Yep. It was my late spouse’s baby/composition. When I moved I spent quite a bit of time carefully labeling an disconnecting everything, and an equal amount of time hooking it all up again. Still use it, if not daily.
Yes, still have a lot of the component stereo I bought in 1981. Klipsch, Yamaha mainly. My B & O turntable died years ago and has been replaced with a cheapo from Best Buy (don’t know the brand). I still use it, mainly for vinyl.
Just barely. I have a thrift shop stereo and classic Smaller Advent speakers (and some even smaller rear speakers). No turntable or tape deck anymore.
I have the DVD player plugged into it so in theory I could play CDs via that but I don’t. The TV is connected to it but rarely used that way. I have an Amazon Echo Input connected so Mrs. FtG can tell it to play music. E.g., “Play iHeartRadio 50s station.”
There’s a lot of gear in the area. DVRs, Fire TV, ChromeCast, connectors, switches, router, etc., but that’s for the TV, not the stereo.
Do their headphones just stream stuff from Spotify or wherever? (I’m sure just asking the question shows how out of touch I am.)
Yes, it’s becoming more and more common that people listen to streaming music (Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, etc.) rather than having a library of songs on their phones. This Business Insider article from 2018 shows that 75% of songs listened to by Americans (excluding songs listened to on the radio) are now from streaming services.
Apart from the home theater in the basement that I described a few posts above, I have an old (Kenwood?) receiver in the living room that we never use (the room or the stereo) that powers a pair of 60s-vintage AR speakers that I’ve reconditioned and still sound great. Sound source is an Amazon Spot. (Perhaps not a real “component” system?)
And I could put together at least one more component system from stuff I have sitting around. There’s one more receiver, various speakers, and a BD player in various closets.
But the other two stereo systems in the house are definitely not component systems. In my office I have a Tivo Mini that’s connected to a set of powered bookshelf JBLs so I can listen to the Music Choice cable channels. They’re my favorite source of commercial-free, talk-free music. I listen to classical while I work.
My work computer is connected to a set of small powered Klipsch speakers.
The last system is in the family room, which opens to the kitchen and breakfast nook. A pair of JBL bookshelf speakers are powered by this tiny integrated amp. The sound source is another Amazon Spot.
Yep. Use it every day.
Receiver/amp, equalizer and an 8-track :eek:. Surround sound and subwoofer. Gave up the cassette deck and turntable when I got iTunes, because the quality and convenience is so much better. If I need to play a CD I use the drive on the computer.
Mostly we use it to play music from itunes but it is also the primary TV’s speakers.
And it’s awesome.
So here is what I have:
System 1 - Adcom preamplifier/tuner, Adcom 100 watt per channel stereo amplifier driving a set of Ohm Walsh 2XO speakers. Source is a Chromecast Audio optical output feeding a small DAC connected to the preamp. Wife often tells me to turn down the subwoofer when I am listening. She doesn’t seem to understand that there isn’t a subwoofer no matter how many times I tell her. Ohm sells a $1400 upgrade for these speakers (compete driver replacement) and even though I think they sound great as they are now, I am somewhat tempted. But that’s a bit pricey right now.
System 2 - a thirty year old Sony STR-AV970 receiver driving brand new Klipsch R-51M bookshelf speakers in my office at work. I’ve toyed with the idea of setting this receiver up at work for a while, but I needed speakers. I was considering a few different speakers and the Klipsch were not on my list. But when these speakers went on sale for $125 (50% off) this month I snapped them up and am not disappointed at all. Source is an aptx Bluetooth adapter and streaming to that from my phone. The sound is good, but I am always suspicious of the Bluetooth quality. Sure, the adapter is aptx and my phone supports aptx, but there is zero feedback on my phone settings that confirms that the two are actually using the aptx codec rather than a lesser codec. My old cassette decks had an indicator light showing when Dolby B or C was active, but I am supposed to trust that two devices from different manufacturers are using aptx with no feedback. Well, I don’t and I would prefer being able to confirm what codec is being used.
System 3 - a Denon ARV-S740H home theater receiver with JVC front and center speakers, a Polk subwoofer, and some old Radio Shack Minimus 7 surrounded speakers. Source is the TV/satellite and also music streaming using the Denon HEOS function. The Denon replaced a 20+ year old Kenwood VR-309 AV receiver last year because the lack of HDMI connections on the Kenwood. The surround sound self calibration function of the Denon is worth the upgrade.
System 4 - the Kenwood VR-309 receiver connected to a pair of Polk Patio 200 speakers. Source is a Chromecast Audio streamer. The Kenwood may be obsolete as an AV receiver but it’s certainly not useless. The speakers were on sale for $100, and I am somewhat underwhelmed by how they sound. Volume helps though, and it’s good enough for outside.
