View Full Version : My new audio system - what do people think of it :)
DaveMark
23-01-2005, 13:57
Not sure if there are many hi fi fanatics on here :) but i thought i would post my new hi fi system ..... none of the alba or sanyo crap :) lol (sorry to people who have them makes :)) - hope this topic ok for this :)
Whats peoples Views
Marantz SR4400
B&W 602's
Optical Link from shuttle of course :)
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/davemark/images/bwcloseup.jpg
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/davemark/images/marantssystem.jpg
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/davemark/images/amppicarty.jpg
anon1011
23-01-2005, 14:09
Very nice :) , Cant say I know a lot about audio equipment myself but i'm sure the sound quality is extremely good ... and powerful i'd imagine
DaveMark
23-01-2005, 14:23
Very nice :) , Cant say I know a lot about audio equipment myself but i'm sure the sound quality is extremely good ... and powerful i'd imagine
sound quality over vol anyday ... dont get me wrong tho goes pretty loud .. the amp pumps out 80w's RMS per channel and theres 5 of them (5.1) but im only useing 2 at he moment untill i can source some more b&w's :)
DaveMark
Very nice! I have the same 602's (i think they are the same, mine are nearly 4 years old now but still look brand new and sound the mutts nuts) got them linked to a nice punchy rotel amp.
btw, got me a jamo sub too as I felt the bass lacks a little when you turn it up loud, but of course, everyone has different tastes :D
How are they on the table? I did that to start with but found it wasn't great ( sounded wierd with certain types of music, bass got sucked under the table etc) so got some nice stands filled with concrete and as far away from the walls that was practical and they sound a lot better. but again.. horses for courses.
Most of all, I have to say its so nice to see people using something other than tiny little "computer" (read rubbish) speakers. Yeah!
DaveMark
23-01-2005, 14:42
cheers for the comments .. i know what you mean about the bass ... at hi vols the hi's can over power the bass ... sub is on the list (want to go full 5.1) as for on the table .. i find they are pretty good .. ear level etc
cheers
DaveMark
I've got the 601's, and if they are half as good as them they'll be a cracking pair of speakers.
Those stiff kevlar cones really need a good running in though. The sound will get better and better as you use them.
A good trick is to place the speakers face to face, and wire one of them up in the opposite phase. i.e swap the red and black cable around.
Each speaker will then cancel each other round sound wise, and if they are close up face to face, you can wack the volume up silly loud and hardly hear a thing. Wrap them in a duvet or something to cut out the residual bass.
Then run them with something fairly lively for 12 hours or so.
You now have some super quick run in speakers :)
DaveMark
23-01-2005, 17:10
i got them 2nd hand anyway ;) so they should be ran in ;) allready :) but they had been stored for a wile "nice b&w smell when i wacked em up first time"
dangerous_dom
23-01-2005, 20:06
Tidy. Bit 80's looking, but thats all good. Glad to see your not a 'silver' person. God i hate all the silver hifi/tv's that are silver these days - makes them look cheap to me. I bet it sounds the business, i love HiFi. Can we have some prices?
DaveMark
23-01-2005, 20:11
Tidy. Bit 80's looking, but thats all good. Glad to see your not a 'silver' person. God i hate all the silver hifi/tv's that are silver these days - makes them look cheap to me. I bet it sounds the business, i love HiFi. Can we have some prices?
Amp from richer sounds - £199 (retail price was £350) - im well chuffed with it
Spekaers From Ebay - £120 Collected (well worth it in my opion)
CD Player (marantz) - richer sounds - £105 posted - good crisp sound from it allthough i dont use it much
Use optical link to amp from shuttle :) nice sound
DaveMark
Those stiff kevlar cones really need a good running in though. The sound will get better and better as you use them.
Isn't kevlar what bullet proof vests are made from?
I though cones (of the woven type here) were made of mylar.
Although bullet proof speakers must be useful for something.
B&Ws do look lovely though. I need to replace my Mission 701s at some point and I'm thinking about getting a nice pair of B&W floorstanders. Or maybe some of the new Mission line.
Nice choice on the amp btw, Marantz are awesome, I recall many happy hours in listening rooms with Marantz amps. A nice clean high end with a nice warm bass sound and plently of power in reserve for what I remember. Mind you, the one my Dad used to have (it kind of blew up..) used to run really hot, so hot it melted cables to it's case. Come to think of it that might have been what made it blow up...
