For the FAO of stereoists

[scotta]

My name is Scott I’m 46 and I’m a stereoholic.

[Jobbo]

For playing YouTube music videos through your proper hifi it’s a great idea; no need to go full home cinema.

I use a simple TOSLINK cable to facilitate this.

I can do that but:
- video sync isn’t there
- control of volume using the tv remote isn’t there
- if the audio from the telly has extra data such as Dolby Atmos, HDMI can pass that where Toslink can’t.

Plus multiple HDMI inputs might be useful.

[Jimexpl]

I’ve found them for £649 elsewhere already. But I think they’re going to be discounted to £500 or so; they haven’t been around for long yet. I’ll keep a look out.

Fundamentally hifi to me is now a bit of a dying area because people like Apple chucking out HomePods with lots of power and amazing sound quality for £250 are going to destroy the market.

I think you might be waiting for a while, unless dealers have one in stock. Marantz aren't pushing them on the dealers. £649 is only £8 more than my trade price from the distributor! Obviously the volume seller will have larger margins, but only about an extra 10%.

[Jobbo]

That’s really interesting - thanks Jim. I was tempted by the outgoing NR1200 but it’s not sufficiently cheaper to get the old model. Might bite the bullet and order one at £649 then.

[IanF]

I don't have any knowledge of those, but I do need to find a new streaming solution myself. Trying to connect my Squeezeboxes to the Netgear Orbis, it is apparent that their wifi protocol is getting old and they do not want to connect. And the eco-system is also quite old now; it was never something my wife would use. I think Sonos is probably the most sensible update in terms of usability but their kit is pricey and I'm not entirely sure I won't be going through the same thing in 10 years' time (or less). The Squeezeboxes have done me for about 18 years but I didn't use them that much in the last 6 or 7; they still worked fine though.

At least with Sonos I can add a single device in each room to get multi-room, which is appealing.

Could the Sonos Port assist with connecting your analogue to WiFi? Seems like a good route if you plan to extend Sonos speakers eventually..

[Jobbo]

I bought some Wiim kit, Ian, which does the job fine and with plenty of connectivity options. I don’t trust Sonos now after their firmware and app fuck-up.

[KiwiDave]

<PING>

This is the OV9 automated update required please reminder.

I was actually going to wait to do an update until I'd used it all, but seeing as you've asked... There is now a Wiim Ultra and a set of Q Acoustics 3050i downstairs. To pair up with Dad's Denon CD player and amp obviously.

However they're not set up, because the end of the lounge downstairs where the stereo is going is still piled high with stuff under dust sheets awaiting the last few bits of work on the house. Between the building work, moving everything and a trip away shortly, should be in a position to set it up early November.

[mik]

There is now a Wiim Ultra and a set of Q Acoustics 3050i downstairs. To pair up with Dad's Denon CD player and amp obviously.

Nice. Well done sir.

[KiwiDave]

There was a sale on the speakers which was too good to turn a blind eye to

I have a real of speaker cable here too which is unopened. Without vanishing into stereo-wanker land, I'm assuming it's going to be OK.

[mik]

Saw this earlier and thought I’d share. No idea of performance vs claims obvs.

[Jobbo]

I've done a bit of googling and am struggling to see what is so unique about those drivers. The diagrams show they are small and dual-firing but how do they actually work?

[mik]

I've done a bit of googling and am struggling to see what is so unique about those drivers. The diagrams show they are small and dual-firing but how do they actually work?

Yeah - doesn’t seem to be a great deal of info out there on them.

Lots of words on their patent which includes a downloadable pdf with diagrams.

Dual firing drivers as you say, with (possibly but not necessarily) ducts to direct the sound.

[Jobbo]

I'll see if I can work it out from that - thanks for saving me Googling. What makes them unique appears to be how they are packaged in such a small space, which must be down to how the transducers work. There are also claims that a 3.5" driver produces the same sound levels as an 8" traditional driver - part of that is going to be down to having two 3.5" drivers and the fact that they aren't round but even if they were complete 3.5" squares, two would be well under 50% of the size of a round 8" driver. So they must move further to shift the same amount of air.

ETA: diagrams here - https://audioxpress.com/article/patent- ... ker-device
There are four coil/magnet transducers for each drive unit, one in each corner of the square enclosure of the round driver. Doesn't strike me as more energy efficient; it's just a different way to package the voice coil.

