[Closed] Hi-Fi is out of "the Basket"...

I use wireless, but not smart, Audio Pro speakers. I have no real use for the smart bit and got rid of separates in order to help save space.

Nope, have separates and no intention of changing. No bluetooth speakers here nor Alexa gubbins. Certainly don't feel I'm missing out on anything.

I've still got my separates. It's a Sony system from.. dunno, over 20 years ago? Still sounds great, not that I can crank it in my semi-detached. No point replacing it and.. .cassettes, LPs, minidiscs, CDs.. what else could I play them on?
Bluetooth speakers in the kitchen and bathroom.

I've got my separates, but mostly listen to it via a bluetooth dongle. I keep meaning to pick up a Chromecast audio, but have been a bit too skint.

Have you all moved to smart and bluetooth speakers – or who still has a traditional separates system?

Still got my original hi-fi system that I scrimped & saved for around about '93/94, even though it is distinctly budget.
Nad 3020i amp
TDL RTLII Mk2 speakers
Luxman D322 CD player.

I have hooked a Chromecast Audio up to it to try & give it a modicum of modernity.

Other music sources in the house are:
- a bluetooth speaker that gets taken into the bathroom/garage/garden
- a recently purchased Onkyo Google speaker for the kitchen (I put a PSA post about this a month or so ago)
- a recently purchased Audio Pro T5 speaker also with a Chromecast Audio stuck in the back of it.

I tell myself that when the hi-fi dies it will get replaced.....but the reality is that it perhaps won't in it's current guise.
My Wife is keen to get rid of the speakers as they are large, slabby black monoliths sitting in the living room & if the amp/cd player dies they will probably get replaced with some kind of network music player....the current set-up does look decidedly retro in today's age of small mono 'smart' boxes......

My Wife is keen to get rid of the speakers

I recently bought some huge B&Ws 😀

Using both. Smart speakers for a little bit of background music, usually while doing something. Separates for listening to music as the smart speakers are poor quality.

I'm finding there are less people (friends/kids/etc) interested in high quality audio and they definitely don't want big ugly speakers in their rooms, it's all about having music on demand, even if the quality is horrendous.

Last time I bought something Hi-Fi separate related is about 6-8 years ago and I'm hoping that amp will last at least 20 years. I can understand why some Hi-Fi places have gone under, good quality gear last a very long time.

Ours isn't that hi-fi but it's pretty good with reasonable floor standers and a Yamaha amp. The main source now is a Sonos connect hooked up to it but the record player gets used sometimes too.

The rest of the house has Sonos speakers apart from the bedroom which has another amp and bookshelf speakers on the wall, with a Sonos plugged in to it.

I like to turn it up sometimes and do enjoy listening properly, the Sonos speakers are ok for kitchen and other rooms, but not main listening.

Most of what I listen too is streamed from Google Play Music, I usually can't tell the difference Vs lossless.

I've still got my separates. Cambridge Audio amp & CD player both about 15yrs old, and Ruark speakers about 20yrs old. Certainly not looking to replace it anytime soon.

do you not follow the audiophile and product specific, ie lp12, goups on facebook? hifi is live, loud and kicking.

i got back into it myself around 4 few years back, the first place i asked for advice was on here.

i like my vintage stuff personally, partly because i can afford kit that if new i couldn't, partly because it can be fixed and modified and partly because i like the idea that i'm listening to records (i only do records and the majority from the 60s and 70s) on the kit it was mixed for.

so i've gone in the last 4 years when i asked about rega turntables from my modest student set up that had lived in various attics for 25 years to the latest pile of sweet sounding lovliness that is an early 80s linn lp12 with valhalla and a modified rega rb300 arm (the latter until i can afford an ittok arm), quad 66/606 and quad esl57 speakers.

A loud gigs, industrial noise and bad ear defenders mean the quality of smart speakers in impeccable for me 😉 I do prefer films on a full surround though.

Just recently got a Naim Muso, wouldn’t go back to hifi, so much easier and no silly cables anywhere

on the superfi going bust, it's probably due, as with the john lewis profits drop, to people holding back on "big" ticket items and superfi was 80% big ticket items (and not just hifi, tv and smart media to).

still go traditional cabled speakers here with a couple of seperates (dab & blu-ray) attached to the surround amp (which is "smart" enabled so kinda hybrid)

30 plus years of guitars and valve amp fetishisation have put me firmly in camp 'can't hear a differnce' .. the accessibility of Echo is really useful - .. Alexa, play me some Dad music 😀

A lot of them are bollocks though aren't they ...a younger millennial mate of mine (I am too - but actually remember the 90s) has some crazy expensive Sony soundbar. It sounds like dogshit - but it's awesome apparently. Those Phantom things don't sound that great to me either. All of them are easily bettered by my old mans 20 odd year old setup.

