Off Topic Thread 4.0

kuang1

I know there's a few tech heads amongst the regulars here, I'd really appreciate some advice!

House build is well underway (ended up getting priced at €110 per sq ft for anyone wondering about the outcome of a previously discussed related matter here) and is shaping up v well.

Roof is almost done and windows are due to be installed in a couple of weeks.

Current question though relates to sound systems.
I have a pretty generously sized open plan (L-shaped). I've gone utterly mad and gone for a 75" Samsung TV. I really want to do it justice with the sound/speaker system though.
Was in Dundrum on Saturday and got the guy in the Bose shop to give me a full demo of the "lifestyle 650". Pretty impressive but couldn't help but giggle a little when he told me it costs €4,500!!!

I've done a fair bit of research but have failed to get a definitive answer on wired v Bluetooth v WiFi connections for the speakers.
Spoke to my electrician today and he said he hasn't wired a house for speakers in 5 years (200 houses or so!)

I'm not against wiring up if it gets the best results.
I've a healthy enough budget set aside for this too (could go up to €3,000)

My worst nightmare would be to end up with a lag between picture and sound.

Oh and I would be using this system regularly for music too. But I don't stream music, I save it to my phone and play from there. So Alexa and her ilk are not of much use to me. (underfloor heating)

Any tips greatly appreciated.
Ta.

troyzer

kuang1 wrote: »

I know there's a few tech heads amongst the regulars here, I'd really appreciate some advice!

House build is well underway (ended up getting priced at €110 per sq ft for anyone wondering about the outcome of a previously discussed related matter here) and is shaping up v well.

Roof is almost done and windows are due to be installed in a couple of weeks.

Current question though relates to sound systems.
I have a pretty generously sized open plan (L-shaped). I've gone utterly mad and gone for a 75" Samsung TV. I really want to do it justice with the sound/speaker system though.
Was in Dundrum on Saturday and got the guy in the Bose shop to give me a full demo of the "lifestyle 650". Pretty impressive but couldn't help but giggle a little when he told me it costs €4,500!!!

I've done a fair bit of research but have failed to get a definitive answer on wired v Bluetooth v WiFi connections for the speakers.
Spoke to my electrician today and he said he hasn't wired a house for speakers in 5 years (200 houses or so!)

I'm not against wiring up if it gets the best results.
I've a healthy enough budget set aside for this too (could go up to €3,000)

My worst nightmare would be to end up with a lag between picture and sound.

Oh and I would be using this system regularly for music too. But I don't stream music, I save it to my phone and play from there. So Alex and her ilk are not of much use to me. (underfloor heating)

Any tips greatly appreciated.
Ta.

You should chat to the richersounds lads on their Talk To page. They really know their **** and get quite nerdy with the technical aspects.

awec

I would definitely avoid Bluetooth cause audio has to be compressed to be transmitted.

Definitely talk to Richer Sounds, I got my sound system from them a few years ago. I went with wired, have a Yamaha amp and Denon speakers.

kuang1

awec wrote: »

I would definitely avoid Bluetooth cause audio has to be compressed to be transmitted.

Definitely talk to Richer Sounds, I got my sound system from them a few years ago. I went with wired, have a Yamaha amp and Denon speakers.

And you're very happy I take it? Did they install it too?

awec

kuang1 wrote: »

And you're very happy I take it? Did they install it too?

Yea happy out.


I installed it myself. I don't have the speakers in the roof or anything like that. I have two in stands behind the couch, two on shelves beside the TV and one under the TV.

Subwoofer off to the side.

The wires run around the edge of the room at floor level, you can't see them due to the shape of the room (they're hidden behind two couches). If I wanted them properly hidden I'd pay someone to install it properly.

Only problem I have is having to keep the subwoofer turned off most of the time cause it's way too loud.

awec

Also my setup is a little weird, cause the amp is not under the TV and off to the side of the room, I actually have a 3 metre HDMI and optical audio cable going from the TV to the amp, with then metres of audio cable.

It means I had an audio delay on my sky box, but Sky Q boxes let you configure an audio delay in the settings, so you can set it so it's properly in sync. I use the Netflix app on the TV itself, so audio goes via the optical cable and there are no delay problems there.

Definitely talk to Richer Sounds.

Neil3030

swiwi_ wrote: »

:mad:

FFS.

EU banning daylight savings.