I wish you many happy hours of listening pleasure :)
DaveMark
23-01-2005, 20:41
cheers blaxe ... i must say mine runs quite warm but nothing i would say is un normal .... i took the lid of once (being nosey) ... and its got more boards and cards than my shuttle has lol so i quicky put lid back on again.. it sounds lovely .. and yes my speakers are kevlar .. allthough i dont want to shoot them to test :p
davemark
dangerous_dom
23-01-2005, 20:55
Isn't kevlar what bullet proof vests are made from?
I though cones (of the woven type here) were made of mylar.
Although bullet proof speakers must be useful for something.
B&Ws do look lovely though. I need to replace my Mission 701s at some point and I'm thinking about getting a nice pair of B&W floorstanders. Or maybe some of the new Mission line.
Nice choice on the amp btw, Marantz are awesome, I recall many happy hours in listening rooms with Marantz amps. A nice clean high end with a nice warm bass sound and plently of power in reserve for what I remember. Mind you, the one my Dad used to have (it kind of blew up..) used to run really hot, so hot it melted cables to it's case. Come to think of it that might have been what made it blow up...
I wish you many happy hours of listening pleasure :)
Hehe, when you have kids/drunk/stupid people, kevlar is usful. It also has good audio properties and lasts. Oh and it looks cool. And it is woven kevlar, yes.
If you plan on getting rid of the those 701's, let me know. I might have them off you to match my 701's and build a kick ass 5.1 system. What's the cone material in them? i thought they were kevlar.
DaveMark
23-01-2005, 20:57
any one selling some b&w 602's or 601's i may be intrested as im wanting to upgrade my system to 5.1 :)
DaveMark
Who could shoot such a wonderful looking bit of kit!?!
I took the case of my Yamaha amp once, like you say loads of boards and a couple of huge heatsinks. From what I could tell from looking at the layout of the boards and what's on them it looked to be lots of voltage regulating circuits (which makes sense in amp) and clever wiring for the source control. As well as the amplifier itself, obviously. I'd love to have a look at the schematics for kit like this that would be interesting (...realises how geeky I really am....).
You say you're using an optical link from your shuttle. Whats the quality of the DA converter like? I've heard that some of them can be pretty poor when they are combined into an amp. I'd hope much better of Marantz though, of course.
DaveMark
23-01-2005, 21:01
its pretty good sound ... cant really tell a diffrent between digital/ analog connections tho ... but i have stuck with digital on both cd player and shuttle as i have the leads ... i thought something was really up the otherday .. dvd sounded rubbish .. found out ( i think ) its my dvd codecs :p
davemark
If you plan on getting rid of the those 701's, let me know. I might have them off you to match my 701's and build a kick ass 5.1 system. What's the cone material in them? i thought they were kevlar.
I'm not sure of the material, since all the documenation will be at my parent's house (I might be back there tomorrow, I'll check). I thought it was mylar (which I'm sure I didn't just make up, they make bits of space craft from it I think) but it could well be kevlar. Like I say, I'm not sure.
I love the speakers but they need replacing due to *clenches jaw* damage. They're in our living room, and I'm in a student house. Got back after christmas a few weeks ago and there's now a hole in the black section in the center of the woofer on one of them. Disaster! It doesn't look like it reaches the cone itself, so it still works. Trouble is when you turn them up, especially with bassier tracks, you get a lot of buzzing and some distortion. Sounds like it's the case vibrating that's causing buzzing mind, and they've been doing that for a while. Suffice to say I was not a happy bunny when I got back home though...
I had enquired to Mission about getting them repaired in the past (when the buzzing started) but they didn't seem to be able to help me. They don't make 701s anymore so I guess they probably don't carry parts for them anymore. It might be worth me hasseling them again, but it'll probably end up cost lots of money.
Their ok as long as you don't crank them up too high since I've cut the bass slightly on the amp, so they're not going anywhere soon. That and I haven't got any money to spend since I just spent about £500 on some new bits of kit. If do I sell them though I'll let you know dom.
