This channel is dedicated to finding value for a variety of items. I will show you how to find audiophile products for cheap. I will compare vintage versus new audio components. We will discuss albums including vinyl versus digital. I will discuss music in digital and analog formats. I will review headphones, headphone amplifiers, stereo preamplifiers, stereo amplifiers, integrated amplifiers, turntables, turntable cartridges, phono preamplifiers, speakers and DAC's.
If you have a product you want reviewed please contact thriftshopreviews@gmail.com
I watched this video again because I have this autistic tendency to want to just listen to people on RU-vid talk about phono cartridges. And I just want to say again, this video is bad. Completely disingenuous.
thanks for the review, this is why I turned from a digital Amp Solution to a Rotel A11 mkii. The Rotel has analog Knobs and Buttons. There is a good DAC on top built in, but in generell all feels good old analog and it sound fantastic.
Just recently picked up a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo. First turntable I have ever owned and I know I’m probably jumping the gun a little early. But, do you have any recommendations for cartridge upgrades? Mine came with the Sumiko Rainier. I’ve seen a lot of people saying stay in Sumiko Oyster line and just replace the stylus. How do they compare to AT and Ortofon?
@@seandurham4864 I like Sumiko very much. Better to than AT. Sumiko doesn’t do a lot of marketing so you don’t see people talking about them much. Ortofon does a lot of marketing so you likely will see a lot of information. I like the bronze cartridge a lot. You need to see what matches your system best. You likely need to try a few things to understand the differences. I change cartridges based on the music I’m listening to for example.
@@ThriftShopReviews Thank you! That makes sense. I definitely prefer a little more towards the brighter/detailed sound stage than I do a warm sound. I have Klipsch for my surround sound/theater in my basement a I love the sound they give off and how dynamic they are. I’ve been looking at a pair of Klipsch RP-500 or 600 (bookshelves) series 1 or 2s. Not sure if that helps any as far as suggestions you’d have? I’m also open for any other suggestions/recommendations for speakers around the $350-$500 range. Thanks again!
@@seandurham4864 klipsch has a fun sound to them. Plenty of treble for sure. Audio technica mm and ortofon would be bright options but I think you might like to try an entry level moving coil. The phono preamp and amp can also make a huge difference. The whole chain to be honest. Many variable to consider. Audio technica with a warm amp and speakers is good. If you have a modern system that is already bright then audio technica can be painful for example. Don’t have many lower speakers that I like at the moment and not saying they are bad. Just haven’t had any cheaper options lately. I tend to like jbl studio 580 for the price if you can still get them. I had a pair of ascend acoustics sierra 1’s that blew away most cheap speakers. Look for sierra 2 or 2ex as you can find used at a good price if you like bookshelf speakers. They simply rock for small speakers and are not commonly talked about.
@@ThriftShopReviews I definitely have some looking around to do! I am going to get a pre amp and run that through a Sansuai 2000X my dad gave me. Just had it repaired and cleaned. So I’m pretty excited to see how it all goes. Not sure what sound that 2000X has. I’m assuming neutral/more towards warm? Like you said, just so many variables to take into account!
@@seandurham4864 the preamp normally has more to do with how warm or neutral the sound is in my experience. In general vintage audio has a very warm lush sound.
I bought the Sumiko Pearl last year and I love it, but I recently bought the Blue Point No. 3 (low output) and after I got it broke in I'm loving it! I wanted the Songbird, but the price was too high for my budget. Not too many people talk about Sumiko carts, but I do!
@@ThriftShopReviews Ha3 thought so Just showin off.. Btw my system just Q5S TC (dualAKM4493 + dualTHX as modular amps) + xduoo mt604 (4pentodes ClassA, 2watts)= Heaven..ha3 welcome noobs..Peace! Btw pls dun bubblin bout impedance noobs cuz ifi the big company which has iem match trough out almost all their product got this iem matching which impedances regulator s... N it's Just dun werk..UNTILL now..Peace3!
Does this support CEC Volume Control (Consumer audio control) via HDMI ARC input? I need to use my Yamaha HS5 Studio Monitors with my TV. My TV (Hisense 55U6G) supports CEC. But I'm not sure if SMSL PS-100 supports CEC to be able to control the output from the RCA jacks via TV's Remote Control. Can you please let me know.
I have this R4. it is amazing. I hope Hiby helped you with the PEQ you are having. if not I have some firmwares for this. Including the newest beta that made the bluetooth sound even more amazing.
I dual amp my speakers. V3 with 48V 5Amp for lows and TB10D with 32V 5Amp for highs. I like the TB10D for highs because you can adjust the tone. And for highs I don't think u need the 48V.
Firmware is trash and the 4.4mm has a high 2.4 ohm impedence most good dacs are 1ohm or lower even the soundblaster g6 is 1 ohm... topping dx3 pro,is well below 1.. but has only 3.5mm and no optical...looking for a genuine upgrade to g6 still havent found it...anyone stuck with k11 firmware just rename the file take out the chinesse sybaritic s and it will update
Thanks for the feedback. I didn’t have any issues with the outputs on this unit. What impedance are your headphones or iems? I can understand the issue if using low impedance headphones or iems.
Every single K11 could be faulty. Connect it to your PC, change output format to something higher or just go all the way to 32bit/384Khz and play some bassy EDM songs. The audio cuts off whenever some bass frequencies hit a certain volume. Wanna trigger this issue at full potential? Open Audacity, create a 50hz tone at full amplitude, export it, play it with whatever you want but make sure the volume is at 100%, set the pre-amp to about -3.5dB in Equalizer APO. If it still makes a normal sound, then congrats. Your unit somehow works perfectly fine. There is a lot of people complaining about this issue though. Would be cool if you could try this out.