Got a Naim Muso a couple of years ago, separates system never got used after that so it’s all in boxes in the loft. I test listened to the Muso at Superfi but they didn’t have one in stock (and had difficulty finding any classical music to play on it) so I ordered one from John Lewis and collected it from Waitrose the next day; such is the way of modern retail.

Separates here. Marantz PM66ki sig amp, Project Essential III turntable, marantz cd63ki sig CD player, Mission 773e speakers. As a nod to the present, I have a Chromecast audio plugged in as well which is good for when I'm in the bath as I don't have to get out to turn the record over.

I've got a great little record shop close to work that satisfies all of my vinyl needs too 🙂

Still think separates plus amp etc are the way to go - audio stuff used to last for donkeys years and still sound great. Now by going down the all in one route and adding bluetooth (which can be improved), it allows the introduction of obsolescence and if one component breaks it's time to throw away the whole thing.

Old school allows you to upgrade individual parts to keep up with the times and stops you from having to throw everything away.

I picked up a nice NAD 302 a neighbour had thrown out the other week so long may it continue!

I've a seperates system in the front room with a cd player, turntable and chromecast audio as sources.

The kitchen has a small set of speakers and a chip amp linked to a chromecast audio.

The bedroom has an old seperates amp and a raspberry pi.

I bought a JBL bluetooth speaker about 5 years ago and whilst it's great for improving the sound on the laptop or as a travel speaker it didn't impress us enough to consider replacing any other devices. If I am honest I only tried it as everyone was raving about how good they were, but it left me feeling underwhelmed.

I've no interest in getting a smart speaker, but can see why others want them over a traditional stereo setup.

Being deaf in one ear I only hear in mono anyway so Bluetooth to a small stereo with bookshelf speakers and a sub is fine for me.

As far as music and Hi-Fi goes, I’m all for technology if it sounds good.

All our cds are stored on a hard disk in lossless format and played through various media front ends.

However the main amp and speakers are all relatively modest old school (arcam amplifier and tannoy revolution r3 speakers). Sat/sub and especially sound bars sound plain awful to me, irrespective of price.

A few mates swear by Sonos systems etc and I’ve yet to hear a good one.

Still got my technics separates, just use a portable CD player in it after the original went a few years ago. Wharfdale speakers plugged into them. Braw sound out of it

Cambridge Audio amp and CD player combined with Mission floor standing speakers, sounds fantastic. Although I do have a portable FLAC playing device that's also connected up to it, but that's because my mate's A DJ and I get him to send me his mixes.

I have an Alexa. It’s been unplugged for months.

My monster headphone system however gets a lot of use. And I’ve just bought a new turntable to hook in to it :).

Hi Fi all the way for me. Linn LP12 and Radikal, Naim speakers Quad 405/2 and 34 power and pre amps. Sometimes use the iphone in the car and have had a couple of mp3 players over the years but nothing comes close to my turntable set up so, apart from in the car, thats the only thing in the house I use to listen to music.My 11 year old wants my old amp and speakers but he listens to electronic guff and "Modern RnB", more guff forced on him in school which wont play anything faintly guitar based as its to aggresive. For now he uses headphones so I dont suffer to much aural torture!

Recently downsized the hi-fi from a stack of old Audiolab kit and B&W speakers to a single mid range multi channel Yamaha amp. Still kept the B&W speakers, but the new amp lets me connect a load more digital sources.

Can't say I miss the old kit, the Yamaha amp is really rather good and the set up is a lot more flexible than what I had before and it still goes stupidly loud!

Separates here (AVI/ATC) but I haven't upgraded or added anything for years. Sound quality is my main criterion, I have no interest in multi room or other fancy stuff. I could quite fancy a network streamer and hard disc storage if someone else paid for it.

I could quite fancy a network streamer and hard disc storage if someone else paid for it.

I'm slowly ripping my CD collection and transfering it to a nice big NAS drive and have a really good value Yamaha streamer hooked in to a Rega DAC. Works really well although I would like to sample a CD player in to the same setup to see if I can discern any difference. That said the NAS is hugely more convenient and means my set up is nice and compact.

