Finally my new system as of......now!!

[Anonymous]

john1000000boy:Hey Nick thanks for the compliments!! Hope your colour has come back!! Yep had a play about with toeing in my speakers. Sit about 4+metres from the tv(quite like a projector!!) On getting my new blu ray player set up i got some cds out and tried the speakers in various positions. I found that i got the best results when the tweeters were crossing over just in front of my sofa. The Staging was excellent and really helped with focus. Really enjoyed listening in Neo 6 thx. Not strictly hifi but the room was completely filled with music!!

Great stuff John. After seeing your kit, now when I look at my brilliant little black BR2's (which I love), they seem to be saying "Dad when I grow up I want to be an RX6"!!

Have fun,

Nick

 

[john1000000boy]

Just had a "listen off" between stereo analogue from my lx 52 bdp (Cambridge Audio Arctic) and the QED Hdmi P.

The results are quite close although i think the Analogue just pips it for a more open broad soundstage. I was listening in Pure Direct mode for both.

Now just need to get the pqls to work and try that out.....!!

Do you think a different analogue interconnect would help??

 

[john1000000boy]

Well went into John Ross Hi Fi- Dundee yesterday and bought a new analogue interconnect for stereo listening. QED Silver Spiral. A discontinued product. The Salesman said it should do the trick... and it seems to have helped. He did point out the limitations of the Lx52 but it definetely will make it more musical. Also got to talking about firmware updates for the amp and player. Successfully updated the player and wondering are there firmware updates for the 82 amp??

This was all brought about by the pqls issues i have been having.

Also spent about £100 on blu ray discs. Bourne Trilogy, Blind Side, Alien box set, Book of Eli and Iron Man Box Set. Really pays to shop around as tescos seemed to be a lot cheaper than HMV for the titles they did have in stock!!

Looked for Avatar but could not see any copies on BR??!!

Also bought, the What Hi Fi reccommended Sufjan Stevens Disc- Age of Adz. Definetely a system tester. There is a lot going on in it. Listened to it twice now and it is a definite grower!! A great test disc for the new interconnect.

Anyone know about the SC LX82 Update??

 

[grdunn123]

john1000000boy:
Well went into John Ross Hi Fi- Dundee yesterday and bought a new analogue interconnect for stereo listening. QED Silver Spiral. A discontinued product. The Salesman said it should do the trick... and it seems to have helped. He did point out the limitations of the Lx52 but it definetely will make it more musical. Also got to talking about firmware updates for the amp and player. Successfully updated the player and wondering are there firmware updates for the 82 amp??

This was all brought about by the pqls issues i have been having.

Also spent about £100 on blu ray discs. Bourne Trilogy, Blind Side, Alien box set, Book of Eli and Iron Man Box Set. Really pays to shop around as tescos seemed to be a lot cheaper than HMV for the titles they did have in stock!!

Looked for Avatar but could not see any copies on BR??!!

Also bought, the What Hi Fi reccommended Sufjan Stevens Disc- Age of Adz. Definetely a system tester. There is a lot going on in it. Listened to it twice now and it is a definite grower!! A great test disc for the new interconnect.

Anyone know about the SC LX82 Update?? 4

What update John?? where did you hear about this??

 

[john1000000boy]

The guy in the store said that updates can be applied to "pioneer equipment" He sold players/amps in the past and installing the latest firmware ironed out some problems. Like my pqls issue. He did also add that he seldom used the feature because of the side affects with the kuro link and it upsetting the other inputs.

 

[Blackdawn]

Nice system I bet it looks and sounds great. Have you tried some soft furnishings to help reduce brightness or reflections from the bare walls/floor?

Out of interest what kind of £ are we talking for all this tech? Hope it's all insured. What does the wife/partner think? Do you keep the speaker grilles off usually as they are perfect heights for kids to push them in!

Do you have a HiFi Dac for your Mac? Play many cd's now or is it all Blu-ray?

 

[john1000000boy]

Thanks Blackdawn. Sounds absolutely brilliant and very pleased with the looks.

Slowly getting the sitting room upto scratch acoustically. That is my wifes dept. There is a large rug in front of the tv and log burning stove. In the process of getting some heavy curtains made for the bay window behind the listening couch. Stick up some pictures on the wall and shouldnt be too far away from a great night in front of the tv!!

Money wise.......LOTS!! and yes it is all insured .

My wife likes it all but cant really see or hear what all the fuss is about!! She chose the finish the speakers and cabinet came in (turns out as the most expensive option typically!!) As long as she can switch on the tv and watch a programme quickly with no fuss she is quite happy.

