Absolutely true. Totally unpredictable - take nothing for granted. Trying for yourself really is the only way.
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Absolutely agree. I also find it quite a fascinating area and have done for years. My early experiences and curiosities were with tables and supports and why they either did or didnāt work. Another area where certain supports would reduce ānoiseā coming from or getting back into equipment. I was always intrigued why Mana supports seem to have a compound effect on equipment. The more you used the better things got! With streaming we seem to have a very similar situation. The more we reduce noise on the network the better the sound quality, and the brilliant thing is its compound effect!
When I first jumped into streaming I used my LP12 as a bit of a baseline. My CDP555 could come close but rarely matched the LP12. Now my streaming system seems to have surpassed my LP12 by a fair margin. Sure, I might be able to catch up a bit if I sunk another Ā£10 to Ā£15k into analogue but Iām getting so much enjoyment from digital that I donāt think I need to. And if it wasnāt for the reasonable collection of records Iāve built up over the years Iād probably abandon analogue altogether - something I never thought Iād hear myself say!
Thatās progress for you!
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Thatās praise indeed! I could never return to vinyl after all the convenience of digital, but I always secretly thought that I would still prefer it. But this makes me feel a lot better!
I was in the same situation two years ago. Sources were LP12, CD5 XS and an Internet Radio Adapter.
Realised that I was listening to streaming more and hardly used the CDP, so I made the decision to go 100% streaming.
Sold the LP12, CD5 XS and got a Linn Klimax DS.
Regarding the LPs and CDs, sold them all in one go to a specialist dealer.
No regrets since and made further streaming upgrades since.
DGā¦
I love Farad on my EE8 but when trying another one on my Bridge/streamer I found the original SMPS had better synergy.
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I know, itās strange how a PS works well with bit if kit, but not another.
DGā¦
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Soā¦I have decided to do a Pepsi/Coca Cola challenge and have ordered myself an iFi iPower 2 for my EE8. This will allow me to compare the stock power supply against both my MCRU LPS and the iPower 2. It arrives tomorrow, I will report back!
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Thatās exactly what I meant when I stated that the process is beautifully scalable. I eventually ended up spending quite a lot, but only because I kept on getting bigger and bigger improvements and couldnāt resist. But I started slowly and carefully, first with a single lps, then a second, then a cable and a second and so on, and every single upgrade, big or small brought rewards that exceeded my expectations, sometimes by a large degree, so thereās absolutely no need to go to extremes to get big rewards!
Also worth bearing in mind is that not every step I took worked as I expected. A USB retimer that I added then eventually sent back to the dealer clearly degraded my system, despite 400 hours of break-in. I eventually found that the real culprit was the retimerās SMPS which my system seriously disliked (not all SMPSs had that effect btw, just that particular one). What I did discover was that the order in which upgrades are made very much defines the degree of improvement achieved, as Iāve noted in my posts above.
It was really interesting when it came to selling my system how many people bought a piece, tried it then came back for more.
Finally I donāt think many people realise the scope of the improvements available. I spent the equivalent of a decent pre-amp upgrading all my DC4 power supplies to ARC6 spec. Following re-installation, if someone had told me theyād substituted Magico M2 speakers for my S1MkIIs Iād have believed them. The sound (not just the bass) took on a physicality that was scarcely believable from the same pair of speakers, let alone a 2-way.
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Yes. Itās all been covered.
I think this is one of the important things about PSās. They are not interchangeable willy-nilly. There is clearly some sort of interaction/synergy going on with the powered device.
The general consensus in the hi-fi world seems to be that all SMPSās are bad news and all LPSās better them. My experience and that of several others here indicate that this is simply not the case. It is a myth - a gross over-simplification.
Out of interest I would be fascinated to know what the SMPS - āThe Supplierā - from Russ Andrews sounds like. Itās around Ā£500 and seems to be the only āup-marketā SMPS available. (the iFi Elite being considerably cheaper). Any intrepid and adventurous person here feel like giving it a try and reporting back?!
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OK what exactly do you mean?
Do you mean that you have visited all these people and listened to their systems?
Or do you mean that I am missing something? What exactly? Could you perhaps summarise briefly?
Itās just that if you are going to make a statement like:
you really need to qualify it with some evidence for it to have any validity, or it really amounts to nothing.
So could you please explain how you know this to be the case? Thanks.
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I used to have a Russ Andrews X-Block and was unimpressed with the build quality for the considerable price it cost.
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I agree with everything you say. Iāve probably reached the limit of what I should sensibly spend in our situation, but having said that Iām well aware that there are further improvements to be had by doing more - ie. by spending more!
I think Iāll keep my powder dry for now and see what new products emerge over the coming months from such as The Chord Co. and others. Then if I think I can afford to I may decide to splash out. Weāll see!
Based on my experience, and everyone is different, my advice would be to invest your money getting the best streaming cable you can afford into your streamer. That has been by far the biggest improvement for myself.
The evidence is all over this forum. None of this is scientific, itās all opinion and belief. Which is fine. Itās your hobby, all that matters is that youāre enjoying yourself.
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As for the evidence for your statement:
being āall over this forumā Iām afraid that this simply isnāt true. There is zero evidence for this. How could there be any? How could anyone possibly provide evidence on a forum that someone else is suffering from āconfirmation biasā and simply wants to add āsome shiny bitsā to their system?
Iāve bought several thousand pounds worth of noise reduction āshiny bitsā over the past few months and it all sounds much better to me. So am I suffering from confirmation bias? Where is the evidence for that? Certainly not āall over this forumā.
Sorry @ElMarko but your assertion is without a shred of evidence to support it.
Incidentally, do you suffer from confirmation bias yourself that you are aware of? Ie. Do you make purchases and perceive them to be improvements, only much later to realise that in fact they are not? If so then perhaps this has led you to erroneously believe that we all suffer from it. We donāt.
On the other hand, if you donāt suffer from confirmation bias yourself then what makes you think that other people are susceptible to it when you are not? Do you have some special properties which makes you immune to it?
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Iāll leave you to your beliefs and let you focus on your hobby.
And you are lucky, because before, we had the bonus of having hundreds of posts saying that you need to do a double blind test and that you canāt trust your ears, only measurements. Adding to that the shiny snake oil boutique components robbing your money and your fooled mind.
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I think we are fortunate in this forum where the majority of members are either open-minded or civilized! If you go to the Roon forum where there is a lot of technical savvy folks, even mentioning the words of PhoenetNet, EE8, et al will be shot down within 5 minutes.
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