Which will of course change when the turntable arrives 😀

I could quite fancy a network streamer and hard disc storage if someone else paid for it.

I get that from google, they supply the storage, streaming and music I don't have to compliment it along with serving my all the stuff I own for a nice monthly fee.

Proper HiFi.

Although we are on the cutting edge with a Bluetooth wireless in the kitchen. 🙂

Marantz PM66ki sig amp

Waves.
Great, aren't they?

Seperates here, Sony CD, Naim amp, Linn speakers, most listening is done via Apple airplay as I'm mostly doing other stuff at the same time, sounds fine, Qobuz did sound markedly better, couldn't tell it from CDs, especially for jazz, female voice etc but the interface was too clunky and some of my favourite stuff was missing, it's also £20 a month, ouch!

So, did it mention the age range that hi-fi is “out of the basket” for?
Clearly not middle aged forum dwellers!

Bit of both. Arcam amp and CD player with monitor audio speakers in the lounge. Have a Chromecast hooked up to the TV which feeds into the amp so I can stream stuff through it. Yamaha WiFi speaker in the kitchen and a monitor audio Bluetooth speaker in the bedroom.

Got a naim/project/elac hifi for vinyl duties but have an Alexa wotsit plugged into it for Spotify.

In the kitchen we have a cheapo Teac all in one thing running some B&w bookshelf speakers - again with an Alexa for steaming radio and Spotify.

I love being able to just say ‘Alexa play Napalm Death/Beastie boys/Ukrainian Jazz’ or whatever.

Separates went when my CDs did - maybe 10 years ago now.

I do still have the Mission speakers I bought with my first proper hifi when I was 17 - but they’re plugged into a Sonos ZP100.

A few mates swear by Sonos systems etc and I’ve yet to hear a good one

The stand alone speakers are OK but to get HiFi sound you need a Sonos Connect which plugs into your amp. Connect AMP also will drive whatever speakers you choose.

The Play 1s are perfect for other rooms.

Rega turntable and a network media client into a Cyrus 8 Amp plus DAC with Tannoy Floor standers.

Denon BT250 Bluetooth Speaker for DIYing, working on cars, out in the garden etc; amazing sound for what it is.

Can't abide any Alexa smart nonsense though.

"Bit of both. Arcam amp and CD player with monitor audio speakers in the lounge. Have a Chromecast hooked up to the TV which feeds into the amp so I can stream stuff through it. Yamaha WiFi speaker in the kitchen and a monitor audio Bluetooth speaker in the bedroom."

I have a Arcam Alpha 10 and a an Arcam Alpha 10p biamping some monitor Audio GS20's in my lounge now and I love them. Effortless would be the word I would use to describe how it sounds. I have an Arcam CD player with a Cambridge Audio DAC. However I also have an Alexa that does the streaming stuff too. I am looking forward to the Echo link being released to I can connect it to my DAC.

I have an Arcam 8 upstairs in the office that I use with a CD's and another Alexa.

Also an Alexa in the bedroom and the Kitchen. "Alexa play six music everywhere" 🙂

So a mix of old and new for me.

Naim muso here. It’s very good for what it is. I get home open the app press play and off it goes. It sounds better than any other all in one.
My father heard mine then went out to get one for his kitchen. He doesn’t use his big hi-fi any more.

Proper hifi with proper speakers here, you know, just in case the neighbours would like to listen too...

The 'still using' is maybe a moot point if the question is whether on not something is 'in the basket' of frequently bought goods. I don't use any smart speakers and still use my hi fi but the component parts of it are between15 and 50 years old.

For me and the mrs

Small Sonos system in the TV snug (beam and 2 ones) - almost forgotten we have it as is discrete most of the time. We turn up the volume for films sometimes. Just sounds great with a little surround coming in now and again.

Don't play music on it that often but when we do it more than acceptable. Most often streaming 80 mix off amazon for Saturday morning cleaning...…..

I think once Ive sorted the guitar room and synth room I might go for some older separates and bigger speakers

Have a Yamaha R-N500 receiver in the front room hooked up to a set of Warfdale speakers for music and tv duties

Also have a Cambridge Audio amp in the garage also hooked up to a set of Warfdale speakers

Both set ups have a Alexa input connected for streaming music

The ‘still using’ is maybe a moot point if the question is whether on not something is ‘in the basket’ of frequently bought goods

And that is it, for all the still using lot what happens if it goes pop or you want to put music into a new room?

