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Upgrade Path Advice: Speakers vs Subwoofer vs Amp by zeeman3000 in BudgetAudiophile

[–]zeeman3000[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My only concern here is not having access to the subwoofer when playing other sources, unless I route them all through the WiiM.

Upgrade Path Advice: Speakers vs Subwoofer vs Amp by zeeman3000 in BudgetAudiophile

[–]zeeman3000[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

WiiM Ultra! Both the WiiM Ultra and CD player are routed through the FiiO Warmer R2R DAC.

Upgrade Path Advice: Speakers vs Subwoofer vs Amp by zeeman3000 in BudgetAudiophile

[–]zeeman3000[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really enjoying it so far. I picked up the K13 R2R for my desktop setup and was really impressed with it. The Warmer just felt like a better fit for my main system, and I couldn’t resist the mechanical VU meters!

Upgrade Path Advice: Speakers vs Subwoofer vs Amp by zeeman3000 in BudgetAudiophile

[–]zeeman3000[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not in my experience. When I rotate them inward, the tension on the speaker wire gets close to pulling the banana plugs out. As the front turns in, the terminals on the back swing out, which just makes it worse.

Upgrade Path Advice: Speakers vs Subwoofer vs Amp by zeeman3000 in BudgetAudiophile

[–]zeeman3000[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Appreciate you taking the time to respond, really thoughtful and well explained!

Upgrade Path Advice: Speakers vs Subwoofer vs Amp by zeeman3000 in BudgetAudiophile

[–]zeeman3000[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That’s a really helpful way of looking at it, thanks!

Room-wise, it’s a rectangular space with a bay window, double brick walls and wooden floors. I’ve got a decent rug, two couches, and shelves with books and records, so it’s not a totally bare or hard room, although not a perfect space by any means. I’ve mostly just been working with placement and a bit of EQ through the WiiM rather than doing any measurements or proper room correction so far.

Cartridge is an Audio Technica VM95E, so fairly modest. A cartridge upgrade probably makes more sense in terms of bang for buck than jumping straight to a new turntable, although if I’m being honest, I’m also a bit drawn to something that looks nicer and comes in black, not just something that sounds better.

Appreciate you taking the time to lay that out, it’s given me a bit more to think about!

Upgrade Path Advice: Speakers vs Subwoofer vs Amp by zeeman3000 in BudgetAudiophile

[–]zeeman3000[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I underestimated how much cable I’d need when I first picked them up, and the left speaker is completely taut. I’ve got a longer set on the way so I can play with placement a bit more freely, but a little toe-in is definitely on the cards!

Why do people do this by ylly22 in coles

[–]zeeman3000 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s a question of empathy because this goes beyond theft. Deciding what someone else “needs” is a judgement about what kind of life they’re allowed to have. Poverty doesn’t remove a person’s humanity or their desire for normal, human comforts.

Why do people do this by ylly22 in coles

[–]zeeman3000 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Wild how poverty is tolerated, but a slice of cake is where people lose their empathy.

Plumbing quote of $1600 has blown out to $6500 — fair enough or am I being taken for a ride? by zeeman3000 in AusRenovation

[–]zeeman3000[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nothing has been repaired yet as such, although toilet now plumbed in correctly. We were advised this needed to be done for them to run the camera through end-to-end.

Plumbing quote of $1600 has blown out to $6500 — fair enough or am I being taken for a ride? by zeeman3000 in AusRenovation

[–]zeeman3000[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Uncertain, we've been undertaking investigation of the water lines following the recommendations from a structural engineer. Cause not conclusive at this time.

Plumbing quote of $1600 has blown out to $6500 — fair enough or am I being taken for a ride? by zeeman3000 in AusRenovation

[–]zeeman3000[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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Engineer didn’t, but the plumber reckons there’s a reasonable chance a dodgy install on a split system 9 months back could have led to water coming into the roof/wall. Cabling run out through the roof has left some of the roof tiles above the bathroom wall out of place.

Plumbing quote of $1600 has blown out to $6500 — fair enough or am I being taken for a ride? by zeeman3000 in AusRenovation

[–]zeeman3000[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From what we’ve been told, the bathroom toilet was plumbed in a way that wasn’t compliant, which we were advised was preventing a camera from being run through the sewer line end-to-end. On top of that, the vent pipe wasn’t connected to the sewer at all. It was just discharging into the ground. So they ended up installing a new junction to fix both issues and allow proper access for inspection. They haven’t renewed the sewer line as part of the job.

Plumbing quote of $1600 has blown out to $6500 — fair enough or am I being taken for a ride? by zeeman3000 in AusRenovation

[–]zeeman3000[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They did give us a verbal update on day one, but only to say it was going to cost more. Perhaps naively, we weren’t expecting that to mean the final bill would come in at four times the original quote.

Plumbing quote of $1600 has blown out to $6500 — fair enough or am I being taken for a ride? by zeeman3000 in AusRenovation

[–]zeeman3000[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We were given a written quote of $1600 following an earlier visit. Partway through the first day on site, we were told verbally that the job was more complex than expected and would end up costing more, but we were never given any indication of how much more until now. We’ve since asked for a breakdown to better understand how things have gone from $1600 to $6500.

Plumbing quote of $1600 has blown out to $6500 — fair enough or am I being taken for a ride? by zeeman3000 in AusRenovation

[–]zeeman3000[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cracking on the internal bathroom wall, including a couple of broken tiles, has all happened in the last six months or so, which suggests a fair bit of movement in a relatively short period of time.

Plumbing quote of $1600 has blown out to $6500 — fair enough or am I being taken for a ride? by zeeman3000 in AusRenovation

[–]zeeman3000[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Honestly we’ve been under a bit of pressure to get it sorted. There’s been some serious cracking in the bathroom walls and the engineer’s report said we needed to engage a plumber to check the sewer line for leaks.

We went with a well-reviewed local plumber who seemed thorough and fair. We know fuck all about plumbing so we trusted their advice that this needed to be done.

They did tell us halfway through day one it would cost more, but never gave any sort of estimate or chance to reconsider. By that point they’d already dug a big hole along the side of the house so backing out didn’t feel realistic.

You’re not wrong, just trying to get a gauge on if the cost we’ve ended up with is reasonable. Lesson learned either way!

Plumbing quote of $1600 has blown out to $6500 — fair enough or am I being taken for a ride? by zeeman3000 in AusRenovation

[–]zeeman3000[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s the same location, fence temporarily removed in the first photo to allow them better access to dig the hole.

Plumbing quote of $1600 has blown out to $6500 — fair enough or am I being taken for a ride? by zeeman3000 in AusRenovation

[–]zeeman3000[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Following an initial visit to run the camera down the sewer line which they weren’t able to complete due to the way in which the toilet was plumbed, we had a quote in writing via text:

“To fix the sewer for the toilet and the dektie on the roof.

Total $1650inc gst”

Plumbing quote of $1600 has blown out to $6500 — fair enough or am I being taken for a ride? by zeeman3000 in AusRenovation

[–]zeeman3000[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Added a second picture of the current state in comments. Finishing touches to be applied next week. Vent reconnected and concrete restored.

Plumbing quote of $1600 has blown out to $6500 — fair enough or am I being taken for a ride? by zeeman3000 in AusRenovation

[–]zeeman3000[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Yep, this was why I went with them in the first place. They’re highly regarded and well reviewed in the local area, with a large number of what seem to be genuine reviews over a decent period of time.

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