Archive - Nuts About Hi-Fi Blog

Connie Retires After 20 Years Of Service

Connie,

We cannot thank you enough for all of the wonderful years we have had the pleasure of your company. Your diligence, honesty, hard work, sense of humor has been a
so great to be around.

You did an excellent job keeping us Nutty guys organized! Much Love from all of us here.

Knowing you, I’m sure we see you occasionally for those important sound system upgrades in between your jet setting trips around the world.

Happy travels beautiful.

Jim

Lyngdorf TDAI-3400

Our friends at Lyngdorf have done it again. We just received a TDAI-3400 integrated stereo amplifier from them, and WOW! The TDAI-3400 has a 200 watt x 2 channel amplifier that can power whatever speakers you throw at it. With Room Perfect, all of the adjustments to make your speakers sound the best are done automatically no matter your room layout. Inputs range from RCA to HDMI for any system’s need. Plus high resolution music streaming playback is built-in from services like Tidal Connect and Roon Ready. The ability to enable a theater throughput or preamp output allow it to be added to an existing surround sound or stereo system. Versatility and audio performance make it a great addition to any system. Come by Nuts About Hi-Fi to enjoy a demonstration of the newest Lyngdorf.

The TDAI-3400 comes with standard inputs (2 x analog RCA, 1 x AES-EBU, 2 x Coaxial, 3 x Optical, 1 x USB B) outputs (1 x analog RCA, 1 x analog balanced XLR, 1 x headphone output 3.5mm Jack). If you need additional connectivity, there are two optional modules available (HDMI: 1 x HDMI Output / 3 x HDMI Inputs) & (High-end analog: 1 x RIAA Phono MM, 2 x analog RCA, 1 x balanced XLR).

The Gateway Drug (or, Why is this jazz band in my room?)

A Special Guest Post from a Happy Customer

It all began with a letter from owner Jim Lee in Spring of 2013.

I had made my first purchase on my maiden visit to Nuts About HiFi… a pair of Grado RS1i headphones meticulously selected from a grand total of two pairs that they had in stock, while I was visiting Silverdale from Ann Arbor, MI. This was my second pair of audiophile headphones: one of anything might be good, but two of them represent the start of a collection. That Grado headphone started me on a journey into the land of headphones, and I have acquired at least 50 pairs and written about many of them on the online forum head-fi.com.

I was amazed, a few weeks after my purchase, to receive a letter (remember those?) from Nuts About HiFi. It was from Jim Lee, thanking me for my purchase and hoping I was happy with the headphones. I called him in amazement to express my appreciation for his follow-up. Eight years later I moved to Poulsbo, WA.

Two weeks ago, in September of 2021, 8-1/2 years later, Matt and Adam of Nuts About HiFi completed the installation in my home of a Samsung QN82Q900RB 82 inch TV with wall mount, two Focal Sopra 3 floor-standing speakers, Focal Aria CC900 center speaker, two Focal Surround BE speakers, a JL Audio F113v2 subwoofer, Anthem AVM 70 audio-visual processor, Aesthetix Atlas stereo amp, Anthem MCA 325 3 channel amp for the surround and center speakers, a Sony UBP-X-1100ES 4K BluRay with SACD capability, a Meridian 218 zone controller, a TS-451+ NAS drive, a Clearaudio Concept turntable with moving magnet, Salamander cabinet, $4,500 worth of cables (6% of system cost), a power module, and MX990 universal remote with MRF350 RF module to control it. Whew!

System design was by Matt, who began with a Meridian Sooloos system as music source, but then changed that to Roon when Meridian froze its development of Sooloos. Nuts About HiFi bought me a lifetime subscription to Roon to compensate for the loss of Sooloos.

The upgrade from Sooloos to a Roon subscription is just one example of a whole series of customer amenities that Nuts has offered me. System design began prior to COVID, and the TV, power supply, and cabinet were installed in early 2020. We could not resume installation until May of 2021, and some manufacturers had updated their items, so Nuts updated the diagram. Adam provided excellent installation, particularly in the art of running the ARC Anthem Room Correction, wrestling with a shortage of wall height in placing the center speaker, and programming the remote so that it truly does replace the 4 remotes that we had been using.

Yesterday, I received my first SACD disk (Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue). In listening with eyes closed, I just knew that his jazz band was right in front of me… yes, right there… don’t you see it!?

Thank you, Adam, Connie, Jim, and Matt!!!

John G. Ackenhusen

The Room Perfect Stereo

We are excited about a new product we just received from our friends at Lyngdorf. The TDAI-1120 is a stereo integrated audio streamer boasting a 60 watt x 2 channel amplifier with superb sound quality. Lyngdorf’s own correction software (RoomPerfect) uses a microphone to get even the most challenging rooms sounding great.

A small compact design allows for the Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 to fit in almost any system design. Vast connection types range from 2 x traditional analog, 1 x phono (MM or MC), 1 x HDMI for eARC, 2 x digital coaxial, 2 x digital optical, Spotify Connect, AirPlay, Bluetooth, Chromecast, and Roon Ready.

Come by the shop to have a demo of the perfect solution to the music listening system.

Hello Old Friend – Vinyl Records

Ever wonder why CD players are disappearing and turntables are coming back? With high quality music at your fingertips from a smart device, the convenience of streaming has pushed CDs out of the market.

There are many options that can get you CD quality music or better. If you haven’t heard Tidal on a Roon system, come by the shop for a demo. But if you really want to hear the best detail possible, vinyl has the answer.

Vinyl records don’t have the same restrictions as digital formats. Because vinyl is an analog medium, there is no compression from the studio recording to when you play it in your audio system. This is true for older albums originally recorded on tapes and new albums recorded digitally. When a vinyl record is pressed, there is no limit to data size like on a CD. You just get the music. I was amazed the first time I heard a new artist on vinyl versus CD or streaming. There were parts of the music that I had never heard before.

Just like any other audio component you will need a turntable that is built well to perform well. We only offer turntables that will sound better than a CD player, because isn’t that the purpose? Come by the shop and meet a new friend or reacquaint yourself with an old friend.