Loudspeakers: KEF R300

March 3, 2014: 
This weekend I listened to my dream Monitors: The KEF R300. These are newly offered for approx. € 600 each. Such enormous beautiful full clear sound give this 3-way speakers with a new UniQ driver where the tweeter is mounted in middriver. Packed with innovations and technological advances, the new KEF R Series makes entertainment more affordable than ever to audiophile level. The new Uni-Q driver combined with new, highly potent bass drivers and many ingenious refinements give a rich, spacious and especially precise sound stage. This sound is strongly reminiscent of KEF's legendary Reference Series.

De new Uni-Q MF/HF driver is a masterpiece. The midrange response is amazingly fast and clear. Not only is there designed ​​use of a reinforced cone with a magnesium / aluminum alloy, but also KEF's Z-Flex technology, which allows a flat, yet smooth transition to the housing. The chassis is made ​​of cast aluminum, which results in a rigid construction and hence prevents the transfer of resonance. In the acoustic center of the mid-tone cone ensures a sophisticated vented tweeter, just like in the Blade, an incredibly direct high frequency response. Through the large neodymium magnet with computer-optimized dome structure, the upper registers working with unfailing accuracy. And the Uni-Q point source exploit characteristic more concerned KEF's tangerine waveguide for smooth and seamless spread of high frequencies in the room. 

The new bass driver is at least as impressive. The combination of a massive vented magnet and a great lightweight aluminum voice coil which a light, stiff, yet strong hybrid cone feeds, guarantees a clear, deep and uncompressed bass with superb dynamics and impressive power. The housing made of real wood finishes Rosewood or Walnut or in Piano Black finishing, underlines every tiniest particle under the superiority of KEF technology. The computer-designed crossovers fine tunes the level of each driver for a smoother response. Multilayer attenuation panels prevent vibrations of the housing interfere in the middle and lower range. Even the air flow through the bass reflex ports is perfectly balanced by computer optimization to achieve dynamic and acoustic perfection.

Update March 8, 2014: The KEF's at right hand are purchased (without the kitten).

• brand: KEF serie R300 
• colors: rosewood, walnut, black and white high gloss 
• type speaker     : 3-way bass reflex 
• bass reflex port : backside 
• power handling : 110 Watt
• nom. impedance: 8 Ohm 
• sensitivity          : 88 dB (2.83V/1m) 
• frequency [respons -6db]: 42 Hz-45 kHz [50 Hz-28 kHz] 
• crossover frequency: 500 Hz / 2800 Hz 
• tweeter    (in Uni-Q driver): 1x 25 mm vented aluminium dome 
• midrange (in Uni-Q driver): 1x 125 mm aluminium 
• bass driver                         : 1x 165 mm aluminium 
• wxhxd:   210 x 385 x 345 mm 
• weight:   13,2 kg pp 
• guaranty: 5 years 

Blu-ray / DVD / SA-CD player

Pioneer BDP-450

The feature count on the BDP-450 is high and includes 3D Blu-ray compatibility and universal disc playback (DVD-Audio and SACD). On the back you’ll find twin HDMI outputs: useful if your surround amp can’t handle 3D. You can use one to send sound to your amp and the other to beam the picture straight to your display. The player also supports Pioneer’s proprietary jitter reduction technology, PQLS. It’s designed to reduce digital timing errors and works when you connect the machine via HDMI to one of the company’s compatible amps such as the SC-LX56.

USB sockets front and back let you hook up a storage device (memory stick or NAS) and stream through the BDP-450, and it’s also DLNA-enabled so it can access files on a home network (via ethernet or via an optional wireless dongle) and even stream from a smartphone running the right app.

picture quality
Of course, our primary concern is picture quality – and the Pioneer is spellbinding. Spin a 2D Blu-ray such asTransformers: Dark Of The Moon, and it serves up a stunningly detailed image. The CGI looks breathtaking, with the Pioneer uncovering lashings of detail, drawing beautifully defined edges and conveying it great depth – and this translates to great 3D too, with even more detail bringing the action to life.

