How many of you own a music system?

[aksnitd]

Yes, I know. Stupid thing to ask on a prog site But I'll still ask. How many of you own a proper sound system with the big speakers?

I'm asking because I was browsing another thread and I realised that all my adult life, I've lived in small rented apartments. Because of that, I could never make space for a physical music collection. Nor did I have the space for a sound system. My music sits in the form of files on my hard disk that I listen to on my computer with some nice speakers. I don't have an issue with it, because I was careful to get good speakers, but I still miss being able to fill up the room with sound. Not that I could've done that either in my apartment without the neighbours yelling though :P

I do plan to have a music room where I can listen in peace but that won't happen until I buy a house, which is at least a couple of years off.

[moecurlythanu]

+<raises hand>+

[Steve F.]

I have an extremely modest stereo, but it is a dedicated CD player, turntable, amplifier and speakers.

[soundsweird]

The last time I had to find a new house to live in, about 10 years ago (lived in duplexes before, but never an apartment), I told the realtor who drove me around to look at places that my #1 priority was a rectangular living room with spaces in two corners for large speakers. I found that a lot of living rooms have a doorway in the corner, or the room is not rectangular. I ended up in a house that has a lot of shortcomings, but at least the living room is a good listening room!!!

[jefftiger]

I've had various modest stereo systems for the past 40 or so years since first starting college. In recent years, I've used the living room system very infrequently, since I've ripped everything to my computer. Early in the COVID lockdown, I bought a pair of Kanto YU2 powered desktop speakers for my music listening while at the computer (which is most of the time since I've been working from home for the past 16 months). I've been very pleased with the Kantos. As a result, I sold off my living room stereo components on eBay and replaced them with a set of Kanto YU4 powered speakers on stands to listen to my music collection via Bluetooth (and watch TV). I know; I'm clearly losing lots of fidelity, but music playback sounds fine to me. I don't miss my components at all.

[markduff]

I have a receiver, CD player and floor speakers in my living room in a stereo stand.

[mozo-pg]

I have 3 CD players (300 5 and 1), a pre-amp and power amp, tower speakers for my system and in the same room my 5 speaker home theater.

[Baribrotzer]

I have one:

• NAD C 542 CD player
• Dual CC 5850 BC Cassette Player (not used in decades, but still hooked up)
• Rotel RC 850 preamp
• Hafler SE 120 power amp.
• Polk Audio speakers (the tall, skinny ones).

No turntable.

[Zeuhlmate]

It has always been a priority that music should sound as good as possible.
Economy (and family) has limited this somewhat - but its a full range system.

CD T.A.C C-60
EAR 864 preamp
Parasound hca 2200 II (upgraded version)
Snell A 2 speakers
Void Valdi turntable Grado pickup
Van den Hul Magnum speaker cables
Silver Sonic Air Matrix interconnect cables
Parasound tuner
NAD cassette deck

[Lopez]

I have an extremely modest stereo, but it is a dedicated CD player, turntable, amplifier and speakers.

Same here. I also have a stand-alone, single cassette player, which I am surprised still works, since the last time I used it regularly was about 20 years ago.

[Progatron]

Yep. Surround system with a good receiver and speakers. Blu-ray player (that I use for CDs 90% of the time). None of it is top-of-the-line audiophile equipment, but I did drop about 4 large on it at the time, so it isn't crap either.

[LASERCD]

I have a large system in a dedicated sound room I built as an addition to my house. The room was professionally tuned.

Gear:

Speakers: Rockport Aquila
Phono Preamp: Boulder 2008
Preamp: Boulder 2010
Amp: Boulder 2060
Cables: Transparent Audio Reference XL
Power: Transparent Audio Reference XL/Nordost Quantum QBase8
Phono: TW Acustic AC Anniversary, TW Acustic Raven 10.5 arm, Lyra Atlas, Graham 2.2 arm, Miyajima Zero Mono
Digital: Bricasti M1 Special Edition - Network version
Racks: SRA Scuttle3 rack + various SRA/Symposium stands

[Brad 2 the Bone]

I have an extremely modest stereo, but it is a dedicated CD player, turntable, amplifier and speakers.

Ditto. In my living room I have a NAD receiver, NAD CD player, low-end Audio Technica turntable, and Jamo speakers.

As a secondary system upstairs in the computer den I am still using the Realistic (i.e. Radio Shack) stereo with built-in cassette deck that I bought way back in 1986, with a Zenith DVD player plugged into the aux port to play CDs.

