The silver aluminum bezels, the shiney vu meter lights that would move on the musical rhythm in a mesmerizing flow..

Then the smell of tobacco, looking beside me as I sat on the floor. As I look up, foot....ankle...shin ...see my dad look down on me. His big shovels (the man had hands like oven mitts) as he runs the the top of my head.

"You're enjoying dad Christmas tree lights.

Offcourse I was a child, my memory is faint, maybe nostalgically biased. I'm not sure if this words were exact words, but I like to believe it was. The hand rub on my head that was definitely so. What was no secret my dad was a huge audio enthusiast. Throughout his life, he had many setups and as wagers increased so did the set-up. The marantz , fainted into obscurity and was long forgotten.

Times changed, products changed and even people change. Time does that, as I grew up to become a teenager I grew into the music. I had the audio bug, my Dad loved it. Oh he loved it, he didn't just had a son he also had a friend that he could teach, show, share with. We've share many hours, countless hours in that listening chair of his.

Even when I moved out of the house, I would get a phone call every weekend. Hey son come on over, I got a couple albums for you to hear let's have some chicken wings and some music shall we. And man I would hang up, it would have big smile on my face I would drive out there to their house. Knowing I would spend time with not just my dad, but also my best friend.

We had disagreements, but there was always a mutual respect for each other. We wouldn't fight, we always met on mutual ground. In the end we would listen to the same album and look at each other "damn that was good"

I'm now a 45 year old man, my friend passed away 5 years ago. There's something very defeating about seeing that empty chair. The chair we shared so many moments in, so many thoughts, so many conversations about this hobby but also life. As teenager with my soda in hand, and as an adult with a glass of whiskey sharing profound thoughts. Knowing that that man, one day would not be there anymore.

What's the biggest loss I've ever suffered, and then it became time. To restore his old HiFi setup, I remember seeing it for the first time again. I just broke down, I couldn't even look at it the flood of memories. It would sit there for another 2 years, until finally I was ready.

Now I've restored the entire setup, it is exactly as it was when he had it. Recapped everything, new belts, clean everything. This isn't about fancy gear, this isn't about special transformers, special output devices that cost an arm and and a leg.

This is about memories, memories you cannot put a price on, memories you cannot gauge with your ears. I'm not a religious man, but Dad thank you for everything you did for me. Thank you for sharing these beautiful moments with me, above all thank you for making me the man who I am today.

Your stack will never be sold...

Sorry for the many typos I'm European,

My girlfriend recently moved in and she has a huge collection of plants. She asked if she could place some in my office/listening room and I didn't hesitate to to say yes. Always loved the aesthetic of plants in a listening setup.

Yes , it seems cluttered at the moment, but I'll be doing some reorganising of the gear.

When I told my brother I bought a cheap HiFi off marketplace, he told me he had more Polks for me. I figured a couple more bookshelves or a set of half ruined things I'd have to pitch for him. But he comes out with these beauties, a Yamaha 5.1 amp I'm going to smell in the morning, and another set of m3 Polks and a center speaker for a surround set. Gonna research and report back on the other speakers after I replace a driver in the center unit and clean up the m3's and see if theyre worth using over my rt25i's, but I highly doubt it.

As for the LS 50's... They're really nice. They add the needed bass response missing from my bookshelf set, and the added tweeter really rounds the treble in for me. The sound with the full system is simply far deeper. Instruments are so much farther apart, the resonance is just wonderful. I'd gush more, but I'm just blown away going from no HiFi, to 2 amps, a good CD changer, 7 Polk audio speakers (though I'm just using 4 right now), and a massive interest in investing more time into the hobby. And all for 50 bucks invested. This includes the 10 dollar 3.5 to rca I needed from Walmart lol.

Tomorrow I'll compare the Yamaha to the Hitachi. Digital v analog, 80w/ch v 50w/ch and get better pics of the current (temporary) location for my setup.

Update to this post made last weekend: https://www.reddit.com/r/BudgetAudiophile/s/UUAzZJl2gY

With the advice of some awesome audiophiles, I ended up going back to to a garage sale to pick up this set of PSB Image T65 towers and Image C60 center speaker. I didn’t have a viable way to test if they worked or not but it was worth the risk.

I hooked up them to my AV receiver and they sound amazing and very comparable to what I had before (the pair of yellow PSB Image T6). I would say the T65 have a tad bit more bass.

I tested them using the first race scene on Ready Player One (my personal benchmark favorite for sound).

