Speakers and HIFI for your room or house

[Natacha]

I listen to a lot of music all the time and it's easy to hear difference in quality in speakers and HIFI. :yeah:
So what do you prefer and what are your needs?
If you could afford anything, what would you choose?

And do you like a style, where you can't see the speakers or do you think it's surposed to be visible a part of the interior?

[arnorway]

my parents have a stereo in the living room with big speakers but i prefer listening to music with earphones, which i do probably hours every day
if i ever get a place for myself, i would like to have some sort of stereo for parties and such but not sure i would get a big one with huge speakers, just one that connects to my phone and plays music, i guess :P but could be the extra speakers for the tv too

[Katie2003]

My dad has stuff he got from my grandpa, the speakers are huge ones painted gray with huge horns mounted on top of the cabinets, they came out of a recording studio he used to work in sometimes. They are in the family room but they rock the entire house! The amp is a chrome plated monster from the 60's with tubes in it. Dad has a professional studio turntable, four separate reel to reel tape units including a Tascam 8 track reel to reel that uses 1/2" tapes (which are expensive and hard to find). The only modern piece of equipment is a CD player, but we can plug in the computer to the amp and listen to anything or I can play backup accompaniment through it while I play lead guitar through my own amp.

I've never heard anyone else's stereo that sounds like ours. Kicks some serious butt......dad says grandpa actually cracked plaster walls in their house while he was growing up with this same system.

I had to go look and ask dad, the speakers have big labels on the side saying "Voice of the Theatre" and the amp is a Mcintosh 240. If anyone is curious there are pictures of both online. Dad says you wouldn't ordinarily see speakers this big in someones house because they are the sort that are hidden behind the screen at movie theaters to give that massive sound needed to fill the auditorium. But grandpa bought the speakers and amp from the recording studio about 40 years ago when they upgraded to newer equipment and brought them home.

Both my dad and grandpa say once you have heard music through this sort of system, you are spoiled and won't like listening to something else. I like recording myself on the Tascam reel to reel playing guitar and playing it back to listen and accompany myself, sometimes doing multiple tracks.

[Zachary G]

my bedroom has 5.0 Bose surround sound and I love it. The sound quality for both my music and my movies is outstanding.

[Turbofan explosion]

Our family room has a surround sound system with 6 speakers (2 front speakers, one center speaker, one subwoofer, and 2 rear speakers).

And I think it should be visible as part of the exterior

[HeyCameron]

I really want this system for my room: https://ifi-audio.com/products/retro-stereo-50/

I prefer a 2-channel system for music as most music is mixed in only two channels; it's especially applicable to vinyl (which in many cases will not sound even half-way decent with more than two channels). Not to mention this system has tubes, which is an acquired taste, but I happen to like the warm tube sound.

Right now I have an Onkyo integrated amp with JBL bookshelf speakers that I use to play music out loud. But to be honest, I rarely use it because I usually listen to music with headphones. (For movies and TV, I use a Sony soundbar with my TV).

In the family room we have a 7.1 channel Yamaha surround system that my dad put together. It's pretty great for movies, but can be a bit much for regular TV, especially when a loud commercial comes on. lol

[Natacha]

I really want this system for my room: https://ifi-audio.com/products/retro-stereo-50/

I prefer a 2-channel system for music as most music is mixed in only two channels; it's especially applicable to vinyl (which in many cases will not sound even half-way decent with more than two channels). Not to mention this system has tubes, which is an acquired taste, but I happen to like the warm tube sound.

Right now I have an Onkyo integrated amp with JBL bookshelf speakers that I use to play music out loud. But to be honest, I rarely use it because I usually listen to music with headphones. (For movies and TV, I use a Sony soundbar with my TV).

In the family room we have a 7.1 channel Yamaha surround system that my dad put together. It's pretty great for movies, but can be a bit much for regular TV, especially when a loud commercial comes on. lol

That looks good

[Zika]

I prefer a 2-channel system for music as most music is mixed in only two channels; it's especially applicable to vinyl (which in many cases will not sound even half-way decent with more than two channels). Not to mention this system has tubes, which is an acquired taste, but I happen to like the warm tube sound.


How old are you? I've heard some audiophiles swear by the sound quality of vinly and vacuum tube amps.
We have some old 78 rpm records from my grandma/great grandma. We have an old mono phonograph which can play them. Kind of fun...once in awhile.

I know a long time ago they said the larger diameter and deeper a speaker, the better sound you'd get. That was with magnet speakers. Then they came out with ceramic speakers.

I get really good sound with some rather inexpensive speakers and a graphics equalizer. My parents still have these 1980's huge speakers in the living room.