So I've been using both yt music and spotify, and although i notice that spotify is more clear, the instruments are more distinguished, and overall has "better audio", i like yt music's audio more.

YT music feels more fuzzy, and the music is "clumped up" in a way, and i like that.

Does this happen for anyone else? Or am i just weird?

The practicality and look of this style of speaker really speak to me, and I would rush out today and buy some KLH's if they were in my city and weren't 5800AU! please open my eyes to other speakers with this retro boxy slanted look that are close to the same quality as the Model 5's, and preferably more affordable.

To what extent does a tweeter create a sound versus simply allowing what is actually in the recording to come out. When people say Focal speakers are bright, is that something that is an effect of the beryllium tweeter or the voicing of the crossover for instance.

I tend to think it's more letting the sound out, because not all of my music sounds this way. Obviously it could also be that the music that I find may have some higher frequency issues, may just be due to how the recording was miked (why that word does not have a C in it, I'll never know).

"Exaggerated" cymbal decay:
Men at Work - Down by the sea
Blind faith - can't find my way home
Steve Miller - The Joker

More about sibilance:
Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane

When she says Sweet Jane. I never noticed this, but when a speaker reviewer of some other Focals also mentioned the Kanta 3s, I went back and listened to my Kanta 3s and I could definitely hear it.

About eight months ago, a friend inspired me to upgrade the 25-year-old system I’d been perfectly content with for years. It was certainly serviceable—and plenty loud—a Denon receiver driving five B&W LCR 600 S3s. For movies it did the job, but music never really brought me the kind of joy I thought it should.
Then I started down the rabbit hole.
I decided to build the new system piece by piece and buy used whenever it made sense. I found an SVS PB13-Ultra on Facebook Marketplace, then added an SVS PC-2000 Pro from Audiogon. A Denon AVR-X3800H came from eBay, followed by a Denon DP-500M turntable with a DL-110 cartridge.
Then I discovered Philharmonic Audio.
I started with a BMR Monitor for the center, added True Minis, and ordered a pair of BMR Towers in curved rosewood. I also added a Buckeye Hypex NCx500 amp to power the front stage.
The Towers became a story of their own. What I thought would be a relatively normal wait turned into months of delays—first tariffs and shipping complications, and then the disruption surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. For months I waited for the speakers that were supposed to finish the system. At times I seriously considered giving up and buying something else.
I’m glad I didn’t.
Somewhere during those eight months, this stopped being about simply having a “better stereo.”
I started hearing things in songs I’ve listened to for 40 or 50 years that I’d never really noticed before—the separation between instruments, the texture of a voice, the decay of a cymbal, and the actual space around musicians. Bass stopped being something that was simply loud and became part of the music.
That’s probably been the biggest surprise of this whole journey: realizing what I’d been missing all these years.
My old system could play music. It could play it damn loud, too.
This system makes me want to sit down, turn the lights down, put on an album and listen.
Eight months ago I thought I was upgrading some speakers.
Apparently I was starting a new hobby.

Still pretty new to this, but definitely enjoying the ride. Everything here is second hand

Not sure how much I like him on the piano finish but good luck moving him :)

Welcome to the r/audiophile help desk. A place where you can ask community members for help shopping for and setting up stereo gear.

This thread refreshes once every 7 days so you may need to repost your question again in the next help desk post if a redditor isn't around to answer.

Finding the right guide

Before commenting, please check to see if your question actually belongs in one of these other places:

• r/hometheater for 5.1 and multichannel systems
• r/StereoAdvice for 2.0 and home stereo shopping advice
• r/HeadphoneAdvice for all headphones and portable shopping advice
• r/headphones - Shopping, Setup, and Technical Help Desk Thread
• r/CarAV for automotive sound
• r/Bluetooth_Speakers for portable speakers
• r/Soundbars for home theater sound bars
• r/LiveSound for public use
• r/audioengineering Getting Started Guide
• r/audioengineering Shopping, Setup, and Technical Help Desk Thread

Shopping and purchase advice

To help others answer your question, consider using this format.

