What would be a good modern day "stereo system"?

[WestUniversity]

I’m a SONOS fan. Wireless and wifi based, they can be added to any room in the house. The sound is amazing and they can be acoustically tuned to the specific room and even the specific part of the room they are in. They’re not cheap but the sound is amazing. They are Apple Air play compatible and I simply play everything from my iPhone…

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/home

 

[aja8888]

I’m a SONOS fan. Wireless and wifi based, they can be added to any room in the house. The sound is amazing and they can be acoustically tuned to the specific room and even the specific part of the room they are in. They’re not cheap but the sound is amazing. They are Apple Air play compatible and I simply play everything from my iPhone…

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/home

Works well from an Android phone also.

 

[Mark1]

We all have our standards. The guy walking to work thinks a Yugo is pretty nice.

And what are my requirements? All I asked for was something that would give me equivalent functionality to my old rack stereo from 50 years ago, but with modern electronics and connectivity.

I wasn't trying to be a wise guy, but the turntable and some type of amp system alone would be near your upper range. I'm not sure at the lower end of your range of $10 you can hardly buy anything.

OK, I'll back off and shut up.

 

[ERD50]

We all have our standards. The guy walking to work thinks a Yugo is pretty nice.

And what are my requirements? All I asked for was something that would give me equivalent functionality to my old rack stereo from 50 years ago, but with modern electronics and connectivity.

You're not going to get it done for under $1,000. ....

...

I think it can be done. I'm a bit of an audiophile, but I also recognize that many people just need something 'adequate', and today, as I said, if you choose wisely, you can get a lot of bang for the buck.

Heck, I spent most of today in my workshop, listening to the Classical station over some really low end equipment. I still enjoyed it (didn't enjoy the work, relocating a utility wash tub, plumbing! arghhhh!). I don't want to put good stuff in my shop, with the sawdust and stuff.

But OP hasn't really defined what he wants. And is he really starting from nothing? No speakers anywhere? Nothing?

How many rooms for speakers? What kind of listening? If you want high volumes and deep bass, that takes some higher $ speakers and amp power. But lower volume, and enough low-end to not sound 'tinny', not so much.

I've used this in a spare room with some small bookshelf speakers that didn't cost much. A $35 amp. It sounds OK. No match of course for my B&K amp and Magnapans fed by a high quality DAC, but for many people, it serves the purpose just fine. It's not Wireless, but that can be had for $105 (with more power, and subwoofer output).

https://www.parts-express.com/Lepai...dio-Mini-Amplifier-with-Power-Supply-310-3000

https://www.parts-express.com/Dayto...lifier-with-Sub-Frequency-Adjustment-300-3831

So how about some more details? Is there one room that would be for more serious listening (better amp/speakers there), and maybe the other rooms (how many?) are just casual background music?

There are $100 speakers that a lot of people would be happy with, even if some of us would not.

And what are my requirements? All I asked for was something that would give me equivalent functionality to my old rack stereo from 50 years ago, but with modern electronics and connectivity.

But we have no idea what your rack system's capability was, in terms of sound quality. Some of those per-assembled all-in-one racks were awful, but if someone put their own high quality components in a rack it could take some $$$ to match that quality even 50 years later.

Your saying "I want a car, it's got to be able to go places. Doesn't need to be fancy/fast, but decent. Should have everything my car from 50 years ago had. What should I buy?"

Need a lot more detail for any meaningful help.

-ERD50

 

[Qs Laptop]

But OP hasn't really defined what he wants. And is he really starting from nothing? No speakers anywhere? Nothing?

How many rooms for speakers? What kind of listening?
Need a lot more detail for any meaningful help.

-ERD50

Agreed. We do know that he wants:

* Multi-room sound through wireless speakers. Probably would like the ability to play different songs in each room.

* Ability to play vinyl and (probably) CD's.

* Sound equivalent to his rack stereo of 50 years ago. This was likely a 2 channel stereo receiver with 35 watts per channel. Probably had a couple of speaker with an 8" woofer, a 5 1/4" midrange and a 1.5" dome tweeter.

With this in mind I'm pretty sure a bunch of wireless speakers with 4" drivers being driven with a phone over bluetooth is not going to cut it.

A receiver/amp, phono player and cartridge, CD player (used?), and four wireless speakers has got to be $1,000 or more.

I've been in the market for a mid-range AVR and that alone is now around $1,000 whereas pre-pandemic it could have been had for $700 or thereabouts.

