The All Purpose Advice Thread - Part 2

A friend of mine wants to buy a surround system for his TV. He’s not audiophile at all, won’t use the system for music, just movies, wants to achieve some cinema feeling at home without spending much money.

As I don’t know much about loudspeakers and even less about surround systems, I thought I’d ask here.

Criteria:

• Sound quality is not really of importance, but should at least trump the large € 1000 Samsung TV, maybe 65"?
• For the feeling, I guess a sub would be nice?
• Easy. No tinkering.
• Satellites should be wall-mountable, no room available behind the sofa.
• If a wireless setup is possible for the price, that would be nice.
• € 1.000,– for the whole system would be grumblingly accepted, the less the better.
• Available in Germany.

Any suggestions?

 

Surround systems are tough. The inexpensive ones don't sound very good (i.e. clarity, bass extension) and the good sounding ones are expensive.

Something like the Piega ACE Wireless system with WiSA would be great, if it weren't so expensive.

 

Hello,
Did anyone here listen to the Cayin ha3a or Feliks Echo/Echo Vibe. I really need SBAF members opinions. They are in $1000 bracket and get quite meaningfully good reviews. I think it is time to upgrade from my clone Crack (that is unstable and burns tubes too fast). Thank you!

 

Can’t comment on the Cayin or Feliks, but if you’re using a Crack clone I am assuming you’re driving high impedance. For Sennheisers, I think you can’t do better than the HA-66 or the Val3 (from what I read) for a lot less spend. You’ll have leftover money for upstream.

 

My suggestion would be "don't do surround", it needs a lot of space and costs a lot to do well. I know you said they are "not audiophile at all", but would your conscience really be fine with the quality of the sub-1k options for doing this?

Personally, I feel like a good 2.1/2.2 setup is more sensible- at least here where houses are small unless you're Zuck-wealthy/a boomer.

While I wouldn't normally link them here as they wouldn't know good audio if it bent them over the coffee table and rogered them vigorously, this article very much struck a chord with me:

https://www.whathifi.com/tv-home-ci...l-fat-dolby-atmos-doesnt-work-in-normal-homes

I don't know what the situation's like in Germany, but here, it can be a pain. Cheap/good/practical, pick any two, or something.

 

I suggest a Sonos soundbar, and then add rear satellites and sub later if those are needed. As mentioned above, surround is not that hifi on a budget.

I use a Beam because it’s easy to use, is discrete and sounds way better than TV speakers. There are wall mounting accessories for rear speakers. As I said, your friend can decide if he needs more later and augment to the Sonos.

 

Hey SBAF. Long time lurker, first time poster.
I have an intro post coming, but it'll probably be super long so I just wanted to ask this question first:

Is anyone here really experienced with the Sovtek/EH/Gold Lion family of 2a3 tubes?
As far as I can tell the only physical difference between the Sovtek and EH is the gold plating of the grid. I'm less clear about the Gold Lions, those may just be high binned EH.

I'm using a Bottlehead Stereomour II (CCS loaded 12a*7 driving 2a3 w/ parafeed output) to drive HD800s, which is not really what it's intended for as it's a speaker amp, but I found a cheap driver tube that delivers an incredibly clear and engaging sound in combination with the stock Sovtek 2a3.
This setup produced total sonic bliss until several weeks ago when the sovteks died simultaneously, one due to gas, the other possibly due to the filament sagging and touching the grid (?) but the amp is electrically fine so I think it was just a crazy coincidence.
I replaced the sovteks with some RCA dual plate 2a3s which I expected to be better based on the concept that NOS tubes should beat modern production ones, but this was just flatly false.
It feels like there's a veil between me and the music now, like a slight pillowy compression is applied to everything where previously the slightest microdynamic contrasts were perceptible with amazing clarity. Transients which should be incisive have their leading edge softened and blunted by the RCA.
With the Sovteks I could simultaneously hear each layer of a mix and the level of clarity and immediacy, especially with the human voice, was simply off the charts.
All the detail was there but everything sounded so profoundly alive that I didn't even really care to "analyze" music.
These qualities didn't really come out until I found that particular 12au7 (more to come later), so they aren't necessarily qualities of the Sovtek tubes per se, but the RCA tubes are clearly suppressing these qualities while the Sovteks let them through unimpeded.
The only thing the RCA does better is subbass extension, but that's barely worth mentioning given the drawbacks.

Should I just get another pair of the Sovteks if I'm paranoid of losing the sound that I had become addicted to? Or would the EH / Gold lion tubes actually be a straight upgrade rather than a sidegrade?
I'm not looking at tubes from other manufacturers for now as those would probably be sidegrades, outside of the really expensive ones.

Also, would it be wrong to blame the inferior sound of the RCA on its dual plate construction? This whole experience has made me really skeptical of parallel SE amps.

Thank you!

 

I ended up recommending a Bose surround system, because Sonos was too expensive.

My conscience? That’s not about my conscience. Sure, I would hate this system if it was installed in my home, but that’s not the point. It’s about what they want and need, not about my nerdy audiophile feelings. Of course, I did make clear that they’d have to spend much more on an actually good system. But that’s not what they’re after. In fact, given the missing space behind the sofa, it wouldn’t even be possible to achieve really good surround sound due to speaker placement.

