Gear you're running that you're not happy with.

I am going through this in my HT room. A good friend passed on his 10 year old TOTL Denon surround HDMI receiver. While I love what Audyssey does for the bass (it perfectly tuned my 2 passive subs to the room) the mids and highs have a kind of lifeless quality. My wife is constantly asking me to turn it up, which over the years I have come to realize is something that doesn't happen with the best receivers I have run.

My 20 year old HK AVR7200 is just so much more fun to listen to and engaging, even with the wild and peaky bass. Too bad the digital section was starting to make lots of noise or I would still be using it.

Also sorry to read about your Bluesound troubles JohnVF. I now have 3 Node2's in the house and frankly, I love them. I can play synchronized streams in multiple places even using Qobuz and I find the app easy enough to use. I am bucking the trend and being a test case for us all with these. I leave none of them on 7x24 as I have read too many heat related PS failure posts with these. But I don't leave any other components on all the time so why would I do it with these?

We will see if my experiment is a success, or if BS Support is correct and a different kind of failure will occur due to repeated inrush current.
 
Back on the BlueSound front, my wife and I were listening to the Vault2 last night and about an hour into listening, it just stopped playing. No red light, no obvious problem, it just stopped talking to the BluOS app. Shut everything down, turned it all back on, nothing.

Me: You know, I...
Wife: ... hate the server?
Me: How'd you know I was going to say that?
Wife: You've only said it like 1000 times.

We switched to records, as they never fail to play. I didn't have the time to check to see if it righted itself by this morning.

I'm looking at the Audiolab 6000n as a possible solution.
 
I would swap the router next as a troubleshooting step. Have you tried that ? Or maybe use the other frequency band on the router to see if it's an interference issue. Wish I was closer - I would come over and help you debug it.
 
I would swap the router next as a troubleshooting step. Have you tried that ? Or maybe use the other frequency band on the router to see if it's an interference issue. Wish I was closer - I would come over and help you debug it.
The first thing I'm going to do is replace the wireless bridge that its hooked to. I do recall it being a bit more stable when I was using a previous one (that got lost in a move). I also might get a different router (using one supplied by the internet co at the moment, though it supports everything else we do online without a hitch).

This is the first time the Vault has just cut off mid-stream. Usually any problems that erupt come after I've not used it for awhile. It's also the first time restarting my ipad/phone and the Vault didn't at least temporarily solve the problem. It was running pretty well up until its more recent update. Their updates are notorious for causing problems, the BluOs support forum is filled with people who've had serious problems after them.
 
The first thing I'm going to do is replace the wireless bridge that its hooked to. I do recall it being a bit more stable when I was using a previous one (that got lost in a move). I also might get a different router (using one supplied by the internet co at the moment, though it supports everything else we do online without a hitch).

This is the first time the Vault has just cut off mid-stream. Usually any problems that erupt come after I've not used it for awhile. It's also the first time restarting my ipad/phone and the Vault didn't at least temporarily solve the problem. It was running pretty well up until its more recent update. Their updates are notorious for causing problems, the BluOs support forum is filled with people who've had serious problems after them.
This happened while streaming Qobuz I take it, or was a local file being served when this latest meltdown occurred?
 
This happened while streaming Qobuz I take it, or was a local file being served when this latest meltdown occurred?
I was streaming Qobuz but after the freeze up I couldn't do anything, as BluOs wouldn't talk to it. And when BluOs doesn't talk to the unit, it just basically goes blank, wanting to be attached to a player.
 
I was streaming Qobuz but after the freeze up I couldn't do anything, as BluOs wouldn't talk to it. And when BluOs doesn't talk to the unit, it just basically goes blank, wanting to be attached to a player.

That's my favorite part about Blusound and the old squeezebox. Why did it stop communicating? God only knows. You've got one light to look at and no real access to diagnose it.
 
Especially when the light says, "Everything is fine!" but its just...not there.
If it were a network interruption you'd think it would recover pretty easily, I don't see why a network blip either from a WiFi bridge or from the ISP itself wouldn't just self correct, at a maximum you'd perhaps just need to hit Play again or something like that.

This sounds much more like a hardware issue, probably due to previous thermal stress, but thats just a guess on my part as I've never wrestled BluOS live in person.
 
Yikes, I guess I'm one of the few members of team pro-streaming. For relative peanuts, I've built a network and streamer that sounds way better than any transport or cd player I've ever owned. Three years ago I didn't know what a network switch was.
I'm a very happy camper these days, but my Teres table will be replaced with a TD124 in the near future. Just too fiddly and lacks a bit of there, there.
 
