dlapointeus

Thanks for the replies. Budget is probably anything less than $500. The laptop I currently have is a Lenovo Legion. Something that could play the MQA from Tidal would be ideal. I looked at this: https://www.audiophile-heaven.com/2020/01/natural-mqa-dac-performer-pro-ject-prebox-s2-digital.html But I'm still not totally clear about what the best thing to plug into a vintage hifi system is.

Hey all - I have a system that I've been using for a lot of years solely for vinyl playback and it's given me a lot of enjoyment. HH Scott tube amp, K-horns, and nice Technics turntable. Recently I added a Denon CD player, and was really surprised at how nice it sounded. I'd like to use a laptop to try to stream Spotify or Tidal... but am completely clueless as to what the optimal set up would be. Not looking to spend a lot of money, and basically just trying to get something that sounds as good (or better?) than the cds. Any direction/suggestions would be much appreciated. Just too much info and not enough time to research this myself. This community has given me incredible advice in regards to setting up my current system, room treatments, etc... Hoping it can come through again! Thanks in advance!

I just wanted to loop back into this after a few weeks of playing around with things. First of all, many, many thanks to everybody who said to definitely keep these speakers. It would have been a huge mistake to try to replace them. I had the Scott amp cleaned up by a local person who works on tube amps, and did the same with the turntable. In addition, I took the advice of the absorption panels on the ceiling and build some false corners to get the speakers to fit tight, and the results were.... AMAZING. In fact, it was so enjoyable that I went to a HiFi store and listened to their reference system - NAD amp, the top end Paradigm speakers, very expensive turntable, etc. - and the difference in sound on a few of the same albums (Keith Jarret, Muddy Waters) was honestly barely noticeable to my old ears. I felt the imaging was comparable...something I never thought I'd even achieve in a small space. I'm sure it's not optimal - but as one post said, it sounds great to me, which is all that matters. I'm curious about the class D amp, and giving that a try. Any more detail in regards to that would be much appreciated (suggestions for the amp / preamp, etc...) Thanks again for all the great advice from this community!

Hey Chris - I really like the suggestion of potentially modifying the speakers and storing the top hats for when I (hopefully) move into a much bigger space in a few years. It sounds like a project that could be a lot of fun. I'm pretty technically capable (software engineer)... but I think I'd need a little more detail in addition to what you posted. Can you point me in the direction of any posts/documentation where I could start? Many thanks.

Hi - thanks for all the input and advice. This is our retirement home (no plans to leave)... but this is the room I get from my wife and kids for the next few years. So, I'm definitely going to hang on to these with the hopes I get an upgraded space when all the kids are off to college The "stage" in the center is actually just a creative way to cover up ledge that the original owners just poured the foundation over - so unfortunately that's not going anywhere. I am going to definitely try the suggestion(s) of some of the room treatments. I do have a couple of questions: - should the horns be physically touching the walls in the corners? (i.e. no baseboard trim, etc.). if I can't get a totally snug fit, is it worth trying to build some type of false corners, and if so is there a good guide for that? - I dug out my original old equipment to get them running - HH Scott 222-D integrated tube amp and a Technics SL-5210 Turntable. Even with this equipment, they sounded WAY better than anything I've had connected before - which has actually made me want to really try to get the best out of them in the space. Assuming I don't have unlimited budget - maybe $2k for equipment - is it worth trying to upgrade the amp/tt? If so, any suggestions would be most welcome. Right now I'm thinking this will be solely for 2 channel playback (tried them with our Harmon Kardon AVR HT amp and the quality was noticeably inferior to the Scott), but if people have any thoughts on that, I'd love to hear it as well. Thanks much!

Recently I cleared out a family member's storage unit and came home with a pair of Klipschorns. I believe they are circa mid 1970's. I'm pretty well educated in regards to newer/digital audio, however relatively new to anything vintage or analog. In addition I was able to get two amplifiers - HH Scott 222-D tube amp, and AKAI AM-2800. Both seem to be in decent condition, however would need some cleaning and/or attention. Lastly was a Technics SL-5210 turntable. I have a pretty large vinyl collection from when I was young and really want to maximize the khorns, solely for them. I have a decent sized room (maybe 16 x 12) with solid corners. I know there is tons of info online about the various components and I've read a LOT (almost overwhelming), but I'm hoping to get any feedback here on what the best approach might be. I have a modest amount I could invest - but is it worth trying to recondition one of the amps, use the turntable, go an entirely different direction, etc... I understand it's a pretty vague question - but any input would be greatly appreciated.