Advice please! Amp/speakers/CD/streamer
After a 10-15 year foray into the world of streaming Apple Music via HomePod and AirPods and CarPlay mainly, I’m having what my wife describes as a mid life crisis and mulling a return to proper stereo hifi. (In my student and post student days I had a Dual TT, Rotel RA-80 amp, cd player (Phillips?) and wharfedale diamond 3s).
Over the past few years I have really stopped listening to music as much as I used to. I put it down to life being busy but also subscription streaming with everything at my fingertips for free ( I know it’s not free). No effort, no investment.
So I’ve started to think that getting back to the old music ownership model would be worth a try.
I have these nostalgia tinged thoughts of getting my nearly 1000 CDs out of the attic fuelled by the recent hype around the resurgence of CDs. I’ve even started cataloguing them so I can see the gap from the Apple Music years I could start filling in with CD purchases on eBay etc.
I got the first of 7 or 8 boxes out of the attic and my heart sank. The one thing streaming has going for it is the lack of physical storage space required!
So I’m now thinking of ripping and storing locally. Whether that’s on a SSD plugged into a suitable USB enabled amp or receiver or a NAS , I don’t know. Maybe ssd first and see how it goes?
My room is reasonably large: 8 x 4 m. I was thinking Wharfedale 12.3 floor standers.
For occasional CD playback I was hoping to repurpose a Blu-ray player.
What amp? Am considering either a Yamaha r-n800a or a separate Yamaha amp (as501 maybe) plus separate streamer. On the streaming front I’ll probably start with Airplay from my phone and transition gradually to the rip/flac route - probably SSD first then something more elegant and network attached down the line….if I get that far.
I’ve gone down a rabbit hole here. Advice on any of these considerations very welcome!
Thanks