What direction is mid to high end audio heading? Without cables? With Cables?

txcoastal1

rpf65 wrote: »

Why would you want to invest money into quality speakers and use a cell phone as a source?

Seems to be wireless speakers will be used to just get rid of wires, you still need a quality source or your defeating the whole purpose of buying mid/high end speakers. The sq would be to degraded to justify the expense.

Cell phone to control your source via app???

erniejade

Wireless can produce good sound. My nas is up stairs and it feeds to my main rig wireless. Tidal is also streaming cd and above cd quality with the new masters series.. It does not take a lot of money to have your NAS stream wireless throughout your home. In my living room, I use a $35$ chromecast audio, output via toslink to my receiver and use BubbleUPnp on my cell phone to control it. That same NAS also feeds my main rig with lossless rips right to my Lumin. For that I use an IaiPad to control it.

We have another thread around the forum basically giving the general opinion on what low, mid, high end are or means to us. Tomorrow I will try to dig up the thread to help you out. On a side note, I would not consider a receiver high end for a stereo system. My audio rig is 2 channel. My HT is completely seperate. Now I am not saying a HT with a receiver can't produce good sound, it can but, thats not high end to me.

The Dynaudio upper powered speaker line hits about $6600 so to me, it has already hit some of the highend.

erniejade

I almost forgot, were not talking Bluetooth when we talk about wireless for mid to high end. Bluetooth speakers I use at the beach or in the back yard or garage actually dont sound too bad for what it is. Bought both my stepdaughters Bluetooth speakers. Thoes to me are more for convenience.

[Deleted User]

I think wireless speakers will be confined to mainly lifestyle systems, hence be limited to lower end applications. In high end, I don't see any signs manufacturers will depart from wired systems. Goldmund is an exception to the rule as they've carved a niche in high end lifestyle & HT speakers. The market isn't big enough for too many players.

[Deleted User]

"I would not consider a receiver high end for a stereo system"
Wha? $8000 receivers just don't measure up in two channel?
I wouldn't mind it. In fact, downsizing later might force my hand.

Well, not High end with a capital H...

[Deleted User]

For 2 grand and a need for a system in a smaller room, I don't know how you would put together something that would be "better" than the LS50 wireless. If you like passive LS50s, you'll like the actives. With the DSP, they go 30Hz lower. You can always swap out the power and cat 6 cables, if that would help your desire to upgrade.

erniejade

@Bodhi , Goldmund is one of those brands that has been around for 30+ years and people forget about however, they make some fantastic stuff! Honestly I haven't thought about them in a long long time. I need to take a look and see what they are making now.

@rednedtugent a $8000 receiver is a rare thing and usually, if one hits that price range, the technology is usually put into the video aspect of it vs the amplification aspect. This is not the case with all of them but, as a general rule it is.

steveinaz

I would like to see more choices in hard drive "transport" type players that don't depend on networks and/or cell phone interfaces. My Oppo accomplishes this, but the interface isn't very flexible, and it still has a bunch of video electronics inside. It seems the software side is always lacking. HDTV's are cheap; how about a box that accepts hard drives via USB, has a good player interface, and an HDMI out for a screen, if you want a dedicated screen for your player? Think CD jukebox with a HiDef screen.

Emlyn

A hard drive based audio player that outputs to a TV screen still needs video circuitry in it. That video chip adds heat, cost and internal noise. For two channel use I think the better approach is to have an app that controls a transport through a tablet or phone. Having a big screen in between speakers in a two channel system creates problems.

I have been really happy with the Sony HAP-Z1ES except for it being incredibly slow to transfer files to it from a network drive over WIFI. WIFI seems to be a weak link at this point in time as it can be prone to interference and dropouts and has limited bandwidth.

erniejade

Skip, the Altair is a solid sounding all in one with dac. I was impressed with the Auralic line when I gave them a listen to. Aurender was also great but, I did not think they were worth 1k more for the same features as the Auralic versions like the Aries vs the Aurender n100h.

erniejade

@DSkip Sony actually listened and changed the firmware and it now does USB digital out.

tonyb

DSkip wrote: »

Or, an iFi stereo 50 or similar powering passive speakers. I like that better from a sound perspective.

Like I said, I see hobbyists turning to integrateds and mainstream turning to wireless speakers.

Maybe Skip, but in the end it becomes a passing trend/fad. Didn't Bose do the same thing with their Lifestyle system ? How did that turn out in the end ? People as they age will always revert back to quality audio imho....after the fads have worn off.

The problem as I see it is......incomes are not rising to accommodate the products being produced which costs more and more on a yearly basis. This makes manufactures continuously trying to create products within a specific price point. Cheaper build quality but with more flexibility seems to be the goal. Compact systems that will jive with todays digital word musically, and that's where your smaller integrateds come in. Oppo made a name for themselves doing this, a BDP/cdp and a dac you could use as a stand alone. Add Wi-Fi, apps to control from your phone and you have a winner. People eat that stuff up.

