View Full Version : What will your system look like in 10 years time?
Thought it would be interesting to see what people would finally aspire to in terms of their kit within what they think might be either obtainable or within financial reach (eventually!).
What do you think you would like to (or will) end up with?
I should say "no change" for me (especially if the Mrs sees this post) but I'd like a pair of Westminster Royals at some point before I peg it:drool:
Jonneville
22-05-2013, 11:25
Think the TD 124 will probably be changed for a large and ludicrous Australian broadcast TT and the VRDS 25 probably change to a Wadia or Krell.
Regards
Jon'.
walpurgis
22-05-2013, 11:50
Will we still be using vinyl? Will moving coil loudspeakers still be predominant?
I can't see me changing much myself, I like what I've got very much.
But there again will I still be around in ten years and if I am, will my hearing still be good?
Will we still be using vinyl? Will moving coil loudspeakers still be predominant?
I can't see me changing much myself, I like what I've got very much.
But there again will I still be around in ten years and if I am, will my hearing still be good?
Or perhaps we will be sitting around in our bath chairs discussing the merits of audiophile hearing aids? :lol:
Hearing aids? Pah!...just turn the volume up :wheniwasaboy::hairmetal:
Weirdly..
I see my old wall of CD's having been replaced by ripped cds/ computer audio...
being replaced by a wall of vinyl.
(along with the digital stuff of course :))
hoopsontoast
23-05-2013, 09:21
I dont know what it will look like in 10 weeks time, let alone 10 months or 10 years :lol:
:mental:
It's interesting how obsessed we can become with always wanting the latest gizmo sometimes and feeling as if we're somehow missing out on new developments or technology when we are perfectly happy with our lot at present. I personally don't need nor see the need to go down the computer audio route irrespective of how much more convenient it might be, and I have no doubt that I'll get left behind in this respect. The fact that many of us still use vinyl systems using technology designed 60 years ago says something of the quality of replay many are content with, or that irreplaceable collections of music have evolved around that technology.
I can see the need if moving to perhaps look at loudspeaker changes and every so often am tempted by a different amp. Its as much part of the hobby as music, swapping kit. So there may be some changes down the line but nothing where I can see a need, it's usually more of a want.
Beobloke
23-05-2013, 11:54
Mine will look the same, just dustier.
Mine will look the same, just dustier.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Dammvippa.jpg/220px-Dammvippa.jpg
RA does a Rhodium one.
freefallrob
23-05-2013, 13:23
http://www.whathifi.com/sites/whathifi.com/files/images/2013/May/RuarkAudioR7.jpg
Alan Sircom
23-05-2013, 13:41
A decade from now? That's fairly easy.
Everything will be named in a slightly Greco-Roman or Norse mythological manner. Which means there will be products called 'Bellerophon', 'Cadmus', 'Herfjötur' and 'Chlamydia'.
The system will be so expensive, you won't be able to play it. You might be able to look at it from time to time when the armed guards are changing shift.
It will be entirely decoupled from the planet, floating on a cloud of nonsense, counterbalanced by the weight of its own self-importance.
Most of the components will be made up of elements that don't exist yet, and have a half-life measured in femtoseconds. That means you might need to rebuild the product between every note it plays, but that's all part of being an audiophile.
The signal path will be so refined that it will not only refuse to play anything other than the best possible recordings, it will immediately kill you and your family for deigning to bother it with lowly music.
It will be capable of playing at 256-bit/384x20^24Hz, but if you turn the volume beyond one on the dial, you may implode the planet due to the dynamic range on offer.
The Mark II version will be even better.
A cheaper, hipster version might be available second-hand, but it will only play on Thursdays, because that's the most ironic day if the week.
Ammonite Audio
23-05-2013, 13:58
http://www.whathifi.com/sites/whathifi.com/files/images/2013/May/RuarkAudioR7.jpg
Oh, yes!
Mine will look the same, just dustier.
That too!
A decade from now? That's fairly easy.
Everything will be named in a slightly Greco-Roman or Norse mythological manner. Which means there will be products called 'Bellerophon', 'Cadmus', 'Herfjötur' and 'Chlamydia'.
The system will be so expensive, you won't be able to play it. You might be able to look at it from time to time when the armed guards are changing shift.
It will be entirely decoupled from the planet, floating on a cloud of nonsense, counterbalanced by the weight of its own self-importance.