DaveMark
23-01-2005, 21:18
do a seach for seven oaks hi fi ... they helped me out when my b&w's tweeter blew .. 25 all in for a repair ... great service ...
dave
six5tring
23-01-2005, 22:12
looks gd... must say i'm more of a mission man meself!.. but though marantz units give a lovely rich sound. the reflexs down the bottom aint half noticable though... but then it aint bout how it looks it's how it sounds :D - six
cheers for the comments .. i know what you mean about the bass ... at hi vols the hi's can over power the bass ... sub is on the list (want to go full 5.1) as for on the table .. i find they are pretty good .. ear level etc
cheers
DaveMark
If the treble overpowers the bass isn't that a mixing problem rather than a speaker problem?
If the treble overpowers the bass isn't that a mixing problem rather than a speaker problem?
It could be either, in theory at least. Using a commercially available original CD it's far more likely to be the speakers/amp/source. It could probably be fixed by rolling off the hi's a bit, but that's cheating.
DaveMark
23-01-2005, 22:56
It could be either, in theory at least. Using a commercially available original CD it's far more likely to be the speakers/amp/source. It could probably be fixed by rolling off the hi's a bit, but that's cheating.
yes it is , i use the direct source button on me amp that by- passes all the eq's so i get true to whats on the disk/mp3 :)
DaveMark
thats amazingly cheap for B&W's thats a nice buy :) very nice setup must compliment you on that
dangerous_dom
23-01-2005, 23:17
yes it is , i use the direct source button on me amp that by- passes all the eq's so i get true to whats on the disk/mp3 :)
DaveMark
Yep, thats what you should always do. The EQ's should only be used if the CD/source is poorly mastered. But I am sure the "More Bass powa!" crowd might tell us otherwise as usual. Damn, can't wait to get home from work now and stick some tunes on :)
Not sure if there are many hi fi fanatics on here :).... Whats peoples Views......
Yep, there are some hi-fi loons around here ;)
Do you intend to isolate the speakers from the surface they're sat on just now? Speaker placement is paramount for a sound that will do justice to the construction of the units.
Also, what interconnects and speaker cable runs are you using? A potentially great system is often hampered by the oversight of good cabling, and left sounding "not bad" as a result. A system is only as good as it's weakest part.
For me it's always been Japanese motorcycles, and British hi-fi. Never the opposite........... :rolleyes:
Of course, my vinyl loving older brother would disagree, and I know he'll read this :)
yes it is , i use the direct source button on me amp that by- passes all the eq's so i get true to whats on the disk/mp3 :)
I stand corrected.
For isolation, a big ol' blob of blue tac does the job, and it cost very little.
six5tring
24-01-2005, 07:45
QED silver anniversary for me :D ... still need to get some spikes :p - six
DaveMark
24-01-2005, 08:33
Yep, there are some hi-fi loons around here ;)
Do you intend to isolate the speakers from the surface they're sat on just now? Speaker placement is paramount for a sound that will do justice to the construction of the units.
Also, what interconnects and speaker cable runs are you using? A potentially great system is often hampered by the oversight of good cabling, and left sounding "not bad" as a result. A system is only as good as it's weakest part.
For me it's always been Japanese motorcycles, and British hi-fi. Never the opposite........... :rolleyes:
Of course, my vinyl loving older brother would disagree, and I know he'll read this :)
im not sure what i can use on the speakers to raise them of the table a bit ... maybe some sticky rubber feet. as for cable im useing 4.99 per meter 4 core stuff from richersounds ..
http://ws4.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=GALE-XL315BI
davemark
For me it's always been Japanese motorcycles, and British hi-fi. Never the opposite.
