Ruffter

Hi all, I got a ‘broken’ Marantz PM4400 from gumtree, and have it up and running. Was a very easy fix, it seems the old cables connected were driving it into protection somehow. Disconnected everything, cleaned all switches and connectors with deoxit, and it’s been running solid since. There was no remote which is fine, but it’s missing a volume knob which is annoying. Qualifi (the marantz distributor in Aus) don’t have spares unfortunately. Can anyone recommend a repairer who may have one laying around from which I can steal a knob? I’ve been unable to find one in Darwin.

😂 This reminds me of a similar situation in my house. Had always had motorbikes but was "in between bikes" as it was. Told my wife I wanted to buy a Ducati, she said "that sounds good", with not much else said. She was filthy when I rocked up home a few weeks later on a new monster. Still brings it up, over 10 years down the track 🙄 Cheers, Andrew

@Snoopy8 I think you may be thinking the C368, which is above my budget! The C338 is the smaller model, with no MDC module capability (so no BluOS). The 338 is the same as the 328 but with Chromecast (stereophile review https://www.stereophile.com/content/nad-c-328-integrated-amplifier). Price is about $1k, which I think/hope would be achievable from moving on the exposure/mani/modi. Cheers, Andrew

Thanks Snoopy, I am definitely onboard with simplification. I hadn’t thought about the bluesound, but after looking at it I think I would prefer the NAD C338 as it has an MM stage built in, along with Chromecast built-in. If I bought the bluesound I’d still need an external phono stage and chromecast dongle. Cheers, Andrew

Hi @Snoopy8 Ideally budget neutral, however maybe up to $500 on whatever I get for a Modi 3, Mani and 2010s2 with MC card. This is why I was looking around the $1000 -$1500 mark, thinking I’ll get circa $1k for my current gear. I guess I am worried about a potential drop in quality too as all the gear I’ve got has reviewed pretty well and I do like the sound. It’s just too much stuff (and full remote control would be nice). Or is this the price we pay chasing the dream haha. Cheers, Andrew

Good suggestions @RCAJack! You’ve got me thinking that I could sell the exposure and mani, buy a Rega Brio (great reviews all round) and run the CCA and modi off a joint usb plug. Would have to look at these converters though, they will no doubt need power too. Are there any DACs out there in a similar range to the modi that have two optical inputs? Cheers, Andrew

Sorry, can add the Denon PMA-800NE and Rotel RA-12 to that list as well. Would love a PMA1600NE but that might end in divorce...

Hi all, Can I please get some opinion on the below predicament. We have one living area for all (my wife and I and three young children). This is for our TV and hifi, I am not interested in home theatre. At the moment the setup is: Project Debut Carbon Evo/PC/TV ---> Schiit Modi 3/Schiit Mani ---> Exposure 2010s2 ---> Focal 706. At the moment I also have a Chromecast Audio (CCA) I would love to use but I don't for two reasons, first being I don't have enough power points, and second the Modi 3 only has one optical input which needs to be the TV

Haha, see my post above. Same thing, 5 days to Sydney, then a week and a half from Sydney to Darwin!

Yep, they've just got a drop down box to select your voltage and plug. They're set up to send direct to Aus, makes me wonder about there agreement with the Aussie distributor A2A.

I posted the below in another thread recently, but can recommend the Schiit Mani as a good sounding unit which reviews very well. - I just received and can recommend a Schiit Mani, which I purchased direct from Schiit in the US. Addicted to Audio is the Australian stockist, who sells them at $340 AUD incl postage, however were out of stock when I was looking. I ended up buying at $129 USD plus postage from Schiit direct, and was able to get a black unit to match the rest of my equipment (incl black Modi 3), which A2A do not stock. Worked out to be $243 AUD incl postage, then a $7 i

Nad C338. Under budget, bluetooth, but even better it has Chromecast as well, and MM. I've not heard one, but the C328 (with same amp section) gets great reviews. Cheers, Andrew

It's also prohibitively expensive on top of the subscription fee. My kids wanted to watch bluey and Apple wanted $3 an episode. So we switched over to ABC's streaming service and get them for free.

I've had it a few days now and am thinking the same thing. Good interface, however I am not getting the full 'experience' as I am not running multiple endpoints, in which case it would be handy to have all my flac files centralised but still able to be played anywhere. For me it's just on one HTPC to stereo. Once they get Tidal Connect on the windows app I'll be able to leave Tidal running and do the same thing, as you've said making it somewhat obsolete.

Hahaha, exactly the truth. Not sure if I can continue to spend it once the three month trial period ends and the boss realises the true cost. Hopefully she gets good use out of it between now and Feb 25 and realises she didn’t even think she needed to spend it 🤣