Hi Phil
As soon as I find gear that sounds better hidden and tiny, I will be in your camp 
But as long as physics dictate size and position in the room for speakers and soundquality matters most for me, I will have to stick with visible gear 
But I have to admit, that I do love my lowboards that hide all the cables 
Christoph
Note I said should be heard not seen. I use a pair of Harbeth Compact 7/2s on pug ugly stands taking up far too much of my lounge than they should. But as you say, sound quality matters (and they do sound lovely)
I’ve got the electronics right at the moment though - just an Ayre AX-7e amp discretely on show, the dac and Rpi3 endpoint hidden away.
Your speakers look really interesting. I have a hankering for the Avantgarde Trios that look similar. I have neither the room nor budget for them at the moment though 
Phil
The Avantgarde Trios are excellent speakers, but they’re not exactly easy to hide… 
BTW, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with “visible” loudspeakers… (cables and stuff are a different story…)
There’s no replacement for displacement 
HiFi = HideFi?
As there’s more to HiFi than meets the eye, say Hi to your Fi when music’s drawing nigh!
Anthony
I meant to say, let me know how you get on with the USB bridge please - I’ve just ordered one myself to replace an RPi3 (that goes into a Meridian Explorer 2).
Am expecting setup to be fiddly and the need for ongoing ‘maintenance’, which if true is a shame as the Pi has been fit and forget (running DietPi that is updated via Roon so no external intervention). Fingers crossed it’s easier than I’m expecting (and I have gone for the DietPi / Allo GUI version, so it may be)
Phil
Hi Phil,
I think you’ll have your bridge before me, but the proof in the pudding will be over a few months and seeing how maintenance affects the experience.
Anthony
Until you go electric…
What about the battery though?!
Anthony
Getting somewhat off topic here, but mine arrived and is now installed. Not too difficult, would have been even easier had I read the manual first (that old one)
Obviously can’t comment on the maintenance side of things yet. On sound quality it’s marvelous though, a very significant upgrade from USB out of the RPi3. Very significant. Bigger sound stage, more detail, more realistic etc etc. Definitely good value for money
Phil
Bonjour,
/
2 x PC DIY
Fedora 26
Roon / Serveur / Bridge mode séparé
Double PC Fanless - Xeon / I3 / Batterie-IFI Power
Enceinte Concept : FH - Audax & Morel / Rike A. / Mundorf / Amtrans
Cable USB: Audiocadabra Optimus3 Ag / Regen
Alain
Nice! I do miss my Peachtree 220se and have heard so many great things about the Nova 300 !
Thats some very nice work! Are you saying the Bridge and Core are battery powered? Or is it the DAC that is?
The PC / XEON with Roon Server to its motherboard powered by slow discharge battery and its processor on an IFI power and the PC / I3 with Roon bridge to also its motherboard on slow discharge battery and its processor via a single power supply.
Both PCs are bridged with a second Ethernet card on the server PC.
The JOB INTegrated is a combo amplifier and DAC integrated, so no worries about connecting everything is compact and works very well and and 220 volt base so no batteries.
Alain
Made a few changes. The DSP5200 and MiniDSP made friends with a Meridian MS200. Great little streamer, full IR/transport controls, comms integration with speakers (can turn the system on and off from Roon, direct volume control from Roon to the speakers):
Got a nice little headphone nook set up as well, to dabble a bit with MQA over the holidays.
I’m done. For the year. 
Good thing the years is almost over
I decided to give my ears a break from my fancy USB audio chain and dust off and setup my old networked TOSlink (
) endpoint…
It doesn’t sound that bad at all… quite nice actually 
Hi Phil,
Gear to hear you’re enjoying your new USBBridge! Not often are you going to find such a big increase in quality for so ‘little’ expense. Enjoy!
While I wait for my Elicit (and the NAIT is on its way to its new owner) I’ve swapped out my system for a NAD 3020i and a pair of Mordaunt Short MS20’s I had in the cupboard. Not the calibre of the Naim / Linn combo but at 1/10th of the outlay not bad and fun to play around with.
Nice system Rene!