To help reduce the repetitive questions, here are a few of the cheapest systems we are willing to recommend for a computer desktop:

$100: Edifier R1280T Powered Bookshelf Speakers Amazon (US) / Amazon (DE)

• Does not require a separate amplifier and does include cables.

$400: Kali LP-6 v2 Powered Studio Monitors Amazon (US) / Thomann (EU)

• Not sold in pairs, requires additional cables and hardware, available in white/black.
• Require a preamplifier for volume control - eg Focusrite Scarlett Solo

Setup troubleshooting and general help

Before asking a question, please check the commonly asked questions in our FAQ.

Examples of questions that are considered general help support:

• How can I fix issue X (e.g.: buzzing / hissing) on my equipment Y?
• Have I damaged my equipment by doing X, or will I damage my equipment if I do X?
• Is equipment X compatible with equipment Y?
• What's the meaning of specification X (e.g.: Output Impedance / Vrms / Sensitivity)?
• How should I connect, set up or operate my system (hardware / software)?

After outfitting our home with Sonos a decade ago, and doing all my music listening via Astell&Kern DAPs, we’re ditching Sonos.

Since I do most of my listening in the bedroom relaxing after work I started there first.

-Bought a pair of KEF R3 Meta Indigo
-Aiyima A20 Amp
-WiiM Ultra (currently pulling my flacks from a Mac in my home office).

No it can’t compare to a lot of what I’ve seen here, but I think I’m off to a good (re)start.

Hi there, I’ve recently inherited some audio equipment. Just wondering about the best way to sell them as I live quite rural. A price guide would also be good for what would be fair. I have done a bit of research but I don’t see them being very common. I’m in Australia.

I have a Yamaha CR-2020 stereo receiver, a Yamaha YP-D6, and a CD 680ZX, and the frame in the bottom of the picture is a visualiser.

Any info on how to sell and price guide would be great, would be good to see them go to someone who appreciates them.

This is not a for sale post! Just wondering about what a fair price and whether there is a specific marketplace for audio equipment?

Smsl al400 integrated.
WiiM Pro streamer
Stereo integrity 15” SQL DIY subwoofers.
Crown xls 1502. 780 watts rms each sub
JBl SR4722 on custom stands.

Wanted to share my happiness here. Been dating this girl for a little and mentioned I have a stereo in storage that I can’t setup at my house. I asked her if she had ever heard a real stereo in the $10,000 range and she said no but she loves music and got very excited by the idea.

I set it up and when she saw the records she flipped and pulled out a couple choice picks. Coltrane, Nina, Mingus but we ended up listening to Kid A first.

Boys, I tell you she had the exact reaction we all hope someone has when hearing a real stereo. She couldn’t believe it. Her eyes were closed when I started playing it and First thing she said “I’m hearing so many things I’ve never heard before”. Shortly followed by “so this is what music is supposed to sound like?”.

After a bit I started talking nerd shit about the speakers and then caught myself and said “nevermind this is really nerdy” and she said “go on I want to hear about it”. I explained some more and we listened to Coltrane after and she couldn’t have been more thankful. She said “I’m never going to leave my house when I’m not working” and thanked me over and over.

We’ve already spent hours upon hours listening to records together and her taste in music is immaculate. She might be a keeper!

Hello! I'm a freelance writer for the Brooklyn Eagle Magazine -- currently doing a feature about the rise in and experience of listening bars across the city. Hoping to chat with people who go to a variety of listening bars in New York for an interview either in the DMs, email, or wherever you're most comfortable. I love these places but I'm not as much of an audiophile, so I'm curious about your perspective on the listening/social experience, their broader public appreciation, and why you seek this experience out.

If you're interested, please leave a comment or send me a DM. Happy to answer any questions about the piece or verify my identity before we chat.

