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Post by MartinT on Feb 16, 2017 9:13:10 GMT
Being the unintended owner of some Linn speakers (the barn is kitted out with 6 pairs of wall mounted Linn Uniks), we decided to utilise the two pairs in the kitchen. It's a big space and I scouted around for something that would bring music to Ruth (who plays CDs), Izzy (who streams) and me (bit of both), as well as to feed the TV sound into. I started by pulling out the big wad of unlabelled cabling and identifying each speaker run with a battery, labelling as I went and deciding on the sense of the layout (front, rear, left, right). I then dismounted each speaker, cleaned up the cable ends, sorted out sagging mounts and put them back up again. Finally, what to buy to drive it all? Requirements are CD playback, network connection, streaming especially Spotify and internet radio, phones and tablets as controllers, and optical input for the TV. The output stage needs to be robust enough to drive two pairs of speakers with a combined 4 Ohm impedance. We settled on a Pioneer XC-HM86D which looks perfect for the job and features 65Wpc of class D amplifier.  It arrives today so I'll report back on how it works out. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2017 13:08:38 GMT
For a mini system, that is a good looking beast.
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Post by ChrisB on Feb 16, 2017 14:09:53 GMT
What does a thing like that cost then Martin?
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Post by John on Feb 16, 2017 17:24:38 GMT
Cool looks good for a second system
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Post by MartinT on Feb 16, 2017 21:28:26 GMT
£349 from Richer Sounds. There is a less powerful model at an equally excellent £249.
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Post by MartinT on Feb 16, 2017 21:58:35 GMT
The Pioneer is now all setup and working beautifully. These were my observations: Setting Up and ConnectingAll the sockets are clearly marked. I plugged an Ethernet cable in from my BT Home Hub so didn't need the Wi-Fi capability. TV went in via optical. Speaker terminals require bare wire. The FM/DAB aerial is the usual dipole wire. Using the remote and selecting network: Ethernet just fired it into action and collected an IP via DHCP. All network functions just worked without any setting up. CDThe CD player just works with the CD controls on the remote. No titles or artwork are shown, just track numbers. FM/DABIt tried its damnedest to receive some stations but really the signal here is too weak with the useless wire aerial. However, it doesn't matter because... Internet RadioThis works superbly, using the TuneIn service. There are hundreds of stations and categories so it's best to go through the pain of finding the stations once and then programming them into My Presets. The BBC, local and national stations we wanted were all there after a bit of searching. Station artwork and titles are displayed. I'm still looking for Radio Paradise! SpotifyEqually superb, the Pioneer is a Spotify device with no setting up required (it's all done from the controlling machine). Play Spotify from a premium account on any tablet and select the Pioneer from the blue bar at the bottom and it works, the bar turning green and the Pioneer streaming direct (even if the controlling device goes to sleep). Album artwork and titles etc. are displayed. Hi-bitrate works and sounds good (in as much as I could tell - see below). BluetoothThis also works and allows music to be played from our phones, also showing album artwork in some cases. Tidal/Deezer/AirPlayNot tested. All in all, this is a slick, very nice looking and comprehensive one-box hi-fi system for the modern multi-source family. Linn UnikI mentioned that these speakers were installed in the barn. I'm not at all surprised that the previous owners had left them behind. They sound little short of execrable. I note that they list for £150 each on some websites. I honestly wouldn't pay a tenner for them. Unadulterated shite. Sometime much later we'll replace them with some good, less expensive (!) speakers.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2017 16:35:21 GMT
Can i ask you a few things.
Does the fascia have the horrid shiny brush finish like the remote or is it matt finish?
Secondly i do not want to stream anything, I cannot rely on Any internet connections around our parts.
Thirdly i want to play FLAC files from an outboard Hard drive, is this possible or is the whole thing the wrong thing for what i want?
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Post by MartinT on Jun 12, 2017 7:12:04 GMT
The fascia is matt. The remote just caught the flash badly, it's not that shiny.
The USB can connect to hard drives and play FLAC.
To be honest, if you don't want the streaming features it's overkill for your needs.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2017 9:58:03 GMT
Do they do a cheaper one without the streaming features. I can see it's playing a FLAC file on the screen shot.
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Post by MartinT on Jun 12, 2017 13:15:11 GMT
There are lesser models but I believe all of them stream. You could see it as future-proofing. Even if you can't use it now, having Spotify built-in is marvellous.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2017 14:16:38 GMT
These things never see the future they end up in a skip before long  I just seen the cheaper one it has no CD tray.. |
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Post by John on Jun 12, 2017 17:28:11 GMT
Thats a shame seems to fit the criteria apart from cost and too many functions
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Post by MartinT on Jun 12, 2017 21:24:37 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Jun 12, 2017 21:26:58 GMT
Ah, not sure about FLAC. Need to check with Pioneer.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2017 10:16:51 GMT
Playing FLAC from outboard Hard drive is essential. Looks like its MP3/WMA
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Post by MartinT on Jun 13, 2017 10:33:36 GMT
Ok, that's the little'un out.
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Post by John on Jun 14, 2017 19:53:46 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2017 18:38:23 GMT
No Tray but more like it.
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Post by MartinT on Jun 16, 2017 20:24:11 GMT
I thought playing CDs was a requirement?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2017 18:09:50 GMT
Not really an importance as i can rip CD's to flac via laptop. I was just trying to save another box..
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