wadiman

Thanks for your thoughts HFW - The EAD is a great-sounding and very well made prepro from the past despite lacking a few modern inputs - it does a great job of DTS decoding. I have a Bryston 5 ch poweramp. I think I'll just persevere with the current boxes.

Thanks AV - yes the TCL does so I can do that for sure.

Thanks Snoopy - unfortunately the EAD prepro is pretty old so doesn't have HDMI input. It does have an optical input and this is what I was using previously. I do get your point - I can pretty much achieve what I'm after with my existing gear.

Hi all - In the words of the Borg I've come to understand that 'resistance is futile' (Star trek reference for those who aren't into Sci-fi) and I now want to add a DAC/Streamer to my system. Here's what I want to do: * Take the ARC HDMI output from my TCL C845 TV and send that via the Streamer/DAC to my old-school preamp/processor (EAD Theatermaster) thence to 5ch speakers (0.1 not needed!) * Allow bluray player connection via optical or coax and send the video output to the TV (is this possible?) via ARC; send digital audio output to the pre/processor * Connect the digital output from my Arcam FMJ23 CD player to the DAC (or I may stay with the inbuilt DAC in it if it does a better job on the conversion) * Stream internet radio and possibly tidal or quoboz * Allow playback of FLAC files (not sure of best way to do this - I do have an old Apple Macbook pro that could be used for this purpose) from ripped CDs The sound signature I'm after is a little to the warm-side of neutral. Two potential candidates that I'm aware of are the Bluesound Node icon and Eversolo DMP A6 master gen 2. Budget is sub $3k. Keen to hear any thoughts!

Nice one MrN - you won't regret it!

Just got back from a Japan trip a few weeks ago. For the love of the Whiskey gods - if you're over there and like a tipple - do yourself a flavour and pick up a bottle or four of this. Retails here for A$80 - will cost you around A$25 in a convenience store over there!

Phasemation offerings from Sonic Purity. Haven't seen any mentions on this thread - their units sound amazing (I have an older model EA3II) and very well made. I auditioned Manley, Alninc, and a few others before deciding. This model is well within your price range: https://sonicpurity.com.au/store/phono-stages/phasemation-ea-320

We all know the Japanese are huge JBL fans. Interestingly, they seem to be able to buy the S4700s for about 1/4 of the Aus price! 495,000 yen ~ A$5,000 (pricing at BIC camera, Shinjuku, Tokyo this week). What's going on here!

Nice work Cafe! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts as they settle in. What are you driving them with - can’t quite make it out.

Dave - I've had Dali Euphonia MS4s for a decade or more - the Epicon 6s are the replacement for these. I auditoned them nbot long after their release at Audio Connections. To my ears they sounded a little better than my MS4s but had a very similar sonic signature - big soundstage, dynamic and great bass among other things. I didn't think they were worth the asking price though - very$ at circa $20k.

Thanks Cafe!

I had one of these a few years back - gave a pretty good account of itself!

Hi there SNers - I'm heading over to old blighty in a little while and will be checking out a few shops. Just wondering if anyone's been there recently and would care to pass comment on UK vs Aus pricing for used rock and pop records (70s and 80s mainly). For bonus points - name your favourite establishments in ye old London town. Thanks chums

Many thanks PW - I think I can handle that job!

Can't remember why - but they tell you do so in the manual.

BTW - should have mentioned that phase is deliberately inverted (I have a CJ preamp).

Hi all - One of the 4 (banana?) plugs - the upper blue one - has snapped in half. I have forced the broken bits together and they are holding - for now! Not being familiar with terminating this type of cable is it as simple as cutting off the remnants of the current plug and reterminating with - say - a screw on 4mm banana? As you can see in the pic I haven't pulled this apart as yet so not sure how the ribbon would work with a normal banana. Thanks for your thoughts!

Selby have this unit available now it seems - https://www.selby.com.au/price-promise/solidsteel-s3-3-hi-fi-rack.html

Extra Info: Happy to collect or arrange for pack and send to collect. Thanks!

How would you access internet radio via this?

Brilliant!

Hi Clive - If there's still a spot I'm keen to come along - looking forward to comparing notes with a fellow CJ fan!

Hificrazee - Is this the 2016 version? Thanks

Snoopy - how about adding March Audio to the list? https://marchaudio.com/amplifiers/?v=6cc98ba2045f