I see you guys have to vote on the issue. No doubt the government will recommend option A, you will all vote option B, there will be a small tweak to the referendum, and you will all vote option A a few months later.

And the lotto numbers when you get a moment?

dregin

kuang1 wrote: »

I know there's a few tech heads amongst the regulars here, I'd really appreciate some advice!

House build is well underway (ended up getting priced at €110 per sq ft for anyone wondering about the outcome of a previously discussed related matter here) and is shaping up v well.

Roof is almost done and windows are due to be installed in a couple of weeks.

Current question though relates to sound systems.
I have a pretty generously sized open plan (L-shaped). I've gone utterly mad and gone for a 75" Samsung TV. I really want to do it justice with the sound/speaker system though.
Was in Dundrum on Saturday and got the guy in the Bose shop to give me a full demo of the "lifestyle 650". Pretty impressive but couldn't help but giggle a little when he told me it costs €4,500!!!

I've done a fair bit of research but have failed to get a definitive answer on wired v Bluetooth v WiFi connections for the speakers.
Spoke to my electrician today and he said he hasn't wired a house for speakers in 5 years (200 houses or so!)

I'm not against wiring up if it gets the best results.
I've a healthy enough budget set aside for this too (could go up to €3,000)

My worst nightmare would be to end up with a lag between picture and sound.

Oh and I would be using this system regularly for music too. But I don't stream music, I save it to my phone and play from there. So Alexa and her ilk are not of much use to me. (underfloor heating)

Any tips greatly appreciated.
Ta.

If you wanted a bricks and mortar chat, I've heard good things about this place in Terenure village https://www.thelisteningsuite.ie/

swiwi_

Neil3030 wrote: »

And the lotto numbers when you get a moment?

1,3,7,27,31,44 + 19

thomond2006

I wish Mayo had Man United's luck.

Mike Oxlong

thomond2006 wrote: »

I wish Mayo had Man United's luck.

Jose Mourinho is available to take over if they wish?!

jr86

thomond2006 wrote: »

I wish Mayo had Man United's luck.

Can't quite get over their rise since Solskjaer took over.

Basically in title winning form since, and that's including an exceptional City side and Liverpool having their best season in the "Premier League" era.

Can only recall two sub-par performances and those were the home Liverpool game and PSG at home - two of the best sides in Europe.

They've definitely rode their luck at times and it does help that they have arguably the best keeper in the world when on form, which does help gloss over their poor defence.

Lukaku, Pogba and Rashford are all in world class form at present though - the former two were hopeless for the first few months of the season

That said, they're still in a right old battle for top 4 and they're bound to drop a few points eventually. I still think they need to avoid all of Bayern/Liverpool, City, Barcelona, Juve/Atletico to advance from the CL quarters and I think a Spurs tie would be pretty much 50/50. I can't see them beating City in the FA Cup.

So after all this, it may actually end up a trophyless season and Europa League football in 2020, despite the money they have spent and the talent they have (where they should be challenging for the title every year). Its only now they're actually utilising this

Next year will naturally be the huge test for Solskjaer (has to get the job now). Surely a title challenge is a minimal requirement.

jr86

Mike Oxlong wrote: »

Jose Mourinho is available to take over if they wish?!

Wonder will PSG go for him?

Cantering to the title every year is fine, but this is surely a Champions League flop too many now.

Mourinho might just bring a bit more steel to them, which is vital in cup competitions.

sydthebeat

jr86 wrote: »

Wonder will PSG go for him?

Cantering to the title every year is fine, but this is surely a Champions League flop too many now.

Mourinho might just bring a bit more steel to them, which is vital in cup competitions.

He'd have neymar playing left full back.....

Buer

jr86 wrote: »

Can't quite get over their rise since Solskjaer took over.

Players willing to play to their actual ability helps. United's squad is exceptional. They're now playing to around their potential. They should be ashamed of their performances up to that point.

Mike Oxlong

jr86 wrote: »

Wonder will PSG go for him?

Cantering to the title every year is fine, but this is surely a Champions League flop too many now.

Mourinho might just bring a bit more steel to them, which is vital in cup competitions.

I'd say he's nailed on for Madrid... even Solari knows he's dead in the water after Tuesday

mfceiling

Buer wrote: »

Players willing to play to their actual ability helps. United's squad is exceptional. They're now playing to around their potential. They should be ashamed of their performances up to that point.

