super nintendo chalmers wrote:I mentioned this in the Neil thread, but does anyone have an Audioengine B1 or something similar, pretty much a dongle that makes an older amp bluetooth compatible? Pretty much a bluetooth aux cable that has a good DAC and can do HD files. I pretty much just stream with Spotify and whatever I added manually on my phone (another thread altogether) but I really want it to listen to the new Neil archives this weekend. Think its work the $200?
If you bite on this, let me know. I had been looking at them a couple weeks back, and decided to stick with HD wired (see my posts above). Would be keen to hear of an audiophile's experience with NY and bluetooth.
Watching you get all excited about your TT and new equipment caused an itch in me for upgrading my system. I hate the rabbit hole one can go in with all of this stuff.
However, i think speakers are probably the only thing that could use an upgrade.
tragabigzanda wrote:Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb
I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Mon January 12, 2026 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
I hooked my Sonos up to my stereo receiver and stream amazon hd through it. I don’t know if that’s actually hd once it gets through all of those components (and my internet connection) but hey it makes me feel like I accomplished something cool.
tragabigzanda wrote:lol why don't you like the Wharfedales?! They're supposed to be excellent, very transparent across the spectrum.
I'm not saying i dont like them. Im just saying the are the only things i would upgrade at this point.
Transparent is amazing if you have a good size room. My setup is very transparent and is in a big enough room to give the music space. Plus a nice size area to sway with my girl. However, transparent sounds off if you do a lot of listening via headphones or buds.
Think I’m going to try being kind to everyone a chance.
tragabigzanda wrote:lol why don't you like the Wharfedales?! They're supposed to be excellent, very transparent across the spectrum.
I'm not saying i dont like them. Im just saying the are the only things i would upgrade at this point.
Transparent is amazing if you have a good size room. My setup is very transparent and is in a big enough room to give the music space. Plus a nice size area to sway with my girl. However, transparent sounds off if you do a lot of listening via headphones or buds.
Yeah I agree with this. And I'll echo what I said earlier about sweet spot listening: If you've got the time to do it, great. But sometimes some color is nice too.
Agreed. I opted for the nice living room setup and then random Bose speakers with docking station in kitchen, bedrooms and portable speakers for where ever else I may find myself. The Bose mini II is the best portable speaker for the money.
Think I’m going to try being kind to everyone a chance.
super nintendo chalmers wrote:I mentioned this in the Neil thread, but does anyone have an Audioengine B1 or something similar, pretty much a dongle that makes an older amp bluetooth compatible? Pretty much a bluetooth aux cable that has a good DAC and can do HD files. I pretty much just stream with Spotify and whatever I added manually on my phone (another thread altogether) but I really want it to listen to the new Neil archives this weekend. Think its work the $200?
If you bite on this, let me know. I had been looking at them a couple weeks back, and decided to stick with HD wired (see my posts above). Would be keen to hear of an audiophile's experience with NY and bluetooth.
Good news, it shipped yesterday from NC and should arrive in NYC tomorrow, so that's exciting.
Bad news, I won't be able to stream the entire Neil set tomorrow. He's dropping the entire archives 2 disc by disc with the full set being available in fuggin' March.
I have 30 days to try it out. Part of me might return it, but I'm going to want it eventually. We've got a couple of bluetooth speakers in the apartment and they're kind meh. So I'm excited to see what it's like being able to stream to the big rig.
David Yow wrote:How are Pearl Jam any different from Toto?
tragabigzanda wrote:Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb
I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Mon January 12, 2026 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
That's a great read. The B1 does aptX HD, aptX, AAC, and SBC. I think the only HD stuff I'll have immediate access to is the NYA, hence my excitement for finally purchasing the damned thing.
I've really grown sour into putting music from my computer to my phone, its pain in the ass. But, if I end up liking this gadget I might go back re download some bandcamp purchases as HQ files and go from there. But between us girls I'm prob just going to run Spotify and bandcamp app 90% of the time.
It might be overkill, but it'll be nice to have the option to use HD files if I want.
David Yow wrote:How are Pearl Jam any different from Toto?
Strat wrote:trag come to my house and setup my listening environment
I did successfully calibrate my turntable the other night with a scale and protractor, but I'm otherwise useless!
In all honesty, if my years in recording studios taught me anything useful, it's that casual listening is how we listen to the vast majority of our music, and that demoing equipment under a microscope is often useless.
It's an easy hole to fall into. What can end up happening is you spend more time figuring out how to get the best sound possible than you do actually listening to records.