[mik]

That auioxpress article is interesting - particularly the closing comments/observations:

If there were a novelty of the Mayht device in this regard, it would seem to be more centered on their specific approach to placing the motors and voice coils around the periphery of the device and extending connecting struts from the multiplicity of voice coil formers over to the diaphragm body. While this would seem to be an effective expedient to further minimize package size while achieving large excursions, for many of the “full-range” devices promoted by the company, it would seem to be difficult to maintain good frequency response at high frequencies when using this configuration.

For the best full-range performance, they may need to resort to the more conventional format of having all the voice coils directly coupled to the diaphragms within the inside diameter of the surround suspensions.

In terms of the claims that their 3.5” devices can equal an 8” woofer in low-frequency output, this would require their device to have approximately 2.5 times the excursion capability. It is unclear, so far, as to how their configuration would have the ability to exhibit such a large excursion advantage.

Even with an Xmax of 5mm in a modest standard 8” woofer, the comparative Mayht device would have to achieve an Xmax of at least 12.5mm and for one of the better 8” woofers, with an Xmax of 12mm or more, it would seem that the little 3.5” Mayht device would be reaching excursion levels of over ±30mm or almost 5” peak to peak. A strong claim indeed.

It will be interesting to see if, and how, Mayht has developed specialized surround suspensions and magnetics that can efficiently support those kinds of performance numbers. Ultimately, the new structure is innovative and includes some novel thinking and should be able to perform competitively with the current state of the art. It will remain to be seen if it can best all current loudspeaker technologies to the degree they are claiming it can.

In the next patent review installment, we will delve deeper into additional Mayht patents that explore more aspects of the structures along with even stronger claims, including the most significant of all: The ability to reduce loudspeaker enclosure volumes to 1/10th that of the current state of the art. Stay tuned. VC

[KiwiDave]

Newb questions:

1) I can connect the Wiim Ultra streaming doofer into the amp using Phono, Tuner, Aux or Network inputs (all the red/white RCA cables). Is there any difference or should I be using a specific input?
2) Does it matter if the cables to the speakers are different lengths? Amp -> Speaker distance is approx 1.5m and 3.5m if I don't have any excess cabling floating about, so not equal length. I could cut them equal length if need be and leave the extra cable looped and hidden. Any thoughts?

TIA.

[Jobbo]

Use any input other than Phono; Phone (probably) has a separate pre-amp circuit because a turntable’s output is much lower voltage than other RCA inputs, and a phono pre-amp also corrects the frequency response.

Different length speaker cables is not a problem. That’s the sort of bullshit which leads to people buying £500 power cables and supporting the speaker cables on wooden blocks every few inches. I’ve found having different length speaker cables to be very useful in the past - it gives you more scope to locate your kit where you want it. Who puts the stereo midway between the speakers?

[scotta]

Use any input other than Phono; Phone (probably) has a separate pre-amp circuit because a turntable’s output is much lower voltage than other RCA inputs, and a phono pre-amp also corrects the frequency response.

Different length speaker cables is not a problem. That’s the sort of bullshit which leads to people buying £500 power cables and supporting the speaker cables on wooden blocks every few inches. I’ve found having different length speaker cables to be very useful in the past - it gives you more scope to locate your kit where you want it. Who puts the stereo midway between the speakers?

Waves

Although the cables are not all the same lengths as I feed the surround cables round the same skirting board carpet.

[Jobbo]

Scott, is the stereo an AV amp below the TV if you have surround speakers? That’s forgivable.

[KiwiDave]

As some of you may have seen on my Instagram, last night I gave the new stereo its first run. The very first track I played was Dad's chosen piece of music for his funeral (Kirsty Abott's 'First Light' - a lovely piece on cornet accompanied by a brass band in case you're interested) and it exceeded my expectations comfortably.



I did get the streaming working, though I'm not convinced I had it working properly to try a few more 'normal' tracks, all of which had me basking in just sitting back and listening to music without anything else going on. That's the first time I've done that in forever. It's been a long time coming being able to do this, having a decent stereo has been a wish of mine for aaaages. Dad's stuff arriving was the kick in the pants I needed, but the help I got here, from you lovely gentleman was what made it work. I am genuinely, deeply grateful.

Specs: Denon DCD-520AE CD Player, Denon PMA-520AE amp, Wiim Ultra streaming box, Q Acoustics 3050i speakers.

You'll have to excuse the mess, the whole house is still upside down from all the renovations etc.

[mik]

Whilst I was confident, it's great to read that you are indeed happy with the result.