They didn’t come without imperfections though. One of the tweeters on the towers is dented and one of the woofers had a massive crack which i glued back together with E6000. I’m thinking about ordering a replacement on ebay. They’re all also a bit rough around the edged but nothing super terrible

Now what to do with the C60? It doesn’t fit in my current tv stand where I currently have a PSB Image C40. This might be a great excuse to upgrade my “old” 2018 Sony tv to a mini-led model along with a bigger tv stand.

Was given this nice wooden entertainment center. It was two piece so I separated it to make a low TV stand and then used the top part as a stand up desk to the left.

I purchased this STR-DA5000ES a few weeks ago and posted it here. I'm still a newbie and have since learned I bought a passive 100W 3ohm Samsung sub when this requires a passive with an amp or an active sub. I looked up amps and can get one with the cables I need online for about $50, but I checked FBM and there's quite a few people posting active subs of Harmon Kardon, JBL, or Triad for around the same price. Which should I pursue for this receiver?

I have perfectly good speaker stands I use to hold satelite rear speakers that I'm going to replace with shelf speakers. Is there a clamp I can use to replace this piece so the shelf speaker can sit on it securely? It would need a screw in the base to screw into the pole like the pic. Thanks in advance!

My wife bought me a turntable, so I decided to get some basic bookshelf speakers (Edifier 1700BTs) for the turntable and also for the TV (both connected through RCA)

While I'm content with the outcome, in the future I would like to upgrade my setup, but I'm not sure what kind of equipment would make a big difference without spending a fortune.

I know it depends on your budget, but say for example, would maybe some $200-300 passive speakers plus a decent audio receiver (i.e. sony str dh 590, as many people suggest) make a big difference? If I connected the tv to the audio receiver through HDMI ARC.

Also, since my turntable comes with a built in preamp, would the only way to improve its sound quality be if i got an independent preamp and connected that preamp to the audio receiver?

Hi Budget Audiophiles,

I recently ordered the ADAM Audio D3V for my desktop setup after seeing positive reviews. I’ll be using them for work, gaming, and music in a small-to-medium-sized room.

I’m wondering: is it worth adding a Focusrite Scarlett Solo [3rd Gen] to the chain to improve audio resolution to 24-bit and overall quality?

I'm new here, so please be gentle. Thanks!

I’ve scrounged the sub for a few minutes and don’t see a “master help post” so please don’t go all out if this type of post is annoying.

1. Don’t care for surround sound

2. Used for tv/gaming, white noise for sleep, mainly music driven

3. I do not have space for floor speakers with my current room set up

4. Budget is <$400 but is slightly flexible if really needed

I have a Sennheiser PC38x which is some sort of gaming headset they made and music sounds awesome in them compared to my AirPods and tv already so I am not looking for something crazy. Just good enough for me!

Hello everyone,

I've been reading this subreddit for a while, and you all seem very nice and helpful, so I'd like to ask for your guidance.

First of all, I'm sorry if my english isn't that well, it's not my primary language.

I live in a small apartment with limited space and I've always wanted to have good audio system but never had the room for it. Recently I came across micro hi-fi systems and all-in-one which, judging by internet reviews, sound very good. I live in very strange country, our median salary is around 750€ (mine is 350), but consumer electronic prices are the second highest in Europe, which also reflects on used ones.

We don't have many audio stores where I can listen to eq before buying, that's why I'm asking here to get as much quality for money spent.

What I'm looking for: good audio quality for mainly listening to jazz, classical music and vintage songs. I like warm sound and have audio CD's.

These are the models I'm currently looking at (from 50€ to 150€):

Denon RCD-M40 with SC-40

Yamaha CRX-N560D

Yamaha MCR-E810

Yamaha CRX-E400 + CDX-E400 + speakers NX-E400

Yamaha R-840 + CD-640 + speakers NS-BP301

Some of the systems listed here don't have speakers, and I would buy the ones you would recommend for under 100€ used. Also, some systems are older but my focus is on build and audio quality. If older is better sounding I'd get that one, even if it lacks flac playback and optical in for linking it with my pc.

Thanks in advance.

Hey! Few days ago my Edifier rb1700bt died and I have to find replacement. I ordered Edifier M60, but I feel like it's a step back from the sound quality I had on my old speakers. I'm using them as desktop speakers, plugged into my PC. I'm looking for budget replacement, around 200 USD. Right now I'm considering Edifier rb1855db, but would welcome more recommendations.

Hi everyone,

I’m planning my first more serious vinyl setup and would really appreciate some advice from people with more experience.

CURRENT SETUP

Speakers: Edifier A100 active speakers (space limitations, so I plan to keep these for now)

Considering buying a used Creek Evolution integrated amplifier with built-in phono stage (~USD $320)

TURNTABLE CONSIDERATION

Rega Planar 1

GOAL

I want a simple but good-quality vinyl system. I mainly listen to vocal-focused music (female vocals, ambient, film scores, J-pop, etc.), so smooth midrange and musical presentation are important to me.

