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

[FI FELLOW]

It must stay nice and toasty in that room! On the other end of the spectrum, I'm really impressed with these modern switched power amps. Those amps are not really 'digital' (though often called that), even though they switch between two states (positive and negative power supply rails - binary output levels) they use some form of pulse-width modulation, and that pule-width is a continuously variable analog value. Efficiencies of 100% theoretical, above 90% in practice. Very tiny and lightweight relative to the power out.

-ERD50

Yes, it is toasty after a while...great for the NJ winters, in the summer AC fixes the heat issue. ;-) The filaments of the big tubes each burn 100W just to light up (10V@10A), then you have the dissipation of the high voltage at 330W per power tube plus 6W for the driver tube in each amp. So you're talking 436W per amp not counting any other losses.

I owned a couple of the highly-rated Class D switching amps, before I decided to build my own using tubes. They sounded good, but didn't pull me into the music the way I thought they should. Definitely not as good to my ears as a good tube amp, IMO.
In any case, it was a fun project and definitely makes for a good talking point at dinner parties.

 

[yakers]

You could probably find some cheap Dynaco amps, AR turntable and AR speakers. Actually I had the BBC reference speakers, small and great. Now I have a Sonus HEOS system, house came wired and I upgraded t the latest system for a crazy amount of money but it sounds great and is easy to use. If I am outside I just use my iphone and a JBL Flip 5 in the back yard, not even stereo but a good sound.
Would go for a really high end system but my ears are no longer high end.

 

[eytonxav]

I follow this guy for fitness and nutrition advice, but he is also interested in stereo as a hobby. Here is a video he put together to get good sound on the cheap:

 

[Music Lover]

It all comes down to the speakers. Any basic $100 - $200 receiver works just fine until you start spending money.

Good speakers and an average receiver sounds good. Average speakers with a great receiver sounds average.

 

[eytonxav]

If you want great sound, but can't afford great speakers, headphones are hard to beat.

 

[braumeister]

If you want great sound, but can't afford great speakers, headphones are hard to beat.

High end headphones have been my choice for a long time, mainly because DW doesn't like the volume turned up. Grado Labs is a great place to look.

 

[OldShooter]

It all comes down to the speakers. Any basic $100 - $200 receiver works just fine until you start spending money. Good speakers and an average receiver sounds good. Average speakers with a great receiver sounds average.

Yup. +1 With the entirely adequate receiver, speaker connections via lamp cord aka "zip" cord with #14AWG copper are entirely adequate unless the runs are very, very long.

(One of life's little mysteries for me is why some enterprising state attorney general has not charged Monster Inc. with consumer fraud. ref: https://www.zdnet.com/article/coat-hanger-wire-is-just-as-good-as-a-high-quality-speaker-cable/)

 

[finnski1]

Yup. +1 With the entirely adequate receiver, speaker connections via lamp cord aka "zip" cord with #14AWG copper are entirely adequate unless the runs are very, very long.

(One of life's little mysteries for me is why some enterprising state attorney general has not charged Monster Inc. with consumer fraud. ref: https://www.zdnet.com/article/coat-hanger-wire-is-just-as-good-as-a-high-quality-speaker-cable/)

But but... surely these must make your speakers sound incredible.
https://www.thecableco.com/cables/speaker-cables/emperor-double-crown-speaker-cable-pair.html

 

[corn18]

High end headphones have been my choice for a long time, mainly because DW doesn't like the volume turned up. Grado Labs is a great place to look.

What do you plug them into? I haven't had a headphone jack on a sound system in years.

 

[ERD50]

But but... surely these must make your speakers sound incredible.
https://www.thecableco.com/cables/speaker-cables/emperor-double-crown-speaker-cable-pair.html

Wow, $98,000 did seem outrageous for 4 meter speaker cables, but then I saw that was for a pair of 4 meter speaker cables. Whew, I was afraid I was gonna get ripped off!

What do you plug them into? I haven't had a headphone jack on a sound system in years.

? What doesn't have a headphone jack? And there are headphone amps if needed.

-ERD50

 

[KarenC]

If you want to relive 50 years ago, you could pick up an old Marantz receiver and revive it by changing out the electrolytic capacitors. I found this Marantz 2230 for $10 at a flea market, changed the capacitors and lamps, fixed a broken power button, cleaned it up, and my wife uses it for her workout room system with a pair of Paradigm monitors I also refurbished. Total cost about $50 for the parts, receiver and speakers.
She loves the Marantz "Two Martini Sound", as they advertised it back in the day.

Beautiful! Gives me the happy tech nostalgia feels I sometimes get from Techmoan.

 

[eytonxav]

What do you plug them into? I haven't had a headphone jack on a sound system in years.

All of my Denon and Yamaha receivers have had headphone jacks; what receiver are you referring to? Bluetooth maybe a possibility as well.

 

[finnski1]

Wow, $98,000 did seem outrageous for 4 meter speaker cables, but then I saw that was for a pair of 4 meter speaker cables. Whew, I was afraid I was gonna get ripped off!



? What doesn't have a headphone jack? And there are headphone amps if needed.

-ERD50

Yeah I guess I was looking at the 2 meter pair. Can't afford the 4 meter version Do you think they will make my $1500 speakers sound even better?

 

[ERD50]

Beautiful! Gives me the happy tech nostalgia feels I sometimes get from Techmoan.

