[Sandeep M]

Hi FlipFlop, I'm asking this question because I'm genuinely curious.

You said you had high-end sound system in your previous vehicles.

Did you sell them at market value or to another audiophiles who share the same passion as you for good price ? In 10+ years, I just wanna get a rough idea of how a car with audio setup which is around 15L more expensive than the car will sell in the market.

I know you keep your cars for a long time, but still a curiosity which appeared before me

[flipflop]

Originally Posted by Laks

BTW, how would you rate your sound quality to the Volvo XC60's?

Sir, I have not had an opportunity to listen to Volvo system and so I am not sure

Originally Posted by Sandeep M

Did you sell them at market value or to another audiophiles who share the same passion as you for good price ?

The previous speakers and electronics that were used in my earlier cars I have sold them to known friends or others through online forums.

When I decide to upgrade the car, I intend to use this exact setup in my next one too because I really like the way this one sounds .

[navin]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

I respect your opinion on Cayin but having heard them a few times, I feel with a setup like this, one can do better.

I haven't heard the player FlipFlop is using, but I have heard a bunch of Chi-Fi gear like the iFi Neo Stream, etc., and I would hesitate to paint all of them with the same brush. There is a brand called Kinki Studio / Choco Sound, for example, that is highly regarded (I have yet to hear any of their products). I have heard the Willsenton R8 loaded with Tung-Sol 6550s, which was very good. It changed my mind about "Chi-Fi".

Originally Posted by flipflop

And regarding this Cayin being not so good
I never plan on an audio upgrade with the budget in mind.

Don't worry too much about opinions. Trust YOUR ears.

Back when I was in my early 20s (I won't name a date, but it was when dinosaurs still roamed the earth), I got my first job, and after settling down, I looked to buy a car and a car stereo.

After taking delivery of the car, I looked in the local newspaper for audio showrooms in my area. I saw an advertisement for an Alpine something for $279. I drove to the showroom around 6 p.m. (after work), and by the time I had left (around 7:30 p.m.), I had ended up purchasing almost $3000 in audio equipment (for home and car).

I didn't have the money to pay for it, so I told the owner not to deliver anything or deposit my check till the 1st (when I expected my paycheck). The following evening, there was a buzz at my door. The showroom had decided to deliver the speakers, pre and power amps, turntable, cassette deck, and CD player.

I got a little worried because I didn't want my check to bounce, so I called the owner again and asked him why they hadn't followed my instructions. He said something like "Don't worry, I am not depositing your check till the 1st, but after I met you, I figured you are a trustworthy person, and I couldn't, in good conscience, let you be without music till the 1st. Enjoy the system"

Lesson learned. Enjoy the music. Life is short.

[TallBoy]

This made it to the ET!

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com.../103497724.cms

[avdhesh15]

With all due respect to OP., 29 lacs on a Sonet is unreal. I would have spent 50 lacs and got a fancy car with 90% of the sound.

But, everyone has their own pet peeve. Enjoy madi!

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by flipflop

Firstly thanks for taking your respective time to check out.

Flipflop, crazy, amazing, incredible, any adjective will fall short of what you have accomplished I say this in the most positive and congratulatory manner! Very rarely would anyone do this kind of thing and if they do, they certainly won’t share it on a public forum. Your sharing this on our forum is an equally powerful and gutsy move. Hats off man! Life is too short not to do what’s possible and satisfies our soul.

It’s your money, your passion, your life! No one has the right to judge you or what you have done.

Enjoy the fruits of your labour of love

Cheers

[flipflop]

Originally Posted by navin

Lesson learned. Enjoy the music. Life is short.

Thanks so much. You hit the nail on the head. For me it has always been about doing what makes me happy. Because in today’s world, the speed at which time moves, there are very few things we actually end up doing for ourselves.

The choice of the car, the price of it vs the price of the ICE had been commented a bit. I want to clarify one thing here. Just because I happen to only afford a piece of land in the extreme suburbs, it’s not gonna stop me from building a lavish house because I will LIVE THERE. Some may argue as to why not use the extra dough to buy the plot in the city. But that would mean building my dream house will take another year or so and I Dont want to be wasting time. Because the only thing that never comes back is TIME

That’s the same thought process which went into this whole install. This is the car that I will be spending 3 hours everyday and I wanted the best sounding system which I can afford.

Thanks again and wish you many more speedy miles

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by navin

I haven't heard the player FlipFlop is using, but I have heard a bunch of Chi-Fi gear like the iFi Neo Stream, etc., and I would hesitate to paint all of them with the same brush. There is a brand called Kinki Studio / Choco Sound, for example, that is highly regarded (I have yet to hear any of their products). I have heard the Willsenton R8 loaded with Tung-Sol 6550s, which was very good. It changed my mind about "Chi-Fi".

