Before and After upgrades

[bullitt]

So for 15 years I've had
Panasonic TH-46PZB1
Custom Mercury F1 Speakers
MJ Acoustics Ref 100 mkII
Onkyo 606
Atacama Equinox TV Rack / Stand
Atacama Nexus Speaker Stands

Upgrades
LG65C3
BDI Mirage 8227-2

So I still need to upgrade AV receiver to get the best out of the LG TV and because my TV unit is bigger I'm finding my surround speaker wires aren't comfortably long enough - new wire or extend?

To accommodate the new tech and enhance the living room I came across the acoustic wall panels which I'm very pleased with, all done just before the arrival of the LG and BDI cabinet.

 

[12th Monkey]

Looks very nice indeed. Personally, I'd be wary of extending cables - but others may disagree.

Just seen the price of the cabinet - eek. Does it really weigh nearly 170kgs?

 

[jjbomber]

Does it really weigh nearly 170kgs?

83KG according to their website.

 

[Juzzie Wuzzie]

I think new cables is always nicer but highly doubt you'll notice a difference v. extending with some "chocolate boxes". The extension option is almost a free option to start with so would have thought you give that a go first?

 

[Gray]

I think new cables is always nicer but highly doubt you'll notice a difference v. extending with some "chocolate boxes". The extension option is almost a free option to start with so would have thought you give that a go first?

I fully agree with that - especially on surround-only speakers.

A neat way is to stagger and solder the joining of the conductors.
The staggering means there's no chance of short circuits with an overall covering of a single piece of heat shrink - the result is barely wider than the cable itself.

(Match the heat shrink sleeving colour to the colour of the cable and you'll be hard pushed to see the joint).

 

[12th Monkey]

83KG according to their website.

Ah. A dealership site said 167kgs, and £2,200.

 

[bullitt]

Looks very nice indeed. Personally, I'd be wary of extending cables - but others may disagree.

Just seen the price of the cabinet - eek. Does it really weigh nearly 170kgs?

Looks very nice indeed. Personally, I'd be wary of extending cables - but others may disagree.

Just seen the price of the cabinet - eek. Does it really weigh nearly 170kgs?

Its 83kgs and prices vary as its being discontinued and some not selling it now when you do a search, I got it for a good price seemingly from what I've seen, double the price on some sites, it is very good quality though, don't think I'm allowed to say where I got it but usually comes up at the top of a search.

I messed up replying there sorry

 

[bullitt]

I fully agree with that - especially on surround-only speakers.

A neat way is to stagger and solder the joining of the conductors.
The staggering means there's no chance of short circuits with an overall covering of a single piece of heat shrink - the result is barely wider than the cable itself.

(Match the heat shrink sleeving colour to the colour of the cable and you'll be hard pushed to see the joint).

I've no idea what stagger means and no soldering equipment, what brand of speaker wire is there these days not too expensive? Seems like it's way more than it used to be

 

[Juzzie Wuzzie]

Just use "chocolate boxes" ... less fire hazzard!

 

[Revolutions]

The new setup & cabinet looks 👌🏼

Love what you did with the acoustic treatment. Looks like a deliberate design choice & fits the aesthetic perfectly.

 

[jjbomber]

Ah. A dealership site said 167kgs, and £2,200.

That's for two, with 1Kg of Sellotape to hold them together!

 

[Gray]

I've no idea what stagger means and no soldering equipment, what brand of speaker wire is there these days not too expensive? Seems like it's way more than it used to be

Most stuff is more expensive than it used to be 😕

For the record stagger means offset.
My drawing shows what's meant by staggering the exposed conductors - so they're not adjacent to each other.
(And the joins would be done a lot more neatly than on my scrappy drawing 🤨).

You can see how just a single piece of heat shrunk insulation is all that's needed - with no chance of the conductors shorting together.



I'm the last person that usually ever worries how things look - but even I'd draw the line at using terminal blocks to join.....unless the joint was somewhere completely out of sight.

But without a soldering iron, terminal blocks may indeed be your way to go 👍

(Make sure that you have no stray strands that could short together - otherwise you might wish you'd staggered).

Of course, as has previously been said, continuous runs of new cable are preferable, saving you any join hassle, but there won't be any audible difference either way.

 

[bullitt]

Most stuff is more expensive than it used to be 😕

For the record stagger means offset.
My drawing shows what's meant by staggering the exposed conductors - so they're not adjacent to each other.
(And the joins would be done a lot more neatly than on my scrappy drawing 🤨).

You can see how just a single piece of heat shrunk insulation is all that's needed - with no chance of the conductors shorting together.

View attachment 6944

I'm the last person that usually ever worries how things look - but even I'd draw the line at using terminal blocks to join.....unless the joint was somewhere completely out of sight.

But without a soldering iron, terminal blocks may indeed be your way to go 👍

(Make sure that you have no stray strands that could short together - otherwise you might wish you'd staggered).

Of course, as has previously been said, continuous runs of new cable are preferable, saving you any join hassle, but there won't be any audible difference either way.

Cheers for that, your drawing of straggly wire was convincing 🤣😀 , Yep I understand better now thanks and I think new wire would preferable but I have since realised I have another solution, I do have some excess speaker wired at the rear speaker end which was purposely done so I can move said speakers if needed without disconnecting from speakers, front speaker wires are a bit short too but replacing with new wire for those won't be that costly - would I need to purchase the same brand of wire ? I.e qed Silver anniversary ?

Years ago I used to have a soldering iron back in the day of CB Radios 🤣 with a Silver Rod aerial on the roof - those were the days

The new setup & cabinet looks 👌🏼

Love what you did with the acoustic treatment. Looks like a deliberate design choice & fits the aesthetic perfectly.

Thanks man, yeah I put a lot of thought / planning into those panels, they do look immense, very happy with them and if I can install them anyone can 🤣

I'm going to do the same on the opposite wall where my viewing position is so I can swap my room around at some point or at least to match , plus it's the wall where next door is, who have in the past complained of rumbling noises through their floor 🤣🤣🤣 can't think why tbh 😀😬

I totally recommend those panels but don't think I'm allowed to mention where I purchased am I?

Cheers

 

[Gray]

I totally recommend those panels but don't think I'm allowed to mention where I purchased am I?

I don't see why not - look how many plugs the 'audiophile fuse' retailer gets (admittedly only to mock).
But at least the panels are of value 👍

 

[Juzzie Wuzzie]

Could you use your rear speaker wire for the fronts (as I expect has the length you need); and only replace the rear - QED 79 strand would be ample in my view.

 

[DougK1]

Could you use your rear speaker wire for the fronts (as I expect has the length you need); and only replace the rear - QED 79 strand would be ample in my view.

What! Not have matching cables The cable believers would never accept this, there would be a mismatch in timbre from the cables

 

[bullitt]

I don't see why not - look how many plugs the 'audiophile fuse' retailer gets (admittedly only to mock).
But at least the panels are of value 👍

Wallsandfloors.co.uk - search acoustic panels or Trepanel Acoustic panels 👍