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Labarum
05-05-2010, 16:18
My interim setup in Nicosia

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_N90ZvwSpWa8/S-GVqvi5acI/AAAAAAAAAlk/65K6INrBHXU/s640/IMG_1348.JPG

A brand new LG Full HD TV is driven by an old Shuttle PC running Windows XP. The DVI video output goes into the TV HDMI input and the audio goes by USB to by Beresofrd Caiman DAC which drives my rebuilt Quad 405-2 and by 25 year old MB Quart floorstanders that shipped without damage from UK.

The TV sits on a cabinet from the 1950s that came with the house.

On the right speaker you can see a Seimens hybrid DECT/IP phone that gives me free or cheap international calls.

BBC iPlayer only delivers TV to UK IP addresses, but £5 per month buys be a VPN connection

https://www.my-private-network.co.uk/

It works very well so I won't be spending £3000 on a 4m Sat Dish and I can take the Shuttle PC home - it has a DVB-S Tuner so I can use it as a PVR in Southampton.

I will come back with a HTPC with BluRay that will cost rather less than a MacMini.

??? http://www.asrock.com/nettop/overview.a … 20330HT-BD

http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/ASRo … 24826.html

For Radio and streaming ripped CDs I use my Squeezebox (which also feeds the Beresford Caiman). The conservatory at the back of the house has a Squeezebox Boom which is great for what it is. To my surprise it works on the WiFi Network through the thick stone walls of this old bungalow.

Covenant
05-05-2010, 17:22
Those speakers look close together Brian. Is there a bit more tweaking to be done?

Labarum
05-05-2010, 18:38
Those speakers look close together Brian. Is there a bit more tweaking to be done?

It's 5 feet and I'm listening cross the through lounge at an angle from a distance of about 8 feet.

Now if I could swing the array 15 degrees out on the left and listen from the other end of the sofa . . . Tried that. Was offered the opinion that the left speaker was too far out into the room and looked silly!

During the summer I can widen the speakers a little but the left speaker comes up pretty soon on a night storage heater.

I could put the speakers in the archway of the through lounge firing down the room. That would have some sonic advantage, I guess, but leaves the TV stranded, and makes for wiring problems with a naked wooden floor. No plans for fitted carpets - not a good idea in this climate.

You can't see the cracks in the wall and the peeling ceilings. We have a gutted kitchen (ie no kitchen) at the moment, and a contract in hand for new windows throughout - windows, shutters, fly-screens. We replayed two aircon units last year and need three more now. Lots of painting to be done . . .

You can't see the free standing acoustic gramophone in the far corner of the dining room - unfortunately the mainspring needs some attention. I also have a Pye Black Box that still works, though the case is rather knocked about, which is a pity.

Covenant
05-05-2010, 19:09
At least you have the excuse of inheriting a house which doesn't lend itself to hifi. I designed mine and its far from ideal.

Labarum
06-05-2010, 17:39
This might work better

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_N90ZvwSpWa8/S-L8xBXM0RI/AAAAAAAAAmU/_77q1fH2ju8/s640/IMG_1353.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_N90ZvwSpWa8/S-L9C6pdn4I/AAAAAAAAAmY/nBugwjI3FS0/s640/IMG_1354.JPG

But this wouldn't!

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_N90ZvwSpWa8/S-L97TdAf8I/AAAAAAAAAmo/8o5DElr-2Tk/s640/IMG_1355.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_N90ZvwSpWa8/S-L8RzoRogI/AAAAAAAAAmE/ExnTICrFTks/s512/IMG_1357.JPG

It's the cabinet that the table cloths are kept in! Has been for the thirty years I have known the house!!

Labarum
03-03-2011, 15:36
The loathsome chore - redecoration; but it has given me the opportunity to tidy up the AV.

So:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_N90ZvwSpWa8/TW-o0kwv6tI/AAAAAAAAA0w/OYuzAcebpUY/s640/IMG_1381.JPG

That's it. Minimalism!

