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I'll take it. Will PM you. I can pick up.

I'm going to pull the port plugs out this weekend! Mine are white too, seemed to blend best against the beige exterior walls. One of mine ends up shaded all year round under two eaves, the other is a bit more out there and gets afternoon sun particularly in summer. Given how rarely they're used I might even make up a cover for it. Glad to hear you're happy with yours, same for me, great sound for a reasonable price. Makes me wonder about PSB's for the house, they are not well known in Oz and hence don't seem too expensive.

Not saying it's bad, but it's certainly not perfect. Their players need to be set a static IP and preferably run via ethernet cable. If you can't then they need to be tethered to a certain AP if you have more than one, otherwise they (for reasons best known to nobody at all) wander off and attach to the worst signal and stay there until rebooted. I have 6 players and 5 of them are on wifi and I have more or less zero problems with them after doing the above two steps (which in fairness take like 10 mins). You want to have networking gear with a decent degree of control so as to be able to do the above, plus control over the multicast and IGMP (or some such...) settings. My 6+ year old Dovado router worked fine without modification, and my cheap TPLINK unmanaged switches and routers reflashed with DDWRT operating as cabled WIFI AP's work perfectly. So you don't need cubic dollars, but a bit of knowledge helps. Control wise it works well except from my phones which are Android9 and lose all players for a few minutes when you roam from one AP to another. If you're in between AP's and your phone is switching back and forth you lose all control until you move closer to one AP and stay there for some minutes... useful. After quite some pain I diagnosed this for them myself and passed it on 4 or 5 months ago... still not resolved. No google play music or youtube music, other than by bluetooth from a phone etc which sucks. Their end of Tidal works well, but I had a lot of problems which turned out to be Tidal's fault. The "Info" panel about songs artists or albums is totally useless... ads and clickbait as one complainant on the bluesound forums put it. The Windows controller works fine unless you want to change the volume, then it either goes to 100% and blows up everything, or you can't hear it. But that's fine... nobody ever changes the volume on their system right?? Generally speaking the gear is bloody nice sounding and works well once set up, but BluOS in particular needs a reinvestment of work to fix known issues and bring some of the excellent enhancement requests put forward by users into reality. Sorry for the OT.

I listened to the AM-1's in a shop before buying the PSB's. The same shop had some cheapie outdoor speakers also wired up and the AM-1's were quite obviously better (as you'd expect at 5 times the price). The AM-1's LOOK really nice, like r-e-a-l-l-y nice. If architectural value comes into it they are streets ahead of the PSB's. As for SQ of the two I am not knowledgeable or experienced enough to give an opinion in such diverse testing environments. To tell properly I'd suggest you need to listen to all four setup outside, which is jolly hard to achieve without buying them all first and selling off those you don't fancy on SNA. As for the Rasberry PI thingy, sounds like an interesting project, post it up if you get it working - or even if you don't since that is also valuable info. Although some aspects of Bluesound's hardware and software suck in a major way, they're a nice sounding device that's reasonably easy to get going. A bit overpriced rrp, I paid $1k for my new PN2 just after the 2i came out and that's more like it. I'm not an apple person so there's little benefit in the 2i gear to me, although the PN2i does have an extra analogue input if that matters. After 9 months of BS ownership it's my impression that unless they double or triple their development team they are going to disappear. Too many problems for gear of that price.

I'm no audiophile but the Revel Concerta2 M16 at $1599 impressed me greatly.

