How do you listen to music in the home?

Catcher10 wrote: ^ Ouch!!! No way....yucky foo-foo

Seconded.

You know me. Analog warmth reigns over all audio formats. By a large margin as well.

^ Ouch!!! No way....yucky foo-foo

Padraic wrote: OK, finally have this sorted. My modest little setup involves an ASUS chromebox with a dedicated "music OS" called daphile.  All my music is resident on another old desktop computer that now serves as an NFS server (thus mounted on the chromebox as an NFS share) and a subsonic server (so that my wife and I can listen to music in the car, at work, etc.).  The chromebox is connected to the iFi Micro iDSD DAC and headphone amplifier (http://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/micro-idsd/).  iFi is the "baby brand" of AMR, by the way.  Right now my headphones are ATH-M40X (my wife got me them for Christmas because I put them on my Amazon wish list - she didn't know I use the wish list as more of a bookmarking tool than anything, but whatever).  Next Christmas I'll upgrade to Senn 650s. I control the playback via the iPeng app on my iPhone, but any app suitable for controlling a Logitech Media Server (LMS) would do - the chromebox is running squeezelite I believe. The sound quality is night and day over anything I've ever owned.  Particularly classical music, the clarity is just superb and I couldn't be happier.

An MP3 player in my bedroom as two speakers and is great for listening to my massive CD collection.

OK, finally have this sorted.

My modest little setup involves an ASUS chromebox with a dedicated "music OS" called daphile.  All my music is resident on another old desktop computer that now serves as an NFS server (thus mounted on the chromebox as an NFS share) and a subsonic server (so that my wife and I can listen to music in the car, at work, etc.).  The chromebox is connected to the iFi Micro iDSD DAC and headphone amplifier (http://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/micro-idsd/).  iFi is the "baby brand" of AMR, by the way.  Right now my headphones are ATH-M40X (my wife got me them for Christmas because I put them on my Amazon wish list - she didn't know I use the wish list as more of a bookmarking tool than anything, but whatever).  Next Christmas I'll upgrade to Senn 650s.

I control the playback via the iPeng app on my iPhone, but any app suitable for controlling a Logitech Media Server (LMS) would do - the chromebox is running squeezelite I believe.

The sound quality is night and day over anything I've ever owned.  Particularly classical music, the clarity is just superb and I couldn't be happier.

Meltdowner wrote: ^ I'll try not to

I am happy to hear that you are taking a more serious approach to your music listening situation.
Speaker position is very important. Flutter echo is nasty.

^ I'll try not to

progbethyname wrote: Meltdowner wrote: Thanks for checking it I asked this to know what cartridge I should get if something appened to it or if I couldn't find other stylus to replace. In that case, if I understand correctly, I should get a light-weighted P-mount cartridge (since there's no counter weight), right?I listened to The Yes Album yesterday to test the changes I made and the sound was incredible compared to how it was: no crackles, no noises and it all sounded crystal clear. I still have a problem I don't know what it is: sometimes between two songs I can hear an echo of the first song and I don't know if it's a problem of the record or the turntable Interesting. Could be the speed at which the record is playing at? The Stylus is getting too much of a workout and there is a residual or echo decay as you mentioned. Sounds frustrating.

Nope its a common occurrence, one sign his system is revealing and his cart/arm combo is good.

Catcher10 wrote: This is common, I am guessing what you hear is a faint sound of the start of the next song? What you hear is the true essence of analog recording  Usually comes from the tape bleed thru on the master reels, it is pressed in your LP you cannot remove it. The good thing is if you hear it well it is one sign of a good revealing analog deck, especially if the next song starts with a loud crescendo or something. Can also be due to thinner groove walls and your stylus is picking up the ripples in the next groove......I would say nothing is wrong with your table and cart.   The no crackles, noise, crystal clear means your arm/cart is well aligned and tracking the groove nicely. For a new stylus you can also upgrade to a JICO stylus from Japan, you will have to check their website if they make one for your cart.   Have fun and keep spinnin' them records!   Cheers!

I found some stylus on the website that are compatible with my cartridge

Argonaught wrote: I addition to what Catcher10 said:  Eventually, you'll need a new needle (stylus) even if nothing dramatic happens to the one you have; most of them have to be replaced after 500 hours of playing time; some are said to last for 1,000 hours or longer.  There aren't too many p-mount cartridges on the market, and, since your turntable doesn't have any adjustments, your choice is even more limited. Depending on your budget, you may want to consider investing into a turntable that has with a regular 1/2" mount  and an adjustable counter-weight. This way you'd be able to select cartridges to please your taste and suit your budget, not only based on the "will it fit into my p-mount and is it light enough?" criteria. I have seen hundreds of $100-$200 turntables on eBay that looked pretty good and were advertised as fully functional.  The echo: This phenomenon is also described here under "Shortcomings", towards the end of the article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramophone_record

You're probably right. I guess I'll make the decision between buying a new TT or a new stylus when the current needle worns out. It's good to know my options before though.

The post-echo describes exactly what's happening. I didn't count the time but it seems like it's accurate.

Thanks everyone for all the great advices! I don't personally know anyone who understands about these things, so this has been very enlightening for me