Other Hi-fi and AV junkies anonymous

XLR is a pretty mechanically robust connection, that certainly gets my vote.

 

XLR to XLR it then fellas. Just need to know the required cable length...

 

Not convinced self ripped recording from that turntable is likely to be much better, even if you leave it uncompressed. It rather depends on the source of the digitised audio on Youtube. There's nothing inherently bad about Youtube audio. It's just moderate bitrate mp3/AAC/Opus (albeit there is a reasonable chance it has been recompressed, which is not ideal).

 

Decided I wanted a new sub. The 8" one I had was fine until I added more speakers to the front. Now? it's getting completely drained out. I am making too much bass to warrant it. What I mean is, I am getting pretty much nothing at the sofa. Go into the kitchen however? yeah, not good. I want to feel it without having to thrash it.

Decided on something bigger, yet directed. So basically right next to the sofa. Meaning I will feel everything it has, without thrashing it at high volumes. Wanted something that goes much lower too, again so I don't have to blast it.

I wanted to build it myself. However, that would have meant buying a circular saw, plunge router and god knows what else. It also meant making a huge mess, as well as having to pay out the ass for a delivery for one sheet of MDF.

I had a few subs in mind. Most notably the JL Audio 15 W0. It comes in at around £229. Last night one of my watched listings offered it to me for £190, but I was still wary about the aggro of building a cabinet. I also had a Vibe Black Air 15" inner tube speaker (you'll see what I mean in a minute, John at Cerwin Vega used to call them that) in my watch list. It too was £229.

Then this morning I spotted this.



At first glance it's totally chavvy and revolting. However, it was only £60 more than the woofer itself, and comes with two pretty cool vents and an actual cabinet. It's an odd shape.



But I can work with it. I want to pull the carpet off and refinish it, then replace the horrid carbon with just matt acrylic or something. Maybe gloss 3mm? IDK. I will figure that out as I go.

I have a plate amp in the Earthquake sub that is worth more than the sub itself. 300W RMS. Yesterday I probed the woofer in there, sure enough it's 4 ohm. So the amp can be put into that Vibe sub without too much headaches. I want it levelled too, as I want to add a coffee table top to it. Will get my friend to machine me some legs to make the top level. Then debadge, de "horrid" and probably sand off the branding from the ports and paint those black.

The sub in the enclosure cost me £250. Made an offer which was accepted, job done. TBH? at that price that's a whole lot of air piston for not a lot of money. So if it's too much or what not? it won't be a huge loss if I sell it cheap locally.

 

Would this be a good place to ask for advice on building an av setup?

 

About as good as it gets haha.

Just got myself two more wall plates.



Found the left over pattress boxes earlier.

 

Absolutely, ask away!

Had a major home cinema update this week. Home control/automation in general, so home cinema control was a side effect of this, along with some motorised blinds for the cinema room.

And I'm pretty sure with the new addition of a Control4 EA5 at top, the rack is fully stocked. Which is just as well because it's pretty much full.


Though the cupboard itself, and indeed the rest of the room is very much not complete. A fair bit of progress though...



@Yaka have you had your AVM70 yet?


EDIT: And I remained on the fence for the remote... whichever I don't use in the cinema will be used in the lounge, or even elsewhere. You can easily swap rooms on the fly.

I have one of the 8" in-wall touchscreens on order as well, as it was originally to be used next to the front door, but the lead time kept getting larger and larger so opted for a 10" instead as it was immediately available. And since using the one next to the front door I've decided that in-wall touchscreens are my new favourite, so opted to keep the order.

 

Ok, dumb question time. I have been a musician since I was 7, so 33 years. I have the ability to tell you what brand of French horn they're all playing individually, whether they've been reworked, and generally who they were done by. With all that, I find regular hi-fi equipment to be just fine. A decent pair of flat response headphones or even my Logitech computer speakers work just fine. I know if a trumpet player played it as written or took the optional notes, but I don't get more from it from somebody's 15k hifi than I do from my setup with the exception of the hifi response is weighted wrong.

I have played with the Mobile Symphony, sung with the Mobile Opera (Carmina Burana, 2004) and performed Phantom of the Opera as the Phantom. I can tell you who is off in the strings, how many cents off they are, and if it is instrument malfunction or user error but I can't see the point in these hifi setups. Please enlighten me.

(I spent a long time learning my craft, I am justifiably proud of my accomplishments. They are the result of tireless hours of practice and study. I did not roll out of bed and do this one day. My French horn was 11k in 1999-if I had not gotten full rides I could never have gotten it. I worked my ass off to get here.)

