r/audiophile • • 4h ago

Discussion Do we all hear differently in Hi Fi?

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0 Upvotes

The human ear/brain axis is a relatively complex combination.
Even if a hearing aid processed sound similarly, it is the brain that ultimately interprets it.

The other day, a colleague on my DIY output amplifier replaced the signal capacitor with a similar value according to the original schematic (like, too little bass).
Inside was a 100 nF capacitor C1, and according to the original schematic it should be 680 nF (he put two that give 620nF, which he had, and also replaced the small C2).

Now that capacitor has let in more bass, and he says it needs a little more.
I'm relatively okay with that.

A colleague who came the other day says that now he has too much bass and that it covers the midrange/high range.
For him, we reduced the Bass on the preamp tone controls and increased the Treble (but still not enough for him).

On the third day, a third colleague came and said that the bass and midrange ratio was ok for him (with the tone controls set as they were).

And now, who is right?

I don't think there is one, because the experience of sound is strictly SUBJECTIVE.
If everyone heard the same thing, all manufacturers would produce components with the same/similar sound.

What do you think about that?


r/audiophile • • 7h ago

Discussion I'm going to try some "Maggie jumpers" 😁

0 Upvotes

Read a lot about the Maggie jumper mod so decided to take a stab at it. I used Ai to confirm it is technically a better solution, but is skeptical of actual sonic differences.

Steel is a poor conductor compared to copper of equal gauge but such a short run is very marginal. This is my first shot. OFC 8AWG wire, silver soldered, and cleaned all connections with DeOxit. Ai also warns that jumpers of small gauge pure silver might return a higher resistance. But it needs to be the equivalent of 8AWG, My next try will be solid 8AWG silver single strand wire bent to match the stock metal jumper for simplicity. Possible overkill, but should be easy to put

together.

Al's opinion:

Material Relative conductivity

Ordinary steel ~10-17%

OFC copper ~100%

Pure silver ~106%

For perspective, consider a 4-inch jumper: 8AWG copper: approximately 0.00033 8 AWG pure silver: approximately 0.00031 Difference: approximately 0.00002

That's just 20 micro-ohms! Even with Magnepans' relatively low impedance, the electrical difference would be essentially inconsequential


r/audiophile • • 17h ago

Show & Tell New Leon Bridges Album

7 Upvotes

Leon Bridges on Vinyl, playing on my Denon DP3000NE with VAS Ebony cartridge, Schiit Skoll phono preamp, Musical Fidelity A1 with KLH Model 5s. True bliss.


r/audiophile • • 3h ago

News Did BluOS just win?

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127 Upvotes

Official Apple Music integration has finally arrived. This is big for Apple Music users, right? Eversolo found the Android workaround, which I’ve never used and can’t comment on how good it is, but it has its limitations, correct? I often hear how the general consensus is Apple Music would be the best service, if only you could get away from airplay and have official integration. Here it is.


r/audiophile • • 1h ago

Impressions Triangle Solstice 8 impression

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• Upvotes

Hello redditors, today i went to a nearby audio mall to try Dali and Bowers speakers but accidentally stumbled upon this gem from Triangle. Before this I've only heard their BR03. They were great for the price, but not high end for sure.

But wow. The Solstice 8 is almost EXACTLY what I've wanted in a speaker: low end extention without mid bass explosions, forward vocals that do well with both male and female, and metallic tweeters that aren't fatiguing.

I was so ready to save up for KEF's Q7/11 Meta, but these just might pull me away XD

KEF still takes the win in imaging and dispersion and in fact they also fit what I've looking for in a speaker. But aside from that, it seemed like the Solstice just does everything else better.

BASS

The bass is composed when everything comes crashing down in the music. The low bass was nicely seperated from the mid/high bass. Perhaps it is the port design that fires down rather than to the rear wall. Whatever it is, it gave me low end rumble in the 30-45Hz without sounding boomy in the 50-70Hz. The KEF did these too, but I felt that the bass drivers were struggling with complex music despite their agility. Violin strings, kick drums, synth rumbles and low end vocals playing loudly all at once kinda music.