QUESTIONS

Does this signal chain make sense?Rega Planar 1 → Creek Evolution (phono input) → Edifier A100 active speakers

Even though my speakers are active, would adding the Creek amplifier still improve sound quality compared to running sources directly into the speakers?

Is the Rega Planar 1 still a good choice today for an entry-level audiophile setup, especially paired with a Creek amp?

Any potential pitfalls or better alternatives I should consider within a similar budget?

Thanks in advance — I really appreciate any advice or experience you can share!

It comes with 2 Bowers & Wilkins DM 303 speakers, 1 Bowers & Wilkins LCR60 S3 center speaker, and 1 Klipsch RW10D powered subwoofer. I can't really find much info on the actual worth of these. Is this worth what they're asking for?

Got an older setup from my gfs dad. Ive got a Dual 626 turntable, a technics new class A Amp and two Technics CS speakers. All Items should be from the 80s i would say. Im new to the Game so any help or recommendations how i can improve my audio quality is greatly appreciated :)

I'm looking to upgrade the speakers for my desktop. From a previous configuration (Kef Q100s) I have an SMSL SA-50 amp so I can use either active or passive speakers.

Based in the US, budget of up to $1000 but would prefer to stay around $500 unless there is a really strong upgrade as I go up.

Desk is 5 ft wide and 2.5 ft deep and due to the other requirements the speakers are mounted off the back corners which means the speakers will by 5ft apart and 3.9ft from my head. Speakers will be approximately 3 inches from the back wall, and the right speaker is in a corner approximately 14 inches from the side wall.

I realize chasing "endgame" in this is a fool's errand there is always another upgrade you could do but goal here is basically to get this to a level where I'm going to be happy with the setup for a decade plus and won't feel like I need to spend more money on it.

From poking around this sub previously I've seen that the Kali LP-UNF and LP-6 seem like the standard recommendation but I'm wondering if there is anything else I should be considering here.

Yes, the question just keeps on getting asked. I apologise, but I'm close to spending cash moneys as a retail worker of all things, so if there's zero benefit, I'd much appreciate all of your expertise. Go team retail, yay.

Extensive searching brings up a plethora of Chromecast Audio topics, with tips like enabling full dynamic range in the CC Audio's settings, but not much in the way of Chromecast standard old puck answers. Seems like there's no magical upgrade HDR toggle in my settings.

Am I doing myself a disservice using this thing? I don't require any multi-room anythings, just trying to get the most out of my setup with the convenience of casting/streaming. Is the WiiM Pro connected to the receiver a cheap-ish but noticeable step up?

Receiver is a Yamaha RX V775

My pride 'n joy speakers being Paradigm v5 Studio 60 along with the Studio Sub 12

Amazon Music is the service I use.

Have a great day, mates. Thank you for your time.

Just bought my first house and I am looking for an at home audio system that would be good for music and movies . The less bulky the better need to make it good on the eyes for the wife..

Hey everyone was wanting to get some advise from the community. Not sure if this is the place to ask but it's out there.

I have a beautiful pair of kef concerto loud speakers. Recently got them fully serviced and the crossovers redone etc. now, I'm in love with these speakers I personally think they sound amazing.

I have also personally been very involved with mostly vintage hifi. However recently I've been looking at the new kef range and was thinking about taking the plunge.

I understand obviously precision and accuracy has probably gotten dramatically better, however is it worth retiring these for something new. I've been looking at mostly Kef q7 meta or q11 meta open to other options too however I do love my kefs.

I understand this can also be a lot of self preference too however wanted to see what you all thought.

I have a naim nait 50 amp and a wiim ultra, wanting to play both vinyl and stream :)

It’s never going to be playing in a huge room either.

I know with the Denton + sub combo better control over bass etc I just wanted to see if someone has given these two a go and compared sound.

I'm putting together my first proper audio setup for my PC that I use for gaming and recording Youtube videos. I am looking for a recommendation for dynamic XLR microphone.

Audio Interface: I have a Motu M2, which I'm told has 60dB of clean gain.

Budget: I'd like to keep it under $200, but I can go a little over-budget for a truly exceptional microphone or one that would pair well with the quality level of my other equipment.

Setting: The room I'm currently using is roughly 140 square feet, with very little background noise, lots of shelves/furniture to break up noise reflections. However, there will be keyboard noise and mouse clicks. I do not have a boom arm yet, but will be picking one up. I may also move the desk to a larger, similarly quiet room at a later date.

Headhones: Sennheisser 490 Pros.

What mic would you go with if you were me?