Has there been discussion of "what's best" for a small footprint system?

[andromedaaudio]

Has there been discussion of "what's best" for a small footprint system?​

The plan was to discuss this after the " Whats best system ( SOTA) " discussion was finished , lol
However this discussion is stil open/ continuing since the forums inception.

Many claims have been brought forward but no consensus has been reached

 

[LL21]

Would love to see SF Guarneris with an Absolare Integrated (was going to say Riviera Levante integrate but not sure 30watts is quite enough even though Franco Serblin himself used mid-powered amps).

 

[DasguteOhr]

The beast musicserver+ phonostage+ power amp speaker thats it

 

[ravenacustic]

This is a story about downsizing, not a specific recommendation for solutions. Just ours...

With my retirement, my wife and I moved to a new city to be nearer family and we downsized into an apartment. The dedicated listening space in our old home, with Avalon Eidolon speakers, Atma-Sphere MA-1 OTL monoblock amplifiers, Walker Audio Proscenium turntable, Aesthetix Io Eclipse phono stage, would not fit into an apartment. I toyed for a long time with smaller footprint speakers and amplifiers, but I also knew the 8,000 LPs would not fit and could not make the move with us. Plus, we didn't want to be the neighbors everyone else hated for playing our music at the levels we enjoy. (My wife has been my listening partner for over 50 years, so she is complicit.)

So, we made a big conversion to all digital and headphones only. The sale of existing hardware was translated into a smaller system of comparable sonic excellence. The best DAC I could identify and afford, the Playback Designs MPD-8. A matching pair of Stax SR-009S headphones. And HeadAmp's excellent Blue Hawaii SE electrostatic headphone amplifier. Then came replaceing the LPs with high resolution digital, all files stored on external USB hard drives and played through JRiver on a small mini-pc. We're now over our angst of converting from vinyl to digital. And we're finding that we've come to love the sonics of Pure DSD256 and DXD albums. And with the Playback Designs MPD-8, even CDs and SACDs sound pretty doggone good.

So, small footprint? You betcha. Excellent sound quality? Got that, too.

Would we still prefer listening to great speakers? Yes, but we've lived with small footprint speakers before, and they never ultimately satisfied as well as our floor standing Avalons and some other larger speakers. Absent going back to the joy of larger full-range speakers, becoming headphone listeners has suited us well. And, our neighbors appreciate us.

View attachment 155774

 

[ravenacustic]

This is a story about downsizing, not a specific recommendation for solutions. Just ours...

With my retirement, my wife and I moved to a new city to be nearer family and we downsized into an apartment. The dedicated listening space in our old home, with Avalon Eidolon speakers, Atma-Sphere MA-1 OTL monoblock amplifiers, Walker Audio Proscenium turntable, Aesthetix Io Eclipse phono stage, would not fit into an apartment. I toyed for a long time with smaller footprint speakers and amplifiers, but I also knew the 8,000 LPs would not fit and could not make the move with us. Plus, we didn't want to be the neighbors everyone else hated for playing our music at the levels we enjoy. (My wife has been my listening partner for over 50 years, so she is complicit.)

So, we made a big conversion to all digital and headphones only. The sale of existing hardware was translated into a smaller system of comparable sonic excellence. The best DAC I could identify and afford, the Playback Designs MPD-8. A matching pair of Stax SR-009S headphones. And HeadAmp's excellent Blue Hawaii SE electrostatic headphone amplifier. Then came replaceing the LPs with high resolution digital, all files stored on external USB hard drives and played through JRiver on a small mini-pc. We're now over our angst of converting from vinyl to digital. And we're finding that we've come to love the sonics of Pure DSD256 and DXD albums. And with the Playback Designs MPD-8, even CDs and SACDs sound pretty doggone good.

So, small footprint? You betcha. Excellent sound quality? Got that, too.

Would we still prefer listening to great speakers? Yes, but we've lived with small footprint speakers before, and they never ultimately satisfied as well as our floor standing Avalons and some other larger speakers. Absent going back to the joy of larger full-range speakers, becoming headphone listeners has suited us well. And, our neighbors appreciate us.

View attachment 155774

Happy for you Rush. We are considering independent to assisted care living in a few years. Dedicated headphone system could be the answer. Time will tell.

 

[Bartolo1]

You're right. And the Mola Mola does have a streamer and BT.

Mola Mola's integrated is Class D. Class D definitely opens a window to small footprint / high-ish output amps!
And I think it has great industrial design.

 

[Holmz]

I've been working on this for a little while you might say. One of the key things to me isn't really the electronics but the speakers. To me the domination of a room from speakers and then often stuff all over the walls etc is what makes music enjoyment in a more relaxed manner, in a room aside from a dedicated one, considerably more difficult.

What I've learned is I think the only approaches that don't involve direct radiation except in corners is the way to go. I'm not even suggesting you need small speakers per se, you just don't need them taking over the room every time.

There is ^that^…

And the avalanche of racks, treatments, amps and cables/risers… that sort of take over a living space in many a room.

If it is not a dedicated space, then it is possible to collapse a lot of things down. The trick is to do it without loosing all the magic and all the joy.

 

[Bartolo1]

There is ^that^…

And the avalanche of racks, treatments, amps and cables/risers… that sort of take over a living space in many a room.

If it is not a dedicated space, then it is possible to collapse a lot of things down. The trick is to do it without loosing all the magic and all the joy.

I suspect that most who end up downsizing their living space won't have a dedicated listening room. Although a guest bedroom / home office room could certainly serve double duty. We've never had a listening room so I suppose I never will, in large part to enjoying listening WHILE living in the home and not sequestered away if you will. So a system that can "live" in the living space will be a requirement for me.