The grills are left on most of the time. I only take them off when i know there are going to be no little fingers about. The cabinets are hard enough to keep smudge free from adult fingers let alone little fingers!!

Was in my local hi fi shop at the weekend talking about dacs to the salesman. He said there has been a heightened interest in dacs generally. Never heard what they can do to sound quality from a pc/mac source. Tend to still use cds for my proper listening sessions. There is nothing to beat front row from the mac onto the plasma for parties!! Just pass round the wee silver remote!!

 

[john1000000boy]

A quick update to my system. Was down in London last weekend and had a retail experience i will never forget(well 2 but wont talk about Hamleys it was mentally busy!!) Went to the Apple Store. Got talking to a salesman about the ipads. He was very helpful but was certainly not what i was expecting. He was like the Apple Grinch "Getting fed up with the Beatles ever since apple released them on itunes i get so fed up with them)!! On trying to pay for the ipad with the little touch scanner"We are a technology shop and it is supposed to be easy to do things but nothing works!!" It was hilarious.

Anyway we did leave the store with a 64gb 3g Ipad. Very nice to use although it is not going to be used for music playback. The apple remote app is very slick and will replace the little silver 1 at parties i think (depending on how nuts the guests are!!)

It will primarily be used for watching movies on the move and surfing the web. Anyone know about the best way of getting dvds onto it? Which software?

Kind of wish i held off for the 83 amp so it would be icontrol compatable but heyho. The Redeye app looks interesting. Very flexible and has the tv guide on it also. Does this work with SKY?? Anyone with any experience of this software/hardware?? Will try and get some pics up with new additions....

 

[chris hollands]

Hi John, your system looks great, and funnily enough i am sitting here looking at Monitor Audio BX 5 av and RX 6 av brochures and cannot make a decision between them, i have had a demo of the BX, and in my small lounge( 16 foot by 12 foot) i think it would be fine, however i have now seen yours and the wall you have it all on looks great, and not overkill at all. the price difference in the sales is not enourmous.

I have been thinking of pairing it up with the Yamaha rx-v 667 which is also quite cheap in the sales, been pulling my hair out trying to make a decision!!! Would love the RX but £375 is a fair saving.

Currently i have the Mission M Cube and i would be gutted if i did not get a barnstorming difference!!

 

[john1000000boy]

Thanks Chris, I cannot compare the m cubes to the rx but i can tell you that the rx av 12 is a stunning performer i demoed it up against the apex style package by MA also. A very close battle and the apex was the more costly package. The rx pipped the apex for stereo music listening with a deeper bass and a more even tone. If you are concerned about the size of the speakers in your room, the apex maybe worth a look. The Yamaha should be able to tailor the sound to suit with its auto setup/calibration like my pioneer which takes into account the surfaces and acoustics of the room and alters the levels accordingly. My siiting room is a little larger say 20 x 20ish Why not try the amp with the mcubes and see how it goes?? But def have a look at the apex!

 

[john1000000boy]

A quick update..... My wife is getting heavy duty curtains made for the back of the room meaning the rears will be seperated by a very heavy expensive set of fully darkened out lengths of material. Another mcacc for the pioneer amp and will have to move the rears into the room by about 5cm to accomodate the curtain track and Pelmit. Very "Good housekeeping".

Anyone know what a set of remotely operated curtain tracks would set me back??

 

[grdunn123]

john1000000boy:
A quick update..... My wife is getting heavy duty curtains made for the back of the room meaning the rears will be seperated by a very heavy expensive set of fully darkened out lengths of material. Another mcacc for the pioneer amp and will have to move the rears into the room by about 5cm to accomodate the curtain track and Pelmit. Very "Good housekeeping".

Anyone know what a set of remotely operated curtain tracks would set me back??

Remote operated curtain tracks?????!! come on John, pull yourself together!

 

[john1000000boy]

Yes yes like what you did there....

Think it would be quite good though..... Buy a programmable remote or better still an app for the ipad....1 button... and lights dim.....Curtains close.....HC fires up!!

When you gonna post some pics in here gr??!!

 

[grdunn123]

When I figure out how to do it! Need someone to talk me through

 

[john1000000boy]

Think its easier if you dont use a mac... I still have loads of pics to post but couldnt get the pictures to post on the page everytime. Look at my other post in here there are pages of tips, lots of people find it simples!!