Most of the components will be made up of elements that don't exist yet, and have a half-life measured in femtoseconds. That means you might need to rebuild the product between every note it plays, but that's all part of being an audiophile.
The signal path will be so refined that it will not only refuse to play anything other than the best possible recordings, it will immediately kill you and your family for deigning to bother it with lowly music.
It will be capable of playing at 256-bit/384x20^24Hz, but if you turn the volume beyond one on the dial, you may implode the planet due to the dynamic range on offer.
The Mark II version will be even better.
A cheaper, hipster version might be available second-hand, but it will only play on Thursdays, because that's the most ironic day if the week.
So Naim will be out of the equation then ;)
Fetmoseconds Alan?
I suspect you maybe have been talking to / Visiting Larry from MSB recently.
On second thoughts a weapon of mass destruction capable of destroying Celestial bodies at a range of 25 light years?
No wait, was that not on demonstration at Munich in the focal room?
EqvYNlUIx8Q Kind of reminds me of this
I have absolutely no doubt it will be made up of these;
http://img.ebyrcdn.net/417285-409850-290.jpg
attached to one of these;
http://img1.elmir.ua/img/124545/3000/2000/materinskaya_plata_+_protsessor_nm10_intel_boxdn28 00mt_mini-itx.jpg
powered by something like this;
http://www.tnt-audio.com/jpg/pr3g2-30.jpg
all in a plain black box alongside a couple of other black boxes and driving these;
(I actually want all the black boxes out of sight, so all you will see are the speakers and controller tablet alongside the listening position - no visible components at all)
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/6681/web6000015vy5.jpg
. . . which will never be replaced, unless I get another pair of Harbeth speakers :D
(apart from tinkering with my front-end there is nothing I really aspire to now, as I'm a happy bunny)
There is however one final piece missing which isn't HiFi but one of these will be arriving in a couple of years time;
http://www.stocktons.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Voyager-Chair_3.jpg
So to answer the OP, my system will look like the last two items pictured, everything else will be out of sight ;)
EqvYNlUIx8Q Kind of reminds me of this
Excellent... :lol:
Thing Fish
23-05-2013, 18:14
Mine will be pretty much the same apart from my lovely Crofts being fully upgraded and an upgrade from MM to MC with suitable SUT.
Big JBL - K2 or similar, Tannoy 15 inch DC or maybe big Ushers or that PMC 'death by Bass' effort.
A Lenco GL75 with all the mods.
Or - if I do achieve my dream of retiring to the Caribbean - a tablet thingy and some active speakers with all the pre and DAC etc on board.
How will it look it 10 years time...? Well, I expect there will be more lumps taken out of the speaker cabinets that no-one ever seems to know anything about... If I'm lucky, it will just be the tweeters that get poked in and not the irreplaceable midrange/woofers... Assuming the turntable survives Armageddon then I doubt the cartridge will - at least not without a cantilever approximately 90 degrees different to nature's intention... I don't use the CD player much these days, even less in 10 years, which will be just as well as it will only ever work if it is jam on toast stuck in the drawer. If I'm lucky, my HDD's won't all have died, and I might have some files to play on whatever PC is still breathing by then... #
Maybe I should be investigating Cassette after all!
. . . if I do achieve my dream of retiring to the Caribbean
Whereabouts Martin?
Whereabouts Martin?
I went on a recce a couple of years ago to St Kitts and Nevis. You have to invest $400,000 in property and then you get automatic citizenship. Although asking about there are cheaper but still legitimate methods. Beautiful place and still undeveloped for the most part.
WOStantonCS100
23-05-2013, 20:11
The only constant in my system (for the past 10 years) has been a Techy and vinyl. I suspect they will remain constants in the next 10 years barring "acts of God", as they say. On the other hand, I fully expect the digital side of things to change and mutate.
walpurgis
23-05-2013, 20:16
Lets be pessimistic. In ten years the world's fuel resources will be so depleted that to have electricity to power Hi-Fi will be a luxury only accessible by the mega rich. We normal souls, on the other hand will have reverted to hand cranked, wind up gramophones, for which we will have paid huge prices for vintage items and even sillier prices for new equivalents from companies like maybe Rega, who I'm sure could turn them out. 78 rpm records will be the new (old) format and vintage media too will have gone through the roof.
