor. Twice my friend upgraded the Lampi to one approaching $18K. Is it good? You BET! Was I ever sad to come home to my humble dac? Not once. Okay, so, Mike in San Jose does deep dives on cutting edge digital progression. I asked him, if ever something came up at a reasonable cost that was substantially better than my dac, to let me know.
A couple of months ago I came across this YouTube link:
The Best Tweak EVER In The Whole Audio Industry
...having followed Danny of GR-Research for some time, I'd developed some trust in his listening skills. I began to research chip dacs and op amps, then discussed the possibility of making a move with Mike, my digital mentor. I further learned, from another long time Tech friend, that these chip dacs have equaled and sometimes bettered some of the high priced stuff. -- that the dac chip themselves, their noise levels and specifications now make the differences moot, -- THEN one can select op amps for personal flavorings.
For decades now, high end audio has been described as "a reach for that last bit of performance," the last (costly) 10 or 5 percent. Well, both of my Tech friends presently agree that the latest differences in dacs might be reduced to a percentage within ONE percent! Give that thought a moment to digest. With all the modern attention given to large power supplies, inner and outer isolation, "bling" or those costly streaming boxes (now done silently and inexpensively from a computer) at such costly prices? Could such levels of performance indeed be possible at amazingly low cost?
Here is an excerpt from a recent AudiogoN discussion "fast dac topic" response: "@audiocanada What DAC do you have now? I predict I'll get flamed for this answer, but perhaps consider one of the Topping D90 Variants for $799." Why worry about being "flamed?" Might it be the concept that something SO far down the food chain can actually compete, so often dismissed in our hobby? BTW, I fully support anyone with the means to buy upwards, as exotic as they like. I've benefited from trickle down technology for decades! However, our beloved hobby does suffer from the concept that fantastic sound is unattainable within a small budget. This is quite simply...no longer true for those without DIY skills.
My choice was in buying a Geshelli Labs JN2 socketed DAC outfitted with the AK4499 dac chip and Sparkos 2590 rca op amps, yes, the ones that Danny of GR gushed over. Delivered, the cost came to $556. So, how does it sound? Once again, pull up Danny's review. I'm not copping out, he describes the sound better than I can. My Pro Focusrite DAC still comes into play, splitting and sending the deep bass off to my terrific RythmiK L12 Servo Subwoofer from 80Hz down. This allows the full 35W per channel from the tube amp to drive from 80Hz upwards to the Revolution Be monitors, greatly increasing the dynamics overall.
Entry level audio has become exciting. My 16 months with the BACCH Labs Plug-In crosstalk cancellation has been a joy. Two months into the new chip dac approaches the best sound experienced at my friends house, bettering it in some ways. Our access to music is the most exciting time in history for us music lovers. All at reasonable costs.
Happy Holidays All! More Peace Pinthrift
(bold print for old eyes)
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I heard the Fleetwood Sound Company's EXCELSIOR at Jonathan's showroom in Brooklyn earlier this year. It's a lot of money for a boombox but I think it is an extraordinary product and listening experience.
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@raysmtb1, re: MusicalCocoon
Deserves pics for all to see. Kinda like having a vintage JBL Paragon cut in half on either side of you. Speaker-Headphones sort of. Another neat idea, that’s pretty cool. Love seeing new-old-renewed type of designs people thinking inside and outside of the standard box form factor 
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@tomaswv, when you auditioned the Atoll SDA200 sig and the IN300 evo, did you also demo the IN200 evo? If so, how close were the two IN evos? What was different between the two?