MIDS

It doesn't have the same degree of 3D holographic imaging as the KEFs where I could hear things "behind" the speaker, but it makes up with sheer presence. It felt like I was right in front of the instruments. I was more engaged in a sense. Vocals, especially males, also had more authority. Probably due to a larger 6.3" midrange driver. Female vocals were just nice, not too honky or forward. There was to some degree even some warmth to it.

TREBLE

Tonality wise, these seemed brighter than the KEFs. Less airy, more attack. That doesn't mean it is shrill or lack airiness. It is certainly airy and bright. But for some reason, it never fatigued me after close to an hour around 75-80db. In other words it makes me excited without tiring me out. Definitely "in your face" rather than lean or reserved.

Conclusion

While the KEFs had me enjoying the immersion of soundstage, the Triangle simply seemed lively even if it may the less "accurate" speaker. On paper it the Q11 Meta seemed to better. But as the shop staff told me: stop looking at the numbers, do you feel joy? And I CERTAINLY did feel joy. And this is after 2 years of auditioning speakers. So i might just get these after saving up a bit. I do want to try the BR08/9/10 just for fun though.


r/audiophile • • 10h ago

Discussion Tony Iommis new Album only in 45rpm ? Is it worth it ?

0 Upvotes

Im really looking forward for Iommis new album ! I saw that the Vinly is in 45rpm wich grants more quality ... but its on 2 Discs so i have to get up after 2 Songs and trunks the Side or Switch the Disc... i dont know if thats worth it . The CD has 2 more Songs and i can listen to the whole thing in one go !


r/audiophile • • 2h ago

Discussion iPhone Duo as an All-In-One Music Control Center

0 Upvotes

Obviously this is early days for apple, and apologies to the Samsung, Google, and Oppo users in advance, but one of the things that enticed me about the Duo is its almost iPad (mini) sized inner screen. As someone who likes streaming but still veers towards analogue playback, I'm hopeful that this new phone will be a replacement to my iPad, which I find I never keep charged to stream Tidal and Apple Music. I'm mostly a laptop or iPhone person. The mini turned out to be less of a useful purchase for me personally.

I'm curious how many other people on this subreddit will be buying the Duo for this purpose as well. Also, if we've heard about any of the streamers like Tidal, Qobuz, or Roon already beginning to optimize their apps for this new device?

EDIT: I'm streaming through an Eversolo T8, and mostly use Tidal and Qobuz for streaming, that being said, the wife is still on Spotify.


r/audiophile • • 23h ago

Show & Tell Update on my last post

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15 Upvotes

Posted my new buy the other day (pioneer sa7100 amp and mission model 70mk2 speakers) and got some flak for having them set up wrong (even though they weren’t set up) so here’s and update lol

Still messing around with speaker placement but for now they absolutely blow anything I’ve had previously out of the water

Second picture is the before


r/audiophile • • 22h ago

Impressions A huge thank you to r/audiophile My setup is finally complete

26 Upvotes

​I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to this subreddit and the Reddit community in general. The advice you shared and the comments you left on my posts have been incredibly encouraging. They made it much easier for me to find the right path in my audio journey. Even just lurking and following the discussions here has been immensely helpful.

​My journey began in April 2026 with the arrival of my first turntable, and the process was finally completed in September 2026 when my subwoofer arrived. For the past 1.5 months, I have been experiencing the setup by listening to both vintage and modern vinyl records, as well as streaming via Deezer. I can honestly say this might be the happiest period of my life.

​For those curious, here is my setup:

​Turntable: Technics SL-1500C with an Ortofon 2M Blue stylus

​Amplifier: Denon PMA-900HNE

​Speakers: Dali Sonik 7

​Subwoofer: SVS SB-1000 Pro

Cables: NorStone Arran Subwoofer Cable (3.0m) and QED Reference XT40i Speaker Cable (3.0m - 2 x 4.0mm²)

​I have a very large living room with high ceilings, and right now, Patsy Cline's "Crazy" is playing in the background.