James Dyson could make a killing if he produced a larger, cycle powered version of the clockwork mechanism from his wind up radio, in which case we could all benefit from the exercise as we charge up our hifi gear... :lol:
....we could all learn to play a musical instrument and get together for jamming sessions in our candle lit dens as an alternative. Yak-wool hand knitted rainbow coloured jumpers will probably be the norm as there'll be a shortage of wood for the woodburners due to mass hysteria following the fuel crisis resulting in complete de-forestation and we'll have burnt all the furniture. Power will be reserved for the nation-wide series of digital transmitters so that politicians can keep telling us "we've never had it so good".
Blimey, I only asked :lol:
I will have moved to, hopefully, somewhere peaceful and serene in Yorkshire or somewhere north. The system will be largely the same, probably with some change to source components to accommodate all the online feeds available. Some room treatment changes and hopefully that'll be it. I love my system and don't see that I will be changing it much. Time will tell.
I went on a recce a couple of years ago to St Kitts and Nevis.
Nice one Martin, I lived in the Caymans for 2 years in 2000. I hope to go back for a couple more years when I retire and before finally settling in Suffolk, but a lot depends on my fathers health.
I wish you luck, a lot to be said for living in the Carib, as long as you don't let the hurricanes get you down. Worst I had was a 3 and found it quite exciting TBH . . . made a right mess of the house and garden though - but that's the price you pay for living in paradise :eyebrows:
I imagine I be near Chocolate Hills in Bohol semi retired with a dedicated hifi room close by
Nice one Martin, I lived in the Caymans for 2 years in 2000. I hope to go back for a couple more years when I retire and before finally settling in Suffolk, but a lot depends on my fathers health.
I wish you luck, a lot to be said for living in the Carib, as long as you don't let the hurricanes get you down. Worst I had was a 3 and found it quite exciting TBH . . . made a right mess of the house and garden though - but that's the price you pay for living in paradise :eyebrows:
I was there in Hurricane Season but there was only a couple of squalls. The Caymans look fantastic but a bit out of my price range, I think I would rather retire there than Suffolk given the option - this country is just too cold for me. The climate there is not too good for vinyl though so a computer based system would make perfect sense even though it offends my purist sensibilities ;). The seafood alone makes up for it - I thought I had eaten lobster before until I tried it caught fresh from the sea that day :eek:
The Caymans look fantastic but a bit out of my price range, I think I would rather retire there than Suffolk given the option
You would think so, but you do get rock fever after awhile - nowt to do there apart from scuba diving or golf, which suited me for the time I was there, but culturally you are starved and buying anything out of the ordinary can be tricky (and expensive), I used to do my shopping in Florida, only a 75min flight. Still a great island though, best option is to have a second home there and spend the winter there, but that ain't gonna happen unless I win the Lotto :lol:
I do miss the weather though and you are so right about the seafood - conch fritters, yum yum, I really miss them :(
(computer audio is perfect for there - if I do mange to go back, I'm just taking a pc, a Mini-T and HRT DAC and my pair of Celestion 5's, perfect for a small house near the beach :D)
I did wonder about the golf. There was a PGA ranked course where I stayed but I didn't see anyone playing - I really couldn't imagine playing golf in that heat.
I really couldn't imagine playing golf in that heat.
Its not long before the heat becomes the norm Martin, 3-6 months and I was fully acclimatised, it was funny in the winter when the tourists came over and got off the plane in their shorts and T's and we were all saying how cold it was in our jeans, whilst the tourists ran up a sweat :lol:
Anyway, apologies to the OP as I have steered this a little off course :o
Ali Tait
24-05-2013, 17:37
I was there in Hurricane Season but there was only a couple of squalls. The Caymans look fantastic but a bit out of my price range, I think I would rather retire there than Suffolk given the option - this country is just too cold for me. The climate there is not too good for vinyl though so a computer based system would make perfect sense even though it offends my purist sensibilities ;). The seafood alone makes up for it - I thought I had eaten lobster before until I tried it caught fresh from the sea that day :eek:
My beloved late uncle used to have a prawn and lobster boat on the West Coast, at a wee place called Achiltibuie, about 15 miles from Ullapool. When we still lived in Braemar, he used to come across for a visit, usually with a fertilizer bag full of king prawn, lobster and crab, all still alive when he arrived. You're right to say you've never really tasted it till you've tried it really fresh. Nothing like it.