During my time as a bookseller, I learned to give people what they want, not what I think is good. It doesn’t make sense to try to talk a customer out of the brainless shit they want to read—you’d only make them unhappy and not sell anything at all in the end. Lose-lose situation.

If my friend had the possibility to actually compare Bose to a really good system, the outcome would be anything between “Does that even sound different?” and “Ok, it’s better, but spend thousands more for it? Are you mad?” Maybe even “Bose sounds much better. Did you hear that cool bass?”

My conscience tells me to mention there’s much better stuff out there. But it also tells me not to anger people with nerd talk (of any kind, not only audiophile) they neither want to hear nor will actually benefit from.

 

I would rather do a small 3.1 setup, even a cheap little amp and speakers will beat a wireless sound bar IMHO. Add the sub and it wins for sure. if they get a surround receiver and 2.1 to start they can add speakers as time goes on. If they own their living space in-ceiling rears are a great option down the road to expand. So much more room for worthwhile over a soundbar.
Edited to add that even a little 2.1 would be better than a soundbar!

 

Someone should start making something like the Artison again. Can be found pretty inexpensively on eBay.
I think they were bought out by Savant? Savant stuff looks pretty good: https://www.savant.com/lcr

 

Hello guys,
I have just blindly ordered a Fiio K11 r2r dac at a $170 after applying voucher. And I am a little worried due to the cheap price. I don't understand about circuits so I dont know what Fiio cut on components or the quality because the cheapest r2r dac I have known is the Airiest from Drop ($350 from several years ago). Did Anyone here listen to the K11 r2r and get something to share to stop me from falling in mid-fi hell? Thanks
https://androidbrick.com/wp-content...AC-and-Headphone-Amplifier-e1722165722399.jpg

 

Listen to it first.

Then, if you must, indulge in seeking validation or buyer remorse.

 

That is the stuff I install for a living, along with lutron lighting and motorized shades and a bunch of other stuff. I like savant, the artison stuff is OK. But I think James stuff is much better, they do custom soundbars that fit perfectly under your television worth a little cutout for the little control cluster under your set for no gap. Their landscape stuff is awesome! Out off the three brands we install is my favorite. James, Coastal Source and Sonance. I wonder why the artison stuff is cheap online, maybe savant killed them... because cheap isn't really savants thing.

 

If that is something you are worried about and you can afford to ORFAS your way out of the trap, do it. I am firmly entrenched with Team mid-fi with the gear I have purchased and I am very happy! But trying out different gear is super fun to me! So enjoy you inexpensive purchase, if you like it kick ass, if not you have a point of reference and a cheapish lesson in what you don't like.

 

Don’t sweat it. Give us your impressions. It’s not a bad purchase if you can inform the rest of us!

 

Some folks I know love it, I remember that one dude who designs relatively popular IEMs has one and is a fan. All a matter of establishing your own baselines and finding what's sufficient for you-- I am pretty damned happy with where I am headphone and amp wise even though it's an order of magnitude cheaper than what quite a few folks on here are rocking, but I don't care to spend too much money haha.

To add to what @SofaSamuraiX said, it's only mid-fi hell/purgatory if you're dissatisfied and constantly cycling gear in a neverending sidegrade of self-destruction. The lack of a firm baseline will only ever diminish your ability to really evaluate things-- stick with one system that you like for a good long while and build upon that after giving yourself the time and grace to figure out how you'd like to shape your system moving forward even if it might not necessarily be what other folks here would go for.

Also seconding what @joch said, we need more folks chiming in with impressions because it can be useful to others who might be researching the same gear. It's especially useful when you've tried some things and are able to compare and contrast within the context of your preferences (cuz everyone's got a different goal in this hobby), even relatively new thing to the forum that not a lot of SBAF folks might have talked about ought be brought up in comparisons because it'll make sense to someone, and that's what matters in the end.

Lastly, cheaper is not necessarily bad. Hell, I know the forum loves a "giant killer" (even if most of those end up being rather disappointing in direct comparison to Known Good things, at the very least it's a lot of performance for much cheaper than it would have cost just a few years back).

 

What are those neck-phones called? Not the kind where it sits on the back of the neck with little iem wires that go to your ears. I mean the kind that's basically just a glorified neck speaker. And are there any half decent ones out there?

Thinking it might be handy to use in a home office setting where you can walk around the house while on a call but not be bothered with something sitting on/in/around your ears all day long.

 

You mean like neckphones or neckband speakers? Only ever tried a few in store settings and never found one that I could last with, but I remember being okay-ish with a Sony pair. Not sure if it's these specific ones but they look about right.

https://www.sony.com.ph/electronics/wireless-speakers/srs-nb10

pennstac over on the headphonesdotcom forum found a pair that they liked at around $89, not tried these ones out but they seem promising enough https://forum.headphones.com/t/neckband-speakers/21597

 

Maybe a dumb question but do Hifiman cables work on Focal headphones? I got a balanced cable for the HE5-SE and wanted to try my Focal Clears on the balanced output on the Jot1, but I am wondering if that cable would be safe to use or not? Don't wanna damage the Clears somehow :/

Picture attached of the cable in question.