I’ve got the Rega io as a backup amp playing as I type.
The remote is for multiple Rega products not just the io. 21 buttons of which precisely 5 are relevant to the io. It’s literally taken me 4 weeks to figure out that those 5 are relevant. Such a basic accessibility fail but they’re hardly alone. Manufacturers on the one hand put a screen on a box but then give you a remote with buttons in double figures suggesting you sit on your arse rather than look at the screen. Badly thought through as a UI. Give me an R-Com over any Narcom any day. Neither perfect but less is more.
I always struggled with the front of the Isis and Osiris (multiple people I knew went for them). I’m sure they thought the simple design brilliant for accessibility. I couldn’t get near the things for reflections.
The io is no better in theory but it’s largely set and forget so I only look at it when I switch it on and set the input. Were it sat in front of me I’d have kicked the front in by now.
I feel the same re: New Classic. Sat in a dem room with my peaked cap on and indoor glasses which tint. The reflections were just untenable.
I would exercise some caution here for that exact reason. How long will your son be using the music room? Will it only be a few years or so, and would you reutilise it again for a music room once he no longer needs the space?
I’ve actually moved in the opposite direction. I had my old record and CD collection from the 80/90s and wasn’t listening to much music until I bought a UnitiQute about 13 years ago to get back into hi-fi with the system in the lounge. At that stage I moved to streaming and ripped my CD collection and didn’t have the record player set up at all. After some upgrades, I had a second system in my office and set up my old record player again with that.
A few years ago, I moved my (by then upgraded) main music system from the lounge to my office to use it as music room/office set up and put the office system back in the lounge. After a barn-find used LP12 arrived, I upgraded that, cleaned all my old records, sold some, bought some new ones and now listen to those a lot.
Just this year I found that streaming had become a sterile experience for me, so I moved my entire CD collection from the garage to the music room, got rid of the plastic jewel cases and use space saving sleeves. Now I mostly play CDs, SACD, Bluray and records and I find the experience so much more engaging and satisfying.
I’d recommend not making any rash decisions and keeping your options open - even if it means storing some stuff for a few years and reviewing things again later. It’s quite hard to know how things will look in 5-years and that time will pass before you know what has happened!
Tidal and Qobuz are maintaining vast libraries I could never possibly emulate, even just in the genres of most interest to me. Roon curate (generally pretty well) these huge libraries for me. All for a monthly cost similar to or less than a single audiophile LP.
It is impossible to fully exploit this source, there is no need for another one. We do have seven streaming devices of various types in the house though!
Alright if you can find music you like! (In my experience there is far, far more music I don’t like than do. I am content with 1000 or so albums, occasionally adding the odd one or two (a handful or two a year) so collection growing gradually. Whilst it is nice to discover new enjoyable things, I certainly wouldn’t want to spend much of my time hunting when in reality is not enough time to do justice to the music I already have!
I have this quandary as well. Now that I have moved all my media into the music room, it’s obvious that I already have more than I can realistically listen too. So, yeah, just the odd new purchase now.
Tidal; Phenomenal in my experience. I’ve connected with music genres and artists I would have NEVER had the chance to experience [Brant Bjork led me on a journey of massive and enjoyable discovery]…..
Radio Paradise [all stations] also offer an incredible eclectic mix of music and from there, one can jump into Tidal and play albums, associated playlists, or whatever….
I have 2000+ CD’s and almost as many LPs originating from the 1970’s, all of which are pretty defunct…
I came on the previous version of this forum a few years ago with RP3, a Naim CDP, and possibly still cassette player.
Some said I should flog my sources and get a good streamer; others said sell the CDP and get a better TT, etc.
I tried to keep vinyl and get a streamer for a couple of weeks, then took the plunge and got a Naim 272.
Then later a 555DR.
I sold my sources and hundreds of LPs (about half of my vinyl) that were valuable but which I didn’t play and could get from Qobuz.
This enabled me to get SQ I had only ever dreamed of and set me on a single-minded path of upgrades that has been great fun and very satisfying musically.
In the end the musical education I have obtained from other forum members and the sense of a like-minded community has a transformed my enjoyment of music and been very helpful in so many ways.
It is a balance, in my case I guess though that familiarity breeds not so much contempt as apathy and I’m on the other end of the see-saw. In much the same way, I can’t motivate myself to play the same golf course twice a week, week in, week out, although plenty of members do that and more with enthusiasm.
When I was a teenager I didn’t like most of the music my mates liked and I used to go to the library and borrow records to find my own groove. Similarly, in the CD era I would take a punt on buying albums by artists I had no idea about (Feeder and The Egg are two examples that spring to mind) because the artwork or the song titles piqued my curiosity. These days I’m as happy as a pig in the proverbial . If I ever stop finding new music I enjoy, I suppose I would stop exploring.
Since one of us passed on a couple of years ago we’re making more effort to have an annual reunion. This year we spent a couple of hours one evening on Spotify or whatever nominating tracks to play on a wireless speaker I had taken. After a bit and to freshen things up, I introduced the challenge of nothing from the 20th century. This brought forward some interesting choices from a couple of the guys but one of them really struggled with anything recorded after he was about 25. He’s the only one of us that plays a musical instrument!!
I have done that type of thing with friends before, though with YouTube not Spotify, and good fun it was too. However I certainly wouldn’t put that sort of limitation on it! I would be able to find quite a few things not from the 20th century as long as they’re on Spotify… but not much from the 21st century
The driving force behind my interest in music has always been the quest to find new and interesting music. I have mostly left behind the music of my youth. I still listen to some old stuff.
I too have often bought a record on the strength of the cover. Some of my favourite music has been found that way.
My latest interest is in South African Jazz. I love the sense joy in this music. Bandcamp is now my happy hunting ground.
I use three audio sources: streaming with Qobuz, CDs, and vinyl records. I enjoy using all three, though I listen to CDs less often. I sold my vinyl records in the 80s, and I regret it and won’t make the same mistake again!
. If I ever stop finding new music I enjoy, I suppose I would stop exploring.