Happy Friday everyone!
I have recently been blessed with a nice work bonus and gifted my parents beloved LP collection from the 60's and 70's. I have a rather nice LP collection of my own, and have decided to splurge on a proper set-up. (Speakers, amp & turntable)
Can anyone recommend a proper audiophile store in Switzerland? Preferably in the Basel - Bern - Zurich areas? (Would also consider Lausanne area, Alsace and Germany ...) I would like to go into a place, receive good informed service and be able to test the products I buy first.
Thanks a lot!
I got curious and had a look
https://audiovinyl.ch/shop/page/13/?...plattenspieler
The most expensive was 26 k
But you gave me the idea to dust off those old LPs
HiFi Zurmühle in Luzern,
www.hifi-zm.ch .
We went here a few years ago when OH persuaded me that we needed to upgrade our system. They were really helpful and have a sound room in which you can listen to the equipment.
They get a plus from me just because they have put their prices on their website.
haha thanks! My bonus was definitely not that good hehe
Went to a few shops around Zurich to test some components, but I had to go to this one in Lucern because they were the nearest with PMCs. This was the most helpful shop of the lot.
Looks like I might be going to Luzern then, it has been awhile since I visited that lovely city.
Yep, we ended up with PMCs and REGA amp and CD player, they sound great.
Looking forward to see you in the complaints corner then, having a go at your neighbour for not sharing your taste in music
Just kidding & happy shopping!
Telco Fritzman AG was fine and professional for a double-room audio setup and installation:
https://goo.gl/maps/pB1UDaGuAAh7LSTN6 Disclaimer: I'm not an audiophile in the full meaning of this word, being only interested in measurable properties of sound, not in per-mille purity of absurdly thick copper wires or character of old lamps with some true spirit of 70s, so my experience may differ from someone else's, if those properties are considered valuable.
haaha, that is very much in the back of my mind. I will only really splurge when I get a house in the middle of nowhere where I can blast my music as loud as I want. I actually just found out today that my neighbor who complained last time I had a party, is moving out ... fingers crossed for a more easy going one!
A decent set of headphones is the other thing to buy. I make OH wear his when he insists on putting more than one Nick Cave cd.
My setup might not be considered audiophile by many but I’m very happy with my Thorens TD 402 and Beosound 2 that I got from B&0 / Fux in Zurich Nice compromise of design, audio quality and functionality in my humble opinion. I used to have separates and 4 massive speakers but it was a bit OTT in our little apartment.
https://kraske.ch/ No idea if they're good, but boy are they expensive.
Nor I, rather I am in the sense that I've been designing pro-audio equipment for virtually all of my adult life, mainly digital mixing consoles and program distribution systems, as well as the core of the SRG program distribution system in Zurich through which ALL radio programs (SRG and private) pass.
Also all my tube amps.
Lastly, I can easily hear non-measurable stuff, which allows me to measure it as I then know what to look for, phase distortion being one (which is why I detest Skype).
Tom
Haha - love this, one artist I will never understand the true devotion to. Perhaps
I need to be English to get it?
I really want a tube amp, but think I need a house in the middle of nowhere for one & well, they are freaking expensive to buy & maintain.
Respect, I’m no audiophile in comparison. I just want to play Zeppelin, Zappa, Beefhart on vinyl and for it to sound f@ck@ng good.
I've been and constantly going through the same dilemma. My suggestion would be, get a tube pre-amp for the LP (tube phono amp) and then get a decent amp for the speakers. This allows you to get the "warm" distortion you're after while at the same time getting proper amplification at a cost that allows you to spend the savings on recordings . When looking for a phono stage, please select one that can handle both MM and MC cartridges! Whatever cartridge you chose, you will end up with a moving coil one and a bunch of phono stages do not have support for MC
My personal and current setup is with a Pro-Ject Tube Box DS2 which allows you to play and change the tubes (you can use tubeampdoctor.com for Europe to get a decent selection), a Rega turntable and amp powering KEF speakers.
One more thing, if you're into this at all, changing the stylus makes a huge and noticeable difference. When visiting the store, ask them to demo for you a few different ones. I've settled on a Ortofon MC one, but you have to hear this for yourself.
What i am gonna say is bad for business, but here I go - most of the stuff in the whole audiophilia realm is snake oil. 90% of your sound is the room, the rest doesn‘t really matter that much. You can get good sounding speakers for next to nothing on ricardo, and todays electronics does not need to be expensive to sound good. Most of the differences that audiophiles attribute to sound are actually psychoacoustics that has nothing to do with the sound, but is all about shiny objects (expensive=good, riiight?).
Even if it's psychoacoustics, the brain is the one to interpret what you hear so one actually hears it differently.
Do "audiophile" USB cables matter? No. Does a different speaker / amp make a difference? Hell yeah! And it's not even necessarily "better", its more often a matter of personal preference as speakers and amps usually have a certain sound signature that appeals to some and doesn't to others.
I love doing blind tests with my kids and wife and the most recent was the same speakers (KEF R3) with two different amps. A shitty, but new and shiny Marantz and an old, but glorious Rega Elicit. Rega won hands down.