Reply With QuotePlenty wireless solutions out there yes... If you are in France - try to get to Magma/Hifissimo during the sales :DOriginally Posted by Skyman
One for the audio geeks out there. Is it possible to have a turntable based system using active, wireless speakers? Are there any manufacturers of such things? Pardon my ignorance, but I have not kept up to date with hifi developments and now I have a desire to get back into vinyl with as few bits of kit and cables as possible.
Plenty wireless solutions out there yes... If you are in France - try to get to Magma/Hifissimo during the sales :D
Clearly! Have you heard of CDs? They replaced vinyl back in the 80's.
I have heard that many modern turntables include the required phono pre-amp. If not you can still buy standalone phono-preamps and plug them into any active speaker.
A nice Rega turntable and phono pre-amp would do nicely
Thanks. Any recommendations for the wireless speakers? For info, budget is £1,500 all in.
KEF X300A or Dynaudio XEO speakers. The Dynaudios are top flight but expensive... you'll want nothing else after hearing them!
Pardon my ignorance, but how do you get the turntable signal to the speakers wirelessly?
I found both the KEF X300A and the Dynaudio XEO 2 to be disappointing, both a little thick and lacking that ultra clean sound, a space where each manufacturer is known to shine. The KEF LS50 is now available in a wireless version, and very good sounding, but also a bit above your budget.
I'd ask, is wireless really the deal breaker? Would a powered speaker, with a wireless adapter suffice? If so, your options open up dramatically.
My choice would be to match a wireless capable amplifier (Sonos Connect Amp or NAD C338) with a really great set of speakers (Revel M106, KEF LS50, Totem Element). Or in a lower budget, look at the JBL LSR308 (over achiever), with a Sonos Connect or Yamaha WXC-50 digital/analog preamp.
Not sure how you have arrived at your conclusion but certainly not my experience of them especially of the Dynaudio. When Dynaudio brought them to my dealership my colleague and I were blown away by them.
I certainly wouldn't describe them as 'thick & lacking ultra clean sound'. All the reviews seem to be very favourable too ...
https://www.cnet.com/uk/news/at-last...g-audiophiles/
They aren't bad speakers, especially the Dynaudio, but they don't stand up to other speakers in the line. Try the XEO 2 and then the similarly priced Dyn X14. I was quick to find that they aren't a special speaker, and nothing like the SP25 which I spent quite a bit of time with a few years back. Just disappointing. Try the KEF X300s next to a pair of LS50s, the difference is surprising and substantial.
As for the reviews, the guys that write them are listeners just like you and me, just somebody else's opinion on the written page.
That said, reviews that mention the impression of the sound of the XEOs:
http://www.soundstageaccess.com/inde...d-loudspeakers
http://www.hifi-review.net/476-dynaudio-xeo-2.html
http://www.fairaudio.de/test/lautspr...ss-test-1.html
I find speakers to be a little like walking boots, what suits one person, however great they think they are, might not suit another. The only real way is to go and listen and do some A/B tests to find your own personal preference.
The only problem I have found with A/B tests is that the price keeps going up and up! In general as the price goes up and up the quality keeps, very obviously to your ears, getting better and better.
Why do you wish to return to records? Is it because of nostalgia, or sound quality? Because decent analogue, especially earlier recordings .....pre 1980s.....does sound nicer to many ears. Including mine. But you will lose some of that quality with wireless transmission. Ideally, you will get the best analogue sound with a good deck and a valve amp.
Bit hardcore maybe, but analogue sound is easily damaged, do it right and it is great.
If you just fancy some nostalgia, and don't get over-concerned with sound quality, perhaps better to save your money and just stream music.
Bit like watches, Quartz does it correctly, but analogue is just more fun, flaws and all. But fine watches need looking after, and so does good analogue sound.
At my age (58) I`ve lived through the CD revolution and seen vinyl die. At the risk of sounding like a philistine, I think vinyl had run it's course by the late 80s, at least for the vast majority of listeners. By the mid 90s a quality CD player at around £350 could blow the socks off all but the most expensive turntable/cartridge/pre-amp combos; CD could sound every bit as warm and involving with a whole lot more detail thrown in provided the components were matched correctly. Granted, cheap players did sound bright and thin, but the good CD players were totally different. Objectively, I think it was hard to make a case for vinyl and I`m not convinced anything's changed. If I was on a quest for sound quality I would take some convincing to spend my money on vinyl. Maybe I`m missing trick, but for me a high quality CD player is the better way to spend money if you place a premium on sound quality.
I find the current vinyl craze bewildering; it's either a nostalgia trip or it's being fuelled by younger buyers who have never experienced a good CD set-up. Whenever I talk to the under 30s about sound quality (as opposed to convenience) their faces seem to glaze over, most just don`t grasp the concept that digital music can sound completely different depending on the equipment; maybe that's part of the reason for the vinyl trend?.....I don`t know. What I do know is that very few youngsters seem to buy proper music systems thesedays, or at least something I recognise as a music system.
As for speakers, I think they are very subjective; one man's meat is another man's poison. The genre of music makes a difference too, some speakers like certain types of music more than others. Unfortunately, the biggest variable is the one that's hardest to change, and that's the listening environment. If you're really serious you have to listen to speakers in your own home to be sure you'll like them. Furniture, carpets, curtains, they make a huge difference. My square bay window plays havoc with the acoustics of the lounge unless I have curtains fitted; they don`t need to be drawn but they have to be present otherwise the music takes on an annoying bright resonance.....I couldn`t believe it myself but it's true. Last time I redecorated the lounge I was waiting for the curtains to arrive, everything was back in the room but the music sounded 'wrong'. Once the curtains went up the sound was properly balanced again. Maybe I should take the bay window out!
If I was going down the hi-fi path again I wouldn't buy speakers till I`d auditioned them in the home; that means buying from a specialist Hi-fi dealer and putting priority on results rather than price. I was fortunate, my ageing Castle Severn 2s suit the room well, but there may be something out there that's better. Hi-Fi listening rooms are OK for making comparisons between pieces of equipment but the acid test is how it all sounds in your home. Better to spend X+20% and be delighted than X and be disappointed.
Paul
Last edited by walkerwek1958; 2nd January 2017 at 18:04.
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