Adventures in Downsizing

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nicoff

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Just wanted to share a bit about how my recent move shook up my audio setup. Earlier this year, we shifted to a smaller place, which meant my audio system had to shrink too.

Back in the day, we had a dedicated space for music and movies. But in our new place, that wasn't going to fly. So, I had to split the music and cinema setups.

The music zone is now in our living area. As for the cinema... well, it's not really a 'cinema room' anymore.

The biggest shake-up was with the movie gear. I had to say goodbye to the projector, the massive 11-foot screen, two Magnepan surround speakers, the B&W center speaker, a DVD player, one of my three subs, and a trio of mono amps. They've all been swapped out for a 85" TV and Sonos center/surround/sub speakers. Not as epic as before, but hey, it does the trick. I'm more into streaming flicks on my iPad these days anyway.

The music setup's changes weren't as drastic, but still notable. I parted ways with the Nak tape deck and swapped the big Bryston SP3 digital preamp for a more compact Topping. Said goodbye to the acoustic treatment panels and the P10 Powerplant. Roon's still my go-to for digital tunes, but I let go of HQP too. The turntable’s sticking around, though. I’m still mulling over downsizing to a smaller computer for the Roon server and maybe keeping just one subwoofer instead of two.

Funny thing is, even with this downsized gear, the sound in the new room is somehow better (it is the room acoustics I'm sure). Guess it goes to show, sometimes less really is more!
 
I'm glad your downsizing wasn't too painful. When I retired in 2017and bought a house in TN, before I moved the first question people seem to ask is "Are you downsizing your home?"

My answer was no. If you downsize your home, you upsize your wife. I ended up with a bigger dedicated stereo room than my dedicated stereo room in IN.
 
so you did not want to upsize your wife?

@nicoff, thx for the report. glad it worked out well for you.
i did downsize myself this year and sold the monos...it didnt work well in my case, stopped listening music.
 
u-sound said:
so you did not want to upsize your wife?

@nicoff, thx for the report. glad it worked out well for you.
i did downsize myself this year and sold the monos...it didnt work well in my case, stopped listening music.
Click to expand...

That's exactly why you don't want to downsize your house if possible.

IMO, men need to carve out a space in their home so they have a space to call their own. For some, that means a garage and/or basement. Failure to do so often results in your wife taking over every room in the house. Thankfully that's not an issue for me.
 
nicoff said:
Just wanted to share a bit about how my recent move shook up my audio setup. Earlier this year, we shifted to a smaller place, which meant my audio system had to shrink too.

Back in the day, we had a dedicated space for music and movies. But in our new place, that wasn't going to fly. So, I had to split the music and cinema setups.

The music zone is now in our living area. As for the cinema... well, it's not really a 'cinema room' anymore.

The biggest shake-up was with the movie gear. I had to say goodbye to the projector, the massive 11-foot screen, two Magnepan surround speakers, the B&W center speaker, a DVD player, one of my three subs, and a trio of mono amps. They've all been swapped out for a 85" TV and Sonos center/surround/sub speakers. Not as epic as before, but hey, it does the trick. I'm more into streaming flicks on my iPad these days anyway.

The music setup's changes weren't as drastic, but still notable. I parted ways with the Nak tape deck and swapped the big Bryston SP3 digital preamp for a more compact Topping. Said goodbye to the acoustic treatment panels and the P10 Powerplant. Roon's still my go-to for digital tunes, but I let go of HQP too. The turntable’s sticking around, though. I’m still mulling over downsizing to a smaller computer for the Roon server and maybe keeping just one subwoofer instead of two.

Funny thing is, even with this downsized gear, the sound in the new room is somehow better (it is the room acoustics I'm sure). Guess it goes to show, sometimes less really is more!
Click to expand...


I totally know what your talking about.
 
One pleasant discovery: the Topping preamp is outstanding. It is a tenth of the size of the SP3, but the incredibly low noise floor improves the dynamic range. Great to hear new stuff in recordings that I have been listening to for years.
 
mep said:
I'm glad your downsizing wasn't too painful. When I retired in 2017and bought a house in TN, before I moved the first question people seem to ask is "Are you downsizing your home?"

My answer was no. If you downsize your home, you upsize your wife. I ended up with a bigger dedicated stereo room than my dedicated stereo room in IN.
Click to expand...

Maybe in your world, all depends on where you live, the ages, the risk involved, the insurance you pay and possible health reasons. Our downsize was a smart move, we sold our home at the beach for a cash deal, and moved inland to a gated golf community to a 1900 sq ft home with a pool from a almost 3000 sqft home. The move occurred after Hurricane Ian tore our dunes apart and Hurricane Nicole put 3 ft of water on our road. I decided I'm getting to old to construct 85+ sand bags around doors, or pay over $8K a year on homeowners insurance and over $1400 for flood, and the cost keep rising. Sure I lost a HT room and a dedicated office 2 chl room, but we gained a huge piece of mind and a positive hit in our wallets. But these days since my health scare in 2020 and the limitations of what I can do or can't, like my VPI turntable and Pass amp still remain in their boxes as I can't lift the weight anymore. Without my wife by my side I would have never made it through 2020, so this new home we are now in, is well more for her than me since should something happen to me, this home is easier and safer to manage for her.. Sometimes the big picture is more important than audio.
 
