My Hifi and Home Cinema Set Up

El Hefe

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Hi all,

Updated this post with more pics. Thanks Andy for correcting the HTML.

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Full Set up

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Home Cinema

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MF Family - Start Them Young

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Hifi

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Epos, Mission and Wharfedale Sub
 
A

Anonymous

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Are the speakers all right up against the wall?

looks brilliant though.
 

El Hefe

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Eddie,

Both the Mission and Epos are positioned about 6 inches from the wall.

Andy,

I wanted to get a 50 or 52 inch LCD but due to the cabinet above, 40 inch LCD was the limit.
 

JoelSim

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Andy Clough:Looks like you could slip a bigger TV in that space!

Yes, and what about some taller speakers too? Call yourself an enthusiast!!!
 

El Hefe

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Thaiman,

Yup, X-A1 as pre and the X-A50 as power amp. Bi-amping the EPOS M12.2.

JoelSim,

Was thinking about taller speakers but not until I have upgraded the Yamaha receiver to a 7.1 channel. Currently, just running 5.1 even for BluRay. And this time, I woul want to try to have the same brand for all the home cinema speakers. Currently is a mix between Mission, Wharfedale and Infinity.
 

El Hefe

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Ok, now to write a little bit on my set up. Although picture can say a thousand words, I would want to get some honest opinion here on whether my curent set up needs tweaking which I am sure there is room for improvement. :) And yet another excuse to spend more on hifi.

Started off in 1997. First purchase was a PM57 with Sony (cant remember the model but the ones with the magnectic block to hold the CD in place, a 920 model). Were using TDL RTL 3 SE floorstanders. Really love those speakers.

The CD player was then changed to CD67 Mk II OSE and also added a Sherwood twin tape deck in 1998.

In the same year, was introduced to the convenience of Minidisk. First deck was Kenwood followed by Sony in 1999. Started working with British Energy and upgraded the MD deck to the current one SONY MDSJA20ES. Also, in 1999, took a leap into home cinema with a Sherwood receiver and was enjoying Pro Logic surround sound from a Sony Nicam stereo VCR but not long after, was introdcued to DVD and bought the very first model of Sony DVD player. Cant believe that I was willing to pay 450 quid for that. ALthough it was a good player, but it was not easy to make it multiregion. Still remember a DVD cost about 25 quid. At this stage, had to put aside the PM57 and connect the DVD, CDP, MD and VCR to Sherwood and use the TDL as the front speakers. Added a KLH rear speakers and did not use a centre speaker.

In the year 2000, thats when a major revamped of the whole system took place where I wanted to separate music and movies. Bought MF XA1 and Heybrook Optima bookself speaker and Target stands and changed the Marantz to a Sony XXXX930 model (again, with the magnetic block).

Also bought Yamaha RXV 795aRDS to get the DolbyDigital and DTS, sold the Sony DVD player and guess what? Bought the Wharfedale DVD player at 150 quid in Tesco. It was a hot stuff at that time as it was easy to make it multiregion. Soon had my first Region 1 DVD from Play.com. USed the TDL as the front speakers and still no centre speaker. The TDL were already giving me ample bass so no subwoofer as well.

In 2001, added the MF XA50 and followed by the X-DAC for my HDCD collection. So now, for hifi, I had the Sony XXX930 CDP, Sony MD deck hooked up to the DAC and the DAC to the pre and power amp combo with Heybrook speakers.

Stayed with both set up till 2003 where I sold the SOny XXX930 CDP and replaced with Marantz CD6000. My Heybrook speakers were damaged during shipment from UK to Malaysia, so had to replaced them with Mission M31.

Then in 2007, blew the TDL tweeters. Since TDL has gone bankrupt (is that true?), I had to get a new pair of speakers. ANother major revamped. Opted for Mission M34i and soon added a Wharfedale SW150 sub and also bipolar rears and also Infinity Primus center. Replaced the Wharfedale DVD with Pioneer DV400V 1080p DVD player and also the Philips HDD-DVD recorder and bought my firstl Samsung 32" LCD TV.

