I have had a decent stero system for years and am thinking about upgrading. Instead of a CD player I want an amplifier that takes a flash drive, just like my car stereo! Anything out there like this. Also, speakers. I had the same speakers for 30 years or so. Anything decent out there that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I am assuming that there have been many advances in technology in these areas.
Thanks, Peter.

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
I have had a decent stero system for years and am thinking about upgrading. Instead of a CD player I want an amplifier that takes a flash drive, just like my car stereo! Anything out there like this. Also, speakers. I had the same speakers for 30 years or so. Anything decent out there that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I am assuming that there have been many advances in technology in these areas.
Thanks, Peter.

Virtually unlimited selection of high end gear out there. It all comes down to $$$. How much do you want to spend?

Yeah I know. Just looking for a place to start from someone who has some experience eg. just went through the same process himself. I have been out of the market for too long.
Peter

Take a look at the Yamaha R-N500 receiver. It has a USB port for flash drives, plus can play music from your computer and Internet radio. I bought one last summer and have been very satisfied with it. Crutchfield has it on sale.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_0...maha_r-n500&skipvs=T

Hi guys,

one thing is good equipment and second one is quality source of music. So forget MP3. Maybe 320kbps MP3s are OK for most people. So you have to convert all of your CDs to flac or similar format. Or like me, discover the world of Tidal. It is (paid) streaming service, but streaming in full lossless CD quality. They have 7 or 14 days of demo. So from my point of view, look for the piece of hardware with Tidal support (and maybe also other streaming services, like Spotify etc.).


Jiri

Thank you gentlemen. These considerations were also at the front of my mind. I download a lot of choral music from Youtube. This is then converted from MP4 to MP3 and then to WAV or something similar that can be played on my car stereo. My newer car can play MP3's (it has a USB port) but my 2005 Lexus cannot play MP3's. So, from the Hi Fi standpoint I have already lost quality by going to the compressed format. I am not familiar with the other formats Jiri mentioned or even Tidal. I will check them out.
Peter.

Any opinions on the utility of Bluetooth speakers?
Peter.

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Any opinions on the utility of Bluetooth speakers?

Depends on whether you're after a no-fidelity sound or something you'll actually enjoy. High end audio and gadgetry are mutually exclusive concepts. The only wireless device which belongs in an audio system is a remote and thats certainly optional. I use a remote because the pre-amp is 20 feet from the couch and I'm a sloth and even with spl smoothing in the player, some stuff needs to be louder, or not.

Thanks DG that's what I thought. I would need a remote anyway if I am planning on playing from a thumb drive with a couple of hundred items on it! And, you are correct about the differing volumes on recorded material.
Peter.

quote:

thumb drive with a couple of hundred items on it!

Keep in mind, a typical low resolution pop song file is 50 - 100 mb in lossless WAV format. Best to load your files onto your PC for playback if possible. Use a Dragonfly if you're on a budget and a short USB cable (less than 10 feet) to your preamp/integrated/receiver whatever. You'll gain all kinds of control with the player versus flash direct into your equipment. If you are downloading choral music, you should invest wisely in DSD versus stone age formats.