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My audio journey began in 1971, my freshman year of college. My methodically researched Dynaco A25/Sansui AU-717/ Dual 1219 Shure M91Ed never materialized due room a dock strike and so I ended up with a Sony All-in-One that had about 12 W/Ch and a Dual OEM changer. I almost immediately swapped the speakers for a pair of ADC 303AX, an Advent wannabe, and a big step up. A Marantz 1060 and a roommate-friendly PLA-35/B&O SP-12 followed, along with genuine Advents, then a second pairs, a Sony 100W/ch TA-3300f driven from the 1060s pre-outs. That system rocked. And qualified me for part time employment in our local hifi store. Built on the 'Magnolia HiFi' model, we carried Yamaha, H-K, Sony, Phase Linear, electronics and Advent, ADS, and JBL and later Magnepan speakers.
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Check this out for a speaker solution. Go to http://Musicalcocoon.com This unconventional speaker goes way deep into how your system sounds. It’s amazing how you can feel the music like you’re in a giant bubble. It’s not an April fools joke it really is true. I have a friend whose wife was able to listen to music again, headphones didn’t work and regular room speakers didn’t work but the way that this fills your head with music is just exceptional and let her hear parts of the tracks that she had lost up to five years ago. Many of you who have lost some of your hearing might have an interest in this and those of you who are being always told to turn down the music or turn down the TV.
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baconboy Have you considered a Hegel h400 or a Michi x3?
Not yet as all-in-one, thanks. Saw a 2022 review in this a while back, a few pics inside,
Michi X3, on Rotel sitehttps://www.rotel.com/product/x3
 "The Michi X3 Integrated Amplifier delivers uncompromised audio performance conveniently packaged in an elegant industrial design. The X3 delivers 350 Watts of Class AB output power into 4 ohm loads maintaining musical accuracy with exceptional acoustic detail from the Analog, Digital, PC-USB, apt-X Bluetooth and Moving Magnet Phono Stage source inputs."
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Hegel
As for the Hegel, will leave that to the Hegel pros to weigh in. A few folks I know prefer external dacs for this, yet maybe they’ve upgraded it some more, who knows.
New page reads -
"EISA Premium Streaming Amplifier 2024 - 2025"
Power output: 2 x 250 W into 8 Ω @ 1kHz 1% THD, 100/120/230V AC, Dual Mono
Streaming: Spotify Connect, Roon Ready, Tidal Connect, Google Cast, AirPlay, airable Internet Radio and Podcast, UPnP
20kg 44lbs! Dayum and look inside, like a big powerful receiver amp plus -
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Clean and simple on back
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"@tomaswv ...but I think I need more grunt and more grunt. Will look at some of the units identified here."
You might be in luck for your Dali Menuet’s about now. Looking inside a few of these new beast all-in-ones units caught my own attention originally for my friend’s research - him trying to make this transition in a mindful and semi-excited way.
Now I’m like "woah" myself - seeing some units with big toroidal transformers, big or multple groupings of power caps, upper line DAC chips inside, nice streaming service accesss, weighty units like the golden era receiver days.
Some nice integrateds with notable dacs/streaming services added, tube front-ends showing up inside now too. Some of those still retaining or adding reasonable quality phono preamp sections inside too. Coming together nicely.
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My all tube system is running this morning, playing some nondescript and beautiful streamed "morning coffee" albums, thinking hard about how nice it sounds right now, just super nice. Then wondering how I myself will struggle to give this up and consolidate. Its going to take a real gem all-in-one unit for me to make the move. This has been a fun journey helping my friend and working with all of you here on this.
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I was on the same vector—time to downsize (especially speakers). And this led me to audition the Atoll SDA200 mentioned above. Blew me away, and made me postpone my downsizing in my big room— bought an Atoll IN300 EVO instead. Keeping my Dali Mentor 6 floor standers and instead I’m going to set up a small rig in the bedroom. Dali Menuet SEs arriving soon and now on the hunt for a small all in one for them. I have a Cambridge EVO 75 driving my tv speakers but I think I need more grunt and more grunt. Will look at some of the units identified here.
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Have you considered a Hegel h400 or a Michi x3?