End of 2007, was introduced to Bluray. Dejavu...Am I going into another round of format change like I went through with DVD? Bought the Sony flagship BD player.

And in June 2008, joined What Hifi forum to get some tips on improving my hifi sound and soon replaced the Marantz CD6000 to CD6002 and also replaced the Mission M31 to Epos M12.2.

Ohh, also bought the Samsung 40" Full HD LCD TV last month as well.

So, my current set up (as of 13th Feb 2010):

Hifi: Rega Apollo CDP, SONY MDSJA20ES, MF X-A1,X-A50,X-DAC, X-CAN V2, Epos M12.2 biamped with Arrow biamp cables, ATS stands, iPod Dock with 32 GB iPod Touch, Sennheiser PX100 and BOSE around the ear headphones, Dome Audio rack (www.dome.com.my). All interconnects are from Cambridge Audio and QED. Power cable for MF X-A1, X-A50 and Rega is QED Qonduit. And of course Airport Express.

AV: Samsung UA55B7000 LED TV, SONY BDP-S1E, Sony DVP-NS708HP, Yamaha RX-V795aRDS,Philips DVDR 7300H, ASTRO Decoder, Infinity Primus Center, Wharfedale WH2 Rear, SW15 Sub, Mission M34i Front, Dome Audio Rack. All HDMI cables are Monster cable.

Accessories: Logitech harmony 1000i universal remote control and Philip wireless headphones HS130, Belkin 8 way surge protector.

Interconnects:

Rega to X-A1 - QED Audio 2

Rega to X-DAC (for HDCD) - Cambridge Audio Coaxial

MD to X-A1 - Cambridge Audio Pearl

MD to X-DAC - Optical cable

AE to X-DAC - Optical cable

X-A1 to X-A50 - Arrow bi amp IC

X-DAC to X-A1 - Cambridge Audio

X-CAN V2 to X-A1 - Freebie :)

iPod Dock to X-A1 - QED J2P

Subwoofer - Cambridge Audio

Bluray, DVD and DVD recorder - Monster cable HDMI to TV

Mains Lead:

Rega CDP, X-A1, X-A50s - QED Qonduit

Speaker Cables:

EPOS 12.2 - Arrow bi amp cables

Mission 34i, Infinity Primus centre and Wharfedale WH2 rears - Gale

So, what do u think? Where can I improve? I know most of my friends are asking me to change all the interconnects and speaker cable.
 

Thaiman

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El...the best upgrade for you for nothing! read on

Your X-A1 although it's very good being liquid smooth and wall to wall soundstage, the pre out however lack authority that would make the most of Epos prat (pace, rythm and timing) nature.

Solution: Your X-A1, when use as one box machine is something of a classic but as you know, turn the volume up near 11 o'clock and it loose composure plus the gorgous looking oval boxes refuse to go any louder! You are going on the right path by adding 2 mono blocks which should make system sound more lively.

but the clever money is on MF Pre V3 which on 2nd hand market value is very low due to MF over produced the units. It has a very similar sound to the almighty "Nu-Vista pre" but with a little more expressive treble. This pre will be a certain upgrade in your system, I will put my head on the block here.

X-A1 on Ebay will fetch around £250 which is the same re-sale price of Pre V3 (a lot newer unit, rrp £800) to me it's no brainer!.
 

Gerrardasnails

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Thaiman:
El...the best upgrade for you for nothing! read on

Your X-A1 although it's very good being liquid smooth and wall to wall soundstage, the pre out however lack authority that would make the most of Epos prat (pace, rythm and timing) nature.

Solution: Your X-A1, when use as one box machine is something of a classic but as you know, turn the volume up near 11 o'clock and it loose composure plus the gorgous looking oval boxes refuse to go any louder! You are going on the right path by adding 2 mono blocks which should make system sound more lively.

but the clever money is on MF Pre V3 which on 2nd hand market value is very low due to MF over produced the units. It has a very similar sound to the almighty "Nu-Vista pre" but with a little more expressive treble. This pre will be a certain upgrade in your system, I will put my head on the block here.

