Hi All,
I am looking for some advice. My Bose Soundwave is in need of an update and I am tempted by the Brennan B2 and it’s related speakers.
Does anyone have one or experience of one and can comment on how good it is or not or recommend alternatives that will do the same job?
How quick are cd’s ripped to it? Sound quality? Can I connect my turntable to it?
This is not an area of expertise for me sov all comments welcome.
Pretty sure there was a thread about this not so long ago. IIRC, the general conscensus was that they were not worth the dosh being charged
And here it is
In three words: Don’t Do It.
In three more words: Buy a Fiio. And a soundbar.
Fiio doesn’t rip CDs though
I can’t think of an alternative at the same price point maybe someone else can but the two that spring to mind are the Inneos Zen Mini MK3 and the Bluesound Vault both of these are over £1000. Both are very well regarded devices.
Hey BlaCUNTry Boy buy a decent Hi-Fi system you tight tw@t.
Its not the money, its the space in the room where I would want to house it.
One of those Denon or Yamaha shoebox-sized units will sound much better. No internal HDD, play the CDs or rip them on the computer and listen over Ethernet/wifi.
Is Brennan the guy who used to run adverts in Word that were more about him than the product?
He’s the Victor Kiam of the audio world.
Kicking Martin Brennan Up the Arse.
That made me laugh.
@steveT how about something like this – CD/radio/Wi-Fi streamer/Bluetooth/amp available with our without speakers.
Lacks the HDD of the Brennan but is heaps better.
https://www.richersounds.com/yamaha-crxn470d-wharfedale-diamond-220-black.html
While that certainly does look like a nice little set-up, I’m not sure it does anything that Steve was looking for, in that it’s not got a built in CD ripper and he can’t connect his turntable to it!
Those devices that Pencilsqueezer mentioned look pretty decent though, albeit rather pricey. But to use them with a turntable you’d still need to hook them up to an integrated amp with a phono input, which these days would either most likely be expensive if new (or dirt cheap if you were happy with something second hand).
Yes, a turntable would need an external RIAA preamp, something like a Pro-ject Phono Box, unless the turntable is a recent one with built-in phono preamp.
I am aware of other CD rippers but they are not at the budget end of the market. I would rip CDs using a computer and stream the files, which would not be much more hassle and would sound a lot better.
I do have an external preamp – thanks for the suggestions – I think a trip to Richer on Saturday beckons.
I have an earlier version of one of these which is excellent. This is better as has Bluetooth. Mine has a USB port which was handy at the time, iPod n’all.
https://www.richersounds.com/denon-dm41-dab-blk.html
Yes, I once had a Denon and mighty fine it was too.
This one lacks the network streaming features, hence the Yammy.
Given the choice, I’d go for the Q Acoustics Q3020i speakers over the Wharfedale Diamonds – they are a proper hi-fi bargain with at least one very satisfied AWer owner.
make that two satisfied AW owners of the Q Acoustics speakers – they are excellent. I also have the Denon with its own speakers and it’s a great bit of kit
three!
Four, although my son stole them.
Four!
Hold on, just seen Mike’s post – make that five!
Whassat? Mike Post?
*tries and fails to whistle Rockford Files theme tune*
In these days of internet radio is there much use for DAB? My experiences with it driving round the UK in rental cars has not been too great. Poor reception in many parts (especially South Wales). might have been just crap aerials?
Depends on your internet connection, but DAB is best avoided on quality grounds. DAB broadcasts are 128k mp3 or lower, the best of the BBC streams are 320k aac.
The Beeb did trial Flac encoding a few years ago but decided 320k aac was close enough.
Pretty much as I thought. Ta.
I’m happy with DAB in the car, not least because of the extra metadata. Is it better than FM, or is that apples and oranges? Sounds like it to me.
Without going into total dullness… DAB is a bit worse sound quality than FM, but a lot less hissy, and better overall in the car.
320k aac streaming is better than FM.
I have a FM & DAB tuner in my streamer at home, I don’t think I’ve ever used it. The other radios in the house are tuned to DAB, though.
Not at all dull, thank you. Of course if I’m in the right place – eg London – I can stream Qobuz in hi-res in 5G via Apple Car Play. Unless you’re going to tell me there’s a flaw…the cable maybe?
I have that in the brushed metal finish and I like it very much (paired with some speakers from another Denon I owned years ago). I would have liked an auxiliary input too though.
I got the Yamaha CRXN470D a few months ago and it’s brilliant. It replaced an Arcam Solo Mini which sounded lovely but was irritatingly flaky and ended up with a jammed CD mechanism.
Whenever my 20 year old AV receiver (also a Yamaha) finally gives up the ghost, I’ll just get another with the MusicCast capability.
That’s good to know, thanks.