Other Hi-Fi owned/mates
Kef Q75 fronts. 200W.
6 Ohm impedance. Discontinued. What I like about these speakers is the ability
for their musicality & also capable for Home Theatre as well. Bass is fast,
and no droning. At the top is the Q driver (tweeter in the middle of the midrange),
bass and bass radiator. The two bass drivers are sealed box (helps speed) They
are bi-wireable- I have used Cable Talk Concert 2 (chunky green cable- excellent
overall) Sleeving has a high melting point, good for soldering. What I don't
like- I have the mahogany vinyl wrap, it looks a bit rubbish. I'm not bothered
with the front plastic baffle (compared to the wooden new Q range), as I leave
the grilles on. Previous cable was QED Qudos- bass wasn't as deep, and treble
was too harsh.
Kef Coda 9. 6 Ohm. My previous fronts. Similar sound to the Q, but Q has better mid detail & higher treble, and better stereo imaging. The Coda 9 has a ported driver in it's own enclosure, soft-dome tweeter, and bass/mid driver. They are NOT magnetically shielded. Overall, decent speaker (for the money) Good for indie music. Fast bass, easy-to-listen to treble. Cheap vinyl finish, made out of chipboard. Only single pair of connectors
B&W 601's 100W.
8Ohm. My previous rears. Kevlar ported mid/bass driver. Metal dome tweeter.
At the time I was looking for rears and these performed well. But I have used
them for fronts, and they sound awful- using S & PX, with Concert 2. Treble
stands out too much- it doesn't blend with the rest of the sound. bass is boxy,
and slow. There is no life with these speakers. Gold-plated bi-wirable screw-down
connectors.
B&W CC6 center.
125W center, 8 Ohm. The B&W has a metal-dome tweeter, and 2 Kevlar mid drivers
(ported) The sound is pretty good, but I compared it to the Kef Q95 (and my
new Kef 200), the Kefs have better vocals. The B&W is slightly boxy sounding
(but only noticeable with A/B comparing with only the center on) Build quality
is quite good, and the speaker is bi-wirable. It stands out too much (it's a
rectangle) , whereas the Kef's seem to blend in with the shape of the TV. Nonetheless,
it's a good speaker.
Panasonic 28" Widescreen
Nicam TV 28WR3. Great picture with DVD input, accepts Japanese & American NTSC
signals. Front S-Video inputs, 3 Scarts (1 RGB, 1 S-Video with in/out signal,
1 normal). L&R phono out Good sound, quite acceptable. MDF cabinet with glass
door. Not bad sound for at TV. Didn't need Pro-Logic as my seperates system
is used for films. NTSC has some flicker on the bottom left of the screen, &
the screen needs to be rotated by 1 degree clockwise.
Yamaha DSP-E492
Dolby Pre-Amp/3 Amp/Pro-Logic Processor. My previous processor Temporary fix
after selling the yam 590 amp to my brother, as I needed 5.1 input, master volume
& 3 amps. 60W for each speaker (Center, Rear Right, Rear Left) It has a two
5.1 inputs, so capable of Dolby Digital/DTS. It (should) be able to be used
as a straight 3 channel poweramp (second set of 5.1 inputs, bypasses the volume),
but for some reason there was a huge humming sound when I plugged the inputs
from the HK processor. The Pre-amp sections were noisy, my reason for get rid
of it- kept it for 2 years. Pre-out sockets.
Yamaha DSP-A590. 70W for the front 3, 25W for the rear. My first venture into Hi-Fi/AV. At the time it was a good purchase- remote control, all the amps I needed, Pro-Logic processing & DSP's, plenty of inputs. The Pro-Logic processing is noisy. The rear & center speaker terminals are naff spring-clips. Not upgradeable to DD/DTS. Pre-out sockets. In straight stereo mode for music- not that bad.
Technics BX-501 single deck tape. Previously mine, sold it to brother. Case acts as a tuning fork with certain frequencies- very annoying! Reasonably good copies from CD. Motorized tray. Possible for remote control (HK remote has the codes included) Dolby B & C, HX headroom extension. Recording level & display. Auto tape detect (ferric, metal etc) and Tape Calibration.
Harmon/Kardon ADP-303
Dolby Digital processor second-hand. At LOUD volumes there is no hiss at
all- the volume control section is top-notch. It has front pots for each channel
output. Volume control, rear time delay 0-15ms. RF for LD, coaxial, and optical
DD feeds. Test tone & mute buttons. It also has a 5.1 input -but front volume
does not effect it. There are rear switches for Non/Small/Large for each speaker,
except sub which is on/off. The processing, separation & panning compared to
the Sony DVD's decoder is MUCH better. The only downer is that to adjust volume,
I have to get up.
Denon AVD-2000.
Stereo, Dolby Pro-Logic, Dolby Digital processor decoding. 1 coaxial RF for
LD, 2 coaxial inputs, 2 optical inputs, 1 optical output. 5.1 volume & channel
control input for DTS/DVD-Audio. 2 Pin 240V socket for power-up/down external
processor/DVD player switching. Stereo phono out, 5.1 output to poweramps. Remote
control with full control-volume, channel adjustment, test tone, setup, etc.
Matrix, Mono Movie, 5 Channel stereo, Rock Arene, Jazz, Video game DSP modes,
Cinema Re-Equaliser. Bought this recently, replacing the Harmon Kardon processor
as I now have volume control, more inputs & very useful is the 5.1 input which
the Denon's volume control & channel adjustment actually affects the volume.
