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I did not do enough forward thinking with the PC Bluray player, I just bought one on Prime day thinking it would be easy to just plug in and play. I have other Bluray and 4K players already so did not really need it though wanted to also watch Blurays on my PC.
The Bluray software for the most part almost feels like it was designed to fail lol a lot of it is unstable... basically they just want me to spend money for the premium additions. Apparently VCL Player with a few bit of extra software added will work though not been bothered to do that yet.
Most of the CD's I have found are from singers and bands I like from the 20th century found some really nice CD boxset's also. found a triple CD the other day of American Anthems which has some great classic rock tracks on.
I bought mine too before finding an app to play the Blu-rays. I got VLC to work playing Blu-rays, but I had to do a bit of workaround for it to work. Even then it didn't work perfectly. Could be that it's easier for PC and Windows than Mac though. VLC works great for DVDs and other video files though; I use it quite often.
You've had more luck than me then! Hopefully I'll find a few good releases at my local vintage stores at some point.
Bought myself another CD player to add to my collection which is also a receiver and DAB player, Nice little player good quality sound through my passive speakers, listening to a variety of CD's.
It was only £50 in mint condition.
The brushed metal really does look good, very impressed with the sound quality. Being so compact is a major bonus as my TV stand with all its gadgets on looks much better now (more space) lol
Small players of this size often have a plastic casing, so it looks like you've found a good player in this one!
It is also a great little amp, I have plugged my Internet radio player and 4K player into it as another audio option for them.
Cool!
What is your TV/ 4K setup these days, by the way? I'm quite satisfied with Blu-ray, but I have a couple 4K + Blu-ray releases, and it would be a shame to never give the 4K editions a watch. A new TV and a 4K player will be expensive, so I need to do a bit of research in order to get a decent but cheapest possible setup.
Yeah had my 4K TV maybe 8 to 10 years not entirely sure. I have thought of upgrading to the latest tech though will wait as to be fair despite being a early $K TV is good. Some purchases I can only justify if totally neccessary.
I usually use either of my Dolby Atmos speaker set ups for movies etc though this new amp allows me the stereo passive speaker/sub option (my other amps do not have a remote).
Indeed, and TVs is probably one of those purchases that rarely fall under the "necessary" category. My 14 year old or so Samsung TV still works fine, despite not being modern or as slim as TVs are today. If anything I'm more likely to keep it as a second TV if I go ahead and buy a 4K one.
Looking online, 4K TVs come in all kinds of prices, which doesn't make things easier. A cheaper model might leave you wanting more performance wise, and an expensive TV might feel like money wasted.
Obviously, now that you mention your speaker setup, that too might be something to look at if buying a 4K TV :))
How much space does your current TV speaker setup take?
I have made it as compact as possible, though I have had to put 2x 2 tier glass stands either side of my TV stand to put the speakers on which are stacked, then there is another speaker at front of the TV, an Xbox One X, Xbox 360, CD receiver, 4K player, Internet radio and Freeview recorder on the shelves lol though I have just enough room on shelves for it too look good.
I have also wired my PC to the CD receiver so I can send my PC music library to it to listen through the passive speakers and subwoofer. Its always been an evolving set up, though it is pretty much how I want it now, finding the CD receiver was a bonus and saved me money as I was looking at similar more expensive receivers.
How large is the TV stand? I doubt I'll ever have as many components like you have, but I could do with a decent solution for my TV; the setup I have now is just temporary.
I've looked at USM Haller modular media stands, but they are really expensive.
Looks like you have an optimal solution for music playing, there! I'm quite happy with my current setup (which hasn't changed at all in years), but there are a few receivers and speakers that look really tempting.
The stand is probably 35 to 40 inches the TV is too wide for it, i have a TV arm support at the back to keep it in place/well supported. the three stands are all black reinforced black so match perfectly. what I have done just works so not been compelled to buy a bigger unit. The main central TV stand is 3 tier.
Knowing me I will continue to change it lol I did see a good Marantz amp today going very cheap though the one i got recently does everything i need so it would have been a pointless purchase.
Despite all my smart speakers and I have a lot I listen to passive and analogue far more.
Edited: I was way off lol the stand is 28 inches wide though all three stands together are 60 inches.
My current setup isn't wide enough compared to the TV, so what I'm looking for is a solution that's about 60 inches (which would be ideal). The USM Haller unit I've looked at is about that size. If I find a modular unit that can become about 60 inches – like your three stands – then that's an option too, obviously.
Doors to hide wires etc would be ideal too.
I have no knowledge about Marantz amps, other than that they're known to be good. Many of them look really great too! If the amp is really cheap, maybe you can make some money buying it and then reselling it on Ebay? I have never seen Marantz amps going cheap myself.
I saw a great unit in a charity shop yesterday about that size, it was too low for me though, not sure what your second hand shops are like over there though I often find some great options in charity shops.
