my DREAM system. oh, maybe one day...

[AlmaataKZ]

Finally decided to install some proper sound in the kitchen. We like cooking and spend a bit of time there so I always wanted to have good sound for culinary inspiration. The kitchen is also linked to a dining area so can provide sound to there as well.

Currently there is an old ipod there, in a very old portable speaker dock with tiny drivers, broken and glued together. Time for some proper sound!

after some consideration and advice from the forumites here and at avi I am going for:

speakers: small genelecs (6010a or 8020a), active, white. These will be mounted on top of wall cupboards, on stands. They have bass and sensitivity adjustments which should help to set it all up. Power will be via a switched socket with cables hidden and routed up through the cupboard.

source will be airport express playing from macmini via airplay. It will be inside the cupboard (or on top of it) and permanently powered via a socket inside the cupboard. Conne ction ro speakers via an jack-to-2rca splitter cable.

control will be by an old ipod touch, remote app. It will be permanently docked in the kitchen in a suitable spot.

that's the plan...

 

[AlmaataKZ]

... and the Genelecs (6010A) arrived this morning.

I did not order the brackets yet, as they are 39 quid each - a bit dear for two plates with a nut and some holes. I will see first if the speaekrs can be installed nicely using just the included pods or maybe I can knock up something acceptable myslef, will see. If not, I will buy the brackets.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

So, let's see how these little white Genelecs look. They are going into a white/grey/steel coloured kitchen so should fit well.

They are sold individually (so you can buy multichannel setups) and each box apart from the speaker and power cable contains 2 cables (mono rca-rca and stereo mini jack to two rca) and simple but dual angle wall bracket with screws for it. A manual and a 2-year warranty card.

Out of the boxes...

Out of the bags...

They come complete with a soft desktop pod pre-installed. There is a green "on" light on the front.The back has power cable socket, power switch, cabinet port, single analog rca input (the small models up from this have xlr), 6 mounting threaded holes, sensitivity adjustment and 3 switches - two for reducing bass by 2, 4 and 6dB and one for 'desktop' setting.

They are very small. See ipod touch for scale below.

I first try to play them directly from ipod touch so put them up on the living room sideboard. They actually do not look out of place here at all.Power on. Play. I listen for abt 15 minutes and conclude that the sound is excellent. These could easily serve as the main speakers for the living room. Considering that there is a matching sub that can serve 2.1 and 5.1 systems they are nothing but a fantastic option, actually. Plenty of bigger models to choose from, too.

In this pic is a high-quality modern sound system, all of it. Very small, excellent sound and it can play all your music. Portable! I am very impressed.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Now, let's get the new source working - here it is, with the old kitchen system in the background.

Here is a better view of the old kit. It served me well for 9 years!

Setting up the airport is easy. Then connect and hit play in the remote app on the old ipod touch.

Everything works fine from the first try, all devices see each other, the old ipod can control multiple airplay speakers (I was worried it would not due to age) and there are no dropouts, at least now while the airport is in the same room.Again, here is the whole system in one pic! And I took (and posted!) the pics with the system's remote control set 🙂. Good times for hifi!

 

[moon]

Good Choice! Really really nice speakers. heard them many times and a big fan of genelec. These are first on my list if I ever have anything that resembles a study( currently living room). I hope they work out for you. 🙂

 

[Ajani]

Very nice! I had forgotten about Genelec, but now I really have to consider buying a pair for my desktop system.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

😛

Very nice! I had forgotten about Genelec, but now I really have to consider buying a pair for my desktop system.

have a look at their catalogs. They have some interesting options including 2.1and 5.1 combinations.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Good Choice! Really really nice speakers. heard them many times and a big fan of genelec. These are first on my list if I ever have anything that resembles a study( currently living room). I hope they work out for you. 🙂

very hapy with them (and I am not easy to please). The other half also liked everything - the look, the sound and the interface.

tomorrow I will wire them up properly. I also need to buy the 9000a vol control as the airport output isa bit high (ok if directly from ipod jack). And I also need to think of some custom stands.

Does anybody know where I can order nicely cut plate, to my design, say aluminium or acrylic?

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Update on the kitchen system:

The good:

The speakers are working fine, excellent sound and imaging, look good. Very happy with them and highly recommend if anyone is looking for small speakers.

The bad:

It is taking DV247 ages to supply the stands and volume control. The worst part is that they have no idea when they will be in – they quote a date at order, it does not happen. Quote another one, does not happen. Quote another one, does not happen. Why can’t they give a firm date, whenever that is?! I do not like when people do business like that.

The ugly:

The Airport Express did not work. I do not know for sure if this is an Airplay problem, iOS problem, Virgin router, the AEX itself or the powerline adapters.

On initial setup it worked and I could use airplay with multiple speakers. But I had dropouts so connected the AEX via a Belkin AV Poweline Ethernet adapter. This knocked the whole (!) network out, all devices, internet throughout the house, Remote app, the lot. After hours of tinkering and with the help of Apple Support the network is back to running normally, but even Apple Support could not re-setup the AEX. So they declared it faulty and sent me a replacement which I will try to set-up on powerline ethernet again – no point using it wirelessly if it has dropouts. Problem is I am unsure if it will work… I am beginning to have doubts in reliability/compatibility of Airplay and AEX, as the rest of the kit (including powerline) worked fine before and is working fine now.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

The replacement airport is in.

I connect it via ethernet directly to the hub and try to setup using airport utility on macmini. It does not work.

Disconnect ethernet and try to setup via wifi. Does not work.

I try to setup on ipad and it works!

I then disable wifi on the airport using airport utility on macmini, take teh airport to the kitchen and connect via powerline ethernet. All works!

