bpman wrote:

good call, I'm off on my annual tour of France, Switzerland and Italy next month, so I will try and pick up a set of focals.

What's the name of the French Halfords ?



Home hifi - I have Naim kit, have a listen before and make your own mind up, you won't be disappointed

I have one system with bookshelf speakers and a sub, and another with BIG speakers ... TBH BIG speakers sound best

Bigger is always best, ahem

FeuVert is who you're after. Just check prices, as with the drop in Sterling/Euro prices it might still be cheaper (for you) in the UK.

http://www.feuvert.fr/?Ntt=Focal&Dy=1&Nty=1

And thanks for the thoughts on NAIM. Will track them, and Focal home, down for a listen.

Or I'll simply get one of these. Wow

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/technolo...-exceptio/

PS. Do get in touch if you're near Chamonx/Saint Gervais/Megeve/Geneva etc... Monsieur Le Grenadier

I've not been everywhere, but it's on my list.....

2011 Puma 110DC - Corris Grey

Grenadier wrote:

Thanks Riverboy.

Thinking the same of all you have mentioned. Hoping to tackle soundproofing and speakers in Autumn. Now I have my 'greatest tunes ever' playlist on Spotify (1300 songs and 90hrs so far), need to back it up with some proper sounds. Mrs Grenadier's new TT has the full B&O 10-speaker system which sounds amazing, keen to improve the Def, even it will never quite match the TT.

As far as the stern woman who tells you off when you speed, strange, I met my wife in a nightclub not a stereo and I can't turn her off

I have a focal / Jl audio set up with a hertz amp... actually sounds better than the B&O system in our audi

About replacing the cables, i first installed the focals like for like, but when i installed the amp i ran new cables, its a lot more power running down the cables a lot large diameter than standard LR.

Riverboy wrote:

As long as you can turn her on


I assume he means Feu Vert (no where near as good as Halfords but all we have)

MartinK wrote:

Can't help you with the in-car stuff. Like you I have thought about improving the in-car system but not got around to it yet...

However at home...

I have a couple of setups. Dependent on your TV you may be limited for outputs. Both my Panasonics have limited outputs (no RCA). On both TV's I have used a SPDIF connection (fibre optic) to a DAC, then onto a normal amplifier and speakers.

My fave setup is via a cheap (i.e. £5) fibre optic cable, and a Beresford DAC
http://www.homehifi.co.uk/S/tc-7534.htm

You can buy a DAC for the same (ish) price from Richer Sounds (DACMagic 100 IIRC) but I wanted to support a small (but VERY good) UK company like Beresford...

The small in-line type items don't give off enough power (low RCA voltage), and you find your HiFi is on high volume whilst the sound is weak (so when you switch back to CD/DAB you get really high volumes!). The Beresford is same as CD/DAB/etc at 2v. Most of the small inline DAC's don't give enough power - I tried an ESYNiC one first and sent it back...

Downside of this is that the DAC / Amplifier have separate volume controls, and separate on-off buttons. However if you have HiFi already it means you're not doubling-up on gadgets and speakers...

I bought my Dad a basic Panasonic sound bar. It integrates fully with the Pana TV. The same remote operates both (probably via Viera link), it turns on and off with the TV, sounds great (he's hard of hearing). Much more integrated, and on the upside, makes voices much easier to understand...(especially on movies with awkward sound recordings)
Downside of the soundbar, if you like music (i.e. watching Glastonbury, or YouTube), the sound is nowhere near as good as using a DAC and your HiFi.

The Beresford DAC will give you more flexibility in future (plugging-in a digital streamer, or your PC via USB for instance). Also Beresford seem to offer upgrades and repairs, making it a sounder investment that a Chinese DACMagic100...

Thanks for all the info Martin, will have a look and bare in mind your thoughts on the TVs output. It's a bang up to date Samsung UHD TV, but no idea how that improves the power (or not). However, any quality has to be balanced by Mrs Grenadier's requirement that whatever is used is neither ugly nor overwhelms her decor. It might have to be a Soundbar alone. When we do the barn conversion upstairs, a room will be put aside as a cinema. Then I can go bonkers and always happy to support smaller firms...  Monsieur Le Grenadier

I've not been everywhere, but it's on my list.....

2011 Puma 110DC - Corris Grey

bpman wrote:

Home hifi - I have Naim kit, have a listen before and make your own mind up, you won't be disappointed

Other than, perhaps, with the price....