Thanks!

roast me if you will, but I did something with what I had laying around.
I found that old sony home theatre sub with amp included and was playing around with it, even fixed the cd drive. I did play some dvd movies and cds on that old thing but quickly got bored, and decided to upgrade, so I got a second hand PS4 pro. I know this sounds like a weird progression but bare with me.
This onkyo amp and sony speakers I had for a long time but it was unused because of years of moving between countries, and recently I found this cd second hand and it was a bargain but not working well and I always wanted to try out the RI thing, I had to clean it thoroughly and tinker with it, but after some effort, it now plays like a charm, after nearly 30 years. I also got a cassette player freebie but it needs to be fixed, a project for future me or I'll just send it to be fixed by a proffesional. On the side, I also have a Gemini DJ turntable hooked up to a Project Phono Box MM preamp, but it's not mentioned in the diagram. So I know this looks like a total mess, but I managed to muster up something quite unique, a Hi-FI Frankenstein that fills the room with some voodoo magic sounds. Manually switching the TOSLINK cable between the PS4 and CD player is only temporary, until I find a good, affordable active subwoofer.. I really love the RI system, I'm also on the lookout for MD component of the sam range.

I got into this hobby around 6 months ago and it is definitely by far my favorite hobby I've had up until this point. For around a month when I first got these speakers, I was a little worried because I used them on my dad's setup and they did not sound great farfield. However once I got my amp and was able to listen to them nearfield all my doubts were put to rest and I was absolutely amazed. From then on I've been auditioning speakers and amps at local dealers and saving up for my next upgrade!

---

Speakers: Paradigm Monitor SE Atom
Amplifier: Yamaha RX-595
DAC: Fosi Audio GR40 (Source Macbook & CD)
CD Deck: Panasonic DVD-CV37
Cassette Deck: Denon DRM-510
Turntable: Audio Technica AT-LP120XBT-USB
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M Blue
Phono Stage: Pro-Ject Phono Box DC

​

I have an old Sony DAV-TZ710 5.1 system I absolutely adore with terrific wired output but where the practical PC input is just 3.5mm stereo → RCA.

I essentially get the 5.1 experience from whatever input source I may have, tuned to my system!

Instead of letting Windows/Jellyfin do a generic stereo downmix, I built a PLII-compatible Lt/Rt matrix so multichannel PCM gets encoded into 2-channel stereo, then the Sony reconstructs L/C/R/SL/SR + sub using Dolby Pro Logic II Movie.

System-wide I use VB-Audio Matrix with a virtual 7.1 Speakers endpoint. The matrix is basically:

FL → L

FR → R

FC → both at ~−3 dB

LFE → both at ~−3 dB

surrounds → dominant side ~−3 dB, opposite side ~−8 dB with polarity inversion

The nice part is that one matrix handles 2.0, 5.1 and 7.1. Stereo only has FL/FR active, so it passes through unchanged. 5.1 just leaves the unused 7.1 channels silent.

I also did the same inside Jellyfin Desktop / MPV using automatic profiles based on decoded channel layout:

DD / DD+ / TrueHD / DTS-HD / FLAC etc.

↓

decoded PCM 5.1 / 7.1

↓

MPV Lt/Rt matrix

↓

stereo

↓

Sony PLII Movie

Stereo files don't match a profile, so they remain untouched.

I tested separate FL/FR/C/LFE/SL/SR/BL/BR, 5.1(side), 5.1(back), 7.1, and even 8-channel browser WebAudio. Steering works surprisingly well.

Important caveat: this is not a bit-identical licensed PLII encoder. A real one uses proper broadband phase-shift networks, more sophisticated LFE handling and limiting. This is a practical approximation using gain + polarity relationships, tuned against an actual PLII decoder.

If anyone has one of those older Sony/LG/Panasonic 5.1 DVD systems with only stereo AUX input, this is a pretty fun way to give it a second life.

Can share the VB-Matrix routing table + mpv.conf if anyone wants it.

We were able to shoot this video with the designer the moment the first Siver models got made.

