I stream Qobuz daily for roughly 3 - 4 hours depending upon how involved I become with what I’m doing on my desktop. I’m not looking for high fidelity there, it’s simply the easiest way to listen to any music. If I feel that a certain track or artist deserves better attention, sometimes I’ll connect my Peachtree Deep Blue via Bluetooth - somewhat higher fi, but definitely not audiophile quality. Sounds better than my Mac desktop’s speakers do by any measure.
My physical desktop’s real estate is occupied with assorted art materials, and organized personal clutter; I have zero interest in adding outboard speakers or any other peripheral to the space. I know full well what I’m getting, and I’m okay with it given the context.
I’m a dedicated two-channel guy. I do my “serious” listening in my downstairs living room where I have what I believe to be a pretty decent mid-fi collection of gear for that purpose. (Belles 250i Mosfet Integrated amplifier, a cheap-seats Pro Ject Carbon EVO turntable, Musical Fidelity Elektra A264 24 bit compact disc player, Aurender N100H 2 terabyte server, Magnepan MMG loudspeakers, and a REL T5i subwoofer. I’m awaiting the arrival of a Schiit DAC to complement the Aurender later this week.) I use decent cables from Transparent Audio, Anti-Cables, and a few others. Not too shabby.
I stream Qobuz via a 9th Generation iPad through this, as well as my 700+ CD library through the Aurender. (I leave the CD player unconnected to a DAC. It sounds damn good on its own, and it’s fun sometimes to compare it with files from the Aurender.)
I probably listen to vinyl the least only because I’m looking to relax down there. While there is much to be appreciated for vinyl’s aesthetic qualities, there is as much to be said for its drawbacks. Among the more obvious and less admitted drawbacks is how sensitive a turntable is to vibration of any kind - from the cheap-seats brands to the more esoteric brands - I’ve had both - they are prone to transmitting everything through your speakers. On the plus side is reading liner notes, viewing the album art, etc. Neither streaming or compact discs can impart that pleasure the same way.
Having been introduced to music on vinyl only - yeah, I’m old - I never revered a turntable as the end-all component I embraced all the other formats through the years, reel-to-reel, cassettes, eight track, compact discs, and I welcome streaming for what it offers (Well, I didn’t welcome the right track all that much, but my first car had a deck in it)
I’ve chased the audiophile dragon hard for the last ten years or so, (damn you, Audiogon!) and while I can state that some of the more expensive components DO make a positive difference, the law of diminishing returns apply in hearing them. More importantly, in paying for them. The difference between a Pioneer SX1050 stereo receiver and a Ieap into separates - my journey way back when - is palpable, tangible, an “aha!” moment.
Now the setup that I have allows me to look for “aha!” moments in the music again, not the equipment I hear it through. A great tune hits you where you feel it on an am radio or a $50,000 collection of components. When you suck at golf the first tried and true adage is that “it ain’t the clubs, laddie.”