Item: YAMAHA RX-S 600D Location: CANBERRA (Bungendore, but can deliver to City) Price: $250 Item Condition: 9.9/10 (ie there must be something but I can't spot any damage at all, even the remote is pretty much as new) Reason for selling: NLR, got a NAD T758 Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal, COD Only Extra Info: I bought this new a few years back and it's been a great unit. Very decent performance for the money and the slimline chassis just disappeared compared with full size AVR's. Great connectivity options (better than the NAD I replaced it with at 10 times this price!) with 5x HDMI 2.0 inputs etc. It has an ethernet port and would stream music from my NAS and do internet radio. Spotify and Airplay (1) are also built in but I never tried them. Has FM radio and DAB+ which is pretty cool for the year. Note it doesn't have wifi, but an adapter is available. I cable everything where possible so didn't worry me. Can be controlled from the excellent Yamaha AV Control App (Apple / Android). Current equivalent is RX-S 602 @ $899rrp, which has Musicast and HDCP2.2 but otherwise seems pretty similar. I used a chromecast and Plex for streaming with this unit which worked really well, powered from the convenient USB on the back. All in all a great little compact AVR with better performance than you'd expect and most modern features. As shown it has the original box and packaging. I'd prefer local pickup but can ship if you arrange and pay for it and assume the liability. I am out near Bungendore but can bring it into CBR or surrounds for delivery / testing. Specs and more info: https://au.yamaha.com/en/products/audio_visual/av_receivers_amps/rx-s600d/ CNet Review: https://www.cnet.com/reviews/yamaha-rx-s600d-home-theatre-receiver-review/ What HiFi review (non DAB model, but much the same): "An excellent amp that sheds the pounds while maintaining great sound and good features" https://www.whathifi.com/yamaha/rx-s600/review Happy owner experience from this site: Photos:

I'm sure it is, and... the box still works! ?

Three and a half pictures of the box and only a half of the player itself? Cool item though, GLWTS!

Yes, it's a Bluesound 'feature' to seek out the worst signal. Yet another thing that's been raised with them and remains unresolved. But with the filtering it you can work around it and get them working reliably. I suspect this is the cause of a lot of the problems that folks have with them.

+1 on this. I have a router which is separate to the ISP gear and I don't even use the wifi on that unit, I use two further separate routers (cabled by ethernet) set up as wifi access points only. Set up in that way I have zero problems with players disappearing etc, and have good signal to each player. The other thing is that if you have more than one wifi access point (as many of our houses require these days) you should lock each bluesound player to the strongest wifi AP by use of MAC address filtering. Another weakness of the bluesound gear is that over time they seem to wander off and connect to the weakest available wifi signal, dumb, but true. I have two AP's and block the players from connecting to the weaker signal in each location. This works extremely well other than when you might want to move a player from one location in the house to another. Yes and no. The Bluesound networking is certainly sensitive but does seem to work fine in the right networking environment. For example, I just spent a month overseas and my missus had no problems with the Bluesound gear in my absence. I got home and all players were still present and working and I didn't have to restart anything, just selected an album and started playing, no problems. If you don't have the ability to do that network setup/admin yourself then it is probably money well spent to get someone in to do it. It's a pain but part and parcel of the complexity of our modern homes. This is certainly one area where the plug and play nature of Sonos or perhaps the new 'Formation' range from Bowers and Wilkins (both of which have their own on board mesh network hardware/software) is certainly an advantage.

The Bluesound stuff is great but sad to say their networking is "prone to difficulties" to put it nicely. I solved (almost) all my connectivity issues when I assigned static IP's. You need to make sure your router also allows multicast, and something about IGMT snooping or some such. Touch wood my system has been very reliable, the main issue I had ended up being with Tidal itself. I still have a bug with the controller when using Android9, that causes players to disappear for a few minutes when you swap between different wifi AP's. It is acknowledged but not yet fixed. The company seems to lack the resources to keep the fixes and enhancements flowing fast enough. They could have a much better product if half of what I've seen suggested in the 6 months I've owned them had been implemented - much of it simple stuff like 'don't exit the app when you press the back button' etc.

I always used to use ear plugs, which certainly help with fatigue and also I suppose longer term hearing loss. The ANC 'phones were another level though, and also much more comfy than ear plugs.