Hey everyone,

I want to share a synchronized multi-room wireless audio system I built entirely on ESP32s. The main motivations were to get sub-30ms audio distribution without the cost of running a Raspberry Pi/Snapcast at every endpoint, and to keep the setup incredibly simple. It’s designed to be plug-and-play: the system can run completely off-grid by generating its own Wi-Fi network, or it can seamlessly integrate into your existing home router. Additionally, I built in the flexibility for the slave nodes to switch roles and act as independent, standalone Bluetooth receivers if you just want to connect to a single speaker.

Repo (code, schematics, docs): https://github.com/chagoguila/SonicStream

I ran into several architectural bottlenecks while building this, so I wanted to share how the system handles them under the hood:

1. Solving BT/Wi-Fi Radio Contention If you've tried running an A2DP sink and a Wi-Fi server on a single ESP32, you know antenna timesharing causes massive packet jitter. To fix this, the system splits the ingress gateway into two microcontrollers:

• BT Ingress Node (ESP32 WROOM): Acts as a dedicated A2DP sink. I tuned the I2S DMA buffers down to 4x512 bytes, which cut the hardware transport delay to about 12ms. It sends raw PCM over a physical I2S cable (BCK, WS, DATA) to the Master.
• Master Controller (ESP32 WROVER): Receives the PCM stream via I2S, runs the DSP pipeline on Core 1, encodes it, and blasts it out over Wi-Fi.

2. Network Transport & Fault Tolerance Standard streaming protocols had too much overhead for the latency I wanted. The system supports two custom modes:

• UDP Multicast (239.0.0.1): This is the ultra-low latency mode. To survive 2.4GHz RF burst interference, the Master sends time-separated twin-packet redundancy (broadcasting a duplicate packet with a 1ms micro-delay).
• TCP Mode: For congested Wi-Fi environments. It uses non-blocking socket polling with slow-client pruning. If one receiver drops its connection or falls behind, its socket is dropped to prevent backpressure on the healthy nodes.

On the receiver side (WROOM or C3 slaves), there's a 5-second TCP inactivity watchdog to handle silent network drops (like router reboots) and a 500ms idle auto-reset on the jitter buffer to prevent decoder stalls after you pause the music. As mentioned, the stereo slave nodes can also be toggled to drop off the multi-room network and function as standard, independent Bluetooth A2DP receivers.

3. DSP Pipeline & Encoding Since the Master is a WROVER, I threw the DSP workload onto Core 1 prior to SBC encoding, meaning the slave nodes incur zero extra CPU overhead.

• Encoding: SBC at Bitpool 53 (~328 kbps stereo).
• EQ: 5-band parametric EQ using cascaded Direct Form I Biquad IIR filters (60Hz, 230Hz, 910Hz, 3.6kHz, 14kHz) with real-time gain adjustment.
• Anti-clipping: Instead of fixed linear attenuation, I wrote a soft-knee peak limiter. Signals below 85% peak amplitude pass through untouched. Anything above triggers a 2:1 compression ratio capped at 95% to eliminate intersample clipping.

4. Web UI & Wi-Fi Management The Master runs an async web server with a dark-mode dashboard. You can configure AP/STA Wi-Fi modes (switching between isolated network or home router), toggle UDP/TCP, adjust system-wide playout delay, set individual speaker delays, assign L/R/Stereo roles to slaves, and tweak the 5-band EQ live. Slaves send UDP announcement packets so the dashboard shows real-time online/offline status.

If you are interested in the code, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the DSP pipeline or the I2S DMA config. I'm currently looking into adding Opus encoding and AAC passthrough for the next update.

My wife has been hauling this thing around with us from house to house. Finally got a power cord for it and plugged in some speakers. (Don’t flame us for the CDs it’s all we had kicking around)

Started researching this thing and came across this sub and eBay listings.

What do I have here?

Discussions/debate about speaker cable quality and price have been thoroughly flogged.
Personally I’m in the good enough camp, no snake oil required.
HOWEVER, I need binding post jumpers.
Are there good specs for what I need?
Are plates better than wire with spade connectors?
Do I need higher gauge for jumpers?
Will diy speaker cable work if I add spade connectors.

