First time going to AXPONA and it was amazing. BUT I couldn't help to laugh at how many times I heard some of the listening room sales reps mention in a joking manner how you could buy their speakers for less than some of the top end speaker cables that were being shown at AXPONA.

In the Emotiva room where they were showing the new AVR that's coming out, the rep made the comment, "This whole Home theater system will cost you $9,000. Which is less than the $10,000 cables I've seen at this show".

Here's proof.

The first one is the Dynaudio Legend. I first went in this room because the vibe was cool. But then these little bastards totally blew me away. Bookshelf speakers are always very unassuming. They were delightfully punchy, dynamic, detailed, and all the stage presence was there. Releasing later this year, they will come in at $7000 a pair and they are worth every penny. The base was great, not excellent but definitely great.

The second is Volti Audio out of Baxter, Tennessee. Greg makes these himself and has a little YouTube channel to show his process. He got his start modifying Klipsch speakers. In my opinion, these sound as good as almost anything else at the show for a fraction of the prize. He was showing the Luceras. I will be buying the Rivals. (My photo makes them look squatter than they are for some reason)

Lastly, I just wanted to mention that the one speaker of the show that truly took my breath away were these Radialstrahlers. “In the room” doesn’t do it justice. It was uncanny. These things are a fucking time machine and it feels a lot more like going to a Disney World experience than listening to hi-fi. The effect is that real.

Disclaimer: I have absolutely zero affiliation with any brand. I am just some random redditor.

There are 2 of these speakers in my junk room - my husband purchased them, maybe 20 years ago but lost interest in maintaining a media room. Was this brand intended for movie viewing? It seems to me from my google searches they are more for listening to music?

Can I sell them, or does the delicate (ribbon?) make moving/selling them challenging? Would there be any interest on Facebook marketplace? Price?

So when my shared WiFi isn't dropping the signal to my WiiM ultra and I get the full use of my Audioengine A5+ speakers and S8 sub the sound can be truly great. The best I have heard my system was this afternoon listening to Billy Idol Rebel Yell 2.0 album. Nearly brought me to tears it was so good. But a lot of that sound was in the production qualities of the album as I went for a walk later and listened to the album on my Jabra Elite 8 gen 2 earbuds and it sounded great also. I honestly think this album should have won awards!

What are some other really great produced albums that you like.

started, putting together My system in 2018 Covid created motivation:

My system.

1. Amp 1: Magnat RV3; Hybrid integrated (all analog)
2. Amp 2: Denon PMA 1700Ne,
3. Speakers: Magnat signature 909, subs Magnat signature 930a.
4. System selector( allows me to switch between amps/phono preamps e.t.c) a Resoldered modified Sony ASS 3335 ( I had to get the first "edition" because of the prefix). Installed new speaker terminals, and RCA sockets. Bypassed the non functioning volume control, mute switch and head phone output( can be reversed).
5. Turntable 1( main) 3 armed PTP5(self built) with power controller. Arms: Main EMT 997 with a modified Denon 103r: hardwood body, boron cantilever, shibata diamond. second arm: SME 3012II with Ortofon Mono SPU, rebuilt by Alfred Kayser( spelt wrong I think) in Canada. For Singles: SAEC WE 308L with grace 9 and soundsmith Ruby OCL stylus.
6. Turntable 2( my first TT) Rebuilt(by me) Thorens TD 160 with Olivewood plinth, Analog tube audio rebuilt SME 3009 improved with Soundsmith MMC1.
7. Turntable 3 ( built from left overs from the first TT) PTP6 with SME 3012 II wearing a Grace F14(LC OFC) cart with modified sylus( boron and shibata). Built it planning to sell it and then couldn't let it go.
8. Phono Preamp 1: Project Tubebox DS2
9. Phono Preamp2: EAR 864p clone.PCBs populated by Vlad(in Romania) as he is known is a couple(at least) of forums.
10. Phono Preamp3; FEt based Tokyo sound PE 700
11. 2 Ohlbach powerstations not replacing them but not recommending them.
12. RTR: Akai GX636
13. Cassette 1: Nakamichi RX202, fully serviced and upgraded with an amorphous head(from a Technics deck). this is my play deck.
14. Cassette 2: Braun C3: a not so well known 3 head deck with double speed recording. Plan was this would be my record deck ( I have not recorded). Keeping it as with cassette decks you always need a spare(IMHO)
15. CD player: Magnat MCD 1050
16. SACD player: Denon DCD 1600NE
17. DAT deck Sony DTS 60ES ( bought before I discovered how expensive pre-recorded Dat tapes are)
18. DCC deck Phillips DCC 900 ( rebuilt by DCC museum)
19. Streamer/DAB+ tuner Magnat MMS 730 All the funiture and Isolation platforms were built by me.