I am dreading it but know it is in my future. I don't have huge gear but I have more than I will take to the next house as it will most likely be smaller. I won't be needing 4 systems plus an HT setup. Heck, don't need it all now and keep thinking about selling a few pcs but it's hard to let it go.

Glad it worked out great for you, nicoff
 
CPP said:
Maybe in your world, all depends on where you live, the ages, the risk involved, the insurance you pay and possible health reasons. Our downsize was a smart move, we sold our home at the beach for a cash deal, and moved inland to a gated golf community to a 1900 sq ft home with a pool from a almost 3000 sqft home. The move occurred after Hurricane Ian tore our dunes apart and Hurricane Nicole put 3 ft of water on our road. I decided I'm getting to old to construct 85+ sand bags around doors, or pay over $8K a year on homeowners insurance and over $1400 for flood, and the cost keep rising. Sure I lost a HT room and a dedicated office 2 chl room, but we gained a huge piece of mind and a positive hit in our wallets. But these days since my health scare in 2020 and the limitations of what I can do or can't, like my VPI turntable and Pass amp still remain in their boxes as I can't lift the weight anymore. Without my wife by my side I would have never made it through 2020, so this new home we are now in, is well more for her than me since should something happen to me, this home is easier and safer to manage for her.. Sometimes the big picture is more important than audio.
Click to expand...

I understand completely Chris. You were in a much different situation than me and my wife. We never lived in a state where we had to deal with hurricanes as a threat and all that entails. TN was a good move for us on several levels. No state income tax is a big thing and northeast TN is beautiful. I am also fortunate that I can still shlep heavy gear up the stairs into my stereo room.
 
mep said:
I understand completely Chris. You were in a much different situation than me and my wife. We never lived in a state where we had to deal with hurricanes as a threat and all that entails. TN was a good move for us on several levels. No state income tax is a big thing and northeast TN is beautiful. I am also fortunate that I can still shlep heavy gear up the stairs into my stereo room.
Click to expand...

I love TN, just couldn't the wife to move there especially to Crossville. We have a lot of friends there, just to cold for her.
 
Since Chris and I are the same age I too am beginning to think of 'the change' that lies ahead. Our house is small(2100 sq ft) but my 1 1/2 acres eventually will get to me, right now I still enjoy all my yard work.

Nicoff's audio downsizing is good to hear for if done correctly he proves good musical enjoyment will continue !
 
CPP said:
I love TN, just couldn't the wife to move there especially to Crossville. We have a lot of friends there, just to cold for her.
Click to expand...

It does get cold in NE TN, but the winters are short and the average temperature here in the winter is in the 40s.
 
Thanks guys!
Just to give you an idea, this picture shows the two preamps side-by-side. The big one weights 22 pounds. The little one weights 5 pounds. The big one did not fit in an enclosure where I plan to have all my audio equipment so it HAD to go.
I still have two huge and heavy mono amps that may be replaced by smaller amps. Time will tell.
 

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OK nicoff, someone is going to be a smart ass with this question so, it might as well be me.
Are you moving into a space 1/12th the size of your previous home?:)

I have never heard the Toppings. Glad to hear it sounds that good.

Brad

Northeastern Tennessee is beautiful.
 
brad225 said:
OK nicoff, someone is going to be a smart ass with this question so, it might as well be me.
Are you moving into a space 1/12th the size of your previous home?:)

I have never heard the Toppings. Glad to hear it sounds that good.

Brad

Northeastern Tennessee is beautiful.
Click to expand...

LOL,Brad! Nah, it is not that small. What is happening is that I have to combine the "music" room with our main living room. The aesthetics are important (have no desire to get a divorce after so many years). So the huge equipment rack and wires all over the place are no longer an option.

The room has a built-in wooden cabinet where I could fit my stereo equipment as long as I downsize both in the number and dimensions of the devices. The big preamp with all the cables connecting in the rear would not fit in that cabinet and the small preamp frees up space for other components. Also, being smaller means less heat which I have to be mindful of.

My goal is to have all electronics hidden from view. Only the speakers (and the mono amps that sit next to them) will be exposed. I am exploring the replacement of the big mono amps with much smaller ones; the new ones might be about 1/12 the size... (kidding!) :)

And yes, I am very happy with the Topping preamp. I bought it just to try it out, but it has been a revelation. Not to mention that I can now sell the old preamp and end up with money in my pocket!
 
In the process of moving I let go of my entire cassette collection (about 200 tapes). I had used Roon to "Tag" the digital version of those tapes some time back. So last night, I decided to listen to my "My Cassettes" collection with a twist: no wasting time finding the tape, or wind/rewind to find a track. A different way of listening to "cassettes".
 
In the process of investigating what preamp to purchase, I learned that many folks are not using preamps anymore. Instead, they are using their DACs or other component with a volume control. One less component to mess with; that fits the less is more motto.
 
nicoff said:
In the process of investigating what preamp to purchase, I learned that many folks are not using preamps anymore. Instead, they are using their DACs or other component with a volume control. One less component to mess with; that fits the less is more motto.
Click to expand...


though you just got the Topping pre, you now looking to upsize that
 
CPP said:
though you just got the Topping pre, you now looking to upsize that
Click to expand...

Sorry, I did not mean to give that impression. I am really enjoying the Topping preamp and have no desire to look further.
What I meant to say is that while investigating what preamp to purchase, I noticed that many people were NOT using a dedicated preamp. In my case, my DAC does not have analog inputs and I needed them for my turntable, that's why I got the preamp.
 
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