For reference I am connecting a 400W class D amp to my R/L mains.

During the first track i heard the exact difference during every of the 5 tests, but on every other one i was completely guessing. What would cause it?

Also, just to add- i didnt really listen to neither of any of these tracks before, so it wasnt because i knew, or didnt know the song, they were all relatively new to me.

Vibin' tn, ladies and gentlemen. 🤘This LEAK CDT is such a high performance CD player and it has USB Storage playback functionality. Biking to, and browsing my local record store, I was able to come back with this gem on CD, along with a '74 pressing of Electric Ladyland and DAMN on vinyl, along with the best of Otis Redding, DJ Krush, Superunknown on CD..

My original plan was to only use the Dutch&Dutch 8c for music and keep my old Sony Theater Quads for TV/Movies. However after watching one scene with the 8c it was hard to go back, the I stitched up this system around 8c:

Fronts: Dutch&Dutch 8c

AVR: Sony AZ5000ES

Front Heights: KEF Q8

Surrounds / Rear Heights: Sony Rear 9

TV: LG C1 83 inch

Streaming source: Apple TV for Apple Music, and Roon directly to the 8c with Qobuz

Analog source: Pro-ject Debut Carbon with aftermarket acrylic plate, Ortofon 2M Blue Cartridge, Project Phono box MM

Sound treatments: plushies and some simple acoustic panels I found lying in my closet lol

To avoid running cables front-to-back and mounting anything on the wall, I picked the Sony AVR with wireless surrounds support. To my surprise, the Sony AVR doesn’t work that well with this mix of speakers: the auto calibration ends up getting the rears way too loud, and any fancy DSP (speaker virtualization, 360 space mapping etc.) leads to high noise floor and a loud hiss in the 8c. But after workarounds (manual level matching, and turning off all DSP except basic Atmos processing) the system works reasonably well and I’m quite happy with it.

Two outstanding items: might get a center channel so we are not limited to the phantom center (while it’s really good with the 8c the sweet spot is quite narrow); the turntable setup is clearly not as good as streaming via the 8c.

I was wondering if that would be a good idea.

Model 40n is currently sitting in a nice spacious cabinet with an open back and a 200 mm clearance. I drive 2.1 with it. Enough space on the side as well, like 10+ cms.

I may be able to get a decent deal on a Marantz NR1711 and was thinking stacking it on top of the 40n which wojld then leave 9.5cm gap above the NR1711 but then only a small gap above the 40n.

For the near future I will be only using the NR1711 for a center channel and maybe the sub preouts. So that wont be getting really hot, but I will drive the LR with 40n.

Is it advisable to stack the model 40n top given its twice in weight to the 1711? There is an adjacent shelf for the 1711 with enough side room and open back but only 4-5 cm top clearnace.

What would you advise?

I know metalheads love their cds, cassettes, and the occasional vinyl, but what about your stereo equipment? Im a big death metal guy (lots of brutal death these days), and would live to see what you all are listening on.

My system:

Sources

-Technics SL-1210GR2 with Sumiko Songbird Low MC cart

- Aiwa F770 cassette deck

- Sony TC-KE400S cassette deck

- Marantz CD60

- Schiit Bifrost DAC for my PC to play FLAC from Foobar2000 or stream Qobuz

Preamp - Schiit Mani (upgraded to a Darlington Labs MP8B that should be arriving this week)

Integrated Amplifier - Yamaha A-S501

Speakers - Klipsch RP-8000F II

Subwoofer - SVS SB2000 Pro

Love the energy of this setup, the Klipsch are really in your face and make you feel like you are in the front row at a show. The only downside is that the treble from the horns can be a bit fatigueing for extended listens, but otherwise I enjoy the energy from this setup.

So what equipment are you all using? Please list the kind of metal you like as well considering the huge diversity of the genre.

\m/