Dale tem
Standard Member
If you read What HiFi and other magazines, you would think that only a few stereo brands exist. They have big reviews and new items, Best CD Players under £400 etc. Yet the companies that often win these are the same companies who advertise in the magazine. I know from my industry that unless you advertise, you won't appear in the magazine (unless you know someone).
I will leave speakers out of this conversation and I am just dealing with the electronic items.
There are so many brands out there and as I've been doing lots of reading over the last few weeks as I sit and wait for CDs to rip I have come to the conclusion there are 2 camps:
1. The old skool/the gentleman's club - The traditional hifi brands that we have known and loved for years. These are where all the big money is spent, these are the brands magazines follow and according to this group, no other brands exist.
2. The hobbyist/new companies/companies who don't play by the gentleman's club's rules. I would FiiO in this group and so many more. Most of these brands have grown in popularity through the internet and have cult following. They rarely get mentioned in the magazines and when you read about systems, they recommend the other companies in this group. These are mostly cheaper brands, doing things in a different way, using new tech, pushing change.
Which is better? Answering this is also hard as the answer will generally fall into 3 camps:
1. I have a full Arcam/Cyrus/......... setup or I have hand selected all the items and I've listened to XXXXX and XXXXX and they don't compare to the £10,000 stereo I have. How can a £100 DAC compare? Are the people defending why they spent that much money or is there a difference?
2. I have spent £800 building up my equipment and it blows away my friends setup which cost him £10,000. I can't believe he wasted so much on his stereo. Is this person hearing things that isn't there to justify their choice to unheard of brands.
3. Does it matter as long as you are happy?
It is impossible to get the answer out of a magazine, a company who makes equipment and even the majority of online review websites as you don't know their Hows and Whys etc. the best place is to ask is here.
The change to streaming and music, apps etc. has meant that the hifi world is changing and that the interface now matters so much more. I remember my friend putting his puck on his CDs in his Naim (I think) CD player and I thought it was bonkers. Are people going to live with bad apps to access music?
I was wondering how many people have tried both worlds. Is there a big difference? If I go and buy a Teufel Streamer or use a laptop with ASIO/WASAPI driver and use this instead of an Audiolab 6000N, Cambridge Audio CXN v2 or a Naim streamer and feed it into the same DAC, amp and speakers, will I be missing something, have I just saved some money or is the one box solution just easier and that's it?
The reason I ask is I have come back to hifi after years away and I am seeing 2 approaches when it comes to streaming media - the buy a box and stream from the web or RIP your discs and feed a DAC from your PC, with little overlap.
All opinions welcome
I will leave speakers out of this conversation and I am just dealing with the electronic items.
There are so many brands out there and as I've been doing lots of reading over the last few weeks as I sit and wait for CDs to rip I have come to the conclusion there are 2 camps:
1. The old skool/the gentleman's club - The traditional hifi brands that we have known and loved for years. These are where all the big money is spent, these are the brands magazines follow and according to this group, no other brands exist.
2. The hobbyist/new companies/companies who don't play by the gentleman's club's rules. I would FiiO in this group and so many more. Most of these brands have grown in popularity through the internet and have cult following. They rarely get mentioned in the magazines and when you read about systems, they recommend the other companies in this group. These are mostly cheaper brands, doing things in a different way, using new tech, pushing change.
Which is better? Answering this is also hard as the answer will generally fall into 3 camps:
1. I have a full Arcam/Cyrus/......... setup or I have hand selected all the items and I've listened to XXXXX and XXXXX and they don't compare to the £10,000 stereo I have. How can a £100 DAC compare? Are the people defending why they spent that much money or is there a difference?
2. I have spent £800 building up my equipment and it blows away my friends setup which cost him £10,000. I can't believe he wasted so much on his stereo. Is this person hearing things that isn't there to justify their choice to unheard of brands.
3. Does it matter as long as you are happy?
It is impossible to get the answer out of a magazine, a company who makes equipment and even the majority of online review websites as you don't know their Hows and Whys etc. the best place is to ask is here.
The change to streaming and music, apps etc. has meant that the hifi world is changing and that the interface now matters so much more. I remember my friend putting his puck on his CDs in his Naim (I think) CD player and I thought it was bonkers. Are people going to live with bad apps to access music?
I was wondering how many people have tried both worlds. Is there a big difference? If I go and buy a Teufel Streamer or use a laptop with ASIO/WASAPI driver and use this instead of an Audiolab 6000N, Cambridge Audio CXN v2 or a Naim streamer and feed it into the same DAC, amp and speakers, will I be missing something, have I just saved some money or is the one box solution just easier and that's it?
The reason I ask is I have come back to hifi after years away and I am seeing 2 approaches when it comes to streaming media - the buy a box and stream from the web or RIP your discs and feed a DAC from your PC, with little overlap.
All opinions welcome