Well boys, the boat arrived from China and my newly acquired treasures passed smoothly through Customs.

First the phone - Xiaomi MI A1 - I'm loving it... incredible specs for a 125€ phone. As for the inboard DAC, I would say it is better, way better than my old Moto G4. For now, I've only been able to plug it in to the aux on my car radio but it does sound much better.

Now the SMSL Q5 Pro. I set that up today in the holiday home with the Bose Acoustimass 5 series II (yeah, I know... boo, hiss! But I had them lying around and I like them  ).

I also got a MPOW Bluetooth receiver, thinking of the convenience of friends and visitors. I'm glad I did because the wired connection picked up a buzz.

But with Bluetooth connected, EQ off, bass 5, treble 1, volume 50......I was blown away by the Soundstage. I played through some of the What HiFi Spotify test play lists and I can swear Jack of Speed never sounded so good before 

The cubes are at about 1.60m height, 0.5m in from the walls and about 4m apart. The sub is tucked under a table.

I need to investigate the cable buzzing though. I may want to hook up a laptop or a HDMI cable at some stage and can't live with buzz. 

Overall then, I'm thrilled with the results, satisfied that my little project has turned out well, and honored to make your aquaintance guys 

Glad to hear you like the Q5. They really do punch way above their weight, musically.

Hello. Just to say how much I'm loving the Q5 through the Bose cubes + sub. Halfway through a month in the country, I've got it going all day long while scraping and painting & decorating. I've stopped testing and configuring and started just listening.

Even my wife (by her own admission cloth-eared) is enjoying it and has asked me to install Spotify on her phone. Sounds amazing from lowest background mood music to rockin' bass heavy beats. Best set-up I've ever had and the Q5 cost just 137€.

Good to hear
The Q5 is daft VFM

How are the lads? I'm back for more advice.....
I've just remembered that two of my terrace plant pots at home are in fact cunningly disguised speakers. (I can't recall the brand but I remember there was a choice between plant pots and rocks/boulders - I thought the pots would blend in better).
Anyway they were pricey enough at the time - I bought them in a musical instruments / stage equipment store and I had them hooked up to the old Onkyo tuner Amp for years until, as they say, they fell into disuse.
I remember not being all that thrilled with them.... kinda muffled deep bass. Good enough with the indoor speakers blasting but never all that impressive on their own.
HOWEVER. Given my success with relocating the Bose cubes and pairing them with the Q5..... do you think I can just swap out the cables on these mystery plant pot (not Flintstones) speakers and connect them to the Q5?
And the $64,000 dollar question - can she drive both sets together?

That might help get to the root of the problem.

So here's a Pic of the terrace plant pot speakers. Totally faded, years of accumulated dirt, screws rusted but cones appear to be intact. Can't see any identifying marks - I guess I'll need to disassemble 'em to see if anything is legible inside...

I wonder what sort of plant you'd need for playing The Grateful Dead..?

Well, I have two speakers and a south-facing terrace...