I hope they get relegated and go bankrupt and their stadium falls down and all their fans get the runs and all their players leave and that Gary Neville loses his voice and that Steve Bruce's wife leaves him for another woman.

awec

Mourinho is not the right man for Madrid.

stephen_n

mfceiling wrote: »

I hope they get relegated and go bankrupt and their stadium falls down and all their fans get the runs and all their players leave and that Gary Neville loses his voice and that Steve Bruce's wife leaves him for another woman.

You must be a Liverpool fan then.

mfceiling

stephen_n wrote: »

You must be a Liverpool fan then.

Wolves.

Zzippy

mfceiling wrote: »

I hope they get relegated and go bankrupt and their stadium falls down and all their fans get the runs and all their players leave and that Gary Neville loses his voice and that Steve Bruce's wife leaves him for another woman.

Get off the fence and tell us how you really feel!

stephen_n

mfceiling wrote: »

Wolves.

Strange for a Wolves fan to have so much dislike for United. That’s a bit like a mouse being angry with a dog for being bigger than the cat.

mfceiling

stephen_n wrote: »

Strange for a Wolves fan to have so much dislike for United. That’s a bit like a mouse being angry with a dog for being bigger than the cat.

It's the fans. More so the idiots I had to put up with during the Fergie era. I know all clubs have idiot fans but some of the lads I knew took it to a whole new level.

b.gud

Speaking of Man Utd fans

https://twitter.com/AccidentalP/status/1103552956446715905

jr86

mfceiling wrote: »

It's the fans. More so the idiots I had to put up with during the Fergie era. I know all clubs have idiot fans but some of the lads I knew took it to a whole new level.

Can definitely vouch for this, from growing up and attending school in the 90s/early 00s, where 95% of the football fans followed United

I personally find it quite funny seeing guys in my own peer group who are quite visibly distraught at the thought of Liverpool winning the league. And I mean seriously distraight, to the point of almost unhealthy levels.

A lot of these would have maybe attended a United match once or twice in their lives, if even, and literally only started following them because they were successful when they were growing up. Zero ties to manchester or indeed Liverpool

A quick glance at Social Media during a match like last night portrays quite a sobering view of what football can actually do to adults. And its not unique to United fans, as Irish people we're more exposed to themselves and Liverpool supporters than any other

In 10/15 years' time are we looking at a new generation of Chelsea and City fans in Ireland?

stephen_n

mfceiling wrote: »

It's the fans. More so the idiots I had to put up with during the Fergie era. I know all clubs have idiot fans but some of the lads I knew took it to a whole new level.

I’m a Spurs fan so learned along time to ignore fans of other teams. Oddly enough Liverpool fans annoy me far more than United fans ever did.

Zzippy

jr86 wrote: »

Can definitely vouch for this, from growing up and attending school in the 90s/early 00s, where 95% of the football fans followed United

I grew up in the 80s, when 80% were on the Liverpool bandwagon. It's all cyclical. Never met a City fan til the last 10 years or so, now they're all over the place. Was at a Manchester derby years ago on a stag weekend, sitting among the City fans in their ground. A lot of the people around us spent the match pointing and chanting abuse at the away fans who were at least 60 yards away. Crazy stuff, couldn't wait to get out of there.

OldRio

All this chat about soccer reminds me I have a kitchen to paint.
Then I watch the paint, slowly, ever so slowly dry.

errlloyd

Do you ever question why you watch sport. I started cutting down on my sports podcasts this year because they're a blackhole of time. But I really think sports are just entertainment soaps aimed at men instead of women. Rivalries add to the drama, but the drama is all fake. Manchester City v Leicster city is just Qatari billionaire v Thai billionaire. We're all way too emotionally linked to sports tbh.

Zzippy

errlloyd wrote: »

Do you ever question why you watch sport. I started cutting down on my sports podcasts this year because they're a blackhole of time. But I really think sports are just entertainment soaps aimed at men instead of women. Rivalries add to the drama, but the drama is all fake. Manchester City v Leicster city is just Qatari billionaire v Thai billionaire. We're all way too emotionally linked to sports tbh.

It's the new religion. Sport is the opiate of the people. It stops us rising up and overthrowing governments. Football tribalism/hooliganism in England has been a release valve for decades.

