tatami
14-08-2018, 09:33
My name if Philip and I live in London. I listen almost exclusively to classical music – from early-17th century (eg Monteverdi) to mid-20th century (eg Shostakovich), primarily orchestral, chamber and instrumental.
I have a legacy Quad hi fi system comprising the 66/606 amplifier combo and a pair of ESL63s. For many years I fell out of the habit of using it. With the growth of digital downloads and more time on my hands, my interest in music was rekindled and I began searching for a way to link my iMac (on the top floor of the house) to my Quads (on the bottom floor).
Early attempts were frustrating.
I began by trying to stream music over my wireless network using an Apple AirPort Extreme. Our house has thick walls and the music suffered from intermittent drop-outs.
So I had an ethernet cable run from the top to bottom of the house and bought a Meridian Director DAC. That was a big improvement – better sound and no more drop-outs. But… the AirPort Extreme limited me to no better than CD-quality playback and I found iTunes really poor in its handling of my relatively extensive classical collection.
My next effort involved the purchase of a Yamaha WXC-50. I configured it to bypass the built-in pre-amp and to use the Meridian Director as a bridge to the Quad 66. This was a step up in terms of sound quality but… Yamaha’s MusicCast app, which I installed on my iPhone and iPad was horrendous: no search facility, no ability to scrub through tracks, endless mining nested folders looking for the recording I wanted to play. And as a result, I found myself only occasionally listening to music through the Quads.
Recently, I discovered Roon and have bought a lifetime subscription together with a microRendu to enable me to broadcast to the Quads. And suddenly, I’m listening to music the whole time! I’m not saying that Roon is the perfect solution – it’s definitely flawed in its handling of classical metadata. But it provides a seductive interface that encourages me to explore my collection and the connection over ethernet via the microRendu and Meridian Director feels really robust.
So now I’m thinking about investing in some upgrades to the rest of my set-up – though I might need to save up to do so!
One option is to replace the Meridian Director with a Chord Qutest.
A second is to replace the Quad 66 with a warmer pre-amp – a local dealer has recommend an Icon integrated amplifier, which he has in stock, bypassing the power amp and linking it to the 606.
A third option would be either to upgrade the 606 (it’s a first generation and I’ve read about various upgrade options) or replace it with, say, a 909.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.
I have a legacy Quad hi fi system comprising the 66/606 amplifier combo and a pair of ESL63s. For many years I fell out of the habit of using it. With the growth of digital downloads and more time on my hands, my interest in music was rekindled and I began searching for a way to link my iMac (on the top floor of the house) to my Quads (on the bottom floor).
Early attempts were frustrating.
I began by trying to stream music over my wireless network using an Apple AirPort Extreme. Our house has thick walls and the music suffered from intermittent drop-outs.
So I had an ethernet cable run from the top to bottom of the house and bought a Meridian Director DAC. That was a big improvement – better sound and no more drop-outs. But… the AirPort Extreme limited me to no better than CD-quality playback and I found iTunes really poor in its handling of my relatively extensive classical collection.
My next effort involved the purchase of a Yamaha WXC-50. I configured it to bypass the built-in pre-amp and to use the Meridian Director as a bridge to the Quad 66. This was a step up in terms of sound quality but… Yamaha’s MusicCast app, which I installed on my iPhone and iPad was horrendous: no search facility, no ability to scrub through tracks, endless mining nested folders looking for the recording I wanted to play. And as a result, I found myself only occasionally listening to music through the Quads.
Recently, I discovered Roon and have bought a lifetime subscription together with a microRendu to enable me to broadcast to the Quads. And suddenly, I’m listening to music the whole time! I’m not saying that Roon is the perfect solution – it’s definitely flawed in its handling of classical metadata. But it provides a seductive interface that encourages me to explore my collection and the connection over ethernet via the microRendu and Meridian Director feels really robust.
So now I’m thinking about investing in some upgrades to the rest of my set-up – though I might need to save up to do so!
One option is to replace the Meridian Director with a Chord Qutest.
A second is to replace the Quad 66 with a warmer pre-amp – a local dealer has recommend an Icon integrated amplifier, which he has in stock, bypassing the power amp and linking it to the 606.
A third option would be either to upgrade the 606 (it’s a first generation and I’ve read about various upgrade options) or replace it with, say, a 909.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.