Recent content by Mark Dunlop

I'm afraid I never use the headphone socket so I've no idea, mate. m.d.

I don't use Bluetooth for music, but I do listen to the radio through BBC Sounds and it's handy to Bluetooth it. My Rotel A11 Tribute had Bluetooth, but the Audiolab doesn't. I wouldn't "upgrade" to the Quad just to have the radio, you understand, but the option would be handy. m.d.

Apparently not. It has a ES9038Pro 32-bit DAC and Bluetooth. The 8300CDQ doesn't have Bluetooth, which is a bummer, and the Quad does. That's something in its favour... m.d.

I currently have an Audiolab 8300CDQ running through an Audiolab 8300 XP power amp. The Quad Artera (same idea - combined cd player, DAC and pre-amp) is coming in about £1300 - the Audiolab is currently selling for about £200 less than that. Anyone with any experience of both? I'm wondering...

It's not beyond the realm of possibility that I'd have cocked it up, but I'd have thought the speakers would either 'work' or they wouldn't. Also, why only humming through XLR if they weren't set up right? Very odd... m.d.

UPDATE Now this is really weird... If anyone can offer an explanation, be my guest. I took the XLR leads out, switched back to the RCAs and I put on "Leave" by REM while I was doing some other things. It's a song I know like the back of my hand so, a minute into the track when the lead guitar...

Cheers, Bill. I only decided to use XLRs for the s & giggles, really. I would say the sound is a little louder through them than the RCAs and the hum isn't apparent when listening. I had a hum from a Rotel cd player once that I fixed by using a different power cable, but this is a different...

I recently bought an Audiolab combo - the 8300CDQ & 8300 XP and decided to try the XLR ouputs for a wee change. I then bought replacement speakers - B&W DM602 S3s out, ATC SCM 11s in. There's a hum from the speakers when I select the XLR output on the 8300XP which is not present when I select...

Interesting... it's a pity we have to be so damn careful, isn't it? Thanks for pointing that out. The Zpre3 is definitely £849 in Audio Emotion in Glenrothes. Tempted to go in for a listen!

Sound advice, Big H - scuse the pun :) Yes, deffo credit card only. I'm interested in the Parasound Zpre3 pre-amp. I'm currently using a Rotel A11 Tribute just as a pre-amp and it looks very interesting at that price, given I could try one out and/or buy the same item locally in Audio Emotion...

I'm of an age where vinyl was what my parents had and CDs were the thing to aspire to having, and so I still buy CDs regularly. You can get them for buttons these days, which suits me fine - I remember when you could hardly give LPs away! I wouldn't be interested in streaming because a. I like...

You know what they say - if it seems too good to be true, then it probably isn't true. I've found a company online offering some fairly ludicrous discounts on hifi gear - discounts too good to be true, some might think. The company is www dot connecteddirect dot co dot uk Has anyone any...

Mods please feel free to remove this thread if you like as it's served its purposes. m.d.

I listened to a pair of R3 Metas in the listening room at James Morrow Hifi in Edinburgh and I was astounded at the quality of the sound. Now, to be fair, they were set up with about £40K worth of gear in there, but still - fabulous sound. When I get the readies together, I'm either getting a...

Confirmed what I thought, guys - nice one. I shall politely pass on the offer. m.d.