Buer

To be honest, I find myself giving far less of a f*ck about sports now than I did 10 years ago. I don't think that will ever go back to how it was, either. It's only a game; no Leinster win will ever match Edinburgh in 2009 for me regardless of how impressive or dramatic. That's largely down to personal circumstances but I suppose there's an element of becoming somewhat disconnected from the whole thing. I imagine this can only be magnified in football.

I'm not sure that sports fans are ever going to be quite as fervent as they were in previous decades. The whole product has become too sanitised at this stage. The very fact that I refer to it as a product supports the idea that the average punter will be far more detached from the team he follows than he once was.

troyzer

Buer wrote: »

To be honest, I find myself giving far less of a f*ck about sports now than I did 10 years ago. I don't think that will ever go back to how it was, either. It's only a game; no Leinster win will ever match Edinburgh in 2009 for me regardless of how impressive or dramatic. That's largely down to personal circumstances but I suppose there's an element of becoming somewhat disconnected from the whole thing. I imagine this can only be magnified in football.

I'm not sure that sports fans are ever going to be quite as fervent as they were in previous decades. The whole product has become too sanitised at this stage. The very fact that I refer to it as a product supports the idea that the average punter will be far more detached from the team he follows than he once was.

I think this is why people move to harder edged, upcoming sports before they too get sanitised.

Boxing to MMA would be a good example.

mfceiling

b.gud wrote: »

Speaking of Man Utd fans

https://twitter.com/AccidentalP/status/1103552956446715905

Case closed.

Diabhal Beag

mfceiling wrote: »

Case closed.

He's a Forest fan that makes decent money off being a gimmick

Neil3030

You're just not following the right sports Buer:

https://twitter.com/Urban_Pictures/status/1103193802850922496

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atherstone_Ball_Game

"The game itself has few rules, two being that play is restricted to Long Street and participants are not allowed to kill anyone."

irishbucsfan

Jaysus I never thought I'd see a tweet get 1500 likes for just putting up a video of the last 2 minutes of a night in Coppers

In retrospect, maybe we should be welcoming Brexit.

Neil3030

Women live longer than men, would you believe. Can't for the life of me understand why...

pickarooney

I've just discovered the (Paris) Dakar rally has been held in South America for ten years

I don't know how I feel about this

CatFromHue

Neil3030 wrote: »

You're just not following the right sports Buer:

https://twitter.com/Urban_Pictures/status/1103193802850922496

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atherstone_Ball_Game

"The game itself has few rules, two being that play is restricted to Long Street and participants are not allowed to kill anyone."

FFS Billy!!

Neil3030

Aye Billy got a little carried away there. Very unlike him. Top lad.

troyzer

Just rewatching Master and Commander. I haven't seen it in years.

Absolutely ****ing excellent movie. They don't make them like that anymore.

errlloyd

troyzer wrote: »

Just rewatching Master and Commander. I haven't seen it in years.

Absolutely ****ing excellent movie. They don't make them like that anymore.

Man I was reading up on it recently. It was meant to be the start of a franchise as such but it didn't quite get the commercial success needed. It opened the same year as Pirates of the Caribbean and people sort of had a limited appetite for ship movies

troyzer

errlloyd wrote: »

troyzer wrote: »

Just rewatching Master and Commander. I haven't seen it in years.

Absolutely ****ing excellent movie. They don't make them like that anymore.

Man I was reading up on it recently. It was meant to be the start of a franchise as such but it didn't quite get the commercial success needed. It opened the same year as Pirates of the Caribbean and people sort of had a limited appetite for ship movies

I can see why. It's incredibly nerdy and technical. They spend half the movie using impenetrable English talking about various parts of the ship.

I tried to read the books but the sheer number of them is really intimidating and you need a nautical dictionary at all times.

The Lost Sheep

One of best weeks in the year.... cheltenham....
Many backed anything?

irishbucsfan

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

One of best weeks in the year.... cheltenham....
Many backed anything?

I have backed myself into a corner by agreeing to be on-call this weekend

mfceiling

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

One of best weeks in the year.... cheltenham....
Many backed anything?

Not yet. Delighted to be working a bit away from a bookies....Other years I've seen myself in the hole for up to €11...Those 50 cent bets don't be long adding up.

troyzer

Brexit.
Is.
****ed.

Zzippy

troyzer wrote: »

Brexit.
Is.
****ed.

I haven't time to read everything that's happening. Care to give us a synopsis?

Mike Oxlong

Zzippy wrote: »

I haven't time to read everything that's happening. Care to give us a synopsis?

Brexit is proper fcked