I’m stuck !

[Jono111]

Hi there, I haven’t posted here for at least 10 years, when I was bemoaning how bad streaming music sounded compared with cd, and how bad streaming movies were compared with blu ray. But the world moves on, and apparently I haven’t got any younger.

Anyhow, have bought a new house and I need to work out what is best, for music and home cinema. The house is littered with old Bose Acoustimass woofers and speakers. In living area, in dining area, in bedrooms. I played some music through them last night and gawd they sound awful !

All I have been listening to in previous place, was channelling music and movies to a decent Arcade amp and four (now very old but still good) B&W stand mounted speakers) plus B&W centre. Now I need to move on and am stuck.

In the tv area of the new place, it is tempting to be lazy and get a Sonos arc, maybe just the bar is enough, maybe I will be happy. But I can’t seem to find an alternative involving higher quality amplification and high quality satellites, sun etc. I can’t seem to find the next level up, there used to be B&W M60s ? Or something? Can’t seem to find reviews on What HifI for anything other than full speaker sets, which I don’t really want to do, and a handful of sound bars. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

For downstairs, in the dining / garden area, where it’s only music, but I’d like a couple of outdoor speakers too, again, Sonos seems easy, compared with using my old Arcam amp to which I need, I guess, to buy some sort of streamer to feed it. Again, I’d love something high quality that extends to outdoor space.

I had a guy come round who planned a system using the people who make Sonos, are they called Sonus? But his quote was £21,000. I think you could buy some lovely things and spend half that amount.

Apologies for such a long question. To cut a long story short, do I just do Sonos and swallow less than excellent music quality and be happy with how easy it is ? Feels a bit lame, but I haven’t listened to it.


Thank you.

Jonathan

 

[Jono111]

Hi. If anyone has any thoughts on the above, I’d be interested, just to make sure I’m not completely missing something obvious. Am nervous about fully subscribing to Sonos after years of loving Arcam plus B&W.

Thank you.

 

[Arron]

Hi there, I haven’t posted here for at least 10 years, when I was bemoaning how bad streaming music sounded compared with cd, and how bad streaming movies were compared with blu ray. But the world moves on, and apparently I haven’t got any younger.

Welcome back

Anyhow, have bought a new house and I need to work out what is best, for music and home cinema. The house is littered with old Bose Acoustimass woofers and speakers. In living area, in dining area, in bedrooms. I played some music through them last night and gawd they sound awful !

There could be a lot of reasons for that, awful in what way? Are they cheap ones or is it the setup or bad cables over extended runs? Some of the Bose are OKish depending on you ears -- the previous owner obviously liked them...

All I have been listening to in previous place, was channelling music and movies to a decent Arcade amp and four (now very old but still good) B&W stand mounted speakers) plus B&W centre. Now I need to move on and am stuck.

Assume that was an Autoincorrect of Arcam? Yeah, the Bose probably won't stand up to the B&Ws. Any reason you're not going to install them?

In the tv area of the new place, it is tempting to be lazy and get a Sonos arc, maybe just the bar is enough, maybe I will be happy. But I can’t seem to find an alternative involving higher quality amplification and high quality satellites, sun etc. I can’t seem to find the next level up, there used to be B&W M60s ? Or something? Can’t seem to find reviews on What HifI for anything other than full speaker sets, which I don’t really want to do, and a handful of sound bars. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Last year I got some Gallos and did a user review here in the forums. They're probably the next next next level up. If space is a concern, the A'Divas are pretty darned good. The Stradas are stunning for their size. Both models really need the sub though. Small speakers always need a sub

For downstairs, in the dining / garden area, where it’s only music, but I’d like a couple of outdoor speakers too, again, Sonos seems easy, compared with using my old Arcam amp to which I need, I guess, to buy some sort of streamer to feed it. Again, I’d love something high quality that extends to outdoor space.

Gallo does outdoor speakers too but you'd need to provide your own electronics.

I had a guy come round who planned a system using the people who make Sonos, are they called Sonus? But his quote was £21,000. I think you could buy some lovely things and spend half that amount.

Ouch! Yeah, there's a lot of man-hour costs going into that price. If you have the time, you're right, you could do it yourself for half that with better kit. Sonos has its place -- especially if you're not an audiophile -- and there're some nice features. But that's a decent chunk of money and maybe you should get a few quotes from non-Sonos dealers? Me, I'd do most of the work myself and spend the extra on a nice projector

Apologies for such a long question. To cut a long story short, do I just do Sonos and swallow less than excellent music quality and be happy with how easy it is ? Feels a bit lame, but I haven’t listened to it.

You really need to listen to some. To me, they sound about the same as the Bose speakers

Good luck
https://forums.whathifi.com/threads...-and-tr3d-sub-discrete-but-audiophile.123242/

 

[Jono111]

Hi, thanks so much for your feedback. Now I have something exciting (Gallo) that I haven’t heard of to focus on.

Why did the Bose sound so bad ? They just sounded so ”thin” and so badly integrated with the sub. Painfully bad. They are connected to a reasonably well reviewed Sony amp, circa £600, but not a great amp.

I really appreciate your thoughts. Thank you.

 

[Jono111]

I have just been scrawling over the Gallo website. They seem perfect. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you, this is where forums are great ! Job done.

 

[Arron]

The Gallos have got a very refined sound -- think classical and rock rather than bass-led music. Again, bass will always be a problem with small speakers so be prepared to put a sub with them wherever they go.

Definitely be prepared to send them back. In hindsight, if I'd bought the A'Divas for LCR instead, setup would have been much easier. The Stradas are a big step up from them but I wouldn't have know that and would have been happy

I'm using mine with this cable: https://www.amazon.co.uk/KabelDirekt-speaker-2x2-5mm²-Transparent-polarity-copper/dp/B01LFA7MHM
It's a good price for what you get and the same company does decent pre-built cables for subs too.

As mentioned in my review, the Gallos seem *very* sensitive to phase. And the Stradas needed to be millimetre perfect for correct toe-in -- the A'Divas much less so. Whatever you get in the end, make sure to put plenty of time aside for setup. When the time comes, this YouTube vid is perfect for dialling in the stage:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N02Y7vaVDNo

Just right-click, set it to Loop and tweak away. When you're sat in your listening position and have the settings right, it really will be exactly as the video says.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N02Y7vaVDNo

 

[bigboss]

Bose has focused on lower frequencies and bass. In order to keep the speakers tiny, they compromised on the mid range.

 

[Jono111]

Thanks so much for all the information, I appreciate it. It’s fun to be buying new stuff again and now I have lots of ideas. Pity I don’t like the Bose very much, given I have four systems, bedroom, living, living, dining. In the 90s I would have felt like an absolute player….