Current HiFi setup  ;

 Here is a photo of my current setup. You can notice new B&W STAV24 speaker stands and The Chord Company speakers cables. This current setup seems to be good enough since I don't really play music very loud (how i used to do) thus smaller Rotel amp does the job.

If I think about some improvement - maybe I will get some sound-proofing material.

Meanwhile , I'm just enjoying music every day. :)

 

 

 

Big changes in setup

Couple of months ago I've sold the following B&W 805N , CM1 and speaker stands with speaker wires.

Sadly, Emotiva UPA-2 was sold as well and I've shifted my CXN and QED interconnect cables overseas. 

New in system are TV Hitachi : http://tv.hitachi.eu/eu/en/product/58/43HAK6150/specifications .

It's best value buy I could find . I like smart features and ultra HD picture.

I have new black B&W 805S speakers .  I was very sad selling 805N so I had to grab these. 👍

I also have brand new B&W speaker stands (haven't install them yet) and new The Chrod Company speakers cables.

Currently I listen to my old Mission 702 speakers , while sooner or later will sell those and bring back the B&W's.

Rotel RA1060 is now heart of my system as I prefer amp that doesn't take up too much space.

 

 

Ipad 10.2 inch

It's been a year or so since I've sold my old ipad 3 and bought new 2019 10.2 inch Ipad 7 (WiFi,32GB Black). It's faster ,lighter and it has slightly bigger screen. What more to write about ipad? It's the best tablet you can buy at thi price. Period.

New android phone Mi9 SE

 After over 4 years of using my old iphone 6 time has come and I've replaced it with new Xiaomi Mi9 SE phone. I've got Redmi Note 8 for my wife and she is very happy with it.

 I've took version with 128 GB blue in color as that was the only one left in shop. Phone comes with one year warranty and so far it's been with me over 2 months. I have to say phone is really good. I have no regrets of buying it as it's hardware works well and it's a sleek looking devide as well with nice screen.  

Moving from iOS back to Android wasn't a easy task and it took me a while to transfer all my things.

Bigger (Samsung) AMOLED screen is welcomed due to  bigger viewing area however accidental touch of any edge of the screen will result in pressing things wrongly when I play game :P.

 Customization is always good, dual SIM cards slot , IR port as well as on screen built in fingerprint reader are great features. 

So , what I don't like? Xiaomi camera app sucks. I use Gcam instead.
No headphone jack. No memory card slot.Some built in apps come with free adds.
But considering price paid - I can't be bothered about it.It's still a great phone. :)

Many reviews can be found online ; 

https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/xiaomi-mi-9-se

Bowers and Wilkins CM1 s1

I saw this little CM1 s1 speakers on sale and I just had to buy them because I always wanted to own B&W CM series as they look stunning.
How do they sound? There are many reviews online, but most accurate review I found is here is here. In short, what you get is about 80% of performance for 1/3 of price of 805n. Of cos they can't replace 805's  as my main speakers but they do offer a lot at this price point. They are better sounding than B&W 685 speakers for sure and they can be very enjoyable to listen if you don't over force them at high levels with too demanding music tracks. Size of speaker just cannot cope with that. But simple jazz or even rock music in a smaller listening area is where they shine with great imaging and control. Only minus would be their low sensitivity at around 84 dB per W/m. But, if you have proper amp with enough power to drive them this shouldn't be a problem.
 Annoyingly I lost one of the screws from speaker terminal and already ordered new one from official B&W shop for about S$20.

Even my cat approves them. :)

Emotiva UPA-2 new heart of my setup

It's been a while since my last post, there are some interesting changes in my setup. :)  I've sold my Cambridge Audio 740 amplifier mainly due lcd display  'burned' out. :/

I was monitoring second hand market for Emotiva amps and finally I found used UPA-2 that I quickly picked up from seller. What I didn't pay attention is that front panel had some 'spots' on it that end up to be a pain as I was annoyed by it.

I tried everything - polishing , cleaning , even painting it, however special type of blacked brushed aluminium is impossible to fix thus I end up buying another front panel and fixing it.

 But, why 'Emotiva'? Unknown brand? You may wonder. So did I , until back few years I've heard my speakers on Emotiva amp from seller. I was amazed with the sound and bass reproduction thus it was a non-brainer to get one of this amps after that.Just had to find one used because  I didn't want to buy new because of import and shipping cost - and I'm glad I didn't - because old Emotiva UPA-2 is heavier as it uses passive cooling while new models use active (fan) and many people complain about that.

Since Emotiva UPA-2 is a power amp, I'm now using my CA CXN in pre-amp mode. Other components are connected using digital inputs on CXN. 

Verdict : Amazing upgrade. I just can't believe that an amp can make such a difference. Cambridge audio was a good amp, but it simply couldn't feed 805n with enough current to control the bass like Emotiva does. This is what I needed to wake my speakers up and demonstrate their full potential. Now I just listen music and enjoy every day. :) 

Belden Bi-wire 1810A speaker cable

My previous speaker cables were QED Original with Nakamichi banana plugs that I've ordered from Amazon UK. I was satisfied with the cable for quite some time with my previous Bowers and Wilkins 685 s1 speakers as I didn't use Bi-wire feature on them. Many people mention they sound better on single wire and I wasn't too eager to try different.

However, when I changed to Nautilus 805's , I realize I only have Bi-wire terminals on speakers without jumper cables so I decided to do some online research about speaker wires and also some of the experts I know for the opinions.

 One of the biggest experts in Hifi and audio that I know is my parent's friend from Croatia (Mr. Miro) and I quote his reply ;
"When it comes to speaker wires , they do make a difference to the sound. Wires have resistance that should be minimized but also they have inductive and capacity component which do not have great effect with smaller lengths. Cable should not be rolled (inductive component) or too close in parallel (capacity component). You should take minimum 4mm2 wire. "

 Another advise on which cables to buy I got from Mr Colin who is running his own company in Singapore setting up professional studio equipment ;
"Bi-wire and single wire give us different effect.Bi give you maybe more stage feel and single maybe more musical...for project installation we always use Belden or Canare audio cables."

This advises have greatly narrowed my choice and I found a shop in Sim Lim Tower selling the mentioned Belden and Canare cables LHS Electronics Enterprise .
Mr Robert from LHS was the sales who helped me find the cable. I decided to go with Belden bi-wire 1810A.
I recommend this shop ,service is excellent. I wanted about 30 mins for uncle to fix all the plugs and spades on the cable ends. He did it very professional.
Sound using Bi-wire really makes a difference on n805 speakers! It's quite 'stage' sounding that I like because I listen to lot's of electronic music. Sound with this upgrade seems to be crispier a bit more accurate with slightly lower bass extension.
Reason why I decided to go for Bi-wire and 16 connectors is in case one day I decide to Bi-amp the speakers. I 'm very pleased with my purchase, money well spent! :)