I'm just back from my trip. The Sony XM3's performed admirably and made the various flights a lot more tolerable. I copied a selection of my FLAC library and converted to MP3, placed them on my tablet and ended up settling on the Musicolet app which seemed to work nicely. The Sony's came with the airline adapter plug included, so I used them for listening to the included airline entertainment, for my own music and also just with nothing playing but noise cancelling to knock out the jet noise and general passenger din. Very effective. The ear cups were big enough and soft enough to fit over the ears well, and comfort on the head was good, but I feel the cups are a bit shallow and do not allow enough air around the ears. That said, I wore them for almost the entirety of the 20+hr flights and felt fine, just a bit humid around the ears. I suspect the Bose QC35's are a little better in this respect. But wow, how good is the battery life? I was using ANC and listening to music or movies for the entire flight home from Vienna, fully charged on departure and when I got home after more than 20hrs flight time they still reported 50% battery life!

Okay, well in the end I went with the Sony XM3's. I was swayed by the multiple reports of less than ideal comfort wearing the PSB's for longer periods, it's hard to get an idea of longer term comfort from just trying them on in store, you sort of have to rely on the consensus of various reviews. Also the travel case of the Sony seemed about half the size of the PSB, at least from memory. The PSB or NAD would no doubt be the better choice for a home headphone for more serious music listening. But I mainly wanted ANC for air travel with music sort of being a bonus. I felt the Bose was still better in comfort (roomier / more airy ear cups) but it's showing it's age and will be replaced by the new 700's in a matter of weeks. The Sony's longer battery life, USB-C and (almost) universally recognised superior noise cancelling steered me that way. I'll report back on how it goes on the trip, but an hour or so of use last night at home saw me very happy. Seemed comfy enough, noise cancelling was surreal even in my fairly quiet house, the electrical noise I could hear on the in-store tethered demo set was not present, and the sound quality was good enough for the purpose.

A few questions from the ignorant on using any of these type of 'phones on a flight. The main objective is the ANC to take away the drone of the background flight noise... - To listen to good quality music you have the music saved to your phone and pair them to your phone with bluetooth to listen to music? Is bluetooth allowed in flight mode? Don't you also have the then worry about phone battery life? - If you use them as headsets for the in flight entertainment, you use the 3.5mm (or 2.5) analogue jack in the 'phones with a cable and the double-plug flight adaptor plugged into your seat? - But in that case you are wired anyway? - Does the ANC work when using the analogue input cable from the inflight entertainment? Thanks... FWIW.... I went and tried both the NAD HP70 and PSB M4U8 (what a terrible model name!). It's hard without a direct comparison, and without having worn them for a length of time it's hard to know how they'll feel after 12 hours on the head but they both felt comfortable for a short period. I only fired up and listened to the PSB's and they sounded lovely (I gather the HP70/M4U8 are one and the same sonically). Already a high level of isolation without the ANC on (in fact the first go I didn't have it turned on and was already impressed). With ANC on there was a tremendous reduction in outside noise, even voices were only just perceptible. Out on the busy street it was as if i was in my lounge room. Standing next to an old window rattler AC unit in the shop I could still slightly hear it though - I would have loved to have a set of the Sony XM3 to try back to back in that case. The NAD/PSB seem to be rated less highly than the Bose or Sony for ANC but it seemed to work very well. There are tons of reviews online but none I have found which test either HP70 or M4U8 against the two market ANC leaders in the QC35 or XM3. I don't know if it was confirmation bias but musically the M4U8 sounded a lot better than the QC35 and XM3 tested an hour later at a different shop. All 3 models I paired to my phone by Bluetooth and tested with Tidal masters, the same 2 songs. Between the Bose and Sony I think I actually preferred the Bose sound, which seemed a bit less "doof-doof" and more balanced. I don't know what sounded better in my memory about the PSB's but they just sounded clearer and I think had better separation between the different elements of the music. On the Sony with ANC on I could hear a definite background electrical noise/hum - like old-school alternator whine in an old car radio, faint but distinct. I have not heard that issue mentioned before so perhaps it was just that demo set or the environment but I didn't hear it on the Bose just a couple of metres away. I really liked the simple 3-switch controls on the PSB, seemed better than the Bose setup and especially the gimmicky swipe system on the Sony. I don't think there was any adjustment of the ANC level on the PSB's, it was just on or off - probably for my use that would be fine, I can't imagine the idea of walking around a busy city with those things turned on, you would go under a bus in no time. So for me I either want maximum ANC or none at all. In terms of comfort when jumping back and forth between the Sony and Bose I could reasonably quickly feel my ears touching the base of the ear cup in the Sony, not so on the Bose. I think the general vibe that the Bose are the leaders in comfort are justified. I did notice after testing the PSB's, and changing shops and putting on the Sony's, that the weight was noticeably lower. I didn't notice a difference between the Sony and Bose. In terms of packing them up for travel, the NAD ear cups just rotate 90deg and slip into a soft case, nicely done but quite large and didn't seem to offer much impact protection in your cabin bag. The PSB are the opposite, the ear cups fold in under the headband but do not rotate, so the case is smaller but thicker. The PSB provides a hard case though, and seemed a better setup for travel even though it was thicker. Both the Bose and Sony rotate AND fold, creating a smaller travel case. The Bose is the winner, the Sony a little larger, but both seemed quite a bit smaller than either HP70 or M4U8. Apparently the M4U8 has replaceable AAA batteries which is nice in that they can be replaced or even subbed with non rechargeables in a pinch, but it's a lower tech option, less battery life and slower to charge. The Sony is the clear winner in that regard butit's unclear if the battery can be replaced in the event they last long enough to require a new set. Overall my impression is that purely for travel the Bose is still the best - in spite of annoyances like no USB-c. The Sony - in typical Japanese fashion - has more options and more features but it's not clear how many of them are useful. Better battery life and charging is a certain though. Of the NAD and PSB I ended up favouring the PSB which seemed a little more practical and the more understated appearance was probably a plus for me. Still not sure which way I'll go, common sense says Bose, tech geek says Sony, music buff says PSB. In spite of my fondness for the brand, the NAD didn't win in any category for me other than being prettier.