I was surfing and a link sent me to the schiit webpage. I have no business and probably less knowledge of what to do with these but ended up buying the Schiit Magni Heretic..and their B-Stock Vali 2++ . I'm anticipating all the things I will be able to do with them. I enjoyed your review.
That dac looks nice would love to have it matching with my a70 pro but will it even make a difference in sound I already had the modius e and to me it sounds incredible with the a70 pro and I bought the amp when it hit a sale for like 380$ plus tax figure I put the extra money into a higher end pair of headphones eventually just wondering if this dac would even make that much of a difference compared to what I already had
Unless you want to take advantage of the 5v output, otherwise you're good. I did the same thing, got the a70 pro, but I already have a small collection of dac's, no need to add another. Maybe one day I'll get it.
@@ThriftShopReviews you got it already subscribed! Just discovered I can buy Sennheiser IE 900 for $257 lol I might just go big haha.. I'm a loyal type of person I will be watching your reviews 100% thanks for your time and patience
With the sparkos opamp and tube preamp, and tube dac, i find these very warm and rich midrange. Those tubes pre help expanding the sound stage, too. For the money, these are hard to beat
I like the adjustment system on these headphones because it has a nice tight slim profile, I like that they pretty much stay locked in place ones adjusted, they're basically a set it and forget headphone
Wow, just got my pair today, I haven't bought this style of headphone in a very long while, times most definitely have changed, I was feeling nostalgic for the old days(80's-mid 90's) They sound unbelievable and that's just using the 3.5 jack, I purchased a FiiO KA17 and a 4.4mm to 2.5mm Balanced cable(overkil I know) but I wanted a very lightweight set up for portable use, I don't like in ear headphones because they wont stay in and the ones that do start to hurt, I also have larger headphones but got tired of carrying and wearing them for portable use, now I'm taking a more minimalist on ear approach
I already have the ZA3, using it now with the D6s dac which you also recommend(your review is one of the reasons I finally decided to buy one), however I have it connected through a Topping D10s as DDC connected to my gaming PC, it sounds really good, Thank you for saving me money by saying the ZA3 sounds like the M3SI, it was one of my most preferred amps when listening to the various sound demos on RU-vid along with the CXA61, Also at 9:18, I think I spot a JBL Studio speaker, I use the JBL 530's in my system!
Thanks for all your shootouts! A couple of years ago, after watching your review of the Vista Audio Phono 2 preamp, I bought one. I have been running an Ortofon 2m Blue with good results. My Ortofon Blue probably has close to 1000 hours on it so will make another purchase this year. My turntable is a Technics 1710 with a tonearm effective mass of 16g (without a cart). Do you think the HANA EH would be a good match for the 1710's tonearm? I was also considering the Ortofon Bronze but the cost jump to the HANA isn't too much more than the Bronze. Thanks!
Looking past compliance I generally like moving coils over moving magnet designs. You might want to try the denon dl-103 to see if that works with your arm. The 2M bronze is a huge step up over the blue with great soundstage but analytical. Hana is a great cartridge that is not offensive at all.
@@ThriftShopReviews Thanks. The only thing that I would be concerned about the dl-103 is the spherical tip design especially since I'm playing on very expensive record collections. I might jump to the Hana which is a moving coil.
can you please reply fast i am planning to buy this headphone i have doongle dac jcally jm6pro 1.5vmrs like apple dongle will i able to use with sufficient sound?
You need to look up the sensitivity of the headphones and impedance. Higher sensitivity headphones are easier to drive. Higher impedance headphones are generally harder to drive
I bought this DAC, it’s seriously quite good, but I found it to be extremely sensitive to the source equipment, when connecting via USB input to an average laptop it was unlistenable but with Optical input with a network streamer it’s fantastic, I wonder if Schiit’s Unison technology is any better with the same quality source?
Gaming Hype 4, Pop music Davinci and Pilgrim because I’m curious I have the same questions Just bought the Ziigaat Doscinco and is the best bass ever. Hype 4 and Pilgrim with less bass kinda kills me
I got the Pilgrim and Davinci. The davinci is a better all rounder for me with my kit covering all genres. However, the detail of the Pilgrim with classical is something else. They make a nice contrasting pair. I thought about the Doscinco but haven’t tried it. Apart from that I love the Simgot ea500lm for the price.
Hey man! I have the same model and I was wondering, do you know a way to fix the low volume problem I am having with mine? I can't seem to figure out why the volume is so low, it used to be very loud and cancelled all sounds!
"Great Review!!!"🤗🤗🤗 Mine came in the the mail last Wednesday I ordered from Hiby with the $200.00 my husband gave me from our income tax check. I used the $10.00 coupon from Hiby and I got my player for $239.00 I ordered the orange one. I just unboxed it on Sunday and I got to say man is that player really nice!!! I'm totally in love with it and they at Hiby did an very excellent job at everything the packaging from the packaging to the shipping itself. I just got to load some music on an SD card and try it out with the IEM's I got for Mother's Day last month!!! 🤗📻💿🎧❤️
Hmm old skol Variations..the best BA sh.. out there Still..it's like Sa6, Yanyi moonlight n so on..After all audiophile's iem meant to last forever..ha4 ..Peace!