Play a normal DVD and the BDP-450 shows its internal scaler is up to the job, too. Next to other machines at the money, the Pioneer’s picture looks more detailed and robust. Whites look punchy, but there’s also an extra layer of subtlety to shading.

sound quality
Sound is also a cut above: explosions sound weighty and taut, while rockets fire across channels with expert precision. The soundtrack displays impressive dynamics and gels well with the on-screen action, and dialogue sounds detailed and focused.

specifications
Audio: Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, Super Audio CD Multi Decoder, Sound Retriever
Video: D/A-omzetter 148.5MHz/ 12-bit, Blu-ray 3D, Upscaling tot 1080p, PureCinema, Progressive Scan: PAL/NTSC, Stream Smoother, Triple High definition Geluidsreductie, Deep Colour 36-bit, x.v. Colour
Network: IP-bediening via LAN, DLNA, Wake on LAN, BD-Live, Netflix, YouTube and Picassa control with App: iControlAVConnections: 2x HDMI Out (Main & Sub), LAN Ethernet, Digital Coaxial Out, 2x USB (front & backside)
Dimensions: (B x H x D) 435 x 90 x 252 mm, Gewicht 2.7 kg
Power consumption (power/standby) 23 Watt / 0,3 Watt

Marantz SR-7300 7.1 A/V Receiver

Because I want to buy a good set of monitors or floor loudspeakers and still want to listen via optical digital inputs Apple Lossless, DTS, etc. I have found this amplifier (built in 2004) using marketplace and buy the Amp for €125 (27-1-2014).

The six 105-watt current feedback amplifiers (RMS into 8 Ohms) in the SR7300 A/V receiver deliver superb sound quality. It has 7.1 channel audio pre-outs and composite, S-Video and component video outputs. 

Multi-room/multi-zone outputs are also included. DTS (ES and 24/96), Dolby Digital, Dolby ProLogic II and CS 2.0 processing ensure access to Europe's most established DVD video and audio standards. And because software is upgradeable via a built-in RS232c port, access to future standards is guaranteed. An FM/AM RDS tuner with 50 presets, learnable system remote and OSD user interface all simplify the A/V experience.

The stereo sound is exceptional for a HT receiver of this price range. Sound is very warm, dynamic and quick. Trebles are warm and clear and bass is well-placed and fast. Midrange is also beautiful, crisp and clear. It tends to prevail weaknesses of other sources and speakers, as well as extra details from recordings, you had never noticed.The built of the amp is awesome and made in Japan. Marantz is using Elna capacitors for the amp with two 22K Elna audio grade capacitors for power reserve. With the powerful CS49400 processor and Crystal DACs for all channels, this amp truly stands out in 5.1 channels.

The cirrus logic CS49400 is far more powerful than the CS49326 used by the lower models and more capable in decoding DTS tracks. Subtle details in movies/concerts that were never heard b4 are now noticeable. When several instruments are playing at once, the sound never got cluttered unlike the lower models. Dolby tracks are equally impressive.



Digital Inputs (3x toslink, 3x coax):

• optical 1    : TV-tuner/recorder (Cisco)
• optical 2    : Kodi mediastreamer (Raspberry Pi + Hifiberry Digi+) + 3,5" HD 2 TB (movies) 
• optical 3    : iMac 27" (Apple) 
• rca coax 4 : Blu-Ray (SACD) player (Pioneer) + 2,5" HD 2 TB (music)

Outputs used:

• KEF R300 monitors + KEF center-speaker + KEF Surround-speakers + Infinity Subwoofer.

Searching for new speakers maybe it will be a pair such as on following pics?

Bowers and Wilkinson CDM2

Impulse "The Imp"

Kef Q500

MacBook Air 13 inch model A1237

For my daughter, I bought the MacBook Air 13 inch model A1237, built in 2008/9, with OSX Lion, iLife and iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote). Very neat used with minimal user traces and in the original packaging for €350. She is very happy with this purchase (I would also be).

Specifcations Apple MacBook Air Core 2 Duo 1.6 -13"
The full-size keyboard and a trackpad that supports "multi-touch gesturing" (two-finger scroll, pinch, rotate, swipe, tap, double-tap, and drag), it uses slower processors than the stock MacBook models available at the same time, the memory cannot be upgraded beyond the onboard 2 GB, there is not an internal optical drive, and the battery is not designed to be removable.