Oh bugger! They are going to land too late for my trip, which is in just a couple of weeks. That probably steers me even more toward the Sony out of those pair I suppose. The Bose site makes some pretty bold claims.... https://www.bose.com/en_us/better_with_bose/new-headphones.html Bugger, bugger bugger.

Hi, Does anyone have any feedback on the NAD HP70's? I'm interested in a set of noise cancelling headphones initially to reduce the misery of an upcoming long haul flight to Europe (which I do every few years), but then for ongoing use at home or perhaps work. The Bose QC35II seems to be most favored for comfort, the Sony XM3 seems better featured but I tried both of those in a JB and was fairly unimpressed with the SQ at least on the canned music they had on the demo. I looked at the Bose more closely in a Bose shop and they were impressively small and light and the carry case was compact and sturdy, seemed very good for travel. I would presume the NAD would be a step up in terms of musical sound quality but the noise reduction is reportedly not as good as either Bose or Sony. Also look very bulky. Has anyone experience of them? They are a bit more expensive than the other two but not too painful. Cheers

So I went ahead and got the PSB CS1000's, installed today hanging off a Powernode2. By the time I'd sorted the wiring in the roof time and interest for listening tests was limited but I threw a few things on from my library and Tidal and was instantly impressed. These are really nice sounding speakers to my ears, guitars are crisp and clean, vocals project well and the bottom end is controlled and impressive for a modestly sized speaker. I have not tried with the port plugs removed yet, but even with them in they were able to reproduce my favorite bottom end torture test - Lorde, Royals - beautifully... the entire back patio was immersed. In a suburban setting this would be totally over the top and even your most friendly neighbors would be putting dog turds in your letterbox. A few others I tried included Dire Straits, It Never Rains : Katie Noonan, Breathe In Now : The Herd, I was only 19 : Dire Straits, Bal a Versailles : some part of Mozart Requiem. I'm not able to quantify what was good or bad, but I was really happy with all the results, nothing jumped out as being unpleasant. For $400 I call that win, recommended.

