Spending more may have good odds that will deliver at least subjectively better results but each upgrade path is different. There may well be less expensive options that perform similarly better as well if one is willing to explore the options thoroughly.
Going on cost alone is easy if you have the funds but not necessarily the most cost effective approach. Technical folks know the devil is always in the details. I bet on better designs before I would on better parts alone. Really smart people can accomplish more for less.
Do I Need a Dedicated Streamer?
Hello everyone,
As the title states, I am still unsure of if I need a dedicated streamer and if it would increase the fidelity of my music compared to how I am listening at the moment. Which is using AirPlay 2 from my iPhone to my Hegel H590 Integrated amp.
I know that the DAC in the Hegel H590 is considered quite good and it was one of the reasons that I bought the amplifier to begin with. However, would I get a better input using a dedicated streamer for around $1000 (such as the Cambridge CXNV2 for example) or would I be better off leaving things as is?
I am just not sure if airplaying music to the Hegel is degrading the signal in comparison to a streamer that would pull its own data and send it directly to the amplifier? Also, would improving my router placement and wifi signal make any difference to the sound since my Hegel is hardwired using a mesh wifi system?
I am open to switching streaming platforms if I can gain something out of it such as resolution but I’m not sure if apple music is the issue in any of this.
If the answer to the title is a no. I am curious what I would need to take the quality of my listening experience to the next level or where money would be better spent to achieve that. I do have acoustic panels in my room and have done my fair share of research on speaker placement already.
The only thing that I have been considering in the near-future would have to be the isoacoustics gaia 1 feet.
My equipment:
Hegel H590 Integrated
KEF Reference 5 Meta
Metra Velox Speaker Cables
Thanks for reading.
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Its very doubtful that the average "Director of IT" goes through the rigor of atleast one EE degree from a ABET acredited school (or a computer engineering degree atleast padded with some EE tech electives). The latter kind is usually sitting somewhere else... slaving away in the engineering trenches, not serving as "Director of IT" If he knew anything, he would know that a kickass audio optimized PC could be built for well under a 1000 bucks in 2023. Hence, he’s thoroughly convinced that as he goes up to 10k, 20k, 30k, etc, magic just descends on him, pours like the Niagara...Well, atleast he gets a beautifully milled chassis and some pretty knobs (jewelry, for sure). As for me, i can drop 20k, no problem (cash’s not the issue). But, i certainly despise the idea of a dumass robbing me/snickering away as he sells me crap that i have beat with a diy solution in my basement. I intended (at some point) to create a tech talk thread on how to pick some components and do a few minor tweaks towards building a audio optimized PC/"streamer" (make it easier for some diy types who are newer to these things).. But, then considering the sheer amount of accountants and dealers peddling 20k streamers/plaguing this forum, i decided against it. If enough guys with ulterior motives gang up on ya, even a sincere knowledge share effort can turn ya into the "bad guy". Some of these guys buying a 20k streamer must also have thoroughly incompetent DDCs/DACs, i suppose!! "Bad Guy" out.....😁 |
Once again, a measurementalist feigning objectivity tosses logic to the wind and resorts to an ad hominem, the perhaps laziest of all loigical fallacies: Ad hominem ... Typically this term refers to a rhetorical strategy where the speaker attacks the character, motive, or some other attribute of the person making an argument rather than attacking the substance of the argument itself. |
Again... some of you guys apparently have completely incompetent distressed boxes for DDCs and DACs that only a 20k idiot box streamer can save them. Ad gibbergibberinum.... |
- 103 posts total