Yes Agree there is a lot of high quality chifi equipment out there. All of Alvin's products - denafrips, kinki etc are good - well built and sound pretty damn good for the money you pay. Same with ifi products - they are great for the money. However ifi is only made in PRC - their products are designed in UK by well respected designers. In fact the dac in my main system is AMR - the higher end cousin of iFi which are all manufactured in UK and designed by Thorsten Loesch who is pretty well known in DIY circles. Other highly regarded chifi stuff are Holo Audio, Line Magnetic etc.

However Cayin to me is hit or miss - some of their tube amps like A88T are nice while others like the A50 sound pretty bad. I'd heard a Cayin DAP which was pretty bad as well. I have no clue about the one the OP has as I haven't heard it. Their network player was a mess as well. I tried it at home and returned it due to the number of software issues it suffered from.

Willsenton is also hit or miss - R8 is great but a friend of mine had a really bad experience with the 300b based R300. He considers his amp as basically junk because of the number of issues it has. There's even a bunch of videos dissecting the R300 circuit finding a bunch of basic mistakes that no amp designer should be making.

[flipflop]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

Yes Agree there is a lot of high quality chifi equipment out there. All of Alvin's products - denafrips, kinki etc are good - well built and sound pretty damn good for the money you pay. Same with ifi products - they are great for the money. However ifi is only made in PRC - their products are designed in UK by well respected designers. In fact the dac in my main system is AMR - the higher end cousin of iFi which are all manufactured in UK and designed by Thorsten Loesch who is pretty well known in DIY circles. Other highly regarded chifi stuff are Holo Audio, Line Magnetic etc.

Well, I don't design or sell Cayin. So it does not matter to me what you think about their products. I wanted a good DAP for my system and every forum had mentioned that Astell and Kern SP-3000, Cayin N8ii and Sony WM2 as the best DAPs in the market today. Sony was not available in India. So I bought the Astell and Cayin and as I said earlier, I like Cayin better

If you suggest any other good DAP I would not mind trying it out in my system and deciding accordingly. But I feel stereotyping a brand just because you heard a model and did not like it is not right.

And regarding your post about using SPDIF and not analogue, I tried everything before deciding what sounds best to my ears. Thanks again. Good day.

Mod Note - Proofread your posts before posting.

[keroo1099]

Originally Posted by flipflop

And regarding your post about using spdif and not analogue, I had tried everything before I decided what sounds best to my ears. Thanks again. Good day

Since you have done this all doubts cleared, have a blast and enjoy your setup.

[navin]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

I have no clue about the one the OP has as I haven't heard it.

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

You talk of Cayin to any audiophile and they will laugh on your face.

Having NOT heard the Cayin player the OP was talking about, why then make a negative statement?

Originally Posted by flipflop

So I bought the Astell and Cayin and as I said earlier, I like Cayin better.

You got me all the more interested in Cayin. I am past 60. I built my first amplifier in 1976. After almost 50 years of playing around with audio, I am still learning.

Thankfully, there are many patient young members here who will put up with my silly questions and answer them patiently.

Enjoy the music FlipFlop.

Edit: Just remembered that the last time my son was in Mumbai, he showed me a bunch of USB DACs (connected to his laptop) from Dragonfly, Earmen, Cayin, Shanling, etc. and both of us preferred the Cayin (I think the model was the RU6).

[Yesterdaysnews]

Originally Posted by TallBoy

This made it to the ET!

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com.../103497724.cms

Wowo, it’s really making waves!

I wonder if the media team from TeamBHP could do a video review of the vehicle!

[venus1975]

Originally Posted by flipflop

The choice of the car, the price of it vs the price of the ICE had been commented a bit. I want to clarify one thing here. Just because I happen to only afford a piece of land in the extreme suburbs, it’s not gonna stop me from building a lavish house because I will LIVE THERE. Some may argue as to why not use the extra dough to buy the plot in the city. But that would mean building my dream house will take another year or so and I Dont want to be wasting time. Because the only thing that never comes back is TIME

That’s the same thought process which went into this whole install. This is the car that I will be spending 3 hours everyday and I wanted the best sounding system which I can afford.

Very well articulated flipflop. You have spent your money the right way, so it brings you true happiness! Enjoy your drive to the fullest!

[ballkey]

That lot looks reasonably adequate. Drive safe!

[Turbanator]

Taking the new car and getting it opened requires courage and trust in the service provider. I am sure OP has both .

Regarding the debate around the choice of components or brands, we mostly go with the advice of the installer or seller of such products after doing the initial preliminary research. There are endless brands, and everything will have some positives or negatives. I will trust my ears if I get a chance; otherwise, the installer or seller's word has to be taken.

One thing that intrigues me about the source. In addition to a good DAC, we need a good source when we talk about an audiophile-grade setup. I have a dedicated Roon server for my stereo setups, and my preferred streaming is Qobuz (Tidal earlier).

Connecting an iPhone with a good-quality DAC and playing lossless Apple Music cannot probably justify the other equipment, and I would like to hear if someone has tried a Roon setup in cars. Roon has an Arc app recently for such usage, but I could not configure it for lack of static IP/ some restriction by the ISP.

So, how about setting up a Roon NUC in the car for such equipment?