 

[travelover]

Agreed. We do know that he wants:

* Multi-room sound through wireless speakers. Probably would like the ability to play different songs in each room.

* Ability to play vinyl and (probably) CD's.

* Sound equivalent to his rack stereo of 50 years ago. This was likely a 2 channel stereo receiver with 35 watts per channel. Probably had a couple of speaker with an 8" woofer, a 5 1/4" midrange and a 1.5" dome tweeter.

With this in mind I'm pretty sure a bunch of wireless speakers with 4" drivers being driven with a phone over bluetooth is not going to cut it.

A receiver/amp, phono player and cartridge, CD player (used?), and four wireless speakers has got to be $1,000 or more.

I've been in the market for a mid-range AVR and that alone is now around $1,000 whereas pre-pandemic it could have been had for $700 or thereabouts.

This is a good summary of what I'd like plus the ability to stream Spotify or similar.

I think that some people are getting a little hung up on their own expectations, as I'm not a discerning audiophile. I'd probably be happy with a receiver like the Yamaha R-N303 with a couple of decent wired speakers in the same room, wireless speakers in other rooms, a turntable and, CD player. I'm not intent on limiting spending to $1000, but that is a starting point. I've found the videos from Steve Guttenburg to be helpful.

 

[swakyaby]

I would suggest going entirely Bluetooth and streaming using :

Devialet phantom reactor speakers (from France. Sold online and at Beat Buy). I only use ONE speaker but the sound is amazing. With two of these for true stereo you can create your own concert hall.

Tidal streaming service- one of the only lossless quality streaming platforms that has just about every song, artist and genre you would ever want to listen to. I love Jazz and their Master recording quality albums and tracks is about the finest quality you will ever hear.

This isn’t a cheap system. The speakers start at $1,200 each and Tidal is $20/ month subscription but if you’re an audiophile it is well worth it.
#BTD

I second Tidal music streaming service. I’m in my 2nd month of a 3 month free trial, and their sound quality and selections are impressive. It seems like a service for serious music lovers.

 

[ERD50]

I second Tidal music streaming service. I’m in my 2nd month of a 3 month free trial, and their sound quality and selections are impressive. It seems like a service for serious music lovers.

A little thread drift, but I'm currently on Qobuz, and I'm not happy with the UI.

I like to listen to albums (not just individual songs/tracks), but AFAIK, all you can do with an album is mark it as a 'favorite', no way to crate subgroups of you favorites.

You can create and name a bunch of playlists, but playlists seem to just be track oriented. The only workaround I've found is to add tracks to playlists, then go back to the album it was from, but kind of a pain.

Does Tidal allow you to create your own groups of albums?

-ERD50

 

[Freedom56]

For our condo I wanted to keep it simple so I just bought a pair of amplified studio monitor speakers and connected an old tablet to it (you can also use a mobile phone). I just stream music from Amazon or from the thousands of of Shoutcast streaming radio stations.

 

[Luvtoride]

What would be a good modern day "stereo system"?

Does Tidal allow you to create your own groups of albums?

-ERD50

Tidal seems to be very flexible as to the way you can create favorites of albums, tracks and playlists , an example of the MY Collections screen is below (if I loaded it correctly).

I have dozens of my own playlists…that’s part of their subscription strategy. Once you take the time to create all these playlists while on free trial you will keep paying the $20/ month to keep the service.
Yea, it is pricey but the quality , breadth and flexibility of the service is worth it for me.

1[/ATTACH]

 

[MTB4me]

For under a kilobuck, with modest power requirements, and no need for 5 channel surround sound for TV, just go with a basic stereo receiver like this Sony. Has both phono and bluetooth inputs. Add a low-cost CD player if you really want one. Tip: a DVD player will work just fine for playing CDs.

What I don't see anyone mentioning is that you will have two choices with bluetooth speakers: battery-powered or wired (internal amp, with power connection). Keeping battery-powered speakers charged can be a hassle, though I like the convenience of being able to move my JBL Charge 5 wherever I need it, indoors or out. There are definitely some nicer powered bluetooth speakers out there, but I'd probably put my money into some nicer speakers for you main room and then use something portable for the others. The JBLs can be paired up if you really want stereo over bluetooth.

I think you'd be surprised how good some of the less expensive non-powered speakers sound these days. I bought a pair of Polk Audio Monitor 40 series II speakers awhile back for under $200. More than adequate sound driven by my Adcom preamp and Perreaux power amp.

