Since my sabbatical


For family reasons - I have been away from audiophile interests for over 15 years. I now have the ability to again restart.

My last real reference for published reviews / opinions that my hands on experiences matched was The Audio Critic (a long time ago). I have a stack of previously SOTA components that need professional restoration as well.

My current attempts at re-entry into reading Audiophile-ism related pubs has left me flabbergasted and confused.

Am I in the right Forum to start a dialog on connecting my real world experiences with the market pubs / beliefs / etc. now?

Questions abound!

PWK maven

128x128pwkmaven2
Bluesound Node 2i new is 499.00.  You can likely find the previous model for 300.00 or so.  You need a tablet or phone to run the BluOS app for control.
Tidal Hi Fi is 19.99 per month.  Less than the price of just one new cd.
Okay ... so its agreed. I should look at the new  Marantz SA-10 to replace the Cal ICON.

Now can you help me understand about the resurgence I found when returning to VINYL !?

I have an old TD126 MkII w/ a Stax Unipivot but that is only for TRYING tom transcribe the old records into digital.

Vinyl? Why? What happened?

Could it be the non-existent volume wars on the vinyl era?



Did the OP ever define a budget?  And what exactly are the OPs needs?  Is it CD replay?  Streaming?  Vinyl or other analog formats?  Does the OP need amplification?  Speakers?
  It’s easier to try to help someone if those basic parameters are established?
Back up and on. System as-is posted.
Need a new CD player now to replace the old Cal ICON first.
Searches for other equipment repairs / updates / etc. can be longer. 

I want the best CD player I can get for under $2K. SACD not out of the question.

Looking at the Yamaha  CD-S1000. 

Advice / suggestions please.
I would look for seperates (transport + DAC) instead of the Yamaha. Only because the DAC technology is evolving & improving. You can pick up a Cambridge transport pretty cheap which will give you the funds to buy a new or newer DAC. I've used the cambridge with a new (as of a couple years ago) Audio Alchemy DAC & it was very good.