New room is unlikely, but if any of the units on mine go pop, I'd be on Richer Sounds for a direct replacement. Or maybe even find an electronics boffin to fix the broken thing.

And that is it, for all the still using lot what happens if it goes pop or you want to put music into a new room?

Replacements still available. No requirement for "new room".

I like the look of separates and much prefer the sound too.

Our lounge is pretty big with a big, blank wall so TV stand with separates on + some nice Jamo's on some Partington stands sits lovely in the space.
The wife wasn't so sure but that's one internal decor battle I won 🙂

My modern Yamaha amp has Music cast so, if we want to, we can put some wireless speakers in other rooms and run it all through the app..

If it goes pop I'll replace it with similar, although my amp still has 3 years warranty on it as the old one broke.

Well actually it got damaged when we moved.

Separates for 5.1 surround in the lounge and extra zones in kitchen/bathroom.
Also separates for Hifi having just replaced all the crossover capacitors in my celestion 66's.
Amazed at the difference in sound quality (but not too surprised as one cap was stamped 1973...….) unfortunately I have nowhere to leave them set up anymore so will probably have to sell them soon
: (

An Oppo 205 HD bluray player is the hub of the system - acting as a digital pre-amp.

it only has one HDMI input so I have an HDMI switch box feeding it, and then Apple TV/Virgin box/chromecast into the hdmi box.

it also has optical and digital coax inputs and a USB input so it can act as a USB DAC, and I have a silent NUC based PC using it as such, with a silent NAS with my ripped music on.

The Oppo runs balanced to an analogue pre-amp - A Music First TVC passive pre-amp which uses transformers for volume control. This then runs unbalanced to 2 Quad 909 mono amps and into my Stirling Broadcast LS3/5a/AB-2 speakers. I have versions with Cicable external crossovers but I am not using them at the moment.

I also have a REL Habitat subwoofer waiting to go on the wall and provide the .1 of the AV setup.

I can airplay from my tablet to the Apple TV for BBC iPlayer radio downloaded content.

I am setting up my turntable and have a Korg DS-DAC-10R and a Rothwell Headspace to get that digitally into the PC.

Run Roon on the PC which has a great interface and would let me broadcast to multiple zones in the house using chromecast devices, and I bought 3 recently.

I might investigate the possibility of broadcasting the digitised turntable output as a high-res Internet radio station which would allow input to Roon.

Still have the remnants from a hifi system bought in, I think, the early 80's. Manufacturer probably doesn't exist any more, Duel is the name. Amp and tuner are still serving me well. Turntable has long since gone as has the speakers. Various CD players have been and gone but the Rega is still working its magic with my CDs. Speakers are B & W bookshelf, wouldn't want them on a proper bookshelf cos they're pretty heavy but definitely powerful.

One of life's pleasures is to kick back with some wine or beer and really listen, no distractions allowed.

Separates here too. I bought a decent Denon system (incl CD player) from John Lewis about 12yrs ago and recently added 4 more speakers to it. Added a Bluetooth link into the back of it to play all the guff via Apple Music and Souncloud etc after someone recommended a Philips Bluetooth link on here one day (thanks, otherwise I probably would have chucked all my gear and bought something with Bluetooth in it already)

Don't like Sonos, far too expensive and “ohhh ya, I’ve got Sonos blahdiblah ya” writ large in any Pub gossip mongers.

Will not go down the Alexa route nor any “shout at speakers to explain what I want to hear, thanks” stuff either. I have 3 devices linked to my set up so just pick one and play from that. I also don’t need google suggesting anything for me thanks, I am a functioning human whose able to make decisions for myself. I can also write a list of shopping on my phone, or walk around picking stuff up and placing it my basket based on choice and me being there to choose for myself.

Hate all that “Ho Alexa, ya I’d like some beans ya” crap...

Yeah, so enough from me.