Its not long before the heat becomes the norm Martin, 3-6 months and I was fully acclimatised, it was funny in the winter when the tourists came over and got off the plane in their shorts and T's and we were all saying how cold it was in our jeans, whilst the tourists ran up a sweat :lol:
Anyway, apologies to the OP as I have steered this a little off course :o
Yes apologies OP - but has been useful to anyone considering a future Caribbean system set-up or, alternatively, fresh seafood...
this country is just too cold for me
Seriously? What do you say when you go to a properly cold country like Canada or Russia? I have to say that the weather here is one of the things that may keep me in this country as I cannot abide the heat. That and, as Tim says, the culture. My sister lives in Houston and the weather is quite disgustingly hot for part of the year and the culture is virtually non-existent.
Ali Tait
24-05-2013, 17:51
Aye, where I come from, Braemar, is in the Guinness Book Of Records as the coldest place in the UK. Minus 27. Now that was a chilly night..
Seriously? What do you say when you go to a properly cold country like Canada or Russia? I have to say that the weather here is one of the things that may keep me in this country as I cannot abide the heat. That and, as Tim says, the culture. My sister lives in Houston and the weather is quite disgustingly hot for part of the year and the culture is virtually non-existent.
I don't go to countries that are colder than this one :) - not with my own money, anyway. I'm not a culture vulture and anyway that's what the telly is for ;) And isn't Houston in Texas? No culture? They have ZZ Top FFS!
Ali Tait
24-05-2013, 17:55
And ten gallon hats!
Rare Bird
24-05-2013, 17:56
Mine never stays the same but will always move within the kit i have hoarded. One thing is it will always be vintage always loike mi Bruvvers..
I'm not a culture vulture and anyway that's what the telly is for ;)
You obviously haven't been exposed to US TV :eek:
Aye, where I come from, Braemar, is in the Guinness Book Of Records as the coldest place in the UK. Minus 27. Now that was a chilly night..
I recall in the film Braveheart that Mel Gibson has to sleep rough in the Highlands so he just lies down in the heather and pulls his kilt up over his head. Bloody tough you Scotsmen.:lol:
You obviously haven't been exposed to US TV :eek:
Yes I have. At length. I've seen worse. French TV is worse.
Ali Tait
24-05-2013, 18:07
I recall in the film Braveheart that Mel Gibson has to sleep rough in the Highlands so he just lies down in the heather and pulls his kilt up over his head. Bloody tough you Scotsmen.:lol:
Aye, it's a bugger when you've been chucked out of the pub and the missus won't let you in! :lol:
My system is already better than all of yours. In ten years time, it will be better than mine.:ner:
Joking aside, I think it may be fairly similar. Better Apogees, but still similar.
My system is already better than all of yours. In ten years time, it will be better than mine.:ner:
Joking aside, I think I may be fairly similar. Better Apologies, but still similar.
Fixt :ner:
"What else can I be? All apologies." K.Cobain.
I'm hoping I'll investigate DIY projects a bit more in the future, although I'm such a lazy git I'll need a one-stop-shop to start with - boards with components-kits and an easy-drill case.
jandl100
27-05-2013, 06:46
Well, I hope nothing terminal has happened to my MBLs by then, I'd like them to still be here.
Other than that, I'm sure it will all have changed many times.
It'll be interesting to see if I've been won over by a streaming technology by then.
... hi-rez live streaming from the Cloud, with all the world's music just a hand wave and finger jiggle or two away ... yeah, I might go for that.
... if I'm not pushing up the daisies by then! :deceased: :lol:
jandl100
27-05-2013, 06:56
... living abroad? ... nah, been there, done that.
We might moan about Dear Old Blighty - but there's no place like home!
I recall you saying you lived in Spain for a bit Jerry - why was it you came back?
jandl100
27-05-2013, 09:37
I recall you saying you lived in Spain for a bit Jerry - why was it you came back?
Well, to make a short story long ....
Ever since I was a nipper and had a family holiday in Spain, I'd always wanted to retire there. So the time finally came and the wife and I quit work at the tender age of 45 or so and bought a wonderful house (sorry, villa ;)) in rural Spain, about 30 minutes drive inland from the Costa Blanca coast.
This snap of the view from the balcony wrapping round the front of the house gives you an idea ....
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/84BalconyGeorge-1_zps5a83777e.jpg
We were a little way outside the small village of Barxeta, some 50km south of Valencia. You can see the village in the distance, centre left.
The stuff dreams are made of, really.
All went well for about 18 months.
