Bluetooth

[manicm]

It may deserve some respect yet. I'm putting this topic in the hi-fi section because of the generality of my post.

The new Sennheiser HDB 630 is only really notable for one part which is seperate, can be bought separately and works universally - its Bluetooth dongle BTD 700. This permits aptX Lossless, which on paper at least is superior to LDAC. It connects to phones and PCs but not meant for TVs.

What makes it notable is twofold. Very few Android phones support aptX Lossless, not even the latest Google Pixel 10. And of course, no iPhones support aptX of any kind. This really is a must for iPhone users who use costly 3rd party headphones like the B&W Px7, for example. It's 45 GBP

Which leads me to the new KEF Coda W active/powered speakers. It's larger than the LSX variants, and looks like the Q Series. Yet it's cheaper on account of its wi-fi omission, but offers the said Bluetooth connection, built in custom phono stage, HDMI and 100w per channel. It's very compelling at 800 quid. But you'd really want to get that dongle, if you don't want an extra streaming box.

 

[Jasonovich]

It may deserve some respect yet. I'm putting this topic in the hi-fi section because of the generality of my post.

The new Sennheiser HDB 630 is only really notable for one part which is seperate, can be bought separately and works universally - its Bluetooth dongle BTD 700. This permits aptX Lossless, which on paper at least is superior to LDAC. It connects to phones and PCs but not meant for TVs.

What makes it notable is twofold. Very few Android phones support aptX Lossless, not even the latest Google Pixel 10. And of course, no iPhones support aptX of any kind. This really is a must for iPhone users who use costly 3rd party headphones like the B&W Px7, for example. It's 45 GBP

Which leads me to the new KEF Coda W active/powered speakers. It's larger than the LSX variants, and looks like the Q Series. Yet it's cheaper on account of its wi-fi omission, but offers the said Bluetooth connection, built in custom phono stage, HDMI and 100w per channel. It's very compelling at 800 quid. But you'd really want to get that dongle, if you don't want an extra streaming box.

AptX sounds promising. I suspect the next wave of top end Android phones will have this feature.
iPhone will get it shortly afterwards and will be touted as the most revolutionary since the invention of the wheel.
Oh Kef Coda with the flashy stripes was my first speaker, cost about £70 back then 😊

 

[matthewpianist]

In my teaching days I had a pair of KEF Coda 8s in the classroom. One of them got knocked onto the floor and promptly fell apart into a number of pieces. I wouldn't expect anything to survive the fall, but that proved to be a particularly cheaply built thing. I once knocked a Mordaunt-Short MS902i off a stand at home, and it more or less bounced with just some damage to one corner.

 

[manicm]

AptX sounds promising. I suspect the next wave of top end Android phones will have this feature.
iPhone will get it shortly afterwards and will be touted as the most revolutionary since the invention of the wheel.
Oh Kef Coda with the flashy stripes was my first speaker, cost about £70 back then 😊

iPhone will most likely never adopt aptX as they're designing everything in house. I'd expect them to develop their own version specifically for Apple products. They already have their own spatial audio.

Note, aptX actually deviates from the Bluetooth standard.