 

[john1000000boy]

Took the plunge today.... Picked up a pair of Monster Beats by Dr Dre Studio HD. Had them playing on my Touch. I am reasonably pleased with them so far.... They dont seem to be particularly loud!! The volume is well up on the touch say 3/4 and that is a good listening volume.

Followed advice from another post to buy from a local retailer so the warranty is easily handled... Hope i dont have the same problems as El Hefe!!

Managed to get a good deal at Comet. A bit of Savvy shopping indeed.... Online price was £230 instore was £280!! So whipped out my Blackberry and ordered online to pick up in store. Waited 30 mins and got them £50 notes off!!

I know they were selling them cheaper in Amazon but nice to deal with a shop if a problem does arise(fingers crossed)

Played a good cross section of tracks so far from Gomez, Air, Elbow and XX. Seem to have good imaging in between my lugs and the fit on my massive bonce seems pretty good too, wont know about leakiness until tonight at bed time!!

Looking at another set of cans too will see how they work out!!

To add i was terrified of picking up fake Beat Studios, looked on ebay and they actually brag about it!! Lots of other sellers selling them cheap online but........

 

[grdunn123]

Looking for a pair of cans for my Touch and new Iphone 4.....you'd recommend these John?

 

[john1000000boy]

Hey gr,

So far so good anyway listened to them a little more last night and they are pretty good to my ears, Wouldnt call it hifi. A good portable full size pair of headphones. I find them more comfortable than my Sennheiser buds although they are no where near as loud!! The packaging is brilliant- carry case and phone lead I did fall asleep with them switched on and the cable to the touch is not very long at all!! The B&W P5s looked pretty sweet at the same kind of money For portable phones they are good just have to see what the build quality is like- they are quite plasticky!! For budget the cx 300 II are great and portable too though but are not as comfy as the Beats!!

 

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to convince my wife I should get the RX6 AV... you pleased?

How did you do the wiring on the fronts? And TV? I can't see cables anywhere?!?!

Really nice looking system!

 

[john1000000boy]

Hi Andrew, thanks for the compliment!!

The Rx6 av12 is a brilliant system and looks really great. The beauty behind it is that it comes in so many different finishes. I (we) went to a hifi shop in Edinburgh one Sunday after having been at a party the day before. I was feeling awful my wife was not feeling much better(1st top tip- a hangover dulls the spirit of the opinion of the fairer sex...) We sat down and auditioned a few speakers and i settled on the RX6. We had just finished renovating the other half of the house as seen in pics. So i left the decision on the finish for the speakers and cabinet to my wife. (2nd tip choose what you like and let the other half decide what it looks like...) I 100% thought that the oak/wood effect would have been top of the list but..... no. The more expensive high gloss piano black prevailed- the most expensive option!! In the end i think she was pleased it was over so we could get back to the Irn Bru and S & V Crunchy Sticks(3rd tip- The best hangover cure there is...)

The cables are all inside the wall. We live in a cottage and i can get into the loft space above. So the cables from the tv run out of the amp into the wall and into the back of the tv. The Rears and Fronts run from the amp up the wall over the ceiling and down behind the plaster board. Useful tools were a hook made from a metal coat hanger. A flexy plastic curtain rail for guiding the cables between the studs and over the holes. Used decorators sticky tape to attach cables to the curtain rail. I had the electrician put a wall plug behind the tv. Looks really clean and tidy (4th tip- Get the cables out of sight as this is a major annoyance to the fairer sex....) I also love the fact there are no cables in sight. Just wish i had biwire running to the front pair for biamping in hindsight!!

The only minus is that my method of cabling requires longer lengths..

Go for it.... The top tips are useful tools in the journey to getting thing the way you (both) like. The speakers are an excellent choice in my opinion!!

John

 

[john1000000boy]

Well at long last the room is finished. Had the new curtains fitted at the back of the room to cover the double windows. Really used to annoy me when the sun used to cause a lot of glare on the screen in the early evenings and afternoons. I had to move the rxfx about 6 ins into the room to accommodate the pelmit. I will need to run an mcacc tonight.

I never realised there were rights and lefts for the rxfx. Only noticed the badge on the back after taking them off the wall. I dont know if they were the right way around before but they are now.

Hopefully the curtains will soften up the room a little and not affect the surround performance too much as the driver is basically firing straight at the pelmit!!

I will need to get the finished room posted in my pictures as i seem to have lost a few on this thread. Hopefully it will be easier this time round!!!

Does anyone know of an ipad redeye package being released yet??

 

[john1000000boy]

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[john1000000boy]

 

[john1000000boy]

 

[john1000000boy]