Then, one day I was sitting in the living room, looking out thru a huge picture window on this fantastic view and a little thought popped into my noggin .... "I want to go home" it said.
Blimey, that was a shock. :scratch:
I'd got home sick. :doh:
It took 6 months to sort out a house back in the UK.
God, but I was happy to get back home! :)
That does look idyllic. My uncle retired to Spain about 20 years ago, Costa Blanca. He keeps a house in the UK as well but I don't think he is in any hurry to come back. You only lasted 18 months! You must have had it bad. Although I know the Forest of Dean is a very beautiful place. I do like this country it's just the winters are too long and too cold, I'd put up with a bit of homesickness to escape them I think.
jandl100
27-05-2013, 09:50
... I'd put up with a bit of homesickness to escape them I think.
Ah, well.
I don't think you've been homesick, then!
It's a really gut-wrenching feeling.
Our last summer in Spain was that really hot one in 2003 (?) - temperatures well over 100F every day for weeks on end - I really enjoy the Brit winters now! :lol:
Ah, well.
I don't think you've been homesick, then!
:
lol, maybe not! I'm a bit of a vagabond, where I lay my hat is my home - as long as I have my tunes, my beer and a bit of telly :)
Haselsh1
27-05-2013, 10:20
Although its not in the same league as you guys, in 2005 I moved to Pickering in North Yorkshire away from the Lincolnshire seaside and I lived there for seven years. Whilst I was there I set up a florist business tied to Interflora and settled in with a new woman but I was far from happy. For most of the seven years I so longed to be back at the seaside where I grew up. In 2012, everything collapsed regarding my newish relationship so I immediately used it as an excuse to go back home where I belonged. I met Sue and we made our new home back in Lincolnshire. Sue adores music, even modern jazz and we share that passion. She is also into hi-fi. So, here we are, back where we belong.
The thought of retirement to Spain or France appeals to me and the day may yet come! I know what Jerry means though as I've lived in the Far East (Thailand and Singapore), and closer to home, lived on Jersey for a while before becoming stir crazy and travelled extensively in Europe. These were forced travels and not from choice and although I enjoyed my stays in various places, it was always good to get back to the Cotswolds. Trouble is every other beggar's had the same idea in the past 20 years, mostly those who never lived here in the first place and it's now unrecognisable in my area from what it was...hence the draw of returning to France or Spain. I think you tend to miss the vistas and solitude plus the more laid back way of life and the weather somewhere like Spain, but the inbred cultural differences and worry about healthcare etc tend to become more prevalent the older you get (unless you're loaded and don't need to worry particularly about cash reserves).
Haselsh1
27-05-2013, 10:33
My main reason for not escaping Lincolnshire was always the emptiness of the place. The coastal flats and salt marshes are massive and the loneliness is astounding. I love walking with my cameras for hours and hours and hide in old wartime concrete when a huge thunderstorm sweeps across the place. The emotions are so overpowering and I adore it with a passion. The only two places I have ever been to which make me feel the same are Dungeness down on the south coast and Spurn Point in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Visiting these places is very special and I do realise and appreciate how lucky I am to have this connection. Of course after I have been out for a full Saturday the Greyhound in Marshchapel calls for a pint of fab real ale. Then its home and some music to finish the day. Bliss...!!!
Haselsh1
27-05-2013, 10:37
Regarding what my system will look like in ten years time; I do not want to know. That is the beauty of it, I don't want to know what ten years will bring.
I agree with those sentiments that suggest there is nothing quite like Blighty, despite successive government's attempts to destroy it by allowing over-population. I have spent some time abroad in all the continents and I've lived for short periods in Germany, the US and even Japan (well, the few weeks in Tokyo felt like years). I have always been happy to return home to our green land, there is nothing quite like it. Perhaps we all need to go away on occasion to appreciate what we have here?
Haselsh1
27-05-2013, 13:40
Perhaps we all need to go away on occasion to appreciate what we have here?
Shouldn't we do that with our Hi-Fi as well...?
Gordon Steadman
28-05-2013, 15:57
As someone who never had any intention of leaving the UK, I found that through circumstances, a move to somewhere more affordable was necessary.
As much as I loved my country, I find myself very much at home here. The people are friendly and welcoming, the scenery is very much like what was home, the food and wine is much better and the pace of life much better suited to an old git like me. There is an English bar in the village!!!
I don't think retirement to a place like this would be regretted.
If only the buggers spoke English:lol:
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