The Realistic and Jamo speakers (which both get used on a daily basis) are the only sets of speakers I've owned in 35 years, but I had one previous receiver before the NAD (a Carver which didn't last very long at all), two previous turntables, and at least three previous CD players.

[Just Eric]

I have an extremely modest stereo, but it is a dedicated CD player, turntable, amplifier and speakers.

What Steve said.

[BobM]

This thread is useless without pictures. Here's mine

IMG_20181215_162302.jpg

[moecurlythanu]

^ Pretty cool, dude. The ceramic bong on the left (end table?) is a nice touch.

[JKL2000]

The last time I had to find a new house to live in, about 10 years ago (lived in duplexes before, but never an apartment), I told the realtor who drove me around to look at places that my #1 priority was a rectangular living room with spaces in two corners for large speakers. I found that a lot of living rooms have a doorway in the corner, or the room is not rectangular. I ended up in a house that has a lot of shortcomings, but at least the living room is a good listening room!!!

Our current house sucks for listening rooms. It's an old house (built in 1927), and the only rooms with doors are the bedrooms and bathrooms, so there's no closing myself off in a listening room. Also, there's very little wall-space without windows, so very limited space for bookshelves and CD racks, etc.

Right now I mostly use the living room, where I have an Oppo BD player and a sound bar (which isn't ideal, but does sound pretty good).

In the basement I have an Oppo DVD player, a Pioneer tuner that I kind of hate, and a pair of decent speakers. That's where I can crank it up a bit.

Also in the basement is a little room that probably has terrible acoustics, but it's scary as fuck. It used to be where they stored coal to heat the house, and it's totally where someone would keep a prisoner locked up. THAT room has a door! I thought it would be funny to make it into a little listening "dungeon." But I do think getting decent sound in there would be hard - the walls are cinder blocks and the floor is concrete. But it'd be a cool room to listen to death metal in!

[moecurlythanu]

^ I always pictured you having a dedicated Fondle Room.

[Progatron]

^ I always pictured you having a dedicated Fondle Room.

Isn't that the bathroom?

[rdclark]

I've had the best bang-for-buck audio systems I could afford ever since I could afford one -- 1968, when I was 17 and had my first apartment. From that first receiver/speakers/turntable in '68 to today's multiple systems (7.2 in the main room, nearfield pair in the computer room, 2.1 system in the bedroom, even a decent stereo pair connected to the Alexa in the kitchen), accommodating satisfactory audio systems has always been a priority even in choosing apartments, and then the house we bought in '76 and still live in today.

Did I mention that I married well?

With all that, I spend a great deal of time with headphones. When your listening conditions are constrained, you can achieve better sound for less outlay with headphones than any other way. My current favorite bargain audiophile headphones: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=29514

[Digital_Man]

I have a (imo) halfway decent mini system(no tt just cd and radio although I haven't hooked up the atenna yet). It could be better but it could be worse. It's an Onkyo.

[rapidfirerob]

I have a decent system in our bedroom, but my wife is in there a lot watching Netflix series since she's not working currently. I sneak in occasionally when she's
in the garden. I listen to music mostly on my computer or a semi decent boom box in the living room. Semi. I also practice bass
with my computer, with my acoustic bass guitar.

[chalkpie]

Hifi rig in living room:

Rogue Audio Sphinx V3 Integrated amp w/tube preamp section
Pro-ject Classic SB turntable w/ Ortofon quintet red mc cartridge
Rotel RCD 951 cd player
B&W DM 602 speakers
B&W ASW 608 subwoofer

I really love this relatively modest system. Very musical for the price. Straight up stereo all the way baby! I also listen to headphones a LOT on my Audio Technica ATH mx50 headphones either via phone or Rogue headphone section. Probably my fav "thing" I own.

[Bake 2]

Ken and Bob M do not have extremely modest stereos. Current (possibly deceitful) internal dialog says my lousy 11' x 13' room is too small to justify much in the way of upgrades:
-Resolution Audio Cantata 3.0 CD player/preamp
-Lenco table/Odyssey RP1-XG tonearm/Transfiguration Temper cartridge, Graham Slee Accession phono stage
-Coda 11 amp
-Green Mountain 1.5i speakers

[Dave (in MA)]

I mostly use my laptop and portables with headphones these days, but in my office, where I somehow spend more time than ever before the last year and a half, I have a 1979 marantz receiver with an adc CD player from 1984 and some sony tower speakers from about 1990, and an akai cassette deck from the late '80s. The main system is a home theater 5.1 receiver hooked up to the TV that I hardly ever get to use. I prefer to spend my budget on CDs rather than upgrading the hardware.