The "MBA" is powered by a customized 1.6 GHz Intel "Core 2 Duo" processor (P7500) in a miniaturized packaging design with two independent processor "cores" on a single chip with a 4 MB on-chip shared level 2 cache running on an 800 MHz frontside bus.

It features 2 GB of onboard 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, an 80 GB PATA (4200 RPM) hard drive, an Intel GMA X3100 integrated "graphics processor with 144 MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory", an integrated iSight video camera, a "MacBook-style" full-size backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor, and a 13.3" widescreen TFT LED backlit active-matrix "glossy" display (1280x800 native resolution) in a razor thin (0.16-0.76 inch), three pound, aluminum case.

Connectivity includes AirPort Extreme (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a single USB 2.0 port, analog audio out, and video out capabilities (micro-DVI) that support an external 24" display. It lacks Ethernet (an external adapter is available), Firewire, and optical audio in/out.

Update 10/2014:
Because there regularly HD problems and sometimes the laptop does not start I ordered the following SSD drive on eBay:
SSD 1.8" ZIF for Apple MACBOOK AIR 1.1 MBA A1237 2008.

Price: $68,90 (Hong Kong)

Specs:

• 64GB 1.8-inch ZIF-interface Solid State Disk 
• 40-pin interface 
• Read speed up to 93MB/sec 
• Write speed up to 54MB/sec 
• Suitable for MacBook Air and others with ZIF PATA interface

MacBook Air opened seeing the 80GB Samsung HDD HS082HB/A:

Update 10/2015:
Because the cord was broken of the power adapter, I ordered a replacement  charger at AliExpress (for MacBook Air type A1237). However, the battery should be replaced, so I ordered a replacement battery too.
The charger led  on the magsafe-connector don't blink and the MacBook does not recognize a charge current but charge it.
I've shortened the cord of the old charger and neatly repaired it. The original charger also functions better anyway.

Paragliding - soaren

Vanavond mijn oefenscherm opgehaald:

Gradient Aspen 2.26 M voor het oefenen van groundhandling
 en daarna te soaren langs de duinen (€150 in Ouddorp).
Gewicht in binnenzak: 5,6 kg

ASPEN 2.26 Year: 2006 Price: € 3250 Area(flat): 26.36 m² Span: 12.25 m  Ratio: 5.69  Area (proj.): 23.22 m² Span: 10.31 m  Ratio: 4.58  Flattening: 12% Upper-Surface: S9092-E77A 45 g/m² Under-Surface: S9017-E38A 40 g/m² Wing-Weight: 5.4 kg Box-Cell-Closed: 25/53+D/14 Risers(Lines): 4 (3A/3B/4C/2D) Lines: Ø1.8/1.5/1.1/0.7 mm Lines(type): Edelrid 7443 Lines(dist./tot.): 7.46 m / 354 m Accelerator: 18 cm Trims: No Naked-Pilot(mini/maxi): 61/81 kg In-Flight-Weight(mini/maxi): 80/100 kg Wing-Load(mini/maxi): 3.0/3.8 kg/m² Acceler./Basic/Minimum: 55/38/23km/h Best-Sink-Rate: 1.1m/s Best-Glide-Ratio(Vz›Vi): 1.2m/s›37km/h GR/Fmax Estim. Min-Max: 8.5 - 8.8 Ears-B Lines "B": 03 m/s - 08 m/s Main-Use: Cross Certifications: DHV2/GH (EN C)

Links Soaren: KNVvL , Folder , Soarkaart NL , 
YouTube: Groundhandling Hellfire Bay

Morgen ga ik een Karpo Fly Arrow harnas (maat M) in Zandvoort ophalen (€100) en gelijk daar even oefenen aan het strand. Er wordt een rustig windje verwacht van NW-3Bf. Gewicht: 6,9 kg.

Karabiners bij PaHo besteld
2 stuks Apco Gatelock:

Forged 7075 Aluminum 1800 Kg MBL1
€ 15,95 per stuk

Charly Insider - bi-colour black:

Het is niet voor niets dat de Insider in het eerste jaar van zijn bestaan tegelijk wereld's best verkochte luchtsport helm werd. De Insider valt niet alleen op door zijn kwaliteit en zijn mooie vorm, maar hij is ook buitengewoon sterk en toch lichter dan vergelijkbare helmen, 650 gram. Dit is alleen mogelijk door gebruik van materiaal van zeer hoge kwaliteit zoals vinylester en kevlar fiber in combinatie met een zeer ver ontwikkelde pers en extractietechniek. Het functionele ontwerp van de helm is ook innovatief. Het minimale verlies aan gezichtsveld overtuigd ook parapente piloten van het gebruik van deze helm. Ondanks de volledige bescherming word je niet in het praten, ademen, eten of drinken gehinderd. Gekocht via Marktplaats voor €40. Nieuwprijs €150

Luidspeakers

Met mijn zoektocht naar mooie audio voor in de huiskamer heb ik als eerste een paar mooie compacte luidspeakers van Mordaunt Short via markplaats gekocht. Hier heb ik 2 maanden naar geluisterd voordat de KEF monitoren heb aangeschaft. Ze gaven een mooie heldere sound maar ik vond ze in het laag toch iets te kort komen. Met de verkoop hetzelfde ervoor gekregen als ik ze gekocht had (€125)

De Mezzo 1 geplaatst op Atacama stands met spikes op een betontegel. Voorlopig aangesloten met 2,5 mm2 koperdraad op de Marantz versterker klinken ze in stereo geweldig goed (source direct). ik heb ze iets naar voren geplaatst (ca. 50 cm van de wand) omdat de baspoort aan de achterzijde bevind. Het design is mooi met de klankkast in boegvorm rond aflopend naar de achterzijde.


A bookshelf speaker with a subtle difference thanks to the pure sound from its innovative tweeter design.

Serious audio, from a subtly different bookshelf speaker. The most compact cabinet to feature our unique and patented Aspirated Tweeter Technology: the ATT dome tweeter draws air through its body for incredibly pure audio reproduction.

Twinned here with an alu. 5,25" CPC woofer, the Mezzo 1 speaker is ideal for stereo music or as part of a home cinema surround sound set-up - delivering crisp clarity to high notes and a rich and deep range across mid and lower tones. "The Mezzo 1, with its controlled and extremely smooth sound will simply pull you into a world of its own." 

 

Bij de Atacama stands kreeg ik de Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 compacte luidspeakers die mooi ruimtelijk geluid geven en vooral goed bij akoestische muziek uitblinken.

Ik deze alleen maar een paar uitgeprobeerd naast de Mordaunt Shorts. Binnen een paar maanden weer verkocht met winst, het ging me eigenlijk om de stands die er bij hoorden. Toch gaven ze een leuk geluid voor zulke compacte luidspeakers. De Diamond 9.1 is voorzien van een mooie 25 mm silk-dome hoogfrequent unit die gedeeltelijk achter het chassis van de 12,5 centimeter mid/laag unit is gemonteerd en zelfs de derde imbusschroef met die unit deelt (een dergelijke opstelling helpt bij het verkrijgen van een betere integratie). De mid/laag unit heeft een geweven Kevlar conus en een gegoten chassis wat dankzij zijn vormgeving helpt bij het verminderen van reflecties tussen de conus en het chassis. Beide units zijn afgeschermd zodat de 9.1 kan worden ingezet in een AV-systeem. Verder is de klankkast aan de voorkant voorzien van twee baspoorten met een kleine diameter. De nominale impedantie is 6 Ohm en het rendement ligt op 86 dB. De Diamond 9.1 is verkrijgbaar in vijf vinyl fineren, te weten: Rosewood, Cherry, Beech, Black Ash en Silver.De klankkast heeft een boegvorm waarbij de twee zijwanden via een ronding aan de achterzijde naar elkaar toelopen. Hierdoor ontstaan minder staande golven en wordt de rigiditeit van de kastconstructie verhoogd. Aan de achterzijde bevindt zich een apart ogende connectorplaat die smal en verticaal is uitgevoerd (een breed paneel zou op een dergelijke kastvorm immers niet passen). De vergulde en geïsoleerde Bi-Wire connectoren zijn een V-configuratie gestaffeld opgesteld zodat spade-connectoren goed kunnen worden aangebracht.
Lees meer : http://www.hifi.nl/recensies/3415/Wharfedale-Diamond-9.1.html#ixzz2uZNT8Q4V

Active Subwoofer

Because my 'old' Infinity Minuette set is driven by an passive subwoofer and I want to use the pre-out with the new Marantz Amp, I bought an active subwoofer: the Infinity Alpha Junior Sub. He is wired by an Y-connector RCA cable, brand Oehlbach.