....until they yearn for better sound quality, then they start separating it out again. My point is, if your already at a point of having separates and better sound quality, these all in one products are not going to do much for you. I do understand though that size and convenience /aesthetics to some is more important.

steveinaz

Digital out is a must.

Emlyn

erniejade wrote: »

@DSkip Sony actually listened and changed the firmware and it now does USB digital out.

I have not used the capability but a firmware update provided digital output to a USB DAC last year. A coaxial or optical output would not have made much sense as the unit is also intended to play high res and DSD files. They also added the capability to connect an external CD drive to rip files directly to the unit.

erniejade

@Emlyn @DSkip Outside of the speed issues importing / backup, Sony actually listened to some of the complaints and rectified it on that big firmware update.

erniejade

Bodhi wrote: »

I think wireless speakers will be confined to mainly lifestyle systems, hence be limited to lower end applications. In high end, I don't see any signs manufacturers will depart from wired systems. Goldmund is an exception to the rule as they've carved a niche in high end lifestyle & HT speakers. The market isn't big enough for too many players.

I just took a look at the Goldmund Apologue Anniversary Limited. WOW. I would love to hear those. Heck I would settle for hearing a set of the Goldmund Logos Sukha

erniejade

The converted it via firmware. That is correct.

[Deleted User]

steveinaz wrote: »

I would like to see more choices in hard drive "transport" type players that don't depend on networks and/or cell phone interfaces. My Oppo accomplishes this, but the interface isn't very flexible, and it still has a bunch of video electronics inside. It seems the software side is always lacking.

I'm not into servers & just use my Oppo for playing movies. I plan to upgrade to the future 4K Oppo 205 when it comes out.

halo

Here's an example of High-End speakers with built-in amplification (on the low end) by CIAudio:

Von Schweikert VR-55 AKTIVE: https://www.vonschweikert.com/vr-55-aktive

[Deleted User]

In semi active speakers, i'm a bit partial to the stunning new Genesis Maestro speakers

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEFr36EXyNw[/video]

[Deleted User]

I have no idea were HIGH end audio is going.
My experiences will be weight limited.

erniejade

Excuse the mess. Re-arranging for the lumin. Ls50 wireless on loan. I'm in shock.

RamZet

The Sonos play5 in stereo with a Sonos sub sounds great, oh and you can connect external sources like a Turntable or CD player.

[Deleted User]

found a VG replacement copy today of this classic!

voltz

erniejade wrote: »

Excuse the mess. Re-arranging for the lumin. Ls50 wireless on loan. I'm in shock.

LS50 have always intrigued me! curious how you like them!

erniejade

I have them on loan until Tuesday. So far I can say is they are way better then the regular ls50's. The powered ls50's don't get harsh when pushed like the regular ones did. The dsp works well. They have one heck of a wide soundstage even sitting on stools for right now. I am in shock on how they sound without any kind of real placement!.

The app however is NOT too good. Right now I have it running right from my NAS using my old galaxy s3, uncompressed wav and it has glitcee a few times. I am going to install the app on my ipad to see if that helps. In the app you can set it up sitting on a desk, wall distance, crossover for high and low. The distance is in cm. And it is basically a slider but the slider doesn't how hor far or close it is when you move it. You have to guess. It also isnt like my lumin app where I can run tidal right from the same app /screen.
Runing wirreless from my western digital ex2 mirror nas, it doesn't seem to read it quite right. Tomorrow I will try it with minimserver and see if that fixes it.

I also think it needs 1 more sets of rca, so people who want to run a turntabe or sacd. Granted it does have a usb input.

K_M

Bodhi wrote: »

In semi active speakers, i'm a bit partial to the stunning new Genesis Maestro speakers

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEFr36EXyNw[/video]

love the Maestro!

[Deleted User]

erniejade wrote: »

I have them on loan until Tuesday. So far I can say is they are way better then the regular ls50's. The powered ls50's don't get harsh when pushed like the regular ones did. The dsp works well. They have one heck of a wide soundstage even sitting on stools for right now. I am in shock on how they sound without any kind of real placement!.

The app however is NOT too good. Right now I have it running right from my NAS using my old galaxy s3, uncompressed wav and it has glitcee a few times. I am going to install the app on my ipad to see if that helps. In the app you can set it up sitting on a desk, wall distance, crossover for high and low. The distance is in cm. And it is basically a slider but the slider doesn't how hor far or close it is when you move it. You have to guess. It also isnt like my lumin app where I can run tidal right from the same app /screen.
Runing wirreless from my western digital ex2 mirror nas, it doesn't seem to read it quite right. Tomorrow I will try it with minimserver and see if that fixes it.

I also think it needs 1 more sets of rca, so people who want to run a turntabe or sacd. Granted it does have a usb input.

They really are quite impressive. Once the software is worked out, it will be a great setup for a small to medium room.

erniejade

I am going to make a new thread for them in the speakers section. The app and how buggy it is a huge turn off of a darn good speaker.