My Klipsch subwoofer - can’t recall model number.

1. Why are you still running it?
Because I don’t feel like spending $500-$750 for a replacement at this time!

2. What don't you like about it?
No speaker level connectivity, controls relatively lacking compared to my SVS sub of similar price and size, doesn’t sound as controlled as my SVS sub.

3. Will you keep running it or replace it?
Perhaps in a few months I’ll replace it as a Christmas gift.
 
This thread has been enlightening. A lot of what I see is related to complexity; folks want something that plugs in that simply works. Streaming has lots of benefits, but in a hobby that most of us take part in because we love music and relaxing while listening to it, network problems can be a big factor in lessening that enjoyment. Luckily i haven't had any issue streaming to my active speakers, or to my old receiver with a Chromecast Audio. But that is most likely because I've never streamed any local files. I still play my CDs for that. I never was interested in setting up any type of computer and associated hardware for a network capable of streaming local files, because I am mostly ignorant of those type of systems and how they work. I am on a computer all day, and when there are problems I call the help desk and they fix me up. What also helps is that my CD collection is not very large, having sold off many that I no longer had any interest in listening to again. So far I've kept things relatively simple, and am happy with how it works.
 
. Streaming has lots of benefits, but in a hobby that most of us take part in because we love music and relaxing while listening to it, network problems can be a big factor in lessening that enjoyment. Luckily i haven't had any issue streaming to my active speakers, or to my old receiver with a Chromecast Audio. But that is most likely because I've never streamed any local files. I still play my CDs for that. I never was interested in setting up any type of computer and associated hardware for a network capable of streaming local files, because I am mostly ignorant of those type of systems and how they work. I am on a computer all day, and when there are problems I call the help desk and they fix me up.

agree about being on a computer all day and not wanting to be on a computer to stream music in the evening. playing cds and records is simpler and more fulfilling, imho. streaming has a lot of benefits - cost and catalog being huge ones - but at the end of the day, still more relaxing and enjoyable to listen to a spinning circle.
 
I think I might hate the wires in my wall. I have done everything I can think of to try and get rid of the hums and buzzes in my La Scalas and nothing has worked.

-Humx : Nope
-Powervar power conditioner/ isolation transformer: nope
-Changing RCA cables: nope
-Cheater plugs: nope
-Turn every breaker off in the house except the one that the stereo system is on and unplug all other electronics in using fridge: nope, no change

-Changing brand new power cables: could try that

-Installing isolated ground plug just for audio equipment: might be next.

-Take ever dimmer in the house out: gonna take some convincing........

But man, when those noises don't show through the music or annoy you during the quiet parts it does sound good....
😩 (roller coaster emoji) 🤠
 
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I think I might hate the wires in my wall. I have done everything I can think of to try and get rid of the hums and buzzes in my La Scalas and nothing has worked.

Humx : Nope
Powervar power conditioner/ isolation transformer: nope
Changing RCA cables: nope
Cheater plugs: nope
Changing band new power cables: could try that

Installing isolated ground ug just for audio equipment: might be next.

Take ever dimmer in the house out: gonna take some convincing........

But man, when those noises don't show through the music or annoy you during the quiet parts it does sound good....
😩 (roller coaster emoji) 🤠
What are you driving the LaScalla with?
 
I'm sure you know this but those speakers are so sensitive I would suspect tube noise rather than a wiring issue. Especially as you mention that different amps make different noises.
 
I'm sure you know this but those speakers are so sensitive I would suspect tube noise rather than a wiring issue. Especially as you mention that different amps make different noises.
I know that the La Scalas ( Vintage 1978) are sensitive, but I didn't know that they might not pair well with tube amps because of their sensitivity. And what I mean by different noises is that it seems like some amps (SET 45) just make a 60hz hum coming from the woofer and other make the 60hz hum from the woofer and then a higher pitched more electric/staticky hum/noise coming from the mid horn and the tweeter ( PP ST-70, PP45, and St-35). And I will say, I have no real way of knowing if they are 60 and 120hz hum/buzzes, I've only listened to them on YouTube and they sound similar. There are other noises like tube rush that I hear when they first come on as well as little ticks that I have attributed to the tubes, but those are intermittent and if they were just the intermittent sounds at this point I would settle for that.
 
Oh they pair perfectly with tube gear. Just that any little bit of noise will be much more evident than with less sensitive speakers. My Altecs are the same way. A little background hum that is not really audible at the listening position but tube rush or a noisy tube may present itself.
I suggest maybe sticking with one amp/preamp/phono and working with those rather than constantly swapping gear in and out.
 
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