System 5 - a new Onkyo TX-8260 receiver connected to thirty year old Polk MM4.6 bookshelf speakers. This is my garage set up, and until recently it was driven by the Sony STR-AV970. Speakers sound great. The Onkyo sounds great, but I intended on using the receiver’s network function to access streaming services. Despite having a wired network connection (that speedtests at about 40 MBPS) it is slow and frustrating to use. In fact, it’s just crap. Skip to the next song? 10 seconds. Change from Tidal to Pandora? 10 seconds. Stream using the built-in Chromecast? 10 seconds. Switch to Spotify Connect? Well, that takes longer than 10 seconds, but I can’t tell you how much longer because I’ve never waited for it to connect, it may not work at all. I’ll be adding an external Chromecast Audio streamer to this soon. A Chromecast Audio using fair/marginal wifi will be far better than the Onkyo network function using a wired network connection.
I have a Pioneer receiver I bought last year, ties together a nice set of speakers, subwoofer, TV, DVD, and has bluetooth so we can stream music from the phone. Gets a lot of use as it’s the primary entertainment source.
Yes, and I have just replaced my 1970s Advent bookshelf speakers with a soundbar and subwoofer. I still have my 1979 turntable, and for that matter, my wife’s 1970s TEAC 1100 reel-to-real tape deck. I replaced my 1970s receiver with a new one about 15 years ago.
I have a component system with a 5.1 receiver, blu-ray/SACD player and 3 different brands of speakers. I also have an old laptop set up as a region-free DVD player. The remnants of my previous system (turntable, dual-deck cassette player/recorder and DVD player) are in the hall closet.
I have a NAD receiver with a bunch of stuff hooked up to it that I never use. Now it just runs the audio from the TV. It uses a rotel amp, B&W bookshelf speakers and a Sony sub. If I listen to music in the same room it’s mostly over headphones. In my ‘music room’ I have Presonus PC and IOS audio interfaces, guitar amp send, another stereo guitar amp/BT interface, and Aux cord running through a little Mackie mixer and out through powered Emotiva speakers (love them).
Still have my B&O Beogram 4002 linear-tracking turntable. Probably 40 years old now, so got it around the same time you got yours. Still works perfectly. I use it mainly for vinyl myself because a CD sounds terrible when I try to play it there. Bought myself B&W tower speakers 22 years ago as a reward for 14 months of overtime on a project. The rest of my system is decent but not high quality. The television is a 55" OLED, though.
Pretty much every television in stores today is high def of some kind and they cost less every year. Blu-ray players are dirt cheap. Why would you run that through tv speakers? Decent speakers and a receiver cost a fraction of the television and the sound quality is far superior. Any movie soundtrack will be improved. People watch a million movies a year. Why not enjoy them properly?
Yes for when the movie requires the windows to rattle and the floor to vibrate to get the full effect and the soundbar just doesn’t cut it. I never had a CD player for it as we just never got into the music on CD except for in the vehicle. We skipped right to XM and Sirius through the satellite.
Absolutely.
Denon am/fm analog tuner, Denon cd player with 5 cd cartridge system. Both bought in early nineties.
Kenwood integrated 50W amp bought in 1978. Sansui 3 way speakers also bought in 78. Hanging on a wall in my den. I ran shielded wire through the attic to the closet where my stereo rig is setup.
I did have a turntable. It needs a cartridge. I’m thinking about getting a new audio techics turntable and ripping some of my old albums.
Onkyo stereo receiver and dual tape deck, Technics turntable currently in storage.
Or less advanced: A single device that has the speakers and the inputs. Also what was mentioned in the OP: where you got the whole kit in a box, which is what we always had even when I was a kid.
Though I did at one point have a boom box with detachable speakers that also had RCA line in, which I used to hook up my N64 to get stereo. I guess that would technically be component–but it’s long gone.
Yes. Soundbars make me sad, and TV speakers in flat screens are just pitiful.
I have two systems, both primarily used for home theater, but you can stream music through them if you want through Bluetooth or an Xbox app. Or you can stick a CD in the Xbox if you insist.
One system is full surround with atmos overhead speakers and a big sub, the whole enchilada.
The other system is basically my old receiver hooked up to some Klipsch bookshelf speakers I got a killer deal on. sounds way better than any soundbar.
See this I don’t understand. Don’t you always have to be connected to a fast Internet connection in order for those streaming services to work? So how do you get music e.g. in your car, or deep in the woods, or on an airplane?
I still buy my music on iTunes so I have my music permanently on my device no matter where I am.
I don’t understand the question. Does anybody *not *have a “component system” ie a bunch of stuff from different manufactures bought at different times? I used to have a “surround sound speaker system” but I have replaced the speakers and the receiver at separate times so that’s gone. I’ve got PC hooked up to receiver and PS4 hooked up to TV and every damn thing. Really, does anybody have an all-in-one system like a glorified boom box or bookshelf system? I have one, but it’s in the basement, gathering dust.