Audiophile
I'm not a huge audiophile, as far as financial investment goes, but the quest for an excellent listening experience certainly qualifies as one of my special interests.
On this page I've cataloged my whole setup.
Disclosure: I have no relationship with any companies I link here. I have never received free or complimentary services or hardware from any brand, ever. I'm not a reviewer, I'm just a dude.
⦾ Headphones
My headphone setup saw significant investment in 2023/2024. Expect some more growth in this area in 2026. Maybe a planar magnetic to spice it up a bit?
If that happens I'll probably end up building a desktop amp stack to compliment my portable DAC.
→ ATH-WP900
The Audio Technica ATH-WP900's are my "in public" closed-back headphones. As a woodworker I was drawn to them. They're a bit flashy and I like that. They are low impedance (38Ω) and are easily driven by headphone jacks or basic DAC dongles.
They also support balanced output which is neat I guess. I want to say that I can tell the difference, but to be honest, it's probably all in my head.
This carry case pattern is a design I came up with myself and have perfected over the last few years. Many of my friends have received one of these as a gift.
Would I buy them again? Certainly. But I don't suggest them as somebodies first higher-end set of cans. You can get higher fidelity closed-backs for the same price (or less). I paid $650.00 before taxes when I bought them in 2023. They retail for $700 now on the AT website.
→ HD 560S
The Sennheiser HD 560S's are my open-back "I'm here for the listening experience" headphone. They're higher impedance (120Ω) than the ATH-WP900's and benefit from a more powerful DAC to reach full volume.
They include a quarter-inch adapter which I often use when listening through the stereo in more intimate listening sessions.
They're mid-range priced cans ($230 when I bought them in 2023) that I would recommend to somebody who is entering the high-fi audio hobby.
⦾ DAC
→ Questyle M15i
This is my second DAC, see notes in Questyle M15 (below) about why that is so
I first heard about the M15i through DMS on YouTube in this video:
Which is reviewed in greater detail in a dedicated video on The Headphone Show channel.
I like it.
- It is small
- It powers my HD 560S's just fine
- It has a 4.4mm balanced output which my ATH-WP900's can use
- It connects over USB-C
- It looks really nice
- It sounds great
→ Questyle M15
In 2023 I purchased the original M15 (no i suffix) model. It suffered some
damage so in January 2026 I looked up the repair
options. While I
was out of their 12 month warranty window, they still claimed to offer a paid
repair service:
"The longer you use your device, the better for the planet and environment. If your device from Questyle is out of warranty yet needs repair, we offer our customers a paid repair service."
I emailed their support address, hello@questyleshop.com to find out what we
could do. They told me:
"[…] We would be happy to repair it for you. However, if you ship the product to China, the shipping and customs fees will be very high, making it very uneconomical. Would you be interested in purchasing an M15i at a significant discount instead?
I said "yeah sure that sounds great to me". And to be honest, that sounded a lot quicker, easier, and less tedious than shipping this overseas and dealing with re-import costs.
The next day they got back to me with a $70 discount code. I applied it and checked out only spending $109 on the newer model which retails for $300 as of January, 2026 (marked down to $180 on their website at the time of writing).
⦾ Turntable
You can check out my vinyl collection on Discogs.
→ AT-LP120-USB
Way back in December 2017 I bought the venerable Audio Technica AT-LP120-USB. This model has been discontinued. I think I purchased it for around $250 at the time. It looks like their closest available offering is the AT-LP120XUSB for $450.
I've digitized several albums with this turntable over the USB connection and listened to countless hours of vinyl.
No complaints, but I wish it had an automatic tone-arm return function.
IMAGE HERE
I pimped out my unit with a Dark Side of the Moon platter mat. Experts say this adds exactly $0.00 in market value, but doubles my cool points.
→ VM540ML/H
In 2023, after years and years of play (6.5 years, 🫢) I replaced the headshell/cartridge. This is normal maintenance for these devices which you should do as described in your product manual.
The turntable ships with an elliptical ATN95E stylus in the box, which is just fine (and economical at $52). I decided to take things to the next level and I ordered the VM540ML/H ($300 before taxes in 2023) when I replaced mine.
This is a MicroLine® ("Micro-Ridge") shaped stylus which The Ultimate Guide to Styluses describes like this:
"At the top end of the stylus spectrum are micro-ridge or microline shapes. These ultra-precise tips closely mimic the shape of the cutting stylus used to create the original record grooves.
…
"However, they are also the most expensive option and require very precise alignment and a high-quality turntable setup to realize their full potential."
That page also has a section on how long you can expect your stylus to last, and how to increase the lifetime.
Am I getting the full value out of this 6x expensive stylus?
🤷🏼
Probably not. But it makes me feel good and gives me something to talk about.
⦾ Receiver/Speakers
→ AVR-591
I found the Denon AVR-591 stereo receiver by chance one day while strolling through my favorite local thrift store (for $30!). A quick ebay search suggests that's still a good deal.
Originally released in May of 2010 with an MSRP of $350 this beast has everything you could hope for at the time. For my little coach-house setup it is more than enough to shake the cabinets.
I would like to point out that the manual is fantastic and makes me nostalgic for the old days.
And it has an OSD (on-screen display):
IMAGE HERE
How cool is that‽
→ HT-SR800
The stereo setup is all pumped through the speakers from a late 2000's Onkyo HT-SR800 7.1 channel theater system (manual).
Which I also got at the thrift store for $7.00 per speaker and $10 for the sub!
I spent more money on copper to wire everything than I spent on the receiver and speakers together.
The AVR-591 only supports 5.1 audio, so I wired the rear/surrounds together in serial for now, and fade the EQ appropriately.
For the curious, that basically looks like this:
→ R1280T
I started off the "high-fi" setup with the classic Edifier R1280T's in brown fake wood veneer. They were $100 before tax when I bought them in 2018.
IMAGE HERE
I have nothing bad to say about them. Great experience all around. They're small enough to stick in most places and they've got enough power to fill a room. They take two RCA input pairs which was also a nice quality of life feature.
⦾ Streaming
→ Qobuz
I was a Spotify subscriber for over a decade. I gave it all up for something that treats artists better.
Maybe you should too (podcast version)
Enter Qobuz. High fidelity music streaming and purchases. Everything is at least CD quality. And I've seen it as high as 192kHz/24-bit.
They pay artists the best. So if you want to stream and support artists, they're a great choice.
Also DRM-free lossless high-fidelity FLAC purchases of most stuff in their catalog:
