Pete's Write

Just had a chance to watch this BR disc which I bought a while back: 歲月神偷 - Echoes of the Rainbow It's a simple show about the life and times of a family living in a poor part of Hong Kong in the 60s and onwards.. Simon Yam and Sandra Ng play the lead husband and wife of this family and the lives they lead in a time when a few cents could buy you a bun, and life was hard. I wish someone would make a show like that about Singapore and Malaysia too.. Not a lot of action or effects, but the picture quality is excellent and it's worth a rental at least. It's in Cantonese, for those who are Canto - challenged...

 A cursory glance through some pictures of new homes makes me notice that many of the TVs are mounted waaaayyyy too high... I suspect the aesthetics took a big precedent over real viewing specifications... The rule of thumb is quite simple: The centre of the TV should be slightly lower than the eye level when you are seated. That way you are not craning your neck upwards, and this is quite unpleasant. The most comfortable viewing angle is 12 degrees below horizon. As you move upward from there, fatigue and eye dryness increase gradually. Too high and you'll get a sore neck. It is best to get it right the first time, and even if your ID or perhaps the lady boss of the home wants to center the TV around her eye level as she walks around, that's incorrect. And it's not a portrait, it's a TV, so sit down, take out the measuring tape and get it right. This is a nice little article to help especially if you are good at DIY, otherwise leave it to the pros : http://w...

After the new CDs arrived and I had finished ripping them onto my iMac, I then did the migration of the music first from my iMac to my current MacbookPro (MBP)... and that proved less painful or scary than I imagined. I copied all the music onto a new "iTunes" folder on a new HDD, then copied the contents of the "library  / itunes folder" over to a separate folder that I named "to be transferred". I also created a library xml file from the export function in itunes. The eventual target will be the new MBP-R Since I had a itunes app and some music over in the destination MBP that was to be cloned onto the new MBP-R, I checked what music files were new and then copied the new ones into the existing location of the music folder. Then I copied the contents of the "to be transferred" folder to the same location in the MBP and the xml library file. Most of the transfer was seamless, there were a few files iTunes could not find, and I ha...

Fans are one thing that a home in the tropical country will need, and you may even have a few of them, either table top ones, or floor standing. They can be purely utilitarian, or they can come in fancy designs. Sometimes, you find a fan which combines both form and function, and to top it off, it is also energy efficient. In choosing a fan, you will need to decide which of the above matters more, and also take into account your budget before making a decision. The cheapest are table fans, which are simple, cheap and portable. The downside is a lack of power and may not suit your decor, and many come only in a standard design. There are some retro options: And some of the retro theme stores locally will also carry them. Ironically the price is higher for these, and if you compare to the 30-80$ for the basic ones, these usually cost 50-100% more. As for floorstanding fans, they usually come with timers and are more powerful. Some even come with remot...

Dynaudio Confidence 1 and 2 reviews - more details My audition journey continues, and I had a chance to listen to the Confidence 1 twice, with different setups. I had owned Dynaudio and I am familiar with their sound, a very nice neutral sound and an innate ability to play rock, loud and proud, whilst being able present a solid soundstage. The main item of interest was a pair of Confidence 1 Signature series, and they were driven by some Spectral brand systems, a brand I had not heard of before. The first thing that struck you was a certain accuracy, and a clean sound. Imaging was impressive, and there was no emphasis of any of the frequencies. Then if you are not paying attention to what speaker was ahead of you, you will be struck by the amount of bass available. Despite a diminutive size, you had bass, which extended lower than most bookshelf speakers of the same size. In fact they sounded like a pair of compact floorstanders. The speakers ...

Monitor Audio GX 300 review I have been using MA speakers ever since I got the Bronze 2 (that’s the second series) bookshelf and centre speakers. I lugged them with me to Sydney and in my flat, they generated a whole bunch of bass which amazed my friends who came over. Partner with my Marantz SR 18 EX AV receiver, they sounded wonderful and they found a new home in my friend’s place, displacing his Thiels for home theatre. It also cement a long partnership I had with the Silver RS and then the Gold series with my Marantz SR 12 S1, which I have written extensively about. So when the day came and I sold off my MA GS speakers, it was only natural that I would audition their replacements, the GX series. Things have moved on, and the new GX series have now got a new cabinet, and more interestingly, a ribbon tweeter. Now contrary to some views, it is not the same ribbon tweeter used in the Platinum series, but it’s adapted from that series. Li...

Diamonds Are Not Just Women's Best Friends... The generosity of members the hi fi community is truly amazing. You ask for help and a whole bunch of people come forward to let you check out their system. I was in the market again, after having sold off my Monitor Audio GS 10 and LCR. Giving myself a budget of around 10k, for the front pair and hopefully the centre too, I began my search. The first audition was the 804D, and accompanying equipment was: AVR600 connected to Emotiva XPA-1 monoblocks driven by a Oppo BDP 95 Now the 804D is a truly revealing speaker and throughout the audition, the word that came to mind was : detail. You truly get to hear a lot more of the music and the clarity that comes through is quite amazing. In addition, the focus is also very solid and you get a nice soundstage which is about as deep as you are sitting in front of the speakers. Regardless of the genre of the music, you can find detail, clarity and retrieve sign...