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[Imtiyaz Ahmad]

Hi dear forum members,
After a pretty long time i am back in he audiophile journey.Most of the respected fms know about my hearng problems and disposing off my whole audio gear last year. After consulting physicians there is some relief in my ringing problems of the ears.They advised me of listining to the music at low volumesTaking the advange of the advice i couldn't resist myself in listining to the music but alaas i have sold every component of my gear.That is very unfortunate.
Since there is still a little ringing of my ears, i had decided not to go in the costly gear and instead had purchased a budget one.If things go in the right way will upgrade in the near future.
I am extremely thankful to all fms who wished me of my early recovery.
Moreover kindly help me in selecting a good network music streamer for my gear.
Regards
Imtiyaz

 

[mpw]

very good to hear...

in some way music is a therapy and we all believe in that and thats the main reason for our avatar and our time on this forum..

best wishes

 

[rikhav]

If it's something in a good Budget best is to go for a PC

 

[sanj]

Hi dear forum members,
After a pretty long time i am back in he audiophile journey.Most of the respected fms know about my hearng problems and disposing off my whole audio gear last year. After consulting physicians there is some relief in my ringing problems of the ears.They advised me of listining to the music at low volumesTaking the advange of the advice i couldn't resist myself in listining to the music but alaas i have sold every component of my gear.That is very unfortunate.
Since there is still a little ringing of my ears, i had decided not to go in the costly gear and instead had purchased a budget one.If things go in the right way will upgrade in the near future.
I am extremely thankful to all fms who wished me of my early recovery.
Moreover kindly help me in selecting a good network music streamer for my gear.
Regards
Imtiyaz

Good to hear good news..Best wishes.

 

[Nikhil]

Good to have you back Imtiaz! Can you use headhones?
If that is possible then a good wireless headphone will work from your phone.

I use Sony WH XM3 1000 wireless noise cancelling headphones while travelling and they work great.

Regards

p.s. Wireless not needed if your phone has a headphone jack.


.

 

[arj]

Hi dear forum members,
After a pretty long time i am back in he audiophile journey.Most of the respected fms know about my hearng problems and disposing off my whole audio gear last year. After consulting physicians there is some relief in my ringing problems of the ears.They advised me of listining to the music at low volumesTaking the advange of the advice i couldn't resist myself in listining to the music but alaas i have sold every component of my gear.That is very unfortunate.
Since there is still a little ringing of my ears, i had decided not to go in the costly gear and instead had purchased a budget one.If things go in the right way will upgrade in the near future.
I am extremely thankful to all fms who wished me of my early recovery.
Moreover kindly help me in selecting a good network music streamer for my gear.
Regards
Imtiyaz

So glad to see this Imtiyaz, it was sad you had to let go of your setup. What is a budget you are planning for this ?

I would not recommend buying something to upgrade later as depending on what you had anything would be a big downgrade. My suggestion is to get a All in one or a stereo receiver with any speaker in your budget and move this as a second room setup if and even you do plan to get serious.

Eg the Marantz with a wharfedale 320.. for around 65k and use standard copper cables. for 15K more you can get the floor-stander version as well

I am not sure if a headphone is recommended for you under the circumstances but if it is there are options there as well.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Welcome back. Remember your For Sale posts back then for some relatively unused high end stuff despite the general advice here to retain it. It’s good to learn your hearing problem is alleviated and you can enjoy music once again. In buying new gear do consider non-fatiguing, natural sounding system. Go slow and steady with your listening. Cheers!

 

[RRR]

Hi,
Glad to know your better now.
Please avoid headphones completely for sometime.
The sound waves will be closer to the eardrum and cause further damage even at a low volume.
However again your physician would be your best guide on this.
Rgds

 

[Bhaskar Jyoti Talapatra]

Glad to know that you come round . I would advise you not to use headphones because this may cause some more problems. Better listen to your fav music at a low volume and please consult your physician who can show you exactly what you require. As regards your purchase of a new gear I would second the valuable opinion of FM Sachin chavan.
Regards

 

[Imtiyaz Ahmad]

Hi dear fms,
I am extremely thankful of your valuable suggestions.It is because of this platform that i could sell all my gear owing to my trinitus.I had not been a member of any online forum in my life span.However after becoming a member of the forum i had gained a lot of information relating to my sound hobby including the components relating to it.May God bless them all who have started this forum and are constantly maintaining it.
In my earlier post i had mentioned that i have purchased relatively a budget system compared to my earlier gear. The dimensions of my room are 14ft×12ft with an additional cavity measuring 3ft× 7ft.The components are as under:-
1. Wharfedale Denton 85th anniversary speakers
2. Audiolab 6000A amplifier
3.Audiolab CD transport 6000CDT
4. Chord Clearway speaker cables
5. QED Performance digital coaxial cable
6.Isotek EVO3 Premier power cable
Now i welcome your suggestions regarding a nice network music streamer which i want to add in the system. I am a subscriber of tidal and spotify but i stream via bluetooth of my android mobile phone.
Regards
Imtiyaz

 

[firearm12]

You would need a dac + streamer. As you already have audiolab equipment, audiolab6000n would be nice to go along imo.

