Upgrading to an entry-level audiophile setup - Advice

ViciousClone said:
Sooo, the setup has since changed from this image.

And too much cable was still exposed as seen in this image you've tagged.. cleaned up a bit more and swapped to the following speakers, and 3D printed 5cm (In height) speaker stands. On the feet, rubber pieces to give it some grip (They're about 0.3mm in thick)



View attachment 1826507

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Those feet look great! Noticeable improvement in the sound?

Also: FFS where are the actual acables?
 
SlinkyMike said:
Those feet look great! Noticeable improvement in the sound?

Also: FFS where are the actual acables?
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1749565409997.png


Don't know if you can spot this, but there's trunking, which I sprayed with a gloss black, that blends in well with the setup, the cables run through here and power cables are running below with a few hooks and cable ties


1749568930676.pngimage.jpg
 
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Pax said:
Tip: an audiophile never hides cables. It is part of the image to let others see how thick and virile the cables are. :p
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my father had all sorts of cable - i remember ven hul being one of the brands.
van den hul now have platinum cable - seems somewhat excessive !!

** here we go - @R360 000 per meter
Screen Shot 2025-06-11 at 13.05.36.jpg
 
Grant said:
my father had all sorts of cable - i remember ven hul being one of the brands.
van den hul now have platinum cable - seems somewhat excessive !!

** here we go - @R360 000 per meter
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That’s insane!

Bought decent, rubber coated thick boys for my speakers, which was R39 per meter, and that felt and sounded expensive.
 
so i'm going to be doing some renovations & i figured i may as well upgrade the sound system.
at this juncture i'm contemplating bringing in some audio company for advice regards any additional electrical outlets, cable conduits etc etc, prior to making any equipment purchases (from the same company).

ive done a bit of googling and e-piphany seems to be the leading contender.

any opinions / suggestions / recommendations on who to use in cape town ?
 
Grant said:
so i'm going to be doing some renovations & i figured i may as well upgrade the sound system.
at this juncture i'm contemplating bringing in some audio company for advice regards any additional electrical outlets, cable conduits etc etc, prior to making any equipment purchases (from the same company).

ive done a bit of googling and e-piphany seems to be the leading contender.

any opinions / suggestions / recommendations on who to use in cape town ?
Click to expand...
As a carrier of the 'audiophile' bug, may I just 'warn' you to be careful of what is known as 'snake oil'? So much about cabling, power filters etc either is in the mind of the listener or if and when it does make a difference, it is inaudible on sub R1m systems. Most decent cables will suffice and outperform twinflex and wire hangers.

Epihany is a good dealership with quality products, but they will push hard for an upsell if they see a gap. Although they seem unfamiliar with Valve Audio, the owner pushed hard to convince me (I forgot the brand) some Italian amp sounds better. He also tried a demo to show the B&W 702 does not sound as good as the 805 bookshelf speakers. Side by by side demo......well, not to my ear. A bookshelf will always fall short on bass and the difference the diamond tweeter does make is beyond audible frequencies. Midrange drivers are identical.

Something I hold against them is that initially they tried to demo equipment while streaming via bluetooth....I immediately picked up something is off - bluetooth streaming is rather 'lossy' and easy to hear on any good system. They took me for a 'poepol' in my opinion. Respect the customer, if he comes to a shop with goods of that calibre, he likely knows some stuff, don't try BS him!

Follow your own ears' and not their ideas is all I can say.
 
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Grant said:
so i'm going to be doing some renovations & i figured i may as well upgrade the sound system.
at this juncture i'm contemplating bringing in some audio company for advice regards any additional electrical outlets, cable conduits etc etc, prior to making any equipment purchases (from the same company).

ive done a bit of googling and e-piphany seems to be the leading contender.

any opinions / suggestions / recommendations on who to use in cape town ?
Click to expand...

e-piphany is a very good company, but they are not cheap.

When we were renovating our house, I used AV Custom Install, in CFM - they designed & installed the ethernet cabling, DSTV, audio cabling, etc. Over the years I have used their services to buy NAD & PSB products - Marius is honest & won't oversell you stuff.
 
Grant said:
so i'm going to be doing some renovations & i figured i may as well upgrade the sound system.
at this juncture i'm contemplating bringing in some audio company for advice regards any additional electrical outlets, cable conduits etc etc, prior to making any equipment purchases (from the same company).

ive done a bit of googling and e-piphany seems to be the leading contender.

any opinions / suggestions / recommendations on who to use in cape town ?
Click to expand...

Vaughn used to be the man for all things like this and operated out of Cape Town but for the life of me my brain is still starting up this morning and I remember him more than his company.

Let me go search some emails.

****

Okay my brain worked.

Reach Out to us - Smart Lifestyle

Feel free to contact our team via email, telephone or use our contact form, and we'll assist you with any product or service query or questions you may have
smartlifestyle.co.za smartlifestyle.co.za
 
Pax said:
As a carrier of the 'audiophile' bug, may I just 'warn' you to be careful of what is known as 'snake oil'? So much about cabling, power filters etc either is in the mind of the listener or if and when it does make a difference, it is inaudible on sub R1m systems. Most decent cables will suffice and outperform twinflex and wire hangers.