Specifications:
Low-freq  Cut-off     :  35 Hz - variable
High-freq Cut-off     :  50-150 Hz
Built in power amp   : 100 Watt
Woofer                      : 210 mm
Dimensions HxWxD : 420x260x335 mm

Inside the subwoofer

Old 5.1 set: Infinity Minuette met passieve sub

TV series - Lilyhammer, Arrow en the Walking Dead

Enjoyed this week of a new TV series which currently only Netflix is shown (2 seasons). Starring Steven Van Zandt (The Sopranos) plays as a comic mob boss Frank Tagliano who emigrated to Norway. The social Norwegian culture is taken properly heel.
link IMDb

I also started with Arrow (now 2 seasons) about millionaire son Olivier Queen (Stephen Amell) who survives a shipwreck after five years on an island and hereinafter the world is going to save us from criminal greedy grabbers.



The TV series that I've seen three seasons now, the thrilling horror series The Walking Dead (8.7 on IMDb) in which a group of survivors led by police officer Rick Grimes tries to shake zombies from him. Currently, the AMC series plays for the 5th season including Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies (Prison Break).



Together with Rave I started the first of the two seasons of Orphan Black (8.4 on IMDb). A punky girl gets into a conspiracy with clones, after the suicide of a girl who looks exactly like her.

Virtual Barber Shop

Just put on head phones and close your eyes!

Kerst 2013

Kerstavond met Rave naar de latijnse nachtmis gegaan in de Sint Willibrordkerk in hartje Utrecht. De Sint Willibrordkerk is een van de mooiste neogotische kerken van Nederland. Eerst in cafe Broers wat gedronken, vanaf 23:30 uur was er samenzang met een koortje met 4 strijkers, waarna de RK intrede processie de kerk binnenkwam en vervolgens een indrukwekkende en lange dienst tot bijna 2:00 uur.

Het Sint Willibrordkoor zong de ‘Missa Pastoralis in D’ van Frantisek Xaver Brix, wisselende Gegoriaanse gezangen en kerstliederen in het duits en engels. Alle Heillige Missen worden in deze kerk gecelebreerd in het latijn, dus waren we hierna best wel stevig toe aan een borrel in cafe Orloff op het Wed.

Eerste kerstdag thuis gegourmet met div. vlees en vis en zelfgemaakte Risotto op gebakken courgetplakjes als voorgerecht.

Tweede kerstdag met Rave in Amsterdam langs verschillende lichtsculpturen en installaties gewandeld vanaf de Stopera naar de binnentuinen van Hortus. Er zijn projecties op historische gebouwen, installaties op straat of in één van de stadparken of werken waar de bezoeker doorheen kan lopen. Het Amsterdam Light Festival is leuk en te bezoeken tot 19 jan 2014. Naderhand hebben we bij eetcafe Blauwbrug heerlijke spareribs gegeten.

Zen-Boeddhisme

This morning I received an introduction to Zen Buddhist meditation. This was held in a school building in Utrecht.

During the morning, the values ​​of Buddhism were interpreted as compassion, patience and loving friendliness and explained how we can cultivate these values ​​in our lives.

Besides meditation instruction, attention was given how to develop Zen meditation and mindfulnessin the daily life  We have done this through various exercises which immediately experienced was how attention and a friendly attitude, give us strength, relaxation and inner peace.

The teacher in the Dharmatoevlucht  is Rev. Baldwin, he was ordained in 1990 as a Buddhist monk in the Zen Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in northern England. Since 2005 he lives and works in the Dharma Resort in Apeldoorn.

I got this morning to be very useful especially in the field of meditation posture and coping with stress and thoughts. My intention here is to start giving  regular / daily attention. I also believe that the future is not a thing for me to meditate weekly in groups. I want to follow Tai Chi classes next year, just where? I am still trying to figure out.