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I went through the same process as your friend a few years ago. I had retired and my wife and I were planning to downsize. About the same time an acquaintance passed away and I was helping his wife sell his 20,000+ record collection. I decided to not be a burden on my wife should I pass away before her, and I wanted to get back to listening to music as opposed to “collecting”.
I sold or gave away all my equipment and my records and ended up with a Bluesound Powernode 2i. They are currently driving KEF LS50 Meta speakers. The system acts as a surround system with my TV.
Now my system is smaller, lighter, cheaper. With Qobuz, I listen to lots more and different types of music than I used to. My wife also enjoys my system, whether alone or with me.
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HiFi News just reviewed the new Rotel RAS5000. Goes for $3000.
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I don’t have suggestions on equipment, as I have the separates and not looking to consolidate. But I know both young adults and older folks that aren’t enthused about a ton of equipment having cables running between them and taking up room/collecting dust. If they like to rearrange furniture, they don’t want to strain and make it an all-day process just moving the stereo. I’m not there yet, but I understand. The old guy I bought my first equipment from was downsizing to move away from heavy bulky equipment. My sons look at my gear and ask why I don’t just get a small box I can plug my phone into to stream music. I don’t think they see the point in tower speakers or having separate boxes for each function.
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Aurender AP20
All-In-One Digital Source and Integrated Amp /
200 WPC into 8Ω, 350 WPC into 4Ω / Fully Linear PSU /
Analog R2R Volume Control / Reference Grade DAC /
Analog & Digital Inputs & Outputs / Headphone Output /
Master Clock Input / 2x User-Installable Storage Slots
https://aurender.com/home/ap20/
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@decooney, yes a little too much all in one. I would prefer passive speakers. Lots of good options, and a greater ability to find speakers that match my taste and space.
Speaking of space, thanks @fastfreight for the lead, but those would be a little much for my 12x15 room. Plus one too many zeros on the price for my budget!
Thinking more along YG Cairn or Tor.
Another option, Electrocompaniet ECI 6 Mk II. Just add speakers.
Somebody mentioned the idea of where or what direction receivers could or should go. I’ve actually given it some thought. A truly modular system. Some integrated amps have modular add ons such as a phono stage or a DAC. Would be nice to see a solid amp/pre amp that offered a full range of add on modules, and critically an upgrade path for changing technology. Face it, streamers and dacs are probably going to look different 5 years from now. Probably a pain to design and economically build such an item. I always think of some of the bleeding edge computers I used to build that are now only good for door stops.
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PS sent from phone, apologies for the typos.
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Not to side track the conversation with too much and I’m not quite at retirement just yet, but I’ve been wondering the same. I’ve been playing whackamole with a living room, bedroom, and office system driven by the upgrade itch and tube and / or tube amp issues.
My sources are a VPI prime super scout 21, Blusound (reliable until they die, with moderate troubleshooting), HiFi Rose 250a (almost unusable) and unlike many others here I watch lots of music videos and movies through an Xbox via YouTube, Amazon, Netflix etc.
I also have some headphone amps and headphones, which I very much enjoy and aren’t easy to fully integrate into other systems.
I’ve been considering integrated amps from likes of McIntosh, Luxman, Hegel, Pathos, but also powered speakers such as ATC SCM50a. The thinking being maybe powered speakers with a great preamp/dac/streamer unit might be the ticket.
I also wonder if this is hobby isn’t much different than watches. Sure there is power and accuracy and neutrality (which seems to defeat the need for so many choices).
Anyway, see you all at Axpona. Enjoying conversation to read.
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![]() darTZeel LHC-208 MkII Integrated Amplifier with DAC/streamer
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I did exactly that. McIntosh pre, McIntosh power amp, Parasound phono amp, Bluesound streamer, LP12 tt, Sonus faber floorstanders. Current system consists of Linn DSM, LP12, and Linn M109 speakers. Does everything old system did in much smaller package.
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If you're willing to spend a bit more money to compete with high-performance audiophile gear, you might want to take a look at the Grimm Audio MU2. Made in the Netherlands and lots of rave reviews!