The wires behind my TV are a nightmare despite me have a cable tidy body and cable tidy tubes, I really need to start from scratch and sort it all out. Marantz I was told are made by Denon, I was tempted to go back and have another look though I cant just buy it for the sake of it.
My local charity shops or "used"/antique shops like the two in my hometown, are good for furniture (much more so than audio gear), but I've not found any units that work well as a TV stand. I bought I nice side table from one of the shops a couple of weeks ago though. Needs a bit of cleaning and treatment, but I think it will look nice once I get around to it.
My cables are a nightmare too – and very visible (which is why I need a unit with doors). There's not much I can do with the wires though, besides try to hide them as best as I can.
Didn't know Marantz was a Denon owned brand, but I guess that's the case with a lot of older audio brands. Some older brands are defunct too, like Tandberg, which I got several amps and speakers from.
There must be over 50 charity shops where I am, there are 8 shops within 5 minutes walking distance. As so many high street shops have closed due to the likes of amazon and eBay they are the main shops i browse in. some shops more than others have electronic gear.
I have some leave next week, will get hold of some cable tidy tubes, i have color coded most of my cables with colored labels which makes it easier to figure out what is connected to what lol
Its good when you can refurbish/repurpose items. It is too easy to purchase brand new items for silly prices when the furniture is not that good.
That's a lot of shops. No wonder you always find all these great bargains! There aren't many independent shops in my hometown either, but the brands we have aren't those huge names like Amazon etc.
I've been thinking about doing some cable management and maybe a bit of colour labelling when I get my vintage audio setup up and running again. Let me know if you have any smart cable management products to recommend!
Indeed, repurposing and refurbishing is great. I thought about buying a brand new side table, but the table I found the other week turned up at the right time – and although it wasn't super cheap, it's probably better than most brand new alternatives at that price. The same side table made with the same materials would have cost a lot more if made today.
These are the labels I use though any type of label would work, what I do is put a label at both ends of the cable, I have not bothered to write on them if a color label is only used on one cable.
Also I use these as a cable tidy, I need to buy more...
I found a box like this for £1 in a charity shop also...
I put a plug adapter inside this.
Those labels are much better than the ones I've found. Might have to get a pack of these! A cable tidy might come in handy too, now that you mention it.
I've seen many of these boxes though, but Ikea aside, the prices have been expensive. Might be that the ones I've found have been interior brand ones, which automatically makes for a different price tag…
I remembered i had some tubing cut offs from before in a cupboard so used it for audio cables, it now looks a little better behind TV. The good thing about the tubes you don't need much really to tidy cables.
The label's above what i should be quite cheap from a stationary shop, if you can't get them online.
That's a good point! My issue with my current setup is the length of each cable. They are all just a bitt too long, and I probably need to find a way to roll them up a bit, and clamp them, so that no "excess" cable is visible.
Thanks for the tip!
I use Velcro strips on a bunched part of a cable with most things, especially headphones, its a good way of shortening.
I need more storage space, in the past 2 weeks alone bought 25 new CD's, they are so cheap and finding great albums.
Just bought this as a solution to toggle between amps.
Good tip! I might even have some Velcro strips lying around somewhere in my apartment.
Have you tried CD sleeves? Just like my movie collection, this has saved me a lot of space.
Never thought about getting a splitter/switch between two amps. That might be worth looking into when I get my audio setup up and running again. Until now, my only option has been to connect one amp, and disconnecting the other.
I have been going back and forth whether to follow suit with what I did with DVD's and discard CD cases. so far hanging on to the jewel cases, that may change. Maybe I should discard the jewel cases for my lesser CD's that is an idea in fact that is a great idea..
Regarding amps that is what i had been doing though one amp is wired one amp is banana plug which means also detaching the banana plug every time or using another wire. this solution is spot on, I do have three amps though will just set up two, one is better for music one is better for films and casual listening, hopefully switch will arrive in a few hours..
What I did – both for movies and CDs, was to keep and use jewel cases for the more "important" films and albums. Films and CDs with different packaging was left as they were too. In addition, I kept some selected jewel cases, in case I receieve an order with jewel cases that are broken. That has happened on a few occasions.
Being able to switch between amps depending on if you watch films or listen to music is great. I have no dedicated TV amp, so if I too buy a switch, it will mainly be to compare the amps I have to see if any of them stand out for particular kind of music. I've never been able to compare them like that before.
I do have quite a few worn or cracked CD boxes so I could discard them and use the empty good one if I get a CD case. I will have to go through all my CD's and have a keep and put in folder pile.
I wired all the amps and speakers up, its great being able to switch between amps at the click of the switch, it helps compare the amps. One amp is a lot more powerful than the other, thankfully I had a lot of banana plugs and spare speaker wire.