Audiophiles hifi appreciation thread old and new

Good job! I think Nagoaka are the OEM for a lot of other brands, this is just their own brand put on their own work if that makes sense.
Wiring is a tricky one as they are so so fine really easy to melt them or get stray strands all over the place.

If you tin the ends of fine stranded wire before soldering (and after fluxing) it works much more easily.

Could crosspost this across a whole bunch of threads, but this one seems appropriate enough for starters. Been trying to find something a bit (ok, a lot) more attractive than the attached for my AV related stuff but come up completely blank so far.

Realised recently that everything other than the receiver (IR remote, but also useful to see the display) could be completely enclosed, exception being the PS5 cos of concerns over heat. Ideally I'd like to use more of the alcove's width rather than stack everything vertically.

Problem is that standard cupboards don't tend to be deep enough (min 400mm for the amp) or have any provision for rear access or cabling, hi-fi units are mostly open, and TV units are all too wide (max 840mm).

I did find this, which would be perfect if it was 40% wider and about 20% of the price. Any other suggestions would be much appreciated.

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Tylko?

although i think if you add doors to a row it fills in the back panel, but you could potentially talk to them and see if they could not?

Have you thought about getting a cabinet maker to quote you up something?

I’m sure you could send them a picture of what you have on the link and the dimensions you are looking for and get some quotes back.

A good place to start would be local Facebook groups. People ask about that stuff all the time on mine.

I had, yeah. Am aware of dbr on here but figured I'd investigate OTP options before pestering them. Despite baulking at the price tag of the thing I linked to above I'd be happy to pay the premium for something bespoke.

@rogan, will look into that. Cheers.

Modified Ikea kitchen units would be pretty cheap, well built for the price too.

This looks like what you're looking for but I imagine the price is similarly intimidating!

https://www.bornofwood.com/bespoke-wooden-furniture/living-room/av-furniture

I would definitely go bespoke.

I had a cabinet made up for my computer with slightly odd dimensions and spec (opening door on the back of the cabinet for example) and also then was able to spec having ventilation panels perfectly in line with fans as well. it didn't actually cost me too much more than a normal cabinet, but i'm not in london and I was worried about the final finish massively either...

£2k is a big budget for a cabinet unless you really want a statement piece. I've made little cupboards to customers spec for alcoves in mdf, painted white for £500. Doors and drawers add to the price and you can save quite a bit if you paint it yourself. It would definitely suit you better than what you have now.

I am very busy at the moment but there will be lots of people who only do this kind of work who can quote you.

Not the best solution if you’re not confident hanging doors straight and the like, but for something simple you can get sheet materials cut to size online. Measure up and design your own flat-pack cabinet, plug the sizes of each component into the website, then it all gets delivered in about a week perfectly square and true. Finish it how you like then screw it all together with corner blocks.

I think I used these
https://www.woodsheets.com/plywood-sheet-cut-to-size/

Thanks for all the suggestions, much to think about. Think it might be worth knocking up a 3D model and looking into whether I can get it built.

In my old flat (which I assume was pretty similar dimensions to yours) I had a similar setup but with a glass hi-fi rack like this:

Girlfriend hated it, I spent a bit of time looking at OTP alternatives but there was very little that didn't look shit, and, because of the amp dimensions, everything had a "hi-fi" premium on the price.

In the new place ended up with getting these built in cabinets either side of the chimney with all the wiring run through the chimney breast. Specced to my dimensions so could have had them big enough to fit an amp or whatever else.

For remote controls in cupboards, the Harmony remotes are worth looking at. The remote communicates with the base station by RF so you can have it in a cupboard (or you can get extenders so you can have the base station out and an extender in the cupboard).

Feel daft for not considering this earlier. I've built stuff with aluminium profile before so am pretty confident with it (3D model, order pieces cut to length and fittings, build). The frame could probably be completely concealed but I don't mind the aesthetic.

Benefits are that it's very accessible, and being able to lift the non-structural top straight off would be great for messing with cables. Haven't really thought about how to suspend the shelves yet but that shouldn't be a problem.

Might even do without doors. Stuff on the right wouldn't need to be got at very often so some sort of drop-in cover would do the job. Have 3D printer which is v useful for making brackets/guides for that sort of thing.

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KJN Ltd are good, they have their own BR range that is compatible with Bosch Rexroth stuff. Loads of options for shelves etc. They will cut to length as well.

Had a delivery from them yesterday :)

Used Motedis previously as well, but brexit might've made that option less useful.

Build a false wall.

Not at all audiophile, but I'm thinking about getting another set of active monitors and getting rid of my B&W 600i speakers and old Denon PMA-350. Anyone in west London looking for an cheap amp/speaker setup?

CD players... What's a good one under 500 GBP. My dad has been using my old NAD player but after 15 years it's finally kaput... I have not looked into CD players for years so no idea anymore. It'll be connected to a Yamaha 120w analogue amp so needs an inbuilt DAC

Marantz might have something. I have a Marantz SACD which I like a lot more than I thought I would.

Was gonna say, Marantz seems to be a leader in the nice price audio game these days.

Got one of these recently- so good to be able to not worry about leaving a record running. A bit fiddly to setup initally but works really well.
https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/at6006r

getting another set of active monitors

What you thinking? I'm quite tempted myself.

Excellent, the reviews I have been reading support this. I might get a 5005 and send it straight over to dad's house as a surprise. Unfortunately down here in Aus they seem to be quite expensive so I can't go any higher than this one.

They are expensive here as well. I picked up a bargain from ebay after waiting a couple of years!