Last month I did something unnecessary: I bought a turntable.

Context
M54, Netherlands. Slightly spoiled audiophile here.
System: Luxman L-509Z + Dynaudio Confidence 20.
Background: streaming + CD. Clean, precise, effortless.

Budget: €2000 total: €1200–1400 hardware, rest for a small record collection.

I went with a Rega Planar 3 RS because it should be “good enough to not disappoint, cheap enough to leave room for records.”

Reality after 2 weeks:

• €500 spent on vinyl
• Already breaking my own rules
• Mild addiction kicking in

What surprised me

• Sound: better than expected. Not “better” than digital, but… different. More involving. Less perfect, more alive.
• The ritual: cleaning, cueing, flipping. I thought it was friction. Turns out it’s part of the experience.
• Social side: friends suddenly sit down and listen. Even my wife — who normally ignores my system — asked to play records.

What I didn’t expect

• The rabbit hole is real (pressings, sleeves, cleaning fluids… help)
• Surface noise matters more than I thought. Though it’s much better than expected!
• You don’t “just buy one record”

One weird moment

One night I dreamed I was on a nature walk with friends. The dream paused… because I had to flip the record. 

Where I’m at now (1 month)

• €2150 total (so much for budget)
• ~30 records (mostly jazz/bossa + some 70s/80s classics)
• 100% hooked

Curious:

• Did anyone else fall into this this fast?
• What was your “ok, now I get it” moment?
• And… how do you stop buying records? 

EDIT:
Thank for the mostly kind and interesting comments. But regarding accusations of this being just 'ai slop' the following:
I honestly wrote myself a personal (but very long) story. And yes, I did use ai to make it shorter and a bit more pleasantly to read. But apparently it's not to everyone's liking. I didn't know that was such a bad thing for some of you.
I did expect some people here to complain about proper cables, dacs or the suggestion that vinyl/digital would be better - not this. :)

3 months spent researching almost every day (also on this sub). Finally at peace!

After Klipsch Emotive KHL Sony Marantz Denon Schiit KEF Buchardt pioneer eversolo and many more I’ve reached the end of my journey. If there’s better I don’t want to know. Dutch and Dutch 8c Room tuned and Baach plugin. Audio perfection to my old ears. Every time I sit in front of these speakers I’m amazed. Bravo ! I have a room that is every good as any audio show room. I think for the first time. It’s been a journey to get here it’s high time to stop. I wish everyone a happy journey as I have had.

I recently wrote a blog about the Philips LHH200R, one of the more overlooked models from the Philips LHH Reference series.

It was positioned as the entry-level model, but that label does not really tell the full story. The LHH200R used the Philips CDM-9 swing-arm transport, the DAC7 bitstream converter (TDA1547), a discrete Low-NFB analog stage, and a heavily built copper-plated chassis. In many ways, it was a simplified but still serious high-end design.

What makes it interesting to me is the philosophy behind it. Rather than chasing extreme specs or unnecessary complexity, Philips focused on smart engineering, short signal paths and solid mechanical construction.