 

There is such a thing as "critical listening skills", which many hifi enthusiasts will be equipped with. Not every one has them, and many people I have spoken to over the years have all said that "It all sounds the same to me".

Though tbh? most of that does only go so far. Nearly all of a high end expensive hifi system is about quality and materials. Things that are known to make a difference. IE, the cleanest power supply possible and things like the thickness of cabinets and wave guides are proven science and do improve the quality.

That said some people do take it way too far. I generally tend to take it to the point where my critical listening skills are completely at their limit and call it a day there. Because if you over step that mark it gets expensive very fast for little or no gain.

Mainly though it, like many other things, is a hobby. Music is the most wonderful thing life has given to all of us IMO and therefore some people do take it very seriously and rightly so. The most elaborate systems? are for the wealthy. And then it starts to become about fit and finish, and the standard of the materials being used. I believe that once you reach a certain point? it becomes more about materials and aesthetics tbh. Which hey, if you like and can afford? then why not.

I've been told many times that "Well I can't tell the difference between an MP3 and a CD or flac !" I can absolutely guarantee to you that even someone who is partially deaf could tell the difference in about ten seconds on my system.

To give you an idea of why high end hifi is so expensive other than materials and fit and finish? the wave guide on my speakers for the tweeter. This is it here.



That concave/convex (I always get them the wrong way around so I will mention both) plastic area that the tweeter sits in. Now that looks like, well, just a piece of plastic. However over a year and millions of dollars went into that in research. Which is part of the reason why those speakers cost about $2000 US. But it doesn't just stop there. The drivers are multi layer aluminium and pulp. Most speakers are usually one or the other, or kevlar and etc etc. The cabinets are 1.5" thick, which seems ridiculous really and they have large shapped rubber dampers on the top. Which again, is all pretty scientific.

The finish?



Is absolutely flawless. No orange peel, not even a speck out of place. And that comes with a price tag.

 

I think there are more hifi enthusiasts that get wrapped up in their own (and others) mumbo jumbo, more that developing a pair of golden ears tbh.
It's a hobby like any other that involves "stuff" - whether it's a £2000 GPU or £2000 speakers, a £2000 bike frame, a £2000 pair of shoes or a £2000 bottle of whisky.
There is a certain level of quality and performance that usually scales loosely with the price tag but it's just as much about the enjoyment and experience of said passion. Others that don't "get it" will undoubtedly question the value of a £2000 bottle of whisky when a £50 bottle still gets them good and drunk and tastes no difference to them - but that doesn't matter it's not about them, it's about you enjoying your hobby the the way that works for you.

As above, you do you.

 

With the tunes provided by 100 £20 speakers, like bluetooth ones haphazardly strewn around.

 

So drunk you've gone deaf!

 

And, people who don't care about "critical listening skills."

I want new kit to sound good to me and care not a jot if someone else, maybe a reviewer, listening critically, likes it. If I like the way it sounds, I keep it, if I don't it gets sent back. When I am listening to music, I want to enjoy it, not analyse it and don't need "critical listening skills" to do that.

 

By enjoying it you are using your critical listening skills. Because it sounds good to you. Of course there are a huge variety of things you can like. Warmth, soundstage, brighter etc. The ability to tell the difference is your critical listening skill. I'm not claiming to have a talent that very few have. I just have very, very good hearing.

Tad - I am not talking about the mumbo jumbo side of things where people claim to be able to tell the difference between a set of cables. Unless of course you go to silver, where the sound is most certainly different. IMO the price scales up to around 2-3 grand. Depending on the size, of course.

 

See, that generally makes sense to me. I can 100% see a tube amp to keep it sounding realistic, and I get the difference between silver and copper.

I don't believe I have golden ears, this was something my whole section could do. I was trained what to listen for (and sometimes it destroys my enjoyment) and how to listen like a conductor.

I get what you guys are saying. If it doesn't sound good to you don't buy it. I agree, and the common sense approach was nice.

I get your motivations. You get mine. We're good here.

 

Caves go in / are in hillsides, therefore concave is a going inwards shape, where as convex sticks out.

Another pointless aide memoir is that Princess Di was important / upper class (after she married into it) and as such dihedral wings point up from an aircrafts fuselage.

Told you it was pointless, but it came in handy during my ATC days

 

Like this. Thanks for that.

Reminded me of how to remember stalactites and stalagmites. Tights go down and mites go up is how my schoolboy mind remembered it.

Still works.

Now I'm thinking troll goes into a cave and when he's vexed he comes out and gives the finger.