I bought a Chrome Mini (I think it's called that) while buying my telly a couple of months back - it was cheap (not the telly, the other thing). It sits there unused pretty much all the time. Once the novelty wears off they seem pointless. (And I can reach light switches quite easily). The speaker is garbage. And cos I don't do streaming (only from my own NAS) it can't play anything by voice control - I have to cast from my phone. Which I don't cos it sounds rubbish. The best use of it was when I was painting, up a ladder and my music ran out, I said 'Oi Google, ya tell me a story ya' and it told me Little Red Riding Hood 😆
(Sorry, just an agreement with bikebouy there)

DezB

Subscriber
I bought a Chrome Mini (I think it’s called that) while buying my telly a couple of months back – it was cheap (not the telly, the other thing). It sits there unused pretty much all the time. Once the novelty wears off they seem pointless. (And I can reach light switches quite easily). The speaker is garbage

Probably a Google Home Mini.
To be honest, it doesn't sound like you are the target customer for it.
While the speaker can play music, something the size of a ice hockey puck is never gonna sound great and if you don't have any streaming subscriptions that does limit it's usability somewhat. I think the speaker in the small devices are more so they have some way of communicating back to you.

I bought a Google Smart speaker for the kitchen recently (Onkyo G3) for £60 down from £200 and the intention was never really to use it as a 'smart' speaker. I just wanted something that I could tie into the Chromecast Audio in the living room & the bedroom. I already had another Chromecast Audio that i was planning on hooking up to some kind of active speaker, but the deal on the Onkyo meant that it made good sense to buy that.
And - while we don't use a great deal of the smart functionality, it is pretty useful. I can start it playing music while my hands are covered in food or wet from washing up, or get it to play any radio station; something that yours should be able to do. It can also skip tracks & with Spotify if there is a song I like I can just ask Google to add it to my favourites, rather than have to do that through my phone.
It is also quite useful for setting cooking timers & whereas with a traditional egg timer you can only have one time set, with this you can set several timers to run concurrently.
As I say, I only bought it to tie into the music side of things, but actually it is a lot more versatile than that & is a decent bit of kit for £60.

Hmm, timer, one thing (amongst many, no doubt) that I didn't think of. I still push the little buttons on my cooker. I might try it tonight. Be a nice surprise what it does when the time is up (no spoilers please!) 🙂

for the pro column

Yesterday, said Good Morning to my speaker when I got up, it told me the weather forecast, ran trhough my appointments for the day and any reminders I set - like bring laptop charger to work, tells me about traffic or public transport delays for my trip to work then plays 6 Music.

When I get home I can transfer the podcast, music or radio I was listening to on my phone to the speaker and carry one listening.

Cooking timers are great and you can set multiple ones.

Next up wanted to listen to an album I didn't know the name of that I don't own and it found it told me what it was and played it.

Other days I've asked it to do some maths, covert some quantities, look something up or tell me when the next tram to, bus to etc. while I'm getting ready.

I was a little sceptical but if you get stuck in it soon proves it's worth

I've ditched the separates system, now it's all Sonos (sorry bikebouy). PLaybar and sub in the living room, 3&5 in the kitchen / diner and the first play one smart system in Microbits room, but will get another couple of 1's for upstairs, mainly Nanobits and my bedroom. I love being able to have it all on demand, frankly the time to sit and listen to an album was so pre kids I wouldn't even recognise a decent sound system anymore as it's normally listed to when cooking / working etc. Not really gone smart as yet for myself as I just don't use it and like my apple music so it won't be controlled properly by Alexa
PS, the Sub on Sonos is epic - it's able to actually make adjoining rooms vibrate while being crystal clear while in the living room. Can't believe how good!

Recently bought a second hand arcam receiver - playing through some Mission bookshelf speakers. Stunned by how good it makes my music collection. Sometimes I'm planning to do something in an evening but just get distracted listening to albums instead. It's genuinely beautiful to listen to. Feeding it through a raspberry pi (and a hi-fi berry) with all my music on a usb stick (Flac). Can then control it via my phone so no messing about with CDs etc. Will probably add a zone 2 so I can repeat listening in the kitchen.

Genuinely baffled at people who spend lots on music equipment then stream really low quality stuff from the t'internet

...though I will admit, the prospect of a cable free existence does appeal!

Sony AV amp and Monitor Audio Radius (with rear ceiling speakers and BK sub) in the Living room.
Yamaha DAB AV amp and ceiling/wall speakers in the Kitchen
Teac DAB mini separates system in the office with the Radius 90 speakers that used to be surrounds, linked to ceiling speaker in the shower room.

Streaming music via Airplay from an always on mac (using spotify on the phone as a remote).

All installed during the house build so no wires visible anywhere.....

All the smart speakers are very convenient but they don't touch the sound quality of a half decent set of speakers and amp IME (and it's not as if my hearing is great).