The MU2 includes a streamer, storage for music files, a Roon core, a great DAC, and a sophisticated preamp. And it can be controlled by virtually any remote or even the oversize control button on the top of the unit. To use the MU2 to do Roon streaming, all you would need to add is powered speakers. Of course, if you're in love with a set of passive speakers or a particular amp, you can still use the MU2 as the "almost-all-in-one" center of a system with uncompromised sound quality.
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If not willing to accept a seperate streamer, I think I would also suggest Moon Audio.
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In the speaker as everything category, the Cabasse Rialto looks interesting. Good reviews. I crossed it off my list for being too much an all in one.
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@pooch2 "...I would suggest an Accuphase Receiver with dac module in the used marketplace.", "The only thing missing would be the streamer."
Nope. Thanks, A few others keep trying to suggest simple integrated amps too. He's definitely going for the "all-in-one quality streamer amplifier" now. No more component cables, just speakers at most - nothing else.
One switch to flip on, flip off. :) Its a good challenge for an audiophile like him to concur, maybe :), we'll see. This is another one of those guys who's tried more different tubes and dacs than anyone I know personally.
Some surprising ideas here so far. Keep them coming!
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Depending on what he may be willing to spend, I would suggest an Accuphase Receiver with dac module in the used marketplace. The only thing missing would be the streamer. Everything else would be there that we are all familiar with, from the glory days of receivers. I think he would also appreciate the sound character based on his past equipment.
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Thanks @decooney for your reply. I am really hoping to consolidate 6 or 7 boxes down to 1 very shortly (should be receiving the IN200 Evo with DA100 card very soon) with the possibility of adding the P100 card at a future date. Any feedback or notable reviews for the P100 card?
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To @sbrownnw that SDA300 Signature you've listed kinda proves what has evolved here. There are member-friends here with former Atolls that don't look anything like what you just shared. Streams Qobuz too like some others don't. Nice. Adding the pic here from your link above.
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I’m going down a similar path hoping to consolidate 3 (possibly even 4, 5 or 7) components into one single component. I don’t stream, but can via my TV using Amazon Prime HD. Here are the components I am hoping to consolidate (all running in 2 channel stereo):
- Audio Refinement Pre5 preamp
- Audio Refinement Multi5 amp
- DacMagic
The rest of the components are possible to also consolidate:
- Audio Refinement Tuner (FM is still so easy)
- Schiit Loki Mini+ EQ (more on this later)
- Salience / Jasmine LP 2 mkII dual box MM / MC phono preamp
I recently tried the Exposure 3010s2d integrated to consolidate the top 2 / 3 items (never got the limited connection DAC card in) and while it sounded good overall, I didn’t like it because:
- It has tape in and tape out, but no tape monitor switch to enable a tape loop connection for my EQ (why?)
- Didn’t seem to play loud enough with some sources (does not have a 4 ohm rating and I have 4 ohm 91 dB ProAc studio 148 speakers)
- Has a limited connection DAC module card (no standard COAX or toslink in)
- Can take a phono preamp module card, but cannot take both a DAC and phono module card
The Atoll IN200 Evo with the DA100 DAC card is next on my list. Why?
- IN200 Evo sounds much closer to the highly rated and reviewed IN300 signature (see ABA’s review on both the IN300 sig and IN200 sig models, he loved 300 and didn’t like the 200)
- It has a modular excellent sounding DA100 or DA200 DAC card that has both standard COAX and toslink inputs
- It also can take a modular phono MM / MC phono preamp card at the same time, not sure how good it sounds (anyone have input on this Atoll phono board?)
