Stereo vs wife! Some help needed....

Poppydoodlesdad

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Hello everyone, this is my first post here and it's a biggy! So first a bit of background....

Way back when in teh 80s I had what I consinder to be a pretty reasonable budget stereo set up - Ariston Q Deck, Rotel Amp, Mordaunt Short speakers, Marantz cassette deck and a CD player which I think was a Sony of some description. I've also got an old Sherwood reciever.

Anyway, after many years of happy vinyl listening I met this girl see....and then we bought this house, and got this dog,and had this child etc....

And then the world went digital!!

The up-shot being that for about ten years my stereo gear has languished in the loft unused and unloved....

...until now!

We have moved house and are expecting another screaming infant but I have put my foot down and insisted that the vinyl be liberated and the old gear brought back to life. All of which is fine except there is a kind of "no wires" rule (I know!).

So what I want to do is somehow connect my amp wirelessly to my passive speakers. If, into the bargain I can also connect devices such as my iPod etc so much teh better but this is not essential.

There are plenty of options that seem to allow linking a bluetooth device wirelessly to an amp / active speakers but I've not found anything explicitly designed to transmit from an amp. Also I have only found one device that seems to be explicitly designed to allow bluetooth linking to passive speakers (The Vamp).

So, basically, is there a way I can link my amp wirelessly (I'm guessing bluetooth is the most obvious, viable option) to my existing speakers? It goes without saying this has to be a cheaper option than buying new speakers / amp etc.

Any ideas would be most welcome.

Many thanks

NICK
 

muljao

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I don't know any way to do what you require, but you could build a unit that takes all your gear and keep the wires inside.

You could relatively easily have it tidy at the unit itself, obviously the speaker cables are the issue. I chased the walls to bury mine, but a tidy conduit could do the trick
 

paulkebab

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with women and wires?? When the wireless signal drops off they're the first to moan!

Anyway, what you might not know of are flat cables which will slip easily under carpets without leaving much of a ridge as do round or 'figure 8' cables, and 4-core versions are available too.
 

davedotco

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If you want to keep as much of your existing system as possible, then wireless at speaker levels is not an option. You have to use cables, if you cannot build them in, or drop them under floors then one solution is to use a rug, something like a hall 'runner' under your equipment and extending to either side. The speakers go on each end of the rug connected by flat, 'ribbon' speaker cable laid flat under the rug and exiting through purpose made slits directly behind the speakers/stands.

Of course this only really works in the classic, stereo speakers with equipment in the middle setup. If this will not work or be acceptable, then it is new equipment time.

Top of the list would have to be a pair of Dynaudio XEO speakers with the Connector transmitter. Bluetooth is built in as is Spotify Connect and other streaming functionality and line inputs for your vinyl player (with pre-amp). Only cables involved are mains leads to the speakers, unavoidable I am afraid, and the cost is not cheap, entry level is £1300 for speakers and Connector.
 

insider9

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You've certainly picked a good subject for a first thread :) I've been there a few times and lots of people here who can relate.

My advice would be some good old fashion persuasion with a hint of bribery as a first step. If that won't work pleading and finally begging as a last resort. On a more practical note involving your wife in the process might be a good idea. If you chose the equipment (sound quality) and she would be the one to chose a rack, stands, cables (more cosmetic things) maybe she wouldn't be so against it. Cables are probably a tip of the iceberg and it's overall looks she's worried about (just guessing).

I know my wife would rather have pretty and not so useful things than something very useful but ugly. As an example I can tell you that I replaced a Panasonic plasma with a Samsung LED as the Samsung looked better when it was switched off... Eventhough I regret it I only watch tv for couple of hours a week so it's not a massive problem.

Separates from 80's like many things back then were not the prettiest to look at. Maybe finding a common ground would be the easiest solution, though I'm sure you tried that already.
 

Gaz37

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I feel your pain, Mrs Gaz firmly believes not only that wires should not be visible but nor should speakers which are ugly, the bigger the uglier, stands are also ugly.

There are only two options I'm afraid -

Tolerate the moaning

Buy a Bose Wave thingy or similar.

Personally I put up with moaning
 

thewinelake.

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Just had a thought on this, which is that bookshelf speakers on a bookshelf might make the wires disappear. You could use wall-mounted trunking if that is more acceptable than cables.

Actually, my secondary lounge is a good example of hiding the wires behind a bookcase.

14681800_10154586880406354_119666606596492347_n.jpg


14666173_10154586880116354_4843739550069812718_n.jpg


However, having said all that, I find that I'm always asked to turn the music down, so making an elegant media unit and getting the hifi and speakers in there (they're AVI DM5) was a bit of a pyrrhic victory. I mostly listen to music in my shed now. It was designed for keeping wine well-insulated, so it's also good for keeping the sound in. It's very small, but the ADM9rs sound very good in there, against all the odds!
 

Nathan

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Borrow my wife to talk to yours. My wife was not impressed by wires or big-arse speakers until did a compare and contrast with wireless diddy ones. She has bashed up a few of my mates' wives to getting proper systems.

