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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2022 22:38:35 GMT
Got some Wharfedale Diamond 220s from Richer Sounds this Black Friday. Had to register for their mailing list and got £100 off for doing so. I'm sure these aren't considered high end but it's been like lifting a blanket from the speakers packaged with my Denon N9. Cutting the speaker cable up (a first) was a fiddly job but I've got it really neat behind. The wires from the Denon speaker looked extremely Fisherprice in comparison - I do wonder how much the cable has to do with the better sound.
Then Amazon got me, and I had to upgrade my headphones too, so I now have Sennheiser Momentum 3s. Have just worked out how to connect these to my BT transmitter dongle so I've now got my vinyl through them. These have replaced a pair of Soundcores P30s which at RRP are about 4 times cheaper than the M3s.
The new Sennheisers are much more comfortable and feel a much better build. They sound less compressed somehow than the Soundcore and certainly more balanced - I always had to knock the bass off my EQ previously but the bass is much more controlled and isn't boomy now.
If your budget is on the modest side you could do worse with either item.
I may keep the Soundcore for my TV upstairs if I can get it working through my spare transmitter.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2022 22:53:26 GMT
Just a bit further on this one - I've plumped for the Marshall Stanmore 3 as stated above but I'll be connecting my old MP3 player to it via a 3.5mm to 3.5mm or a 3.5mm to RCA. Wondering if I can get what's hopefully the last bit of help! - Is there any benefit to using one method over the other? - Is there much difference in quality between say a £5 cable and a £15 one? There doesn't seem to be much variation in price in all honesty so I'm guessing not? Thanks! I had a play with a Marshall in Currys the other week when we popped in to have a look at a stereo for my dad. It was an Acton III I think? I assumed they'd not be that great as a hi-fi manufacturer but I actually really liked the sound for what it was, and the build and materials were gorgeous, particularly if you like the guitar amps. I don't need one at all but kinda want one just to own it now. The Stanmore is one up from that isn't it. |
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kal
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Post by kal on Nov 23, 2022 8:01:58 GMT
Got some Wharfedale Diamond 220s from Richer Sounds this Black Friday. Had to register for their mailing list and got £100 off for doing so. I'm sure these aren't considered high end but it's been like lifting a blanket from the speakers packaged with my Denon N9. Cutting the speaker cable up (a first) was a fiddly job but I've got it really neat behind. The wires from the Denon speaker looked extremely Fisherprice in comparison - I do wonder how much the cable has to do with the better sound. Then Amazon got me, and I had to upgrade my headphones too, so I now have Sennheiser Momentum 3s. Have just worked out how to connect these to my BT transmitter dongle so I've now got my vinyl through them. These have replaced a pair of Soundcores P30s which at RRP are about 4 times cheaper than the M3s. The new Sennheisers are much more comfortable and feel a much better build. They sound less compressed somehow than the Soundcore and certainly more balanced - I always had to knock the bass off my EQ previously but the bass is much more controlled and isn't boomy now. If your budget is on the modest side you could do worse with either item. I may keep the Soundcore for my TV upstairs if I can get it working through my spare transmitter. Very nice speakers. Of course not super high end but almost any hi if separate system will sound better than your average Bose/Sonos/whatever type set at a much lower price. As for speaker cable, that’s the eternal audiophile debate. There’s no question it makes a difference, but what difference it makes and how much is literally the most common conversation on any hi if forum. My view is it changes the sound more than the quality. Copper definitely has a less analytical sound to silver for example. It’s not a fun thing to spend money on but it’s probably worth investing in some step up from free cable. If you regularly use headphones to listen to your vinyl, at some point a cheap headphone amp and some wired headphones will be a massive leap over Bluetooth, and again cheaper also. |
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Nov 23, 2022 9:21:10 GMT
The ifi stack is good bang 4 buck for that if you want to drop even more money.
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Post by rhaegyr on Nov 23, 2022 9:28:34 GMT
Just a bit further on this one - I've plumped for the Marshall Stanmore 3 as stated above but I'll be connecting my old MP3 player to it via a 3.5mm to 3.5mm or a 3.5mm to RCA. Wondering if I can get what's hopefully the last bit of help! - Is there any benefit to using one method over the other? - Is there much difference in quality between say a £5 cable and a £15 one? There doesn't seem to be much variation in price in all honesty so I'm guessing not? Thanks! I had a play with a Marshall in Currys the other week when we popped in to have a look at a stereo for my dad. It was an Acton III I think? I assumed they'd not be that great as a hi-fi manufacturer but I actually really liked the sound for what it was, and the build and materials were gorgeous, particularly if you like the guitar amps. I don't need one at all but kinda want one just to own it now. The Stanmore is one up from that isn't it. This is good to know! It's sat upstairs wrapped up as a present for my birthday next week; haven't had the chance to listen to it yet. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2022 18:49:42 GMT
kalSorry I don't know if call outs work here but I don't want a huge quote thing going on. They didn't have the cable I wanted (QED XT25 I'd plumped for). They offered me the silver core anniversary cable from the same company which was £1 per meter more for the same price. I've probably ended up with a meter spare too. Regards headphones - it's a question of compromise like many things. The layout of the room doesn't really work for wired, particularly with a small dog and medium child wandering about. Years of loud headphone usage and bands probably means my hearing isn't all that anyway so I like to buy solid kit that's above 'HMV/entry' level and it's possibly diminishing returns past there. I saw your cartridge question and had to check what mine is. I have an LP5X table and I upgraded the cart to VM95ML - but it's a MM. So of the three cartridges I've ever used, I think they've all been MM. I will say the microlinear stylus was a large upgrade over the elliptical one that came with the table. Definitely less IGD.