- It has tape in and tape out connections with tape loop monitor switching capability
- It is true dual mono design, with plenty of power (120 8 ohm / 200 4 ohm), a reserve max 300w per channel plus class AB design, with lots of speaker control and grip, especially the bass
Hopefully the IN200 Evo does indeed sound "almost" as good as the IN300 sig and does at least as well as my Audio Refinement (designed by YBA) separates. Even better, the phono modular card sounds just as good as my LP 2.0 mkII and I can eliminate the EQ in my system with grip and control characteristics listed above.
Why do I mention all of this? It seems like the Atoll SDA300 does exactly what your friend wants to do (DAC / Streamer Ethernet in, same amp stage as the excellent IN300 sig, all in 1 remote plus nice display screen on front with phone app plus Bluetooth control also, headphone and usb front inputs and more including various computer hard drive reading formats) all in a very sleek and simple single box design. Maybe you could get by with an Atoll SD200 Evo if they make similar changes like the IN200 Evo? Only downside I see with the SDA300 is there is no phono card option and no tape in / out or monitor loop, but does have 2 RCA inputs so you could add an external phono stage. CD player could use second RCA or one of the digital inputs.
https://www.atoll-electronique.com/en/products/sda-all-in-one/sda300-signature/
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@rbstehno Decooney- this is why I mentioned to sell everything he has now and get the pair of Kef LS60 speakers that have the amps/dac/preamp all built in and they sound terrific. All you would have in the room is a pair of speakers.
For sure. Powered speakers which allow bluetooth to be streamed wirelessly or even cable connected from an iPad or phone or something, is a worthy/simple approach. While I've not tried it yet myself, the posts do pop up periodically.
IIRC I read somewhere a few months back there were some powered-speakers that showed up at one of last years better known audio shows and some people were quite taken by them and the sound - over many other rooms. Hmmm.
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I had the Naim Uniti Nova in my apartment using Revel PerformaBe F228Be speakers. There was no ethernet filtration and plain crackers speaker and power cable and a single ancient small sub. I did put in a hospital grade wall plug. It sounded good. Sold it when apartment was done with. Given the average cost of an amp, pre, streamer and dac in an all in one unit traded for connivence you get what you get. And what you get keeps on sounding better and better.
BUT please let's not forget that the room matters as much as all the gop in it. Many of us have heard amazing gear in poor rooms and average gear in great rooms and the room wins out every time. I bet the Naim Uniti line or the like in a great/treated room would achieve the KISS equipment metric along with great sound strived for.
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on the subject, active ATCs with CA EVO
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Thanks to everyone for your great, kind, and clever replies.
This thread is truly about helping those moving from audiophile separates to ultra-consolidated systems that still sound amazing, easy to manage/move, not taking up a lot of space. Audiophile All-in-One units, powered speakers, all great ideas here.
In no way is this thread meant to take away from anyone enjoying separates. I’ll be in this camp too down the road. It will take me ten years to figure out how to consolidate all of my stuff too, LOL.
There is hope for the future though for those consolidating now - reading all of these great replies to this thread. WOW, there is some really neat stuff shared so far. Had no idea some of these great audiophile all-in-ones already exist today. We can all see this is its whole sector of new devices coming out within the audiophile industry - very cool, Thanks to All here!
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Decooney- this is why I mentioned to sell everything he has now and get the pair of Kef LS60 speakers that have the amps/dac/preamp all built in and they sound terrific. All you would have in the room is a pair of speakers.
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Great topic. Ok this is exactly what direction my life in audio has gone to since retiring several years ago.So here is an abbreviated story as most would get a headache if I listed all of it and probably recommend a good therapist .