In summary, buy an inexpensive receiver, splurge a little on the main speakers, and use portable bluetooth speakers for the other rooms. If you have the coin, spring for the Sonos speakers or something similar for the other rooms. Good sound doesn't need to cost an arm and a leg.

 

[swakyaby]

A little thread drift, but I'm currently on Qobuz, and I'm not happy with the UI.


Does Tidal allow you to create your own groups of albums?



-ERD50

It does.

 

[RetMD21]

Last year I went with a hybrid system as others have mentioned. A simple Sony Bluetooth receiver and wired speakers from this article https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-bookshelf-speakers/ and a standalone AC powered Bluetooth speaker for the bedroom. Although I hooked up the cd player, we haven't used it and the turntable remains in storage in the basement along with the dual cassette deck. We gave up the ability to stream CDs and records for simplicity. Wouldn't meet OPs spouse's requirements. A project for this winter is to make sure that we don't have any LPs or cassettes before downsizing that hardware.

 

[Music Lover]

Wireless and hi fidelity probably don't go together.

+1

 

[zinger1457]

You can get a mid range Denon A/V receiver that supports HEOS for under $500, can also get a decent wired Klipsch surround speaker system for under $500. You can than add wireless HEOS enabled speakers to multiple rooms as needed and budget allows. Better off starting with quality equipment and build on it. I own a Denon/Klipsch system and very pleased with it but I'm sure other manufacturers like Yamaha support a similar setup.

 

[ERD50]

Originally Posted by neihn View Post
Wireless and hi fidelity probably don't go together.

+1

While I agree that Bluetooth is not something an audiophile wants between their ears and the music source, I don't get the impression that OP is looking for audiophile quality. And I don't think BT degrades the sound all that terribly for a causal listener.

For me, the worst thing about BT is the delay. I have BT earphones for listening to youtube while I'm in bed, and the delay is annoying. If I'm watching a woodworker, the sound of a hammer or the swipe of sandpaper is out of sync.

Oddly, it seems like I've got used to the delay and lip sync, that used to bother me when Digital TV first appeared. I think my mind has adjusted to it. But seeing a hammer hit the wood, then.... 'Bang", just is off-putting.

-ERD50

 

[corn18]

I’m a SONOS fan. Wireless and wifi based, they can be added to any room in the house. The sound is amazing and they can be acoustically tuned to the specific room and even the specific part of the room they are in. They’re not cheap but the sound is amazing. They are Apple Air play compatible and I simply play everything from my iPhone…

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/home

This is the answer to your question. I have Sonos everywhere including my camper. Love it for its simplicity. Good sound, too.

I have found that sound is kindof like wine. What I like may sound like crap to you. A lot of folks don't like $10k sound systems because of their accuracy. All highs, no lows, must be Bose. JBL low end thumpers. Klipsch always emphasized the highs. I like B&W. They make speakers with a flat response. What goes in is what comes out. But $1,000 won't get you a single driver in one of their high end speakers.

 

[swakyaby]

This is the answer to your question. I have Sonos everywhere including my camper. Love it for its simplicity. Good sound, too.
.

For wireless speakers with multi-room capability, wi-fi speakers like Sonos have much less data compression compared to Bluetooth speakers, and they’re capable of transmitting high res audio from streaming services that provide that quality.

 

[Slow But Steady]

The Cheap Audioman has some ideas on this subject. I bought some of the stuff he recommends for my son.

For myself, I'm listening to an interesting set of speakers designed by Sigfried Linkwitz of Linkwitz-Riley crossover fame. Later in his life, he started designing speakers with digital crossovers that use a miniDSP instead of an analog crossover. Linkwitz was bold enough to say that every speaker manufacturer should build a set of these from a kit for $1000 or so, and if they can't do any better, they should give up.

My Linkwitz speakers take analog out from the preamp a DSP for each side. The DSP separates the signal into signals for each of three drivers, massages it for the desired frequency response, then sends the signal for each driver to a separate amplifier channel.

Interesting technology, and good enough to get me to give up a very fine pair of eloctrostatic loudspeakers I had owned for 30 years.

 

[Badger]

A $1k system that includes receiver, turntable, and CD player with decent quality sound should not be too difficult to assemble. For the vast majority of people the high end equipment is overkill. There gets to be a point of diminishing returns. Interestingly enough with suggestions for high end equipment I haven't read any posts that speak about the importance of the acoustic design of the room. That, of course, is outside the requirements and budget of the OP.


Cheers!