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Nov 27, 2022 19:36:21 GMT
Some redonk bargains at rarewaves atm. I think the discount code lasts until midnight  |
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mrharvest
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Registered 18 years ago Posts 5,718
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Post by mrharvest on Dec 3, 2022 9:56:46 GMT
Homebrew 12 channel Dolby Atmos setup for less than $2000. Sure he uses some cheapo speakers but fun concept anyway.
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Dec 14, 2022 13:58:37 GMT
So as part of the living room revamp Mrs Mercury has allowed me to get my ancient mahoosive TDL RTL3's out of storage to provide the sounds for the TV, instead of the soundbar/SW we have now. I also need an amp, I had always planned to get a S/H Arcam Delta 290 off ebay as these are remote controlled and I know they sound great but finally after getting round to finding one off ebay it turns out you cannot actually turn the amp on/off with the remote and I don't want to have to leave it on all the time given energy prices and Mrs Mercury will soon get peed off if she has to actually push a button on the amp and she'll just leave it on anyway.
So can anyone recommend a decent amp that's remote controlled and preferably older (so probably about £600 new) so I can find one cheaper (£150-200ish) on ebay?
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Post by gamingdave on Dec 14, 2022 14:05:54 GMT
A solution could be to get a remote controlled plug, so you can switch it on that way. Would be an extra controller unless you have a programable remote so not sure how practical it is for you, but could work.
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Dec 14, 2022 14:31:24 GMT
That is a bloody good idea, I wonder if I can get an IR remote control socket or are they all wireless? Then I can just have one (programmable) remote to do the volume and power. Looks like the Arcam might be back in the running!
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Post by andytheaverage on Dec 14, 2022 14:51:26 GMT
So as part of the living room revamp Mrs Mercury has allowed me to get my ancient mahoosive TDL RTL3's out of storage to provide the sounds for the TV, instead of the soundbar/SW we have now. I also need an amp, I had always planned to get a S/H Arcam Delta 290 off ebay as these are remote controlled and I know they sound great but finally after getting round to finding one off ebay it turns out you cannot actually turn the amp on/off with the remote and I don't want to have to leave it on all the time given energy prices and Mrs Mercury will soon get peed off if she has to actually push a button on the amp and she'll just leave it on anyway. So can anyone recommend a decent amp that's remote controlled and preferably older (so probably about £600 new) so I can find one cheaper (£150-200ish) on ebay? I managed to pick up a Cyrus One Cast for £575* in a sale for this situation. It's a hifi amp but has HDMI ARC so can plug into the TV and will automatically turn itself on and off, plus the volume will be controlled via your TV remote. Not sure you'll be able to get it that cheap on eBay but might be worth a look. It also has a separate remote that controls power and volume but you probably wouldn't need it. *Peter Tyson sell them for £650 but they are regularly part of eBay 10-15% off sales. |
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Post by gamingdave on Dec 14, 2022 14:54:07 GMT
Seems to be loads on Amazon that claim to be RF, so I think most programmable remotes should work
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kal
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Post by kal on Dec 14, 2022 14:58:26 GMT
Was going to say ARC is probably the way to go if possible. Increasingly standard with AV amps.
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Dec 14, 2022 15:00:33 GMT
Seems to be loads on Amazon that claim to be RF, so I think most programmable remotes should work Can you link to a few please because I can only find one IR one (is that the same as RF) and that was about £40 inc postage and that's not from Amazon. |
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Dec 14, 2022 15:06:13 GMT
if you get an alexa enabled one, you can literally just say 'alexa, amp on/off' and remove a remote from your life.
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Post by Dougs on Dec 14, 2022 15:08:56 GMT
Smart plug all the way.
Ah, I see nick beat me to that.