We first need to start with the fact that my first system was a $129.00 all in one table top stereo purchased in 1970 at the local appliance store . I think it was a Zenith (yes the people who made TV's)From that point I had a variety of these type systems until I actually had a real job and could leave the appliance store for a place in NYC called "crazy eddies" Wow you could actually go to this store and go in a room and have a sales guy (that you knew more about the components than he did) demo what was in the room. (you graduated to the big room if you were a serious audio nut) There's a scene in the movie Ruthless People where Judge Reingold plays this perfectly. That is how far I go back and how it really was. My first real system was a Pioneer SX something or other made with real wood side and view meters everywhere to delight the senses. The speakers were something called the BIC Ventura's that had real open ports for sound. I thought I died and went to heaven. My brother in law at the time had to come with me to pick it up as I needed his van to fit the boxes. Years thru one upgrade after another Krell mono block 's the size of small dorm refrigerators with Velodyne subwoofer the size of a coffee table with two Martin Logan e-stat speakers, Summits I believe. They looked like mock up of the Empire State Building . (Its a miracle I am married 51 years if you can imagine a wife living with this stuff in our living room) this was so big and loud that it was common for everyone in the house to go outside into the yard to visit when I had them playing as inside you needed sign language to communicate as you could not hear. Years later and many moves around the country for various executive jobs that God blessed me with the fortune of having, allowed for educating 3 children and still being able to afford a "Stereo" system. I graduated to the audio mountain
My mountain top and last balls to the wall system was actually building a room in my basement for MUSIC complete with sound treatments that housed what was the first meridian solos system(this became the Roon guys of today) A Wall of total meridian Digital stuff for my several thousand CD collection. I was ready to die and go to heaven yet again. Fast forward to retirement several years ago. Since I was blessed to have this opportunity and blessed to have a life partner that put up with it I under considerable distress promised to turn our much smaller home and lifestyle back to my Wife and Family (now visitors) after many prayerful hours of reflection sold it all and started down the path to a HEADPHONE SYSTEM......wow was this a shock at first. After all the Wadia, Krell, B&W Classe, Levinson etc etc I actually was relieved that I could maintain my hobby, love of music and contribute to my family more normal lifestyle of private personal music listening in my lazyboy chair of choice. I actually love it. First it allowed for that kind of $$ to get really TOTL headphone setups for much less ( That was then as you know those days have also gone) however no truck required to pick up the equipment just to carry the money.......swear they saw guys like me coming. Anyway through the merry go round of tube amps, DAC's , network switches , Susvara, AB 1266 , Focal and all the in between I have landed with my first All in one since 1970 . I now have a 3 shelf rack with the Warwick Aperio, Innuos Zen-NG network switch/streamer/server I ripped everything to. Top off with a Teac transport for good measure.( Records had to go as well to much maintenance and space) Truth be told it's the best sounding system of them all. Granted you no longer physically attend a concert in your living room with Bass bouncing off your chest but it will hopefully add a few years to if not my life my hearing.... So go for it , HP are terrific, Private listening, no wall of stuff, happy family. Mind you this can cost more that the entire wall of stuff did before so they still get you in the end but hey, some people that are fortunate enough to have the $$$ collect cars???? ....Seriously it's a great move .. You can start down the Head-fi rabbit hole with plenty to choose from and start attending Can-Jam shows. ( which I do and the lunacy never stops.) At least this time no one in our home knows what equipment I have or cares as they barely see it and Never hear it.......I could have gone on but enough is enough.....I suspect. Long live Music and Audio!!!
PS Had a DCS Lina system I also enjoyed and could be on one shelf. Sincerely like life there are compromises but not many really and much much simpler . Also know one cares when you go under the HP's
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Some good all-in-one setups that can stream music on their own that just need a pair of passive speakers have been noted. That Yamaha looks good. I’ve have a few Yamaha Receivers that I’ve purchased over the years and they are still running well. I’ve been looking at the Cambridge Audio 150 which has wi-fi, DAC, class D amp and has outputs for 2 pairs of speakers. It has a lot of positive reviews online including a couple of best of 2024 mentions recently. I’m thinking about using for a portable system for long term stays for retirement. Either that or a pair of powered speakers with streaming that would reduce everything to one box for travel. I’ve thought about the same thing about leaving all my equipment behind. A couple of my buddies have agreed to take care of getting rid of the equipment for my wife so she doesn’t just sell it at a yard sale when I’m gone. It’s a part of estate planning only audiophiles have to think about.