She wont thank me for quoting an hourly rate for her to do this so I'd say take the missus to Richer Sounds for an hour and get them to demo a wired/wireless system. After that if she's not sold then perhaps a shed or a divorce is the sage move
 

Gaz37

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Nathan said:
Borrow my wife to talk to yours. My wife was not impressed by wires or big-arse speakers until did a compare and contrast with wireless diddy ones. She has bashed up a few of my mates' wives to getting proper systems. 

She wont thank me for quoting an hourly rate for her to do this so I'd say take the missus to Richer Sounds for an hour and get them to demo a wired/wireless system. After that if she's not sold then perhaps a shed or a divorce is the sage move

If my Mrs compares a decent system to her bedside Pure clock/DAB/CDP the only difference is "well it's louder"
Even if I point out things that cannot be heard on hers, for example the bee buzzing in the intro to Pink Floyd's High Hopes, her response is "why would I want to hear that?"
 

MajorFubar

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Seems a reasonable request that everything should be neat and tidy including hiding wires. Beyond that, grow some balls and ask her would she rather have married a man with a hobby or have married one who drinks all the money away and punches seven colours of **** out of her after the pubs close on a friday night.
 

Gaz37

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MajorFubar said:
Seems a reasonable request that everything should be neat and tidy including hiding wires. Beyond that, grow some balls and ask her would she rather have married a man with a hobby or have married one who drinks all the money away and punches seven colours of **** out of her after the pubs close on a friday night. 

Or worse still, both ;)
 

drummerman

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thewinelake. said:
Just had a thought on this, which is that bookshelf speakers on a bookshelf might make the wires disappear. You could use wall-mounted trunking if that is more acceptable than cables.

Actually, my secondary lounge is a good example of hiding the wires behind a bookcase.

However, having said all that, I find that I'm always asked to turn the music down, so making an elegant media unit and getting the hifi and speakers in there (they're AVI DM5) was a bit of a pyrrhic victory. I mostly listen to music in my shed now. It was designed for keeping wine well-insulated, so it's also good for keeping the sound in. It's very small, but the ADM9rs sound very good in there, against all the odds!

Love the look of those tiddly DM5's. Very neat.

What are you using to control them ie. Pre-amp?

(Apologies to the OP, I'll keep on subject thereafter) :)
 

thewinelake.

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Well, I'm using an Audiolab 8000a as a volume control! Like I said, I hardly listen to that system anyway. Mind you, she's out this evening.... excuse me....
 
8 years ago, i did the ultimate upgrade (new G/F)

she came pre-loaded with all the correct hardware, and has been 100% compatible with all my upgrades.

17 years my Junior, she is practically future proof. and will be my final model. no further upgrades are needed.

cables in view, no problem. big speakers, no problem. 65inch tv, no problem. she knows how much music means to me, and she is also a lover of similar music to me too. yes, these women do exist. and when you get one. look after them. its worth every last penny.

there is more to life than being nagged to death about speaker cables, and the rest.

feel free to share this post with your partners....
 

Gaz37

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bigfish786 said:
8 years ago, i did the ultimate upgrade (new G/F)

she came pre-loaded with all the correct hardware, and has been 100% compatible with all my upgrades.

17 years my Junior, she is practically future proof. and will be my final model. no further upgrades are needed.

cables in view, no problem. big speakers, no problem. 65inch tv, no problem. she knows how much music means to me, and she is also a lover of similar music to me too. yes, these women do exist. and when you get one. look after them. its worth every last penny.

there is more to life than being nagged to death about speaker cables, and the rest.

feel free to share this post with your partners....

 

 

 

Have a sister?
 
Gaz37 said:
bigfish786 said:
8 years ago, i did the ultimate upgrade (new G/F)

she came pre-loaded with all the correct hardware, and has been 100% compatible with all my upgrades.

17 years my Junior, she is practically future proof. and will be my final model. no further upgrades are needed.

cables in view, no problem. big speakers, no problem. 65inch tv, no problem. she knows how much music means to me, and she is also a lover of similar music to me too. yes, these women do exist. and when you get one. look after them. its worth every last penny.

there is more to life than being nagged to death about speaker cables, and the rest.

feel free to share this post with your partners....

Have a sister?

lol!

three of them....

but i lucked out, and got the best one!
 

Poppydoodlesdad

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Hi,

Thanks everyone for your feedback, ideas and suggestions! I must admit I laughed out loud at some of them!

As I should have predicted, it all turned out to be something out of nothing. When faced with the various alternatives (all of which included cables) wifey agreed (as a temporary measure - ha, ha!) to having the speakers on stands (black) and discrete cabling. (She doesn't even know the stands have spike feet!! We'll keep that one quiet for now!).

Some I've got the Q Deck, Rotel and Mordaunt-Shorts all hooked up and working having been boxed and lofted for literally years.
Amazingly, or perhaps not, they all seem to be working perfectly and sounding great. The only problem now is finding a time when I can bleedin' well listen to it.

I can sense the need for a decent pair of headphones....
 

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