Takes me back too, my Dad had one of those systems in the early 2000's, only in white. I agree with other comments, my recollection was it sounded pretty good relative to the impact it had on the room. They were a well designed and made product, but only for exactly what their design brief called for. They were always expensive though, I remember that! Late last year before my recent system upgrade I found myself outside a Bose store so thought I would have a look and see what they had to offer. I was pretty underwhelmed, the product didn't seem to have changed much/at all since that quite forward thinking system and even to my uneducated ears didn't sound particularly good. And then there was the price... not for me.

Glad to hear this, I was going to ask whether the Revel stacked up in this company. I was demo'd a pair and was blown away.

Hi, I'm reviving this thread as I'm looking for some outdoor speakers for my back patio area, probably 8m x 10-15m all up. I'm in a rural area so I don't have to worry about the neighbors (much), the direction they'll be firing only has kangaroos and tiger snakes so the louder the better. They will be driven by a Bluesound Powernode2. The PSB CS1000 are available on ebay with a 20% off at present, they come down to au$399 shipped, which seems like a bargain. One good comment on them in this thread, anyone else have experience? The Yamaha mentioned on page 1 can be had at one place for $440 right now, I assumed they would be inferior to the Krix Tropix and PSB's etc but very positive comment here from POV. I like the idea of supporting Aussie business with the Krix Tropix, they are $675rrp, no online discounters I can see but I can possibly haggle a set for $600 ish I guess? Missed a 2nd hand set here recently. I have listened to some Acoustix bookshelves and found them too bright and lacking bass, no idea how the outdoor ones compare... Any other input/suggestions? Cheers

I actually didn't realise Miranda was still trading! How observant am I?? It might be because I stopped seeing those ads on TV "Miranda Hifi, more music for your money". Now I think of it, that's because I no longer watch commercial TV. I just checked out their site, ok, I will pay them a visit next time I'm in town. Having a real shop is great, especially when they stock a number of products. I was quite convinced I wanted a set of Krix Acoustix till I listened to them back to back with a couple of others at Duratone. Way too bright and thin for my tastes compared to others at a similar or lower price point. You can't determine these differences - particularly with something as subjective as sound - with online reviews.

Check out Revel while you're there... amazing. Getting back to the thread topic, aside from Duratone what else is left in CBR? Nothing other than big box retailers selling consumer grade stuff and 'lifestyle' stores like the Bose shop at DFO. Is there any other independant HiFi shop anymore?

Hey, another Canberra original here, now residing in NSW. It's interesting to read a negative impression about Duratone, to see how different people see things differently. I grew up in the area and both my parents and more recently myself have bought gear from Duratone (or their sister shop Kingston HiFi for a time) since the 70's. I don't think there was ever a piece of equipment we ever bought there that did not perform well and sound good - even if it was usually 'budget' gear. In between times I bought some stuff at lesser 'flashy' shops and was never happy with any of it. Recently I wanted to get back to something approahcing quality gear and thought I would try out Duratone for old times sake - it had been 18 years since I went there last. It was exactly as I remembered it from the 80's and 90's, somewhat chaotic and "well worn" to put it kindly, but stacked with proper quality gear and people who love hifi. Such a breath of fresh air in a world of overly flashy and pretentious shops staffed by clueless tossers who know absolutely nothing about what they're selling. I got excellent service, excellent advice and a decent discount from RRP such that it was only a little more expensive than buying online. Well worth the small premium. Maybe it's just me, but I was totally stoked to find the shop just as it had been for years... a proper "old school" shop! In my opinion it's well worth a visit for any hifi enthusiast. No connection to the shop, just a happy customer.

Have used Couriers Please for shipping ~25kg boxes, very cost effective and quick.