That used to be the case with me too, although now I own a British motorbike :D
six5tring
24-01-2005, 09:57
spike wise this kinda things r really gd.. http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/product.asp?id=1561 though i'm sure that i got some cheaper ones from my local "audio file"! - six
DaveMark
27-04-2005, 23:08
sorry to bring back such and old thred of mine, but i was clearing out my loft .. and found something from my hi fi past ... my old tannoy m20's boxes . the drivers blew due to a faulty amp about 4 years ago. well i was talking to a friend at work and it turns out he was getting rid of some drivers for these as he did not have tweeters or boxes ... he only charged me 20 for the pair quid :) lol tannoy wanted about 100 each for the drivers :eek:
anyway here is a picture of the classics :) .. sounding good and still on par with my b&w's (allthough not quite as nice) ... but not bad for a 1978 speaker if i do say so my self , sorry i have a thing for old speakers.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/davemark/P1010001.JPG
DaveMark
six5tring
28-04-2005, 08:15
now there's something ya don't see everyday :D good on ya DaveMark - six
jammin2222
05-05-2005, 15:37
really nice kit there mate! what size are the cones? 6inch? i dont have the option of 5.1 on my amps so i just went nuts with the speakers, plus built my own using any 8inch cones i could find! enjoy the pic, lol
in the end i used 4 wharfdales and 2 B&O cones plus 2 celestion tweeters.
(big speaker on the left also the same on the right)
DaveMark
05-05-2005, 15:51
really nice kit there mate! what size are the cones? 6inch? i dont have the option of 5.1 on my amps so i just went nuts with the speakers, plus built my own using any 8inch cones i could find! enjoy the pic, lol
in the end i used 4 wharfdales and 2 B&O cones plus 2 celestion tweeters.
(big speaker on the left also the same on the right)
THATS JUST NUTS LOL !!! the b&w's at the top of the post are 8" ... and same as the tannoys i found (they are 8") ..... but im back to my b&w's now becasue they just ROCK :d ... and just added some spikes to them
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/davemark/images/spikes.JPG
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/davemark/images/bwfeet.JPG
DaveMark
jammin2222
05-05-2005, 16:32
Very classy speakers! I would blow um up if I had um, I like it loud and bassy as you can tell by my speakers, lol
i will say something in your favour, i find the treble a little lacking with such huge speakers, I often have to turn the bass down to listen to the news on the radio or to watch TV, if a car drives by on TV it makes cups and plates rattle on the side board! Should tone it down really! I don’t own a night club lol
small but perfictly formed is the way to go...........
DaveMark
05-05-2005, 17:21
u would find em hard to blow up ;) and they produce nice bass ;) , no offence to you but yours aint qulaity hi fi ... more just loudness and bass .. . i like to here the music true to whats on the disk/mp3
DaveMark
jammin2222
06-05-2005, 15:09
Quote from the rant forum By DaveMark :
"Ok sorry been wanting to get this out for a wile .. im pretty into my hi fi , some of you have probably seen my system on here before (b&W and marantz etc) ... anyway i hate all my friends and people I speak to that think there systems are good when they have alba or Panasonic . now don’t get me wrong for the price some of that stuff is yes its ok for the general music listener, but when they come and say its going to beat my system in volume ... i was like ffs .... to be honest volume personally isn’t as important as quality .. but anyway .. it just annoys me ... also my cousin loves bass .. but he has so much bass it drowns out his hi end .. and all it is rumble rattle and eww.... he heirs my system and says its crap because its not got enough bass... he does not know what quality is.. his system sounds so flat and eww!!!!!.. that brings me to boy racers with the OTT subs in there cars ... grrrrrrr"
I hope that wasn't aimed in my direction! :eek:
DaveMark
06-05-2005, 15:18
Quote from the rant forum By DaveMark :
"Ok sorry been wanting to get this out for a wile .. im pretty into my hi fi , some of you have probably seen my system on here before (b&W and marantz etc) ... anyway i hate all my friends and people I speak to that think there systems are good when they have alba or Panasonic . now don’t get me wrong for the price some of that stuff is yes its ok for the general music listener, but when they come and say its going to beat my system in volume ... i was like ffs .... to be honest volume personally isn’t as important as quality .. but anyway .. it just annoys me ... also my cousin loves bass .. but he has so much bass it drowns out his hi end .. and all it is rumble rattle and eww.... he heirs my system and says its crap because its not got enough bass... he does not know what quality is.. his system sounds so flat and eww!!!!!.. that brings me to boy racers with the OTT subs in there cars ... grrrrrrr"
I hope that wasn't aimed in my direction! :eek:
lol no that was written a wile back ... before i even had seen your system
dave
jammin2222
06-05-2005, 21:01
:o chortle snigger grunt, sorry :o
but in all honesty it could quite apply.. No offence intended, if you like your music like that then go for it. Not quite my style though
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