Hi-fi systems ?

[endorphinz]

This served my purposes very well, of course to make good use of this system your digital library has to be in some lossless format.
I have a lot of vinyl ripped stuff at 24/96 and it sounded beautiful through the setup.

.....

[springsummer1993]

it sounds like you are looking for a simple, low budget system with decent sound? it would help to know your rough budget, because there are <$1000 solutions and >$10,000 solutions.

Yeah, I think it'd be relatively low budget in terms of the hi-fi world. It'd be safe to assume that I would put my range at under 1K---->5K. As long as the set up provides respect towards the record in play, I'm happy. A plus would be some kit with all stainless steel aesthetics and a wooden box speaker

thanks goo, i'll be sure to check it out once I at least earn 3K a month haha

[my friend goo]

.....

OK maybe not 'has to be' ;p
At least 320 / V0 (VBR)!

[Dane]

If you don't mind taking a bit of an alternative approach, here's what I would do with $1500...

-assuming you have a computer that plays CD's, I would first rip all your CD's and sell them, maybe giving you a few extra dollars to put towards your set-up
-assuming your computer doesn't have the best built-in DAC, I would get a budget external number
-I would then spend the rest of the money on a pair of proper active (powered) speakers, meaning, the amp is built-in, and you'd use your computer as the preamp (to control volume, etc.)

I say screw the components, save the space, and let your computer do the work, which it no doubt will in the future anyway, what with the lack of physical media these days.

My first stop would be Dynaudio, which has a few powered speakers.

Alternatively, take a look at Pro-ject Audio, which is an Czech turntable company, who also make tiny Class-D amps and components. I have their little preamp & amp combo and they're awesome for the price/size. They also have a combo unit (and even one with a built-in tuner) that would be super size/cost efficient.

[endorphinz]

well there's a HUGE difference in -vo and flac file sizes. some say you can go as low as -v5

I haven't ripped and encoded in many years so I'm not up on all the latest lame releases and switches. I don't even download anymore. I've got enuf/too much already....1.5 terabytes...all lossy. imagine that in lossless

[endorphinz]

I definitely agree that physical media will be non existent in the near future (i actually thought it already was ). also the price of tech is so cheap theses daze you really don't need to spend and a lot to get a lot.

[Dane]

I was ridiculed by the audio nerds when I said this, but I honestly couldn't hear any difference between FLAC (or lossless) and 320. I have decent speakers, decent equipment, decent ears, etc., but still couldn't tell the difference. Play something in 128 and compare to 320, and I hear it. So, although harddrive space is not hard to come by, I still went with 320 to save space/processor power, etc. etc.

[endorphinz]

when I first started to download music I burned everything to data CDs and then data DVDs as well as keeping as much as I could on hard drives. today with the huge increase in hd capacity and the huge decrease in their price, I don't burn anything anymore. I do however have duplicate drives and in some cases triplicate drives. hard drives die. it's a fact that hasn't changed. when 1 of my drives die, I will clone it's copy immediately ensuring that everything is always backed up.

I have an aluminum suitcase with burnt discs burried in my closet. I may need them someday......anyway when I started building my collection it was impossible to do it in lossless. files would be big, download speeds were slow and storage capacities were small and expensive. today things have changed considerably and I guess you could go lossless but I still don't really see a need to.

[Dane]

I was intrigued by Apple's "matching" service...I forget what it's called(?) Basically the service is $25/year, and every song you have in your library that apple has in it's itunes catalogue is then syncronized. Meaning, you can download music from your library on your phone on the go, etc. Problem is - there are issues with music not matching, music not being present in their catalogue, and their bit rate is only 256, which is annoying if all of your music is 320, you'd be downgrading (if, in fact, you can hear a difference). Bonus being music that is shite quality would get an upgrade, you don't have to keep all the music on your primary device (some people don't have laptops anymore now that tablets are so popular), and even if your phone is only 16gb, you can always access music you have in the cloud anywhere you are (data/wifi required, of course).

[endorphinz]

that wouldn't work for me. I don't have an iTunes library. it would be impossible with my collection. I manage all music manually by drag & drop and now I don't even use iTunes. most people could prob back up their music on 1,or several,64 gb flash drives...

when I wanna give someone a present, I compile a "mix drive" on a thumb drive.... nuthin says happy bday like a few thousand songs.... tho I just put full albums on. I'm not thoughtful enuf to make actual playlists.

[springsummer1993]

Thanks for the advice Dane. Funny thing about you asking me to sell my CD's though--I've recently sworn against downloading music after years of it and have begun buying CDs instead. It's definitely more of a pain to acquire but my mode of thinking was it results in a more appreciative relationship with the music due to there being a physical object. It also makes me more responsible because downloading music led to having a 'backcatalogue' of music that I'd downloaded but never ended up listening to. Forking out cash for cd forces me to gain value for my money in a way.

[MaxM]

keep your cds man i used to keep everything on my hard drive but i had way too much (ultimatley i lost most of it), now i do both and music i really appreciate i buy on CDs and i enjoy listening to my cds much much more also i know i will still have them in 20 years and look back and say hey was same cool/aweful music i was listening to back then

Thanks for the advice Dane. Funny thing about you asking me to sell my CD's though--I've recently sworn against downloading music after years of it and have begun buying CDs instead. It's definitely more of a pain to acquire but my mode of thinking was it results in a more appreciative relationship with the music due to there being a physical object. It also makes me more responsible because downloading music led to having a 'backcatalogue' of music that I'd downloaded but never ended up listening to. Forking out cash for cd forces me to gain value for my money in a way.

[MaxM]

also SS, regarding your initial post:

if you dont have lots of room you could look for closed box speakers since they dont really require any positioning, like you could place them against the wall it wouldnt matter (unlike most other designs).

EB Acoustics EB2 (Closed) Speakers + Naim Nait Amp (5i or XS) for example would be one really good combo. Im a bit biased though, i have the EB2s and really love them so

Anyway, if you can go up to 5K then there should be lots of great options.

[endorphinz]

i used to keep everything on my hard drive but i had way too much (ultimatley i lost most of it)

thus the need for backups. hey vinyl disappeared & there's a reason to still have that. CDs will def bite the bullet and vanish. I can't see any reason to collect them.

[MaxM]

no ur right u could also do with multiple drives etc or cloud storage whatever, i just trust "physical storage" more. but then its also a matter of the pleasure u get of having sthg physical. i prefer it that way but its a personal thing

thus the need for backups. hey vinyl disappeared & there's a reason to still have that. CDs will def bite the bullet and vanish. I can't see any reason to collect them.