HIFI amp help please

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NE5

NE5

NE5

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Hello....I have an old Rotel amp, and KEFQ300 speakers.

I've been using a squeezebox for the last few years to stream music from my PC to the amp and speakers, but it seems the Squeezebox has decided to wrap in.

It fails to connect, most of the time, and I've been told the PROBABLE fault is the card inside the SB. As Logitech don't make them any more, getting a card is a problem so I'm considering changing my amp, but I want something that will either do streaming or use a flashdrive.

I don't want to change my amp because I like it with these speakers, so thats another hurdle.

Does anybody recommend an amp or an alternative streaming device for the Rotel ?
 
signs said:
google chromecast audio ?
Click to expand...
just been told about this. The SB took me into new territory, now that it might be bust, I just want something to do the same job. I'm not bothered about the radio, just streamlining from my PC to amplifier.

Will this do the same job and is there anything else or specific you need to know or need ?
 
It's what i use , brilliant bit of kit for the money , add plex to your PC and just cast the music to your amp ..(plex is free)
 
NE5 said:
when it says "aux on your speaker", does it mean "aux on your amplifier" ???????
Click to expand...

Yep. Any sort of Line input on the Rotel would work. CD, Tuner, Aux 1, Aux 2, Media Player (if you're running one of the later gen' Rotels); they're all Line Level inputs and suitable for connecting from the 3.5mm mini jack on a Chromecast to the amp with a stereo jack to stereo RCA cable.

The only input you can't use on the Rotel is Phono. That's for a turntable. The signal from that is very different.

Chromecast Audio is a great solution if you want something low cost and have a way to control the media with a smart device such as a tablet or phone. Adding PLEX provides the same sort of media library access that you had with the Squeezebox or Twonky or other audio server programmes. If there's an Achilles heel with Chromecast Audio it's the sound quality. It's not terrible by any means. But it is limited simply because of the price of the device.

One of the key reasons for folk choosing and sticking with SB for years after the product was discontinued is sound quality. When Squeezebox and Sonos were head-to-head in the market, sound quality was always SB's trump card. There was room for improvement with SB, so the tweakers got to work modding the device to enhance the performance another couple of notches.

Chromecast Audio is built for a different market. I'm not saying it can't be used with a good 2 channel Hi-Fi, but its home market is more likely to be with some kind of portable speaker or lower-Fi audio product. The issue is jitter. It affects the CCA's own internal DAC with means that the analogue output has some noise that limits the fidelity. It also affects the CCA's digital output, so running CCA with an external DAC before the sound gets to your amp won't fix the issue.

Sonos ZP90 / Connect is the closest thing from their range to your SB. Audio quality is pretty good (it will do FLAC too, but not very high res audio files) but still ultimately limited by the unit's switch mode power supply. The pros are that it doesn't require a server app, and it is really easy to use. The other cons are there's limit of 65,000 tracks, and because the power supply is built in to the unit, it's not easy to tweak it to upgrade. Price-wise, they're about on par with what SBs were when new.


Have you thought about buying a s/h SB? There seem to be a few on Ebay.
 
yeah probably don't notice any bad bits as my stereo set up is mid budget, for me tho plex and chromecast works a treat
 
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