Audiophiles, help me build a decent stereo

[skialpy]

Spending some time swapping components in and out of my Outlaw RR2160 and continue to be amazed at the sound quality out of this unit. Highly recommended if anyone needs an integrated especially one with a wonderful tuner section.

[Terrapin Ben]

You could get your digital source playing through your system pretty easily and affordably. For example, if you wanted to stream through your iPhone, you could use the aux input with a lightning-to-RCA adapter. It's not a solution that a self-proclaimed audiophile is gonna go wild over but it could meet a need in the interim.

That's what I currently do, but I feel like it's less than an audiophile caliber solution

[basinbeater]

Snake oil alert... Tired of junky rando interconnects, i made a couple pairs of my own. Mogami 2549 wire and Neutrik rean connectors.


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[Meathelmet]

Anyone done speaker (surface) restoration?

Scored not one, but two pairs of different vintage speakers, both teak/veneer, relatively light in colour (oak´ish). As a bonus, managed to get a Marantz 1030 amp for peanuts. Interested in giving speakers a slight clean & buff and giving them a relatively matte/unfinished look to go with the rest of the danish chick furniture & semi matte oak floor. Def not into the highly glossy rosewood + shellac finish, looking for that low key, almost rustic look.

Any good links, tutorials or tips?

This prolly should go to the "shit you built" thread, alas..

[zion zig zag]

Nearly 50 year old speakers? I assume these would need some restoration love? I'm not looking to spend this much but I figured someone may be interested given the love for vintage Klipsch.

https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/65822596

[tgapp]

Nearly 50 year old speakers? I assume these would need some restoration love? I'm not looking to spend this much but I figured someone may be interested given the love for vintage Klipsch.

https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/65822596

Damn, those are beautiful. I would go listen to them and see how you like them. They will need new crossovers, as the caps have certainly gone bad, but they likely don't need much else.

You can get super high quality crossovers from Bob Crites for a reasonable amount:

https://critesspeakers.com/

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[zion zig zag]

Damn, those are beautiful. I would go listen to them and see how you like them. They will need new crossovers, as the caps have certainly gone bad, but they likely don't need much else.

You can get super high quality crossovers from Bob Crites for a reasonable amount:

https://critesspeakers.com/

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Wow, looks like crossovers are $300-500 a pair?

[tgapp]

Wow, looks like crossovers are $300-500 a pair?

Look here: https://critesspeakers.com/prices-cr...epair_kit.html

KLIPSCH CORNWALL 1 REBUILD KIT FOR THE KLIPSCH TYPE B CROSSOVERS:
Series 1 (Sonicaps): $140
Series 2 (Dayton): $60

That's $140/pair. Not terrible.

His website is terrible.

[utagonian]

I’ve been into this stuff for a long time. You can spend many hours researching, trying stuff out etc only to find out what you don’t know seems to be growing faster than what you do know.

I bought and sold a lot at first (my budget was like yours then) and my takeaways:

Room treatments are the most important thing. I just did a new room and my expensive rig sounds better than ever but what really got me is how amazingly good the two cheap ceiling speakers in our “whole home system” sound now that the room is treated.

I use fairly cheap cable.

Quiet Power is important. I’ve had good luck having electrician run dedicated circuits.

Macintosh, especially if purchased used is reliable and hold its value over time. Probably over your budget though unless you find a deal on really old gear that doesn’t need work.

Don’t overlook pro gear. The value is solid compared to most home gear. I use active (no crossover, built in amps) studio mains.

Speaker placement is important.

On your budget, have you considered headphones? A DAC/preamp/phono pre/headphone amp and cans. No room/placement issues. Low power consumption. Low heat generation, etc. it’s a personal thing though.

[AdironRider]

Not really looking into headphones really. Like I'll probably get a set for when I'm working from home or something but moreso want a good stereo to enjoy at the house, notably with the kiddo who seems to be relatively musically inclined and with friends/dinner parties/etc.

[highangle]

I’ve been into this stuff for a long time. You can spend many hours researching, trying stuff out etc only to find out what you don’t know seems to be growing faster than what you do know.

I bought and sold a lot at first (my budget was like yours then) and my takeaways:

Room treatments are the most important thing. I just did a new room and my expensive rig sounds better than ever but what really got me is how amazingly good the two cheap ceiling speakers in our “whole home system” sound now that the room is treated.

I use fairly cheap cable.

Quiet Power is important. I’ve had good luck having electrician run dedicated circuits.

Macintosh, especially if purchased used is reliable and hold its value over time. Probably over your budget though unless you find a deal on really old gear that doesn’t need work.

Don’t overlook pro gear. The value is solid compared to most home gear. I use active (no crossover, built in amps) studio mains.

Speaker placement is important.

On your budget, have you considered headphones? A DAC/preamp/phono pre/headphone amp and cans. No room/placement issues. Low power consumption. Low heat generation, etc. it’s a personal thing though.

Solid work.


And if one intends to own vast libraries of audiophile lossless digital files...Network Attached Storage is the way the truth and the light.


And $250 will buy you a pro 2channel tube pre with balanced i/o and impedance knobs, which tend to render all home audiophile cable arguments møøt.

[Danno]

A thread devoted to audiophiles should be able to answer this. Note: I am NOT an audiophile.

Bought a cheap 50" TV a month ago, and (not surprisingly) the sound is shitty. Considering buying a cheap soundbar like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...KIKX0DER&psc=1 Is this a waste of my money? I realize it's still a cheap speaker, and I'm not expecting MEGA AWESOME sound, just appreciably better sound than I get from the TV. Picked that soundbar, BTW, because it's the same brand as my TV, and amazon has a deal with discover where I can also get 40% more off. So pretty cheap. But spending money on something shitty is dumb, regardless of whether it is cheap or not.