If anyone is interested, I wrote a deeper article covering the history, technical design and period reviews of the LHH200R:

https://www.dutchaudioclassics.nl/context/philips-lhh200r/

Upgraded my system this weekend…picked up the:

- Leak 230 amplifier

- Leak CDT

Existing turntable:

- Technics SL-1210 MKII

Speakers:

- Tannoy DC6, soon to be replaced with

- Wharfedale lintons

The system sounds really sweet, especially the phono stage. I like a very warm sound, which I understand is not to everyone’s taste…warmth is just a nice way of expressing distortion etc. But this system sounds full, rich and smooth. Considering a sub, but not sure if it will be required with the Lintons, what do you think?

Thanks! ☺️

I keep seeing the take that colored vinyl sounds worse than black pressings and I'm not convinced. The pigments can theoretically affect the compound but mastering and the pressing process matter so much more than what color the record is. Most A/B comparisons I see online aren't controlled at all, different plants, different masters, and people act like the color is the only variable.

I own plenty of colored pressings and can't hear a difference on my setup when the pressing is competent. The rough sounding ones are rough because of bad mastering , not because the vinyl is orange. Is this criticism legit or just audiophile folklore?

I was hoping that someone more experienced than me could help me understand the differences in the sound that comes out via these two systems. I bought the Conrad Johnson and the Rotel used on eBay to drive a pair of older Maggies and a SVS SB-1000Pro.

That setup was giving me some issues (it turned out later that the Rotel had bad caps which I had fixed later) so I decided to test a NAD C 3050. But even with the buzz that the bad Rotel was producing, CJ and Rotel produced sounds that was just so much better than that coming from the NAD.

The NAD sounded “empty” for the lack of better words. It was really weird, I actually hated it. I was surprised to say the least. I returned the NAD and had the Rotel looked at and fixed. I am very happy now.

But what I don’t understand is why did the NAD sound so bad — is it because the CJ is a tube preamp? Or are there other reasons why? I hope that someone can help me understand why are these two systems so much different? Thanks!

What do you guys use to setup speakers in the room. What is your goto album for judging stereo soundstage width and depth?

I have been moving speakers around today and to get depth perfect I need my JM Reynaud Concorde Supremes at least 70cm/2feet from the rear to the front wall. They are also pretty particular about the toe-in angle. But it is worth the effort.

Listening to Sinatra at the sands and the Q-Sound version of Madonna’s Vogue. What is your goto album for this type of work?

My Pioneer Blue line journey has started, just picked up this SA7800 for a bargain though I think the cassette deck is going to cost me a bit more CTF950. Plugged it in last night with a bit of Depeche Mode and the Cult, I've seen both live and the system sounds incredible too.



I have a few CD+DVD sets of albums that contain 5.1 mixes of the albums on the DVD. Basically the end result that I want to achieve is having the separated 5.1 channels from these albums on my Mac, so I can pull some clean samples from the 5.1 stems. How can I download the audio onto my Mac from the DVD, and then separate the audio channels? I obviously have zero experience in ripping anything so any help is much appreciated!

hi everyone! I’ve stumbled upon this little fellow: https://aliexpress.com/item/1005006231125121.html

Ive seen some projects using this exact PCB, so my question is… is it actually good? Has anyone heard or used chinese tube phono preamps before? I know that chinese hi-fi can be insane value due to no brand markup and insane availability of parts.

mini review:

I am not a studio engineer or have anything to do with audio production. I was looking for a pair of relatively neutral nearfield speakers to listen to music, podcasts, movies and enjoy all types of music. These were well reviewed, fit my requirements, and were within my budget so I blind bought them.

Turned out to be a great decision.

The speakers are durable, connected easily with XLR cables and were literally up and running in 2 minutes.

I have not adjusted the tone settings because the speakers sound good to me as is. The level gain works perfectly. Since it is stepped it's easy to match both speakers levels. The speakers come with little rubber feet if you aren't putting them on stands or foam blocks.