Epihany is a good dealership with quality products, but they will push hard for an upsell if they see a gap. Although they seem unfamiliar with Valve Audio, the owner pushed hard to convince me (I forgot the brand) some Italian amp sounds better. He also tried a demo to show the B&W 702 does not sound as good as the 805 bookshelf speakers. Side by by side demo......well, not to my ear. A bookshelf will always fall short on bass and the difference the diamond tweeter does make is beyond audible frequencies. Midrange drivers are identical.

Something I hold against them is that initially they tried to demo equipment while streaming via bluetooth....I immediately picked up something is off - bluetooth streaming is rather 'lossy' and easy to hear on any good system. They took me for a 'poepol' in my opinion. Respect the customer, if he comes to a shop with goods of that calibre, he likely knows some stuff, don't try BS him!

Follow your own ears' and not their ideas is all I can say.
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thanks for the heads-up
as to the cabling / power aspect - i'm simply looking for input on the placement of adequate conduit & electrical outlets - - i have an unhealthy aversion to visible cabling, bordering on obsessive. !!

i mailed them last night giving them a bit of background (for context purposes), as well as what i am looking for - that aspect was quite specific.

in terms of "background", i mentioned my late father's equipment - items like the duntech sovereign speakers, magneplanar speakers, martin logan speakers, krell amplifiers etc etc - just to provide a bit of a hint i'm no audiophile, but not entirely wet behind the ears.
essentially i'm looking for something able to replicate the soundstage the duntech sovereigns did so well - in short, amplification equipment + 1 pair of speakers - i most definitely do not want a subwoofer, satellite speakers etc scattered about - this is the minimalist in me shining thru, for better or worse.
the system is for music - not some sort of home theatre type setup.
their response to my mail will determine as to whether i proceed with them or not - a test of sorts i guess, to establish if they paid attention to detail, ergo: listening to what the customer wants to achieve !
 
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SauRoNZA said:
Vaughn used to be the man for all things like this and operated out of Cape Town but for the life of me my brain is still starting up this morning and I remember him more than his company.

Let me go search some emails.

****

Okay my brain worked.

Reach Out to us - Smart Lifestyle

Feel free to contact our team via email, telephone or use our contact form, and we'll assist you with any product or service query or questions you may have
smartlifestyle.co.za smartlifestyle.co.za
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ta
 
Naks said:
e-piphany is a very good company, but they are not cheap.
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no kidding
seems i have an eye for expensive schit before even seeing the price.
on epiphany's website i saw these - which really piqued my curiosity - no price listed for either on their website

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then i did a bit of googling - and felt the poo drizzle down my legs
Screen Shot 2025-07-12 at 16.32.00.jpg

Screen Shot 2025-07-12 at 16.31.41.jpg

i guess i'll be passing on those !!
 
no response from e-piphany yet.
will give them till lunchtime, then move on to a company that responds.

rather poor form from a company that has positioned itself in that end of the market.
given they have yet to respond to a sales enquiry, i'm left wondering how they respond to an after-sales complaint or problem,
 
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speaker bi-wiring

any experienced opinion on this ?
seems the jury out there has no proper verdict.

i'm contemplating my own experiment
 
Grant said:
speaker bi-wiring

any experienced opinion on this ?
seems the jury out there has no proper verdict.

i'm contemplating my own experiment
Click to expand...
I honestly cannot say it makes any difference even on a system I used 2 x Linn power amps per channel bi-wiring B & W CM10's. To my ears it was all the same whether bi-wired or bridged using only one power amp per channel. Others may have a different experience.

I still have a set of CM9's bi-wired on my AVR setup, but that was purely experimental as I had unused channels on the AVR amp. Can-t say it does anything though.
 
If you can, while doing renovations, try to run a dedicated power line from the DB on its own breaker to where all the equipment will be.

I am having some issues where my SUB just randomly shakes the fscking earth with random thundering sounds. Even while everything is powered off and there is nothing playing. I have removed every component from the line and swapped/removed multiplugs. Using the same plug for everything, i have tried it all.

So have narrowed it down to being an earthing issue or the sub plate amp is faulty.

I really don't know what to try anymore.
 
Pax said:
I honestly cannot say it makes any difference even on a system I used 2 x Linn power amps per channel bi-wiring B & W CM10's. To my ears it was all the same whether bi-wired or bridged using only one power amp per channel. Others may have a different experience.

I still have a set of CM9's bi-wired on my AVR setup, but that was purely experimental as I had unused channels on the AVR amp. Can-t say it does anything though.
Click to expand...
Tried something very similar with a pair of Linn LK280 amps driving their Ninka speakers. There was no clear advantage from the bi-wiring.
 
W@P said:
If you can, while doing renovations, try to run a dedicated power line from the DB on its own breaker to where all the equipment will be.

I am having some issues where my SUB just randomly shakes the fscking earth with random thundering sounds. Even while everything is powered off and there is nothing playing. I have removed every component from the line and swapped/removed multiplugs. Using the same plug for everything, i have tried it all.

So have narrowed it down to being an earthing issue or the sub plate amp is faulty.

I really don't know what to try anymore.
Click to expand...
that is the very reason i want to bring a consultant in.
correct placement of dedicated outlets, sufficient conduit to carry needed and potentially future cabling thru the floors and up the walls etc.

i have a manic aversion to exposed and visible cabling
 
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