X-A1 on Ebay will fetch around £250 which is the same re-sale price of Pre V3 (a lot newer unit, rrp £800) to me it's no brainer!.

And to think we are losing him to golf!!
 

El Hefe

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Thaiman,

Thanks for the tip. Will have a look on ebay. Hopefully they can send it to Malaysia though. Most of the stuff on ebay is usually for UK area only.

I know what u mean about the Nu-vista. Maaaannn, I have dreamt about that for so long. Sometimes I feel that I should not have spent all that money on several type of kit and just dump all that money on high end CDP,amp and speakers. Full stop.
 

Thaiman

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El Hefe:

Thaiman,

I should not have spent all that money on several type of kit and just dump all that money on high end CDP,amp and speakers. Full stop.

Well, why the wait? Just make sure you buy wisely....bang for bucks, high end is better value for money.
 

El Hefe

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In due time my good man. Have to put everything in perspective before plunging another lump some of cash into higher end hifi. And of course, will look around for special deals during the KL AV show this weekend.
 

El Hefe

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Thanks bigblue235,

I am quite satisfied with my kit which I have been slowly collecting and upgrading for the past 10 years or so. But, its not completely there yet, if u get my drift :). There's always that urge for a better and improved set up heheheh.
 

El Hefe

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Thaiman:

El...the best upgrade for you for nothing! read on

Your X-A1 although it's very good being liquid smooth and wall to wall soundstage, the pre out however lack authority that would make the most of Epos prat (pace, rythm and timing) nature.

Solution: Your X-A1, when use as one box machine is something of a classic but as you know, turn the volume up near 11 o'clock and it loose composure plus the gorgous looking oval boxes refuse to go any louder! You are going on the right path by adding 2 mono blocks which should make system sound more lively.

but the clever money is on MF Pre V3 which on 2nd hand market value is very low due to MF over produced the units. It has a very similar sound to the almighty "Nu-Vista pre" but with a little more expressive treble. This pre will be a certain upgrade in your system, I will put my head on the block here.

X-A1 on Ebay will fetch around £250 which is the same re-sale price of Pre V3 (a lot newer unit, rrp £800) to me it's no brainer!.

Thaiman,

Had a look at the MF PreV3. The specs says it uses the similar Nuvista technology. But with this model, I cannot bi-amp my EPOS. Will have to go back to single wire. Not sure would want to go down that road.
 

Thaiman

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El Hefe:

Thaiman,

Had a look at the MF PreV3. The specs says it uses the similar Nuvista technology. But with this model, I cannot bi-amp my EPOS. Will have to go back to single wire. Not sure would want to go down that road.

I reckon MF pre V3 with single wire will still be much better than X-A1 pre out bi-wire....but that's me, a guy who never can hear much different in Bi-more-wire.
 
A

Anonymous

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El Hefe.....I know this is a completely random, non technical question but where did you get that rug from as that is just what me and the missus have been looking for!

Thanks!
 

El Hefe

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Latest upgrade. Added an Airport Express which only worked for 24 hours. Then it went kaput. No lights. Tried resetting and turning the power supply off and on again. Still no change. Back to Appel store tomorrow. :(

Anyone had similar experience?
 

El Hefe

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Got me Airport Express sorted out. The Apple store just gave me a new one and have been running for 1 week now without issues.

Decided to disassemble my complete system today. Cleaned out all the interconnects and banana plugs on the speaker cable. Retuned my subwoofer using a Star Wars DVD, changed the position of my AV receiver from the bottom rack to the top.

Voila ! Cleaning up the interconnects and banana plugs improved the sound of my set up. Dont know how that can be. But definitely better bass control.
 

El Hefe

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Hi all,

Just upgraded my CD player to a Rega Apollo. Got it a very good price from the KL International AV show. I got it for about GBP380.00. Also purchased together with QED conduit. Managed to get it for GBP 25.

Fresh out of the Box

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Lid Open

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First Run In

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