Open the door:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_N90ZvwSpWa8/TW-pJML-N7I/AAAAAAAAA1A/4XXtJpq31fY/s640/IMG_1383.JPG

The Quad 405 is facing back with its heat sink poking out of the back of the Ikea box.

Above you can see the Caiman DAC which takes optical in from the TV, RCA S/PDIF from the Squeezebox which sits in front of the TV, and there is a USB cable loose at the back of the TV in case I want to run the laptop straight into the DAC. There is is a long HDMI cable running along the skirting board. I pull it out from under the sofa and plug the laptop in to see BBC iPlayer content.

That will do for now. In the longer term I will put a small format PC on the back of the TV or in the Ikea box and use Remote Desktop to control it.

And looking down the room at my beautiful redecoration and the new carpet:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_N90ZvwSpWa8/TW-o0YKM2nI/AAAAAAAAA0s/3OMLWXf3KY0/s640/IMG_1379.JPG

The curtains have yet to be hung, but we do have shutters.

(Uploaded from Linux Mint running Chromium)

Thing Fish
03-03-2011, 16:15
Looks nice now that you've re-decorated. Shame about the wooden floor though it looked lovely. Then again I am a fan of wood. Lol

Labarum
03-03-2011, 16:24
Looks nice now that you've re-decorated. Shame about the wooden floor though it looked lovely. Then again I am a fan of wood. Lol

Badly scratched and very red, with 60 years of varnish on it.

I would have cost more to have had it professionally re-polished than the cost of the carpet, which a contract grade carpet and is not fixed to the floor.

Some future owner could take up the carpet and re-polish - but it's only pine, it's not a hardwood.

Marco
03-03-2011, 20:17
Your room looks much warmer and cosier now, Brian.

Large expanses of real wood flooring can look nice, as natural wood is nice to see, but it can also give a room a rather cold and stark feel. For that reason, I'm not a big fan of it in anything other than, say, a bathroom, or perhaps a hallway.

It's just personal taste :)

Your system will now sound better too, I reckon - so enjoy! :cool:

Marco.

Labarum
04-03-2011, 17:11
But this is better

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_N90ZvwSpWa8/TXEbJZxlhcI/AAAAAAAAA2M/1ovctiESOao/s640/IMG_1391.JPG

Dave Rance told me off for firing diagonally!

Thing Fish
04-03-2011, 17:35
Thats a lot better.

Labarum
04-03-2011, 17:39
Thats a lot better.

It is, but the power amp heat sink is about 1cm from the night store heater.

Have to move the heater before next winter!

Reid Malenfant
04-03-2011, 17:53
Dave Rance told me off for firing diagonally!
Quite right to :eyebrows: Yes it does look a good bit better as you say, no doubt it'll sound better to :)

Nice to see someone else making use of their speakers as lampstands :D

Labarum
04-03-2011, 18:04
Nice to see someone else making use of their speakers as lampstands :D

MB Quart think of everything. There is a glass plate set in each top. They make great plant stands too.

Once we had the most enormous fern on one. Every so often I would give it a haircut so the tweeter could scream at me.

That was long before the Squeezebox.

MartinT
04-03-2011, 18:39
Once, very many years ago, my wife put a plant pot on one of my speakers. It very rapidly got dumped in the kitchen. I mean, there are limits... :)

Alex_UK
04-03-2011, 21:57
Dave Rance told me off for firing diagonally!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Been there, got the T-shirt! To be fair, he's usually right... :)

Labarum
13-11-2011, 13:43
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-GfW-LR3ixU0/TrlO-RiOzEI/AAAAAAAABiA/7zMXuacypuE/s640/IMG_1533.JPG

Just an update now the redecoration is finished.

Squeezebox Classic in front of TV. In the box under the TV the Caiman DAC taking input from TV and Squeezebox and now driving a Quad 520f power amp refreshed by Dada.