I am not looking to get a spendy soundbar, I'd rather stick with the shitty TV sound, because I'm pretty po'.

[highangle]

A thread devoted to audiophiles should be able to answer this. Note: I am NOT an audiophile.

Bought a cheap 50" TV a month ago, and (not surprisingly) the sound is shitty. Considering buying a cheap soundbar like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...KIKX0DER&psc=1 Is this a waste of my money? I realize it's still a cheap speaker, and I'm not expecting MEGA AWESOME sound, just appreciably better sound than I get from the TV. Picked that soundbar, BTW, because it's the same brand as my TV, and amazon has a deal with discover where I can also get 40% more off. So pretty cheap. But spending money on something shitty is dumb, regardless of whether it is cheap or not.

I am not looking to get a spendy soundbar, I'd rather stick with the shitty TV sound, because I'm pretty po'.

Save up your pennies for a 5.1 system. You got a big tv to be immersed, yo?

If you do buy a soundbar in the interim, get one that's center channel worthy when you finally do achieve surround sound through your hard work, thrift, and individual merit.

[JimmyCarter]

A thread devoted to audiophiles should be able to answer this. Note: I am NOT an audiophile.

Bought a cheap 50" TV a month ago, and (not surprisingly) the sound is shitty. Considering buying a cheap soundbar like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...KIKX0DER&psc=1 Is this a waste of my money? I realize it's still a cheap speaker, and I'm not expecting MEGA AWESOME sound, just appreciably better sound than I get from the TV. Picked that soundbar, BTW, because it's the same brand as my TV, and amazon has a deal with discover where I can also get 40% more off. So pretty cheap. But spending money on something shitty is dumb, regardless of whether it is cheap or not.

I am not looking to get a spendy soundbar, I'd rather stick with the shitty TV sound, because I'm pretty po'.

I don’t know anything about that particular soundbar, but a few thoughts:
1) Anything is better than TV speakers
2) It’s two channel (read: stereo) sound, so there’s not really any “surround” that will be gained
3) It’s pretty small (depth/height)so the speakers are probably no bigger than 1.5” tweeters. Maybe two, maybe more of them. These won’t be able to produce any real low end/bass sound, so you’d have to grab a subwoofer if you wanted that.

The most you’ll get from it is likely a louder and probably cleaner sound than your TV speakers, but I don’t know if that’s worth it to you.

[skaredshtles]

Save up your pennies for a 5.1 system. You got a big tv to be immersed, yo?

If you do buy a soundbar in the interim, get one that's center channel worthy when you finally do achieve surround sound through your hard work, thrift, and individual merit.

Am I the only one that could give no shits at all about surround sound? We have a "decent" soundbar hooked up to our ridiculously large TV and it's sufficient.

But I, like Danno, am no audiophile.

[Danno]

All I'm looking for is significantly better sound than the TV has. I don't need surround, I don't need killer bass, I just need to say "oh, yeah, that's much better".

[El Chupacabra]

All I'm looking for is significantly better sound than the TV has. I don't need surround, I don't need killer bass, I just need to say "oh, yeah, that's much better".

Get a soundbar with a subwoofer. One that uses ARC HDMI to the TV should turn on / off automatically when you turn on / off the TV.

[skaredshtles]

All I'm looking for is significantly better sound than the TV has. I don't need surround, I don't need killer bass, I just need to say "oh, yeah, that's much better".

I mean... it's *bound* to be much better than the speakers in the TV... 'cause those things universally (I think) are complete shit.

But I wouldn't hold out much hope for it being great sound... that thing is cheap as shit.

[highangle]

With movies, I like the surround. Modern movies are mastered in 5.1.

The highest fidelity music is 2 or 1 channel source, with the oddball quadraphonic or two.

[JimmyCarter]

All I'm looking for is significantly better sound than the TV has. I don't need surround, I don't need killer bass, I just need to say "oh, yeah, that's much better".

The problem is, “significantly better” can mean just about anything. Best bet is to just buy it, hook it up and listen for a few days, and return it if it’s not what you expected.

[dunfree]

All I'm looking for is significantly better sound than the TV has. I don't need surround, I don't need killer bass, I just need to say "oh, yeah, that's much better".

inears that mute the relatives

[Danno]

The problem is, “significantly better” can mean just about anything. Best bet is to just buy it, hook it up and listen for a few days, and return it if it’s not what you expected.

fair point

[riser4]

inears that mute the relatives

Heh.

[ntblanks]

All I'm looking for is significantly better sound than the TV has. I don't need surround, I don't need killer bass, I just need to say "oh, yeah, that's much better".

What's your budget?

One simple solution would be a BT transmitter at the TV ($45) to two decent powered bookshelf speakers (< $150). Tons of options for the latter.

[PNWbrit]

A thread devoted to audiophiles should be able to answer this. Note: I am NOT an audiophile.

Bought a cheap 50" TV a month ago, and (not surprisingly) the sound is shitty. Considering buying a cheap soundbar like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...KIKX0DER&psc=1 Is this a waste of my money? I realize it's still a cheap speaker, and I'm not expecting MEGA AWESOME sound, just appreciably better sound than I get from the TV. Picked that soundbar, BTW, because it's the same brand as my TV, and amazon has a deal with discover where I can also get 40% more off. So pretty cheap. But spending money on something shitty is dumb, regardless of whether it is cheap or not.

I am not looking to get a spendy soundbar, I'd rather stick with the shitty TV sound, because I'm pretty po'.

That's going to sound better than a TV's speakers.

One thing that bugs me about a cheaper soundbar on one of our TVs is that the volume steps are too far apart.

It's always just too loud or not quite loud enough.

Try it and see. Return if not happy.