Techmoan is great. Covers some old tech that I had no idea ever existed.

-ERD50

 

[corn18]

All of my Denon and Yamaha receivers have had headphone jacks; what receiver are you referring to? Bluetooth maybe a possibility as well.

I don't have a receiver. I have a TV with Sonos wifi surround sound speakers. The TV does not have a headphone jack (LG OLED).

 

[swakyaby]

@corn18
I have the same setup with Sonos connected to a LG OLED, no receiver. For headphones, I use a wireless Sennheiser TV headphone with the cradle/transducer plugged into the TV’s optical digital output.

 

[tulak]

@corn18
I have the same setup with Sonos connected to a LG OLED, no receiver. For headphones, I use a wireless Sennheiser TV headphone with the cradle/transducer plugged into the TV’s optical digital output.

That’s my setup too, except I don’t use headphones. This thread has motivated me to finally splurge on a Sonos subwoofer. I was thinking of waiting until black friday, but I might order it this week so I can enjoy it sooner. I also want to replace my beam with an arc, but for that one I might wait a bit longer.

I’ve been a Sonos fan for over a decade. Simple to use and sounds great.

 

[OldShooter]

Yeah I guess I was looking at the 2 meter pair. Can't afford the 4 meter version Do you think they will make my $1500 speakers sound even better?

I don't know about that but I think I found the Siltech marketing playbook: https://imgur.com/gallery/4DqHp

 

[corn18]

That’s my setup too, except I don’t use headphones. This thread has motivated me to finally splurge on a Sonos subwoofer. I was thinking of waiting until black friday, but I might order it this week so I can enjoy it sooner. I also want to replace my beam with an arc, but for that one I might wait a bit longer.

I’ve been a Sonos fan for over a decade. Simple to use and sounds great.

I had the Sonos beam in my den for a while and on a whim, bought the Arc. Oh my! If the content is Atmos, the Arc is amazing. If it isn't Atmos, the Arc is still better but not 2x better. I don't regret adding the Arc to my den system, though. Even my wife noticed the difference and she could give a hoot about sound systems.

 

[swakyaby]

I’ve been a Sonos fan for over a decade. Simple to use and sounds great.

I’m new to Sonos Wi-Fi speakers and bought the Arc soundbar in July. Sufficiently impressed, I added their Wi-Fi subwoofer 2 weeks later. Great combination. Adding the subwoofer changed the soundbar’s crossover frequency, so that the soundbar was no longer putting out so much effort pumping out the lower frequencies and left that to the subwoofer. The speech sounds even clearer with the Sonos subwoofer added.

 

[corn18]

I’m new to Sonos Wi-Fi speakers and bought the Arc soundbar in July. Sufficiently impressed, I added their Wi-Fi subwoofer 2 weeks later. Great combination. Adding the subwoofer changed the soundbar’s crossover frequency, so that the soundbar was no longer putting out so much effort pumping out the lower frequencies and left that to the subwoofer. The speech sounds even clearer with the Sonos subwoofer added.

Now you need to add the Sonos One surrounds.

 

[swakyaby]

Now you need to add the Sonos One surrounds.

Bought those with the stands 2 weeks later. Nice, but the subwoofer makes the biggest difference.

 

[tulak]

I’m new to Sonos Wi-Fi speakers and bought the Arc soundbar in July. Sufficiently impressed, I added their Wi-Fi subwoofer 2 weeks later. Great combination. Adding the subwoofer changed the soundbar’s crossover frequency, so that the soundbar was no longer putting out so much effort pumping out the lower frequencies and left that to the subwoofer. The speech sounds even clearer with the Sonos subwoofer added.

That’s good to know. I’ve been wanting the subwoofer for a long time, but was always hesitant because of the price. I think it’s time to BTD.

Now you need to add the Sonos One surrounds.

I picked up a pair at Costco earlier this year. Definitely recommended, especially since it’s a much cheaper addition.

Costco sells the SL versions, which don’t have a mic. When you configure the Ones in surround sound, the mic is disabled. You’re better off buying the SL versions if you never plan to use these as standalone or don’t want the mic.

 

[Old Microbiologist]

AJA888 - Yeah, I get on a roll and don't stop.

FIFellow - Excellent stuff, but when you get older, say past 70, you won't be able to distinguish finite sounds too much. If I am really listening to music now I use headphones. I use them a lot anyway when playing shooters on PS4 so as to not bother my significant other. Hearing loss is a real thing and a lifetime working in laboratories that are very loud due to fans, A/C, dozens of refrigerators and freezers, centrifuges, etc. plus flying airplanes, shooting both in live fire against adversaries (no hearing protection), or thousands of hours shooting on ranges (with military earplugs), plus jumping from loud aircraft 100's of times, I suppose I am lucky to be able to hear at all. Interestingly enough, my wife who did none of these things has worse hearing than I do. I think hearing aids are in her near future.

My point is to enjoy it to your fullest and like you, I appreciate the warm sound from tubes. If I were younger I would pursue this stuff more. I now focus more on IOT devices and the like.

 

[travelover]

OP here, just to close out this thread, I finally got my device delivered after 4 months of waiting. It is the Technics Ottava all in one.

True audiophiles will weep, but it meets all our needs, looks good, sounds good and is not intrusive. It has no turntable, but I'm skeptical DW really would use one and if so, one can be added.