At the corner of the two sofas you can see an HDMI cable I use to connect the laptop to the TV. Although I have cable TV with my internet package most of my viewing in by BBC iPlayer.

My MB Quarts melted over the summer - 25 years old and I guess the glue in two 8" drivers gave up. With much support from Dave Rance and others I found two direct drop in replacement drivers from Wilmslow Audio, and I will continue with my Quart floorstanders.

Marco
13-11-2011, 14:00
Very 'clean & uncluttered', Brian... I presume that's the way you like it? :)

We're rather different, apart from the clean bit -lol. Del and I like to be surrounded by 'stuff' (mainly our many antiques and collectables). But then, we live in an old 19th century lodge in Wales....

However, for me, a room looks cosier and more homely full of 'nice bits', with lots of artwork on the walls, etc (I find sparsely decorated rooms somewhat cold and uninviting), but I of course understand that this is a very personal thing!

Hope you're having a lovely time out there in Cyprus :cool:

Marco.

Labarum
13-11-2011, 14:08
Yes. Minimalist.

We have quite a lot of stuff in the attic of our flat in Southampton (and much more chucked as I left the Army.)

I suggested to my wife we bring out a few nick-nacks. 'No', she said, 'they have to be dusted'. Dust is an issue in this climate.

There is a bit of clutter at the other end of the room - a very fine console table which was her Grandmother's. It's not to our taste, but there it sits with a few family photos.

The dining table is pure 1950s and made by a village carpenter for her parents. It looks quite nice - the 80s chairs will have to go.

The ceiling lights? I can live with them. They are rarely on.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-g_zyL8e7XCA/TrlPOor-4dI/AAAAAAAABiY/KusKu0q9Sj4/s640/IMG_1535.JPG

Marco
13-11-2011, 14:10
Sure, no worries... Ah, that end of the room looks much more 'lived in' and homely! :)

Marco.

P.S A wee bit of dust is healthy! ;)

Labarum
22-04-2012, 18:32
Update: the server cupboard.

First the context:

Over the past two years I have been refurbishing a bungalow in Nicosia. Here are some pics.

The lounge. TV, Squeezebox Classic and MB Quart 980s visible. That's all.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-vzfj7rBVebc/T5JSh8Q0RFI/AAAAAAAACF8/Dn7O5O93cmA/s640/IMG_1683.JPG

The Ikea Box

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_tZxu5ieYvA/Tsva8UhDn_I/AAAAAAAABvI/3Q8GeZmJlo0/s640/IMG_1571.JPG

The server cupboard in the hall

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-JBK2qDocHuQ/T5JSZaaZYwI/AAAAAAAACFU/JX2oZQOvZTk/s640/IMG_1678.JPG

The inside of the cupboard

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ZIYwYPzrwcw/T5JTaPGLniI/AAAAAAAACKE/fcVW0gaEAuM/s640/IMG_1716.JPG

In a temperate climate I would probably have just bolted a small format HTPC to the back of the TV, but here the temerature will top 45C and some pretty furious fans will be needed.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M9TqQyggKKU/T5JTcBBYodI/AAAAAAAACKM/Ju0v1P8DFLQ/s512/IMG_1717.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-txKELeCt_Kw/T5JTdlLNHdI/AAAAAAAACKU/03IXT8RStbQ/s512/IMG_1718.JPG

It's not hot yet so I have one of the three 120mm 12v fans running on 3v and that is enough with the old laptop sitting on a laptop cooler. When the old laptop gives up I will reconsider, but it runs the Squeezebox Server and BBC iPlayer and drives the TV next door through a 10m HDMI cable. The Squeezebox is also cabled, but works as well wirelessly.

I may need extra holes and a couple of fans in the Ikea box to cool the power amp. We'll see.

The old phone is just a bit of fun, but it does work and the loud bell is useful. The real work is done by a pair of cordless hybrid DECT/VOIP phones.