While this page isn't directly home theatre related, they are connected. I didn't listen to music all that much until I completed the HT. I then came to appreciate how good music could sound through a nice HT system. I was happy until I heard a mate's dedicated stereo system! This took two channel listening to a new level.
Not wanting to spend a great deal of money I did a lot of research and came across the Chinese brand Sheng Ya. This is a high end brand that is not well known outside of china. Sheng Ya specialises in value hybrid designs. The systems made by this company have received a great deal of positive feed back on the internet.
Ok, this is where things start to sound dodgy... I purchased the CD player, pre amp and power amp over the internet from a web site (NY Sounds) in New York that organised the gear to be shipped to me directly from the Sheng Ya factory in China! How dodgy is that! I did do my home work though. NY Sounds had a good reputation from the many people who had dealt with them on the net. I also first off purchased the CD Player only to see how this arrived. It only took two weeks and arrived in good working order. I then ordered the pre amp and power amp which once again arrived in two weeks. My only issues where some hold ups in Australian customs. Of course the down side to the very cheap prices is no warranty (you can however send it back if it arrives damaged), but in my case all equipment arrived in good working order and has been functioning for a year now.
For speakers I am using the French made Focal Aria 948 through Addicted to audio. These are large and very musical sounding speakers with crystal clear highs and an amazing mid range. I've also recently added an SVS SB3000Pro subwoofer. I have the cross-over set at 50Hz. This adds a bit more to the bass line.
So how does it all sound? Big! Warm / rich with a full body and an amazing mid range and highs. Needless to say I'm very happy with the systems performance.
For a streamer I am using the relatively new WIIM Pro Plus. It hooks into the wifi network in the house and can stream music from Tidal, Spotify or the Network Attached Storage (NAS). The sound quality is outstanding. It has an excellent DAC included or your can send the digital output to an external DAC.
I also have an external DAC in the system. This is a Vincent DAC-7. Vincent is a rebranded Shengya. This is a DAC with a tube output section. It gives that shimmer to top hat cymbals when they are struck!
In 2022 I updated my turntable. It is a Rega P6. This is a marked step up from the reconditioned Sony PS-3300 turntable from 1976 I was using! The P6 comes with a seperate power supply. I also purchased the rega moving coil pre-amp.There is someing very tactile about putting a record on!
Specs:
Turntable - Rega P6 + Rega moving coil phone stage
Media Streamer - WIIM Pro Plus
Preamp - Sheng Ya SA-T3 valve hybrid
CD Player - Sheng Ya CD-S10CS Valve hybrid
Power amp - Sheng Ya SP-T300 Valve hybrid 2x150w
External DAC - Vincent DAC-7
Speakers - Focal Aria 948
Subwoofer - SVS SB3000pro
As mentioned above, the turntable is a Rega P6. Here is a better picture of it.