 

[corn18]

A $1k system that includes receiver, turntable, and CD player with decent quality sound should not be too difficult to assemble. For the vast majority of people the high end equipment is overkill. There gets to be a point of diminishing returns. Interestingly enough with suggestions for high end equipment I haven't read any posts that speak about the importance of the acoustic design of the room. That, of course, is outside the requirements and budget of the OP.


Cheers!

True dat! $30k speakers in a poor room will not be worth it. And no amount of processing can fix it. I would rather have a great room with average speakers than great speakers in an average room. Now, ask my wife if I can build a great audio room...

 

[OldShooter]

... I have found that sound is kindof like wine. What I like may sound like crap to you. A lot of folks don't like $10k sound systems because of their accuracy. All highs, no lows, must be Bose. JBL low end thumpers. Klipsch always emphasized the highs. I like B&W. They make speakers with a flat response. What goes in is what comes out. But $1,000 won't get you a single driver in one of their high end speakers.

@travelover, there is an important but implicit point here: You need to listen to speakers before choosing one. Best case is you pick a classical CD and go from store to store (or from friends' houses to friends' houses) listening to exactly the same material over and over.

An ideal test CD would include some fairly dramatic stuff like 1812, Widor's Tocatta and Fugue, some triangles, etc. Listen to a few of the big organ pipes and you will start to recognize when speaker manufacturers have jazzed up the bass, which makes their consumer market happy. Why classical? That IMO is the least likely music to have been messed with. In graduate school I worked as a studio and a recording engineer and if I threw an equalizer into one or two channels to get the sound I wanted, you can never guess what that sound might be and the idea of judging "accuracy" is nonsense. Depending on your personality you might want to record a CD with test tones downloadable from the interenet. Listen too to the highs, as we oldsters lose our high frequency hearing and those expensive titanium-diaphragm tweeters are totally lost on us.

Re "Klipsch always emphasized the highs." I will demur. There is less bass with Klipsch precisely because they are accurate and most of the "lots of bass" systems you hear have the bass jazzed up to please their consumer market. (This coming from someone who has owned several models including the 125# La Scalas.)

Even with a small budget and an idea that you are not a fussy listener, I think you and DW will be surprised by what you learn from auditioning some systems. Dollars and hype are ubiquitous. Good sound is not.

 

[Luvtoride]

@travelover, there is an important but implicit point here: You need to listen to speakers before choosing one. Best case is you pick a classical CD and go from store to store (or from friends' houses to friends' houses) listening to exactly the same material over and over.

Old Shooter, good advice. I'm not sure how you could purchase any type of "good" let alone "high-end" speakers without listening to them and comparing various models with music styles you normally listen to.

Before I purchased my Devialet Speaker, I found Devialet had a sound room set up inside Grand Central Terminal in NYC. I would walk down there at lunch time to go in and listen to their speakers with mostly Jazz and Rock music tunes streamed by them through the TIDAL app (these are bluetooth only speakers). In fact, I'm listening to Dave Brubeck's Take Five now, one of the sample tracks I would use to judge speakers by.

As others have said, depending on your budget, how discriminating your ear is (and yes as we get older, all that listening to loud music and going to banger concerts when we were younger takes a toll on our hearing) and the type of music you mostly listen to, you will find the right speakers.

 

[OldShooter]

... I'm listening to Dave Brubeck's Take Five now, one of the sample tracks I would use to judge speakers by. ...

An original recording of Take 5 would probably be a decent test track. Back when those tracks were recorded, control room audio processing beyond a compander was almost nonexistent, and a compander probably would not have been used for music recording. Thus the listener who knows what the instruments should sound like probably has a pretty good idea of what was laid down for the recording. Later arrangements are increasingly likely to have been jazzed up with equalization, reverb, overdubbing, etc. so there will be no way to know what the recording sounded like in the control room where it was mixed. Hence, no way to judge speaker accuracy.

Other recordings from that 1960+/- era are probably good evaluation material as well. For a while after stereo came in, people tended to mix with huge separation; Mary in the left speaker, Peter and Paul in the right. IMO hearing that kind of mix probably means that the sound has not been messed with much if at all.

 

[braumeister]

I'm listening to Dave Brubeck's Take Five now, one of the sample tracks I would use to judge speakers by.

Back in the long ago days when I considered myself an audiophile, one of my speaker tests was Also Sprach Zarathustra by Strauss. Also known as the theme from the film 2001 - A Space Odyssey, the opening was considered the lowest note in all of recorded music.

https://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_first_note_in_Strauss%27_Also_sprach_Zarathustra