Has Hifi improved over the last 10 years?

[Heres Johnny]

Years ago I was 'into' my hifi, went through Naim and Kef Reference stuff onto hand made power amps from a guy in chesterfield, my car cost less at one point, The only change I've made in the last 10 years was to replace my CD player with a streaming front end, quality DAC and use high def audio where I can, or lossless rips of CD. I'm also not really into home cinema, just good old fashioned stereo.

My power amps are starting to trip the house electrics and the Naim Allan speakers are prob 12 years old. It may be time to think of spending some cash...

So my question is whether things have moved on much, other than the source which I imagine has with 2496 tracks more common. Are £1k amps today delivering what £4K amps delivered 10 years ago or had the tech pretty much reached maturity years ago and inflation etc means I need to spend £4K on an amp to get higher end performance?

Proof will always be in the listening, but if you believe the mags, things only ever get better, and shops just want to sell stuff, so looking for opinions.

[Heres Johnny]

legzr1 said:

With the mention of Naim and Allae (or maybe the op did mean Allan ) I'd take a punt at Avondale.

Although they weren't the price of a car so....

You were on the money. I had some of their NCC200 (?) boards made into two mono blocks in a nice cases that replaced a NAP250, a NAC82 with an avondale power supply as the preamp and all driving Kef reference 105/3 speakers with a NAIM CDI up front - and I drove a clio 16v at the time. I'm pretty sure it was a close run thing cost wise.

Thanks everyone The comments seem to justify the question and my suspicion. If avondale are still going I may just get in touch and see if they can recap the power amps and breath some life back in. I recall they did a soft start module which maybe whats going, all I know is if I turn them on together the surge trips the house supply. Some new speaker cable will probably change the tone of the speakers a bit, not necessarily better, just different. It will keep me amused and my bank balance healthy.

[Heres Johnny]

I've spent money on the source, I'm sure there are better but I use a audiolab 8200 CDQ

The speaker cable was just to change the sound a bit, like trying a different colour paint on the walls, it's the same wall just looks a bit different. it made sense to me and cheaper than a changing the speakers.

Avondale were tonally like Naim stuff, high on the PRAT, dark silences.. the mono blocks were said to be like the olive Naim mono blocks, can't recall the number, but for a fraction of the price, but plenty in reserve. And yes, they did stuff with Arcam CD players, I think they changed the clock and a few op amps, can't imagine they've done that for a while.

[Heres Johnny]

ian996 said:

There's no real definitive answer, but for a Pistonheads-oriented lateral-thinking approach, try watching the following video and decide whether you'd rather be in:

The 105 GTA
The GT3 RS
A Nissan GTR
A VW Campervan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI-WKde8Jgo&t=...

If you fancy the 105, your best bet is probably to spend a bit of cash reviving and upgrading your existing kit.

If the GT3 looks tempting, buying something shiny and new might be the way forward.

If the idea of the GTR appeals, DSP is probably the answer. Although, ultimately, you might feel you've lost something you can't quite put your finger on in the search for real world performance.

If you like the idea of the campervan, because it would be really convenient to park up on the inside of the Carousel and have a nice little picnic. buy yourself a Sonus and a house full of ceiling speakers.

Feels a bit like owning an E46 M3 or a pre Gaydon Aston Martin Vanquish S, and while it’s looking a bit dated, a rebushing and a good service would put some life back into it, and while you could spend a fortune on the latest adding convenience, efficiency and aesthetics, the spirit at the heart of why you own the thing is no better, possibly worse. Maybe that’s more an analogy for Linn Sondek over a CD player.

The class D look interesting but I may just start with a power amp service.