Lost: streaming & changing my system HELP


I have been fixed to my current system for about 15 years. I am going to be down sizing and it is time to revisit Audio Land & learn.-- please help me sort thru my issues and eventually we will get to streaming and updating dacs--I am involved with antiques:

Interests have been 2 Chanel lp's & CD's
Wide range of musical interests from punk rock to Renaissance.  All sorts of classical and primarily acoustic jazz..I use a $200 system for video 

Current system: pass aleph 1a mono blocks, pass preamp and phono stage feed by scout tt with a few flavors of magnet carts. Current listening room is 35x40 ft
Likely will be moving to high rise 1300 sft 2/2.
Want to keep my silverline LaFolia speakers as I love them. Very efficient towers which I first heard driven by 7 Watt tubes. The designer,Allan Yun voiced then on nelson pass amps. I have spoken with him and he can only discuss what knows.
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The huge pass alephs are class a space heaters that I cannot imagine in an apartment. Allan Yun who designed my speakers tells me I am crazy to sell them used as likely to net less than $2 000. Can they be Adapted for use in an apartment  eg stack then in a corner and never use more than the first 10 beautiful pure watts of holographic imaging and musical presence that they produce???

Topic 1 alternative to pass aleph 1a? Smaller pass amps eg first Watt?

Topic 2 enter the modern world with a minimalist approach: playing around with the concept of Naim Nova all in one? Or cambridge Azur 851 feeding lower power ss sweet amps.
Will all in one's be an acceptable solution? Hoping for buget of less than $10k for Naim Nova solution or ca Azur 851 with sweet little ss Amp .
Brooklyn bridge???? Should I really listen when someone tries to sell.me the Brooklyn bridge?? Streamer. Dac and preamp. Reading reviews. I sense it might be a real contender.

Topic 3 which over laps with one and two.   How do I learn with basics to under the current set of options to enjoy hi res streaming; digitalizing 1500 cds and controlling everything. Reviewers discuss roon, different digital formats, howvto get great sound out of tidal and some service I cannot imagine how to pronounce that starts with q.

Please help this music lover who is 15 years or more out of date.
Ps I am still using my Sony monster 777es super cd player. Can I use this as a transport with good results?

Help!!!!!!!!!


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Showing 3 responses by ghdprentice

Sounds challenging. You might have noticed that The Absolute Sound had and article in the last two issues on downsizing Audio. Not the approach you are thinking about. But worth reading.
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I can speak to streaming as I have dipped my toe in and out at first... and built a crazy good headphone system at work. Then was in an out of it at home. Now streaming constitutes my primary listening. I listen to LPs about 10 - 15% of the time, just more or less for fun... while analog has a very small advantage over streaming in detail...it is not really significant enough for me to choose one over the other. You might check out my system to see where I am coming from.
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First off... exactly the same principles apply to the digital world as did the analog when it choosing equipment. The more you spend the better is sounds, there are different house sounds. Given it is 2021. You can get a high end streaming service Qubuz is the best (whole topic), and Tidal second best. They cost $19.95 a month... say the cost of a CD a month... gives you access to tens of thousands of HQ music and hundreds of thousands of red book quality. {So now when reading about great albums in the back of The Absolute Sound, I just type them into my iPad streamer screen and listen to them... no delay}. I am retired and listen to music about 3 hours a day... I will never have to listen to the same thing twice unless I want to. I would not bother ripping my CDs (many people still would). I would just get rid of them. Take up too much space. Most streamers have storage if you want to store your music. I have not really used it (although my 2,000 CD are on them. We are in transition... CD player are slowly being discontinued and storage on streamers is getting smaller, streaming is the future) If, on extremely rare occasions the network goes out... I’ll spin an LP... I can’t remember this happening in the last year.
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Lets say my preamp cost $10K and my amp cost $10K, and my speakers cost $20K... then you probably want to put $10K into your Streamer and $10K into your DAC. Or $5K / $5K... or $20K etc... just a gross rule of thumb. Look to Aurender for your music server. I have owned a couple and now have their flagship. There are many good DACs. Look at Berkeley, but most main stream audio companies have good ones.. Choosing these and interconnects are the same as choosing any other audio components. Streamer / DACs come together like preamp / amp... same reasons to have a separate streamer / DAC as in the analog world.
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I would like to say this will be easy... but honestly it is not going to be. You know, you change one thing... there are consequences and your listening room is about the size of mine. If I was confronted with the change your are talking about. I would call up my audio guy and use all my current stuff as trade in to buy new stuff that is appropriate to your new space. I would also, think seriously about only streaming. No physical disks. I love my turntable... but.
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I could write a book about my transition. PM me if you want to talk off line. 
Oops, I intended to say Aurender N100 Streamer (not A100)... it comes in a number of flavored. I have one in my headphone system. They make a lot of different ones.
I have owned Threshold / Pass stuff for most of the last 40+ years. If you like your amps and preamp then I am sure you can tuck them away. If you prefer to dip your toe in instead of blowing all of the $10K, I recommend a Schiit Yggidrasil DAC (~2,500), competes with DACs at twice the price. An absolutely screaming deal. (Or Bryston BDA-3, ~3,500). Needs 200+ hours to start achieving it’s capability. personally am not a Naim fan or of integrated Streamer / DAC. Look at an Aurender A100 Streamer (~3,900). This combination should give you everything you need for really great sound (with some storage if you want to rip some CDs). Natural, detailed, not digital. I think it likely the sound of these should on par or better than you CDs... and competitive with your analog end.
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Personally, I have never been a fan of the Naim sound. You can do streaming from a PC... but you have to fiddle with the PC or laptop and they are incredibly noisy devices. Music streamers are built from the ground up to be quiet and reliable. For years I didn’t want to believe it and used every device you can shake a stick at... then an Auralic Aries G2 changed my mind... which I then traded for an Aurender... then upgraded because it was sooo good. I could completely live with steaming only now.