 

[Imtiyaz Ahmad]

Thanks.Since Audiolab 6000a has the same dac as audiolab 6000n so i think only a streamer without dac but with digital coax out will be good so that i can use 6000a amp dac.

 

[firearm12]

Thanks.Since Audiolab 6000a has the same dac as audiolab 6000n so i think only a streamer without dac but with digital coax out will be good so that i can use 6000a amp dac.

I did not know your amp had a dac inside. If you just need a streamer and dont worry much about sound quality, you can get an android box like mi box, you can stream tidal, youtube, spotify through it and it gives you flexibility for an all around tv entertainment with netflix. You can connect it to you amp through digital out or even usb and enjoy.

 

[oracle1974]

You may try Arcam rPlay (discontinued now). You can get it preowned from eBay.

 

[Imtiyaz Ahmad]

I did not know your amp had a dac inside. If you just need a streamer and dont worry much about sound quality, you can get an android box like mi box, you can stream tidal, youtube, spotify through it and it gives you flexibility for an all around tv entertainment with netflix. You can connect it to you amp through digital out or even usb and enjoy.

Sound quality is my priority for a streamer also..The dac in 6000a is the same one used in audiolabs famous MDac.This being the reason i want to use 6000a amp dac for a streamer.

 

[Imtiyaz Ahmad]

Welcome back. Remember your For Sale posts back then for some relatively unused high end stuff despite the general advice here to retain it. It’s good to learn your hearing problem is alleviated and you can enjoy music once again. In buying new gear do consider non-fatiguing, natural sounding system. Go slow and steady with your listening. Cheers!

Thanks Sachin for your valuable suggestion.I want to draw your kind attention and help in choosing a streamer for my system.
In my earlier post i had mentioned that i have purchased relatively a budget system compared to my earlier gear. The dimensions of my room are 14ft×12ft with an additional cavity measuring 3ft× 7ft.The components are as under:-
1. Wharfedale Denton 85th anniversary speakers
2. Audiolab 6000A amplifier
3.Audiolab CD transport 6000CDT
4. Chord Clearway speaker cables
5. QED Performance digital coaxial cable
6.Isotek EVO3 Premier power cable
Now i welcome your suggestions regarding a nice network music streamer which i want to add in the system. I am a subscriber of tidal and spotify but i stream via bluetooth of my android mobile phone.Actually i want a good streamer without dac so that i can connect its digital out to the dac of my Audiolab 6000A amp. as this amp has the same dac used in the Audiolab's famous MDac.My budget is Rs.60k.
Moreover i had gone through your earlier review relating to your addition of a streamer in your system.It was a great review.In that review you have mentioned of a Lyrita DTH tube preamp.I was also interested of adding a tube preamp in my system
as i have learnt that a tube and a solidstate combination produce fantastic sound. Can Lyrita DTH preamp will improve the sound signature of my system?Highly thankful for your valuable time.

Regards
Imtiyaz

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Thanks Sachin for your valuable suggestion.I want to draw your kind attention and help in choosing a streamer for my system.
In my earlier post i had mentioned that i have purchased relatively a budget system compared to my earlier gear. The dimensions of my room are 14ft×12ft with an additional cavity measuring 3ft× 7ft.The components are as under:-
1. Wharfedale Denton 85th anniversary speakers
2. Audiolab 6000A amplifier
3.Audiolab CD transport 6000CDT
4. Chord Clearway speaker cables
5. QED Performance digital coaxial cable
6.Isotek EVO3 Premier power cable
Now i welcome your suggestions regarding a nice network music streamer which i want to add in the system. I am a subscriber of tidal and spotify but i stream via bluetooth of my android mobile phone.Actually i want a good streamer without dac so that i can connect its digital out to the dac of my Audiolab 6000A amp. as this amp has the same dac used in the Audiolab's famous MDac.My budget is Rs.60k.
Moreover i had gone through your earlier review relating to your addition of a streamer in your system.It was a great review.In that review you have mentioned of a Lyrita DTH tube preamp.I was also interested of adding a tube preamp in my system
as i have learnt that a tube and a solidstate combination produce fantastic sound. Can Lyrita DTH preamp will improve the sound signature of my system?Highly thankful for your valuable time.