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A pair of small actives and a capable small preamp (with tube section), dual DAC, headphone amp: Buchardt A500, ProJect Pre Box RS2, add streamer (WiiM, Sonos or Bluesound) and done. For much less money: WiiM streamer + Q Acoustics M20 + powered sub.
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I have a friend who's heading in this direction. He's got a closet full of amps, preamps, speakers. Actually, a lot of is scattered around the floor of his small listening space and it's driving him crazy. He recently bought the Black Ice CD/streamer/DAC and was actually able to get the streaming working despite his own technical inexpertise. He loves it. I imagine soon he'll ditch all his tube stuff and find a SS integrated amp, which will knock it down to two pieces. He's just tired of fussing with it all, swapping stuff back and forth and back and forth, trying to find those Mullards he bought ten years ago, etc. etc. You get the picture.
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,,,,yeah, a bit Nihilist....*L*
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I’d like to thank our OP and y’all for a forum where we can discuss how to begin to absorb what and where the next wave of audio ought to go.... ;)
Where D amps first became a ’thing’, the early Tripath chips were being birthed, a company brought out a line of modular amps in 3 (?) levels of wattage and some fairly basic pre’s that assembled width-wise like horizontal Legos.
Same basic HxWxD chassis and exterior format; the amp modules would be wider as the watts grew, no doubt for the power supply ’omph’....
Can’t remember the Co.’s name for the strife of me....open to suggestions and/or memories other than mine....*g*
Another example of a concept ahead of it’s time, but certainly an answer to your buddy’s desires, and an ’end game’ for this 73 yr. with a spouse that wants ’poke & play’ tech that currently I’ve set up for evaluations on ’things’....of the sort....
We’ve had a small Phillips ’2 for 1’ for awhile now, and it still can surprise still show some ’legs’.....bought during a ’mean lean’ spell, left segment is a DVD/CD player ribbon-cabled to the right control/pre/amp segment.
The bookshelf speakers sported a meh leaf tweet and 4.5" ish mid/woof which was tolerable together, and a separate self-amped sub (Yeah, it had a ’woofer out’ RCA...sold the dam’ thing, that....👍 ) that ended up on the lowest shelf due to being pitiful.
Still in use, chained to the LG screen....mated to a pair of Sony ’biggish’ 2 ways that allows the A in A/V...👌 Unless More IS MORE and I unleash everything Else....😏
The Else is only modular is the distribution amp, and it’s the same amp X6, one of many mod’s....
*sigh* ....still waiting.... ;)
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PS audio introduced the "Strada", a streamer/integrated amp in 2000.
I didn’t hear any praise for it and it’s buggy software.
But now they’ve introduced the Mk 2 version of it. They’ve had 5 years to polish the Strada.
It's relatively high powered...150 wpc @ 4ohms.
PS Audio Strada Mk 2
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Technics SU-R 1000 or SU G700 might be worth looking at. A touch on the warm side of neutral ( almost a requirement for true 70’s audio!) or a Linear Tube Audio Z-40. these have everything but a streamer
The NAD C 3050 definitely has the 70’s look. Another option is Lyngdorf tdai 1130 or 3400. Once set up, you can forget it, or tweak to your hearts content.
I am 62, and just getting back into audio after 15 years. Had a nice system, and probably enough gear for 3 systems. I’ve been looking at both separates and highly integrated receivers. Integrated receivers eliminate worries surrounding component matching, and some of the best designs are not far off in performance from separates. I go back and forth. I’m not in a hurry, which helps. Can save a few more dollars while I wait for some inspiration on which way to go.
Would love to have an Audionet Humbolt integrated and a pair of YG’s. I’d call it a day. Not likely to happen in this lifetime, but I can dream.
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I am interested in the gear of all those downsizing. I do not wish to have an all-in-one unit, quite the opposite 
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