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Dec 14, 2022 15:09:42 GMT
So as part of the living room revamp Mrs Mercury has allowed me to get my ancient mahoosive TDL RTL3's out of storage to provide the sounds for the TV, instead of the soundbar/SW we have now. I also need an amp, I had always planned to get a S/H Arcam Delta 290 off ebay as these are remote controlled and I know they sound great but finally after getting round to finding one off ebay it turns out you cannot actually turn the amp on/off with the remote and I don't want to have to leave it on all the time given energy prices and Mrs Mercury will soon get peed off if she has to actually push a button on the amp and she'll just leave it on anyway. So can anyone recommend a decent amp that's remote controlled and preferably older (so probably about £600 new) so I can find one cheaper (£150-200ish) on ebay? I managed to pick up a Cyrus One Cast for £575* in a sale for this situation. It's a hifi amp but has HDMI ARC so can plug into the TV and will automatically turn itself on and off, plus the volume will be controlled via your TV remote. Not sure you'll be able to get it that cheap on eBay but might be worth a look. It also has a separate remote that controls power and volume but you probably wouldn't need it. *Peter Tyson sell them for £650 but they are regularly part of eBay 10-15% off sales. Thanks I considered an old Cyrus 3 or something as I have a (now dead) Cyrus 3 + Power Supply and I know that remote will turn it on/off but I think I'd prefer something I can adjust the bass as I don't really want to be waking the neighbours or getting complaints as these RTL's have bags of bass. Also my old Cyrus 3 amp had a cut-off at low volume where it would just shut off rather than feather down to no volume at all which I always found quite annoying. My budget is more like £200, hence getting something older but S/H. Connections wise I've already got an Optical to RCA convertor that worked well when I tested the whole set-up with an old piece of junk Technics amp. |
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Post by gamingdave on Dec 14, 2022 16:53:03 GMT
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Dec 14, 2022 16:59:24 GMT
Ahh thanks, it's not infrared though as per a traditional remote control.
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Post by username on Dec 22, 2022 21:08:40 GMT
Does anyone here have the Kanto YU6s? How are they?
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Post by username on Dec 23, 2022 8:49:32 GMT
… or any “audiophile” desktop speakers they’d recommend? I had some KEF LSX but had to return them - while the sound was amazing near field, the wireless performance and overall software was terrible.
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kal
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Post by kal on Dec 23, 2022 9:17:31 GMT
Presumably you’re looking for Bluetooth ones specifically.
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Post by username on Dec 23, 2022 9:22:44 GMT
Preference is for optical (to run Apple Music via Xbox, and maybe add a small CD player later). Bluetooth, AirPlay, and Spotify Connect would be a bonus.
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kal
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Post by kal on Dec 23, 2022 12:00:44 GMT
Preference is for optical (to run Apple Music via Xbox, and maybe add a small CD player later). Bluetooth, AirPlay, and Spotify Connect would be a bonus. To be completely honest you’ll probably have more joy in the AV thread for that sort of thing. |
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Post by jetsetchilli on Dec 24, 2022 1:03:16 GMT
Preference is for optical (to run Apple Music via Xbox, and maybe add a small CD player later). Bluetooth, AirPlay, and Spotify Connect would be a bonus. I like my Ruark Audio MR1 MK2's. They have good bluetooth and optical. Lacked a little bass for my taste so ended up buying a REL TZero MKIII off ebay. Now they sound lovely and all in, half the price of the KEF's. I am no audiophile though |
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Post by tonyferrino on Dec 24, 2022 7:29:54 GMT
I can definitely recommend the TZero if you go for a small sub. I got one to replace a Tannoy one that was part of a cheapo 5.1det, and the difference it made just to that set was ridiculous. And it's so small and shiny.
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Post by username on Dec 26, 2022 20:39:06 GMT
Opted for a mini system in the end because I got a decent deal in the sales. Tangent amp + a set of Dali Spektor 1s. Might add the Tangent CD player too if I can find a decent price.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2022 21:02:26 GMT
Got a decent crop of LPs from very generous Xmas spends this year.
Thin Lizzy, Jailbreak and Live and Dangerous (the greatest live album ever in rock IMO), and Van Halen (debut) and 1984.
1984 sounds HORRIFIC on the last couple of songs of side 2, especially the last song. Distorted mud and endless sibilance.
It's not a long album either and the grooves are definitely not up to the spindle. I've gone the whole-hog today and re-levelled the table, arm, dug out the tracking scales and alignment protractor. Still no joy. I also run the AT95ML which is widely regarded as a cost-effective IGD killer.
Over in the wilds of the Hoffman forums this particular, Chris Bellman-cut pressing is universally lauded as the best, with nobody mentioning anything negative.
No problems with the later songs on the Thin Lizzy's.
Duff pressing maybe? I absolutely adore the album and definitely want a copy but don't wanna throw good money after bad.
The final song on it is a noisy one, with almost constant cymbal work. I wonder if it's simply been cut too hot and loud for the end of the record. I reckon they've not got past 'Jump' on the forum.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2022 21:07:43 GMT
Separate post just in case anybody wants to quote without quoting all of the above.
I've been looking at a Cambridge Duo pre-amp as a possible upgrade to the pre-amp built into the entry-level table I have (AT LP5X). They've just come down in price across the board.
I don't see a switch to disable the internal pre-amp, it just has 'line' and 'phono'. I currently run it on 'line' into the AUX sockets of my mini system.
I believe you can likely bypass the internal pre-amp with some snipping and soldering but I don't want to get into that.
Is it worth a punt and will the internal pre-amp get in the way I guess are the questions.
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