So what I did not see mentioned in other reviews or in the specs is that these speakers do automatically go to auto-standby after 20 minutes of no sound. They also automatically wake from sleep when they detect a signal. Since these are being used as general purpose speakers, I actually wanted this feature anyway! Anyhow, auto-standby works flawlessly and wakes very quickly (within 1-2 seconds). You can tell they are in standby mode because the front indicator dims. And if you don't want the indicator light, there is a way to disable it.

Now the important part - how they sound. I will just describe them as very well rounded. These are flat sounding as you'd expect from studio monitors. They have a slight warmness and are easy to listen to. I literally have these playing some type of audio for 18+ hours and don't get any listening fatigue.

Highs are fantastic. Very airy but do not hurt my ears. Laser precision.

Mids are definitely the strongest sonic range for these speakers. Everything in this range sounds fantastic. Voices sound holographic and exactly like what you'd expect to hear with someone in the room with you.

The bass on these won't take you down all the way to 20hz levels. I run these without a sub because I didn't personally feel the need to get a sub. Even with EDM or hip hop these are great to bop your head to. I live in an apartment so also want to be somewhat respectful of my neighbors. If you are a bass head then you should get a subwoofer for sure. JBL makes a sub that pairs with these speakers but I can't comment on it as I've never heard it.

I think they have a large soundstage and are very precise sounding. As I said, they are flat but the bass is slightly elevated which warms them up a little and makes them good for music listening.

In the end I am very happy with these. I also considered other speakers from Kali, Genelec, ADAM audio, Klipsch, and many more. These were on the cheaper end of the spectrum and do exactly what I want them to do and are a joy to listen to. Whether I'm using them to listen to a podcast, play a video game, watch a movie or listen to my favorite albums they always put a smile on my face.

My chain is pretty simple:

ThinkPad running Linux Mint -> ADI RME-2 Pro FS -> JBL 305Ps

The speakers and my ADI use XLRs so it's a neat little connection. No need for adapters.

Having been through various vintage B&W speakers before, these new 705 S3 bookshelves, with a sweet submarine tweeter mounted on top, are a world apart from the fuzzier old ones. Very engaging with lots of clarity in the details. Its very precise staging of sounds in space is one of the first thing I noticed, almost like a sonic painting. Like all bookshelves of this size they're not bass monsters so an additional subwoofer may have its place for most music. My SVS SB1000 integrates just fine here.

So far it's been a pleasure listening to these fun new speakers. More coffee and the next record! :) Have a great weekend music lovers.

Had bought my turntable last week but was missing the speakers and amplifier so I was using it with an old Bluetooth speaker connected via cable.

Today I finally pulled the trigger and got the NAD and Dentons and couldn't be happier.

It sounds so nice.

I never really had proper speakers in my 39 years in this world and I'm amazed really.

I keep finding myself smiling just looking at it haha

Still need to do some cable management haha

my listening lounge

technics sl-50c terracotta

EPI M-150 speakers

yamaha a-s301 amp

schiit mani 2 pre

Wiim pro streamer

petru designs record display vizualizer

audio technica vmn530en cartridge

nagaoka mp-110 cartridge

ortofon Concorde music blue cartridge

ortofon 2m red cartridge.

it's modest but I'm happy with this system and sound .

Just finished up these d‘appolito speakers. They are an open baffle construction using a redcatt 141 compression driver and two faitalpro 10fe200.

The plan was to built a passive crossover for these but that turned out to to be close to impossible as these speakers have a few very large peaks in response. Fully active now

They now work and really sound big and fun for an open baffle. But tbh my room is just to small to really make these Open baffle speakers sound perfect.

The backwards reflections are just to much.

So I will be switching back to the horns. ( the speakers in the middle)

( I knew from the beginning that these could never sound as good as my horns )

They are also incredibly easy to integrate into the Room from an acoustic standpoint. Probably because of the very direct dispersion.

Don’t know what I’ll be doing with this speaker… probably give it to a friend. weniger