Regards
Imtiyaz

Imtiyaz, hi. They say a tube intervention adds even harmonics to the sound - I am not technically qualified to confirm that. But what I can assert is that tubes add a certain sweetness and kind of roundedness to the sound and especially make the vocals mesmerising. Lyrita DHT helps me with it.

Combining tube with SS in a hybrid combination has divided opinions. Some feel it’s difficult to match and can lead to some distortion, while others (like me) value the combination of the sweet mids with the driving power of SS if one doesn’t have high sensitivity speakers. I doubt the Dentons can be driven by a tube power below 20W. So you can combine a tube pre with SS power (check if the 6000A can take input from another pre). But the counterargument can be that since the Dentons are themselves so mid-centric with wonderful vocals, is it really needed to add a tube pre? I’d say it depends on the listener.

As for the choice of streamer, I rate the CXN very high on its features and user experience. But a substantial part of its cost goes into the DAC which you may not use given the MDAC equivalent that you have.The Audiolab 6000N will also duplicate the DAC, but you’d get it in your budget. If you value the MQA format in the Tidal, then suggest you consider the Bluesound Node 2 (in your budget, again) which has DAC that decodes MQA completely. You could continue to use your 6000A’a DAC for other purposes (FLAC, Spotify, CD etc). That way you have both options. Finally, if you don’t mind the slight drop in quality due to AirPlay, you can save on a streamer’s cost and AirPlay from a mobile device to the 6000A. But knowing the high end system you had in the past, I feel you might sense the SQ limitation of AirPlay/Chromecast as compared to playing the streaming apps natively through streamer.

 

[Imtiyaz Ahmad]

Imtiyaz, hi. They say a tube intervention adds even harmonics to the sound - I am not technically qualified to confirm that. But what I can assert is that tubes add a certain sweetness and kind of roundedness to the sound and especially make the vocals mesmerising. Lyrita DHT helps me with it.

Combining tube with SS in a hybrid combination has divided opinions. Some feel it’s difficult to match and can lead to some distortion, while others (like me) value the combination of the sweet mids with the driving power of SS if one doesn’t have high sensitivity speakers. I doubt the Dentons can be driven by a tube power below 20W. So you can combine a tube pre with SS power (check if the 6000A can take input from another pre). But the counterargument can be that since the Dentons are themselves so mid-centric with wonderful vocals, is it really needed to add a tube pre? I’d say it depends on the listener.

As for the choice of streamer, I rate the CXN very high on its features and user experience. But a substantial part of its cost goes into the DAC which you may not use given the MDAC equivalent that you have.The Audiolab 6000N will also duplicate the DAC, but you’d get it in your budget. If you value the MQA format in the Tidal, then suggest you consider the Bluesound Node 2 (in your budget, again) which has DAC that decodes MQA completely. You could continue to use your 6000A’a DAC for other purposes (FLAC, Spotify, CD etc). That way you have both options. Finally, if you don’t mind the slight drop in quality due to AirPlay, you can save on a streamer’s cost and AirPlay from a mobile device to the 6000A. But knowing the high end system you had in the past, I feel you might sense the SQ limitation of AirPlay/Chromecast as compared to playing the streaming apps natively through streamer.

Hello Sachin,
Thanks a lot for your precious time and nice guidance.Actually if i compare my early setup containing Spendor A7 speakers ,i find that these speakers were very musical to me but not as mid-centric with fantastic vocals as the Dentons are to me. Howover Dentons are not so musical The present system keeps me hooked up for several hours without ear fatigue.I agree with you that it is not necessary to add a tube pre amp to run the Dentons so i dropped the idea.
Regarding the streamer i will go with the Node2i considering its MQA decoding capabilities as highlited by you.Moreover it is two way hd bluetooth enabled and has a usb input for connecting a hard drive or a pen drive thus eliminating the need of a nas.Most importantly the sound quality shall be controlled by my amp dac.
Thanks & Regards
Imtiyaz

 

[rikhav]

Node 2i is a very good source no Doubt but the source too contributes a lot to the final sound

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Howover Dentons are not so musical

How far have you placed the speakers from each other? Try bringing them closer gradually. The musicality might improve (at the cost of soundstage breadth/separation). Limit it to a point where the impact (transients) start disturbing your (recovering) ears.