3 ms·

I think I was one of the people desiring a mid range setup, but I found it very hard to justify when the "good enough" is 10-20 times cheaper. Based on perceive

I think I was one of the people desiring a mid range setup, but I found it very hard to justify when the "good enough" is 10-20 times cheaper. Based on perceived value, the $2000 mid range price looks 2-4 times too big for me and there is no sign of adjustment, what you can find at $3-500 is mostly garbage. Audio is not like a graphics card, but people understand that you can buy at $500 a GPU that is ~ 2 times faster than a $200 one. The low end in audio is tens of dollars and there is nothing good in the hundreds of dollars range.

NetMageSCW 1y ago
A Yamaha RX-V4A is $400 and the RX-V line goes up from there. (Yes, I like Yamaha audio equipment.)
- AdrianB1 1y ago
  I like Yamaha, I have an older one in my living room, but for the $550 (local price) I am not extatic of what it offers. The digital part is a joke, it has a DAC in it but I cannot use a laptop as a digital source over USB, it has an Ethernet port, but it cannot use it for an embedded management web site, you need to run a phone app for that. My $15 relay controlling the lights has WiFi and embedded management web site, a $550 AV received does not. Also you cannot play movies, only music, even if it has in it what it takes for that. Figured out why? And this is not Yamaha, everyone is selling the same stuff. You can find cheaper Chinese integrated DAC + amplifiers, WiFi and BT with more modern stuff in it. Yes, the amp part is much lower quality, but you need features, convenience, great user experience, not just good audio. At least with the cheap soundbar you don't have high expectations, no disappointments.
  - lowbloodsugar 1y ago
    An RX-V4A is under $500 and has all that. It’s Roon-tested too. But yeah, then you gotta get speakers and that means matching them. I’ve become a fan of powered digital speakers and just slapping a source in front of them like a WiiM , though that doesn’t solve your TV surround needs.

NetMageSCW 1y ago

A Yamaha RX-V4A is $400 and the RX-V line goes up from there. (Yes, I like Yamaha audio equipment.)

AdrianB1 1y ago
I like Yamaha, I have an older one in my living room, but for the $550 (local price) I am not extatic of what it offers. The digital part is a joke, it has a DAC in it but I cannot use a laptop as a digital source over USB, it has an Ethernet port, but it cannot use it for an embedded management web site, you need to run a phone app for that. My $15 relay controlling the lights has WiFi and embedded management web site, a $550 AV received does not. Also you cannot play movies, only music, even if it has in it what it takes for that. Figured out why? And this is not Yamaha, everyone is selling the same stuff. You can find cheaper Chinese integrated DAC + amplifiers, WiFi and BT with more modern stuff in it. Yes, the amp part is much lower quality, but you need features, convenience, great user experience, not just good audio. At least with the cheap soundbar you don't have high expectations, no disappointments.
- lowbloodsugar 1y ago
  An RX-V4A is under $500 and has all that. It’s Roon-tested too. But yeah, then you gotta get speakers and that means matching them. I’ve become a fan of powered digital speakers and just slapping a source in front of them like a WiiM , though that doesn’t solve your TV surround needs.