This is good, as most DTS processors have no volume- so with the Harmon & external
DTS processor it would be full power which would be nasty. The only thing I
don't like about the Denon is the rear speaker setting- it can only be set to
ON/OFF and not OFF/SMALL/LARGE as my NHT's go down to 57Hz. I am missing the
bass below 80Hz from the rears. I also tried using the Denon as a CD DAC (sending
coaxial from the Marantz into the Denon) & main Pre-amp (then straight into
the 8000PX) compared to the Marantz & Audiolab pre-amp. The Denon sounds a bit
thin. There is more midrange from the Marantz DAC's. Also the Denon processor
gets quite hot.
Marantz CD-63SE
CD Player. Philips based CD player, so Audiolab remote works it. Coaxial
& optical out. Headphone socket. Variable output (headphone & the rear phono's)
Pretty good sound- can't say how well it fares against £500+ players. Also plays
back some troublesome discs (Nugens- don't work on Rotel or Sony CD players)
Probably keep it when I upgrade as the phono socket is useful not listening
to music in bed. Now being used with my PC, for CD listening/mastering
Rotel RCD-951. HDCD
player. Brothers Compared to my Marantz, the Rotel is slightly smoother
sounding. The tray could be made out of thicker plastic, and the remote is a
bit naff. Also fast forward is only slightly faster than normal play! Good sounding
player, HDCD too.
Kef Q55 150W 6Ohm.
Brothers fronts. Going up from the 15's, similar sound, just deeper bass. Ported
bass driver. Ideal for modern music. Punchy bass, not slow or offensive.
Kef Q95C. 100W.
4 Ohm. Brothers center Good dialogue. 4 Ohm could be a problem though-considering
the price of the speaker, and what type of amps people would match it up with.
Only single pair of connectors.
Kef Q15 100W 6Ohm.
Brothers rears Compared to the 601's, the Q15 wipe them out. Mid is much smoother,
bass is faster. Bi-wireable connectors. With Atacama Nexus 6 stands, they are
hugely improved even more. Bass is improved instantly. They are great speakers,
but could do with a (little) bit more low-end welly (get the 55's instead)
Kef Coda 7 Similar
sounding to the 9's, just less bass. Still fine speakers. 6 Ohm. Mate's previous
speakers. 70-100W. Single pair of screw-down
Pioneer 606D Region 1 110V DVD Player- Brothers Proper multi-region, will play NTSC & PAL DVD's with no problem Remote is a bit naff, and it cannot control TV's. The built-in Dolby Digital decoder is rubbish. The subwoofer output is extremely low, there is no test-tone facility, and no variable output for rears, center or sub, like the Sony. Picture is top-notch, as is sound. 3 digital outs- optical, pure PCM, Dolby Digital/PCM. 10 bit video DAC, 24 bit/96 Khz audio DAC
Toshiba SD-100E.
This player has a fantastic picture. It has optical & coaxial digital out, SCART
(composite, S-Video & RGB), Round S-Video out, Stereo phono output. No problem
with troublesome discs like The Matrix. It has a naff remote.
Panasonic 310 Region
1 DVD Player. Mates Great picture & sound. Expensive to multi-mod, and problems
after doing so. 10 bit video DAC, 24 bit/96 Khz audio DAC
Rotel RSP-966.
approx. Stereo, Dolby Pro-Logic, DTS, Dolby Digital. Mates On paper it sounds
great. Plenty of S-Video & composite inputs, stereo phono's, 4 digital inputs
(2 coax, 2 optical), 5.1 input & outputs (DB25 connector), on-screen menus,
multi-remote. Phono pre-outs. The unit is very big (height-wise) Rotel could
at least compact the unit. It's also a bit ugly. There is alot of background
noise in Pro-Logic, DD & DD. Stereo is fine though
Rotel RB-993.
200W 3 channel THX poweramp. Mates This is one mean piece of kit. Just enough
power for small speakers! Will be able to drive most loads with ease. XLR &
RCA inputs. Bit heavy! Unsure how it sounds for music use. Undoubtedly, its
awesome for AV. Also has a Rotel RB-991, same power but 2 channels.
Arcam Alpha 9 integrated
amp. 70W . Mates The front panel could be better (cheap plastic) It has
quite a few features- tone controls, 2 speaker outputs, upgradeable to phono
stage, poweramp in section (this has some foibles, though) Toridial transformer.
Softer sounding than my Audio lab. Arcam Alpha 9 poweramp 75W . Mates Again,
cheapish front panel. Toridial transformer. Mate is happy with this and integrated
amp.
Rel Q100E subwoofer 100W
- Mates About 45 cm cubed. 12" driver sealed box design. Very fast bass. 20Hz
lowest. MDF. Overall, great sub for both stereo & AV use.
Yamaha DSP-A592 -Mates
previous amp Updated version of the 590. Reduced height, and 5.1 inputs. 65W-70W
for front three, 35W to the rears. Stereo, Dolby-Pro Logic, DSP's. Pre-out sockets.
Spring clips for rears, possibly center as well (been awhile since I used it)
Reasonably good AV amp.
Stands Unique Tower
. Bought extra glass shelves for £5 each from local glass cutter I bought
this rack because each shelf is adjustable in 5mm increments. The glass shelves
from Stands Unique are £35 each- I got 'em for £5, plus fittings. Next thing
to get is a new unit to hold the whole AV & Hi-Fi gear, a total of 10 units
plus the TV. Replaced with the Ikea Oppli.
Arcam Alpha 8P Poweramp.
50W x 2. Very good poweramp for the money, not far off from Audiolab sound quality.
Drives 4 Ohm loads no problems (Kef 200 Center) Useful mono-link feature (so
you only need one phono cable if you want dual mono output) . Front headphone
socket (not being used) and front Speaker 2 on/off (but SP 1 are always on).
This amp was driving the rears. Also borrowed my brothers 8P, which is bi-amping
my Kef 200. Replaced with the Audiolab PX's