And during the first 15 or so minutes of playing - no dropouts!

I smile and go to bed. Need the volume control now as the airport output is too high even with the lowest sensitivity setting on the genelecs.

Edit: on trying it again in the morning, the playback is solid (as it shoud be on ethernet) but the remote app on the 2nd gen iPod Touch does not work properly (does not always connect to the library, play/pause/volume does not work etc). Remote apps on ipad3 and iphone 4s work fine though.

So, still some trouble, I think in the Airplay/Remote domain?...

 

[BenLaw]

Sorry to hear about the difficulties you are having A, hope you manage to get them all sorted. Do you have any photos of the speakers in the final position? Perhaps also how you've set up the AEX?

 

[stevepg1975]

I had the exact same probs recently with the new AE hardwired when trying to connect to my BeoLab 4000's, my network was wiped out (which apple did fix for me) and various other probs but importantly for me the high volume even at lowest on AirPlay control. Tried 3 units all brand new from apple store, still no good. So after reading apple forums could see ths is a common problem, and one fix offered was to get the previous model AE.

So I did, from eBay and all woked perfectly first time, with no such probs with network and volume, no dropouts at all in the last few months and importantly the lowest volume is now much more acceptable. No idea why, gave up asking apple as they just didn't know!

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Volume level does not bother me as I am getting one of these -

it will sort the output level out and also will make vol adjustment more instant (as you will not have to fiddle with the touchscreen while say cooking but just turn the knob which is much quicker).

what does bother me is lack of reliability (or compatibility) between the kit involved resulting in airplay experience bein annoying when it should be super slick.

 

[stevepg1975]

I guess that was point. I am all apple, MacBook, iPad 2, iPhone and owned the early versions of AEX's over the years and the new AEX is the only apple product to have given me problems and as you say it is just not as slick as apple normally do things. Doesn't help you I know but when I asked the question to apple about any software releases to fix these issues they didn't think one was on the horizon. I didn't use it enough to give the apps any real use. The AEX previous version gave me no problems though. Didn't know that volume controller existed, so will keep in mind for the future. Thanks.

 

[WinterRacer]

Volume level does not bother me as I am getting one of these -

it will sort the output level out and also will make vol adjustment more instant (as you will not have to fiddle with the touchscreen while say cooking but just turn the knob which is much quicker).

Hi Alma, sorry to hear you're having problems with the new kit. As you know, I use the Genelecs and got one of those volume knobs with the matching sub.

How does the volume knob work when you don't have the sub?

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Hi! Just connected it 20 min ago! Works perfectly. With the airport output set to abt 75% it gives good range of output level for a full rotation. At 100% the same range takes about half the full rotation.

the ipod remote app problem aslo seems to have disappeared... Fingers crossed... Go figure...

I thought of getting the sub too, but so far with hold on without.

what I can try is use the sub from the main system - multiple aiplay speakers on, main speakers power off, sub on, genelecs on .... :rofl:

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Sorry to hear about the difficulties you are having A, hope you manage to get them all sorted. Do you have any photos of the speakers in the final position? Perhaps also how you've set up the AEX?

the speakers are not yet in the fnal positions as the stands are only expected next week. I just plonked the speakers on the styrofoam padding that was in the boxes for the time being. Works but they are not pointing down enough so not ideal for the stereo effect. Will do some pics.

 

[safetygav]

i just read this thread, start to finish. filthy audio porn. i love it!

 

[AlmaataKZ]

i just read this thread, start to finish. filthy audio porn. i love it!

😳

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Airplay problems continued.

As the connection is now via ethernet, there are no droputs. However, ipod touch sometimes takes very long to connect to the library and sometimes does not connect at all until router restart. And yesterday a new problem came - itunes lost connection with airport completely.

A quick google shows that it is a 'popular' issue error 15000 or 15006

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4150757?tstart=0 with no updates to sort it out from Apple.

This however seemed to fix it

http://mactips.dwhoard.com/mactips/other-applications/fix-airplay

and I hope this also fixes general stability of Airplay control now.

Fingers crossed.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

The stands are in so I do the final set-up of the kitchen system.

They are made of quite thick steel plate, heavy, so reasonably stable.

The speakers have threaded holes on the back for various mounts.

The stands are for placing the speakers on a desk so they tilt up to 20 degrees backwards i.e. pointing the speakers up.

I need them to point down so I was hoping that the articulating joint is reversible – and it turns out it is!

In the reversed position the tilt looks about right. The speaker now wants to fall forward so I will have to pin the stand down with a screw once in place.

So they are in their final positions:

The playback control is from an old ipod touch that lives in the kitchen permanently for that.

It is mounted on this stand that works very well:

http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/clingo-universal-podium-phone-and-media-desk-stand-p25370.htm

The volume control is mounted under the cupboard using a hi-tech solution called BlueTack.

The rest of the gear (Aiport and Powerline ethernet) are hidden inside the cupboard where I installed a power socket with a multi-plug adapter.

That’s the kitchen system done. All the hardware part works perfectly. Still observing some hick-ups in the control (Airplay/iTunes Remote) part.

 

[moon]

I'm pleased you took my advice of using the ipod/ ipad as a permanent streaming device and controller in the kitchen. It looks really smart .... great job

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Indeed, but I am only using the ipod because it has no other use. I would not want to have to use ipad or iphone because they are usually not in the kitchen. Me and my other half we are both pleased wih the new system.

Remote app is a bit glitchy though.

 

[BenLaw]

I guess if the remote problems are really getting to you you can always resort to the hip flask :cheers:

 

[AlmaataKZ]

:cheers: