Hello from the Outer Hebrides

[TruxtenSpangler]

Hi, I am in the process of putting together a system that will stream from a QNAP nas running Asset. Because of my location listening to equipment can be a challenge so I have decided this time to go vintage'ish. I currently have a pair of PMC 20.23 and have just purchased an Avondale S100 dual mono power amp which will be upgraded with the NCC220 Qudos boards. Les (at Avondale) is very kindly rebuilding a 32.5 plus Hicap for me which should be ready at the end of January. I now just need to finalise a streamer and dac. I am currently considering using a 2012 Mac mini that I already have running Audirvana. Dac currently under consideration is a Caiman Seg. I also have some HD800 and Oppo PM1 headphones. All of these purchases have been made without audition and so I am never sure how this will all go together but that, for me at least, is part of the fun. I almost always buy secondhand so if it does not fit I can hopefully move it on without taking too much of a hit.
Days up here in the winter can be fairly short and the weather quite wild so with a nice fire and a small dram I listen to mainly jazz and classical. In the summer with the very long days I try to be out as much as possible walking with my camera and earphones playing mostly ambient. I find forums like these invaluable for gauging if a piece of kit is likely to appeal and thank you for sharing your opinions.

[Spectral Morn]

Welcome to AoS

[southall-1998_mk2]

Howdy! Welcome to AOS.

Have fun.

S.

[walpurgis]

Hello Phillip. Welcome to AOS.

Looks like a decent system you have coming together there.

There's a lot going on here, so join in the chat and get to know the members.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

[dave2010]

Hi Philip,

Looks like you're even further from the southern parts of the UK than I am, and you are very probably further north too - I just checked.

I have a Mac Mini dating from around 2013 with an i7 processor. It's very good, but you should be fine with your 2012 model.
I don't have a Caiman SEG, but I have thought about getting one. I do have one of the earlier Caimans, and I found Stan's service and advice very good. What was a surprise was the "burn in" process. It's really hard to know whether kit like that does need to be run in, but mine did seem to get better over an initial period. I talked to Stan about that, and he said it was normal, but I also queried whether I was imagining it. He assured me that I probably wasn't - as he'd noticed this himself. Pushing harder I asked whether he could also have been seduced by his memory, but he said no - being in a fairly unique position as a supplier and developer. As I understand it he'd compared ones which he'd run in for a while with others (or one of) which he'd stored from the same batch, and the run in ones sounded better.

If you do buy a new SEG, do let us know how you find it, and if it does burn in in the way I mentioned. I think it takes up to a month to get the full effects. I am a very sceptical person, so generally I don't believe this sort of thing, but this really did happen with mine. Of course if you get a pre-owned one you won't be able to tell us.

Do you get any form of broadband streaming where you are, or is that severely limited? Some others here do seem to be switching to streaming services, but I still prefer CDs or SACDs for quality - when I have the time. I have tried ripping for convenience, but for various reasons have reverted back to just putting the CD in most of the time. I'm also about to sample some Blu-Ray Audio - if I get round to plugging the units together!

Anyway, enjoy.

[TruxtenSpangler]

Hi Dave, looking at the map I am probably about level with Kylestrome on the mainland. How long have you been up here? The biggest shock for me when I first got here was how dark it was at night. I had never experienced a total lack of light pollution before.
Broadband is now is pretty good compared to when I first arrived and so streaming would certainly be a possibility. My family here have Apple Music & TV and we have Netflix etc. I really only listen to stuff that I have gathered over the years and is stored on a Qnap Nas. I have gradually been replacing 16/44 with 24/192 where available.
I rarely get a chance to compare two bits of kit side by side and so take the view that if I am spending more time listening to the music than the equipment then it must be ok. As far as burn in I am not sure that I have ever noticed that but I will endeavour to listen for any changes once everything has arrived and I am up and running.
Thanks to all for the welcome.

[struth]

Hi and welcome. You don't get much further out than you I guess.
Good to see music still important in the islands..

[Firebottle]

Hi Philip,
Welcome to AoS, I would suggest the Topping D50 DAC with a linear power supply, particularly if you can get one second hand.
Good luck with your search.

[eatapeach]

Hi Philip and welcome

Please share your progress with streaming....I currently have a ‘legacy’ system for vinyl and cd, and a sonos connect playing through Yamaha HS8 active monitors in the kitchen for everyday music throughout the house. That plays from a NAS as well as Amazon unlimited. So I’m trying to pull all these things together and ideally get better quality streaming - I’m currently thinking through Amazon HD for 12.99 or Tidal for 19.99 - so I’ll be interested in your thoughts about a streaming device

Cheers and welcome

[dave2010]

Hi Dave, looking at the map I am probably about level with Kylestrome on the mainland. How long have you been up here? The biggest shock for me when I first got here was how dark it was at night. I had never experienced a total lack of light pollution before.

As far as burn in I am not sure that I have ever noticed that but I will endeavour to listen for any changes once everything has arrived and I am up and running.

I think you must be about 60 miles further north, and way out to the west in the ocean. We're going to visit Lewis and Harris later in the year - I have no idea what to expect.

We've been here - on and off - for more than a year now - and completely cut off bolt holes in the south just over a month ago. I do find it cold, but then there has been a lot of rain in the southern parts, so perhaps the weather is just difficult everywhere - but different!

There are two factors re skies. 1. Light pollution, and 2. cloud cover. There's not much point in having low light pollution for sky watching if the cloud cover is often significant. When I was young my dad used to point out stars to me, and also the Milky Way. Later on in life I have searched for the Milky Way - mostly never saw it. Once in France on holiday I stepped out to take rubbish to the bins - almost falling over in the process as it was so dark. Then I looked up. Wow!

I think parts of Africa also have low light pollution, and it's possible to see the Milky Way and lots of astronomical features which are otherwise not visible in most of the UK.

Do you get the Northern Lights?

I really did feel that there was a burn-in process for the Beresford kit. I agree it doesn't really matter if you like the sound anyway - and just listen, but I really did feel that my equipment sounded better after a week or two - and according to Stan I probably wasn't imagining it. Would be interested to know if you find that - if you buy from new.