​Thank you all for everything.

​(Note: English is not my native language, so I got help from AI for the translation.)


r/audiophile • • 19h ago

Show & Tell I've been collaborating with Lenard Audio on a new speaker. Here's what we've been working on.

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294 Upvotes

I'm a longtime music lover who's built a few sets of speakers as a DIYer, but professionally I'm a furniture designer and craftsman based in the Washington, DC area.

Over the past year I've had the opportunity to work with Lenard Audio, a 60-year-old Australian audio company founded by John Lenard Burnett, on a new speaker design for the North American market.

It's been an incredible experience getting to combine two things I'm passionate about. My contribution has largely been on the physical design and fabrication side, working alongside Lenard on the acoustic and technical engineering. It's been especially fun to work with one of the few remaining pioneers of hifi.

We'll be debuting the speakers at Capital Audiofest in November, so if you're going, please stop by the Lenard room and have a listen!

And if you're local to DC, feel free to DM me. We have the speakers set up in a purpose-built listening room at our studio and I'm happy to arrange a listening session.

I'm not sure how much Lenard wants to share about the technical design, but here are some basic specs:

  • Ribbon tweeter
  • 1.5" compression driver
  • 12.5" exponential horn
  • 15" woofer
  • Sealed enclosure
  • Fully powered with integrated DSP
  • Dedicated amplification for each driver
  • Approx. 42" × 20" × 20"
  • They go to 11

Happy to answer any questions about the project!

Here's a video


r/audiophile • • 23h ago

DIY New home, asymmetrical listening space.

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371 Upvotes

Moved to a new home, which is great because I can finally center the living space around the system and I get to play a lot more music (no more roommates), but I’m struggling to tame this asymmetrical space. Time to finally start using REW I guess. Any good resources that really focus on measuring out speakers and using PEQ for room correction? Speakers are self built bass cabs with JBL 2226 H and Altec 811b with Beyma CP380M comps.


r/audiophile • • 23h ago

Discussion LAiV vs Buchardt. Which will come first?

2 Upvotes

Just bit the bullet and bought not one but two LAiV Crescendo Chorus amplifiers. They'll be delivered in a couple of weeks, most likely, but they'll still get here way before the Buchardt S400 mk3 I pre-ordered.

I've been waiting way longer than I expected, even given the email I got from Buchardt, saying there were delays because the magnets were coming from China (global trade wars, tariffs and other enjoyable, unnecessary nonsense), but units should be shipping in October.

There are review units out there, so they've clearly finished some, but man, this wait is killing me!

Anyone else here in the same boat?


r/audiophile • • 3h ago

Show & Tell Esoteric 5 series with Marten Parker Duo speakers.

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46 Upvotes

Very recently I assembled a new system. Next level sound. The seamless integration with the Esoteric app/NAS and Spotify/Qobuz adds to the experience and I love the discovering new music thing. (as I am guilty of being stuck in the '80's) One downside; recording limits/ choices of past CD's are very very noticeable. For example on Steve Hackett's original "spectral mornings" dynamics sound compressed and ill. 'Please don't touch' is way better.

New(er) recordings for example Bela Fleck's 'Flight of the Cosmic Hippo' ,Yosi Horikawa's 'Bubbles' or Nils Lofgren's 'Keith don't go' sound absolutely pristine. With a deep soundstage, very detailed and sound to the ceiling and that at 50dB ;-)


r/audiophile • • 16h ago

Science & Tech Before or After

5 Upvotes

Just got a set of .7 Magnaplanes, a Bryston amp (factory reconditioned), a Fresnell tube preamp, and a Rel amplified subwoofer. I’m shopping for a two way electronic crossover. Once I find one, should it come before the preamp or after?