retro radio query

I'm not sure why a BBC person would be expected to account for the quality of non BBC stations, but the main BBC ones sound rather better than medium wave, IMHO. And the lack of multi-path reception problems that spoil good FM reception for many are most worthwhile. I only use it for R3&4 reception, and on the whole I'm pleased with it. But a cheaper way for decent domestic reception as an alternative to FM is a secondhand Freeview box - the bitrate on this is higher than DAB, although the choice of stations not so great.

I'm afraid it's those that wanted the high quality that it is capable of that are the reason for the cramming in of lower bandwidth stations - they didn't buy it early enough, so the powers that be decided they needed more choice rather than the ultimate audio quality.

Reply to
Dave Plowman
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But give them their due, Virgin are at present the only non-classical music station broadcasting at 198kb/s. ANd they are availabel nationally on DAB.

I do however note that not one station broadcasts at the 300kb/s that was originally promised for DAB.

Reply to
Steve Firth

90 quid a metre is cheap rubbish. Try Opus MM speaker cable at $29750 for an 8ft pair.
Reply to
Dave Plowman

He wasn't. Local radio includes rather a large number of BBC stations and the Beeb to its discredit drops R4 down as low as 64kb/s at times.

Swap one osrt of mush for another sort of mush.

R3 is broadcast at the highest bit rate currently in use, and R4 is mainly speech so I suspect that you're getting the best of what's available.

[snip]

"More choice" is this a euphemism for more moronic phone ins?

Whatever, "the powers that be" have ensured that DAB is pointless, congratulations to them for the f*ck up.

Reply to
Steve Firth

Holy shitola. I'm sorry but there's people starving in Africa. This is obscene, I though £90/m was bad enough but... Christonabike, isn't this the budget for the loom in the space shuttle? Tell you what, I'll stick to my mains cable for the speakers, and anyone who buys this stuff deserves a kick up the arse. I don't care how good it is (the cable, not a kick up the arse). I'd love to see the results of blindfold listening tests, and the peaks on the chart produced by the objective measuring equipment. Talk about the emperor's new clothes.

Reply to
DocDelete

Mains cable will do for middle of the road systems. The two things you need are a) Plenty of low resistance conductor capable of passing the peak current requirement of the LF component and b) Low capacitance between the conductors to prevent shunting the HF signals.

You can get some wonderful stuff for under £2.00 a metre, but I am inclined to agree that anything much more expensive is probably the "King's new clothes".

The only thing to avoid on almost any system is the manky bit of bell wire that the manufacturers provide with budget systems.

Reply to
Andy Luckman

Oh dear. I've always considered mine a bit better than that. Although it doesn't have designer labels...

Err, mains cable is available in a vast range of sizes. And the largest common domestic size is rated at 70 amps. Not that it would fit the average speaker connector, or that I'm saying it's necessary or desirable.

With the average amp having an output impedance of near zero, you'd need a hell of a lot of capacitance to have an effect at audio frequencies, and I don't think you'll find a mains cable that would.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

Dave Plowman realised it was Fri, 10 Oct 2003

15:11:32 +0100 and decided it was time to write:

That's a rip-off. It's only $23,500 according to

formatting link

Reply to
Yippee

Not so. It's possible the World Service which is broadcast on R4's frequency after R4 closes down is this low, but then it's a service which wouldn't claim to be of the highest audio quality as it's generally received via short wave.

Perhaps we hear things rather differently. Most medium wave broadcasts are appalling as are most modern receivers.

I'd soon stop using DAB if the quality disappointed - after all there are plenty of choices.

Yup. And dozens of 'pop' stations playing the same records introduced by the same moronic sounding DeeeeeeJaaaaays.

I suppose I'm simply saying 'I'm all right Jack' since the stations I listen to are reasonable. But others have the choice not to buy DAB and or listen to the stations where they think the quality is too bad - the commercial ones need an audience to survive.

However, most of the stuff on FM is processed to hell and beyond with loudness enhancers like Optimod - apparently without complaint from the listeners, so I'm not surprised the DAB powers are willing to transmit something worse than MP3. The public apparently don't care.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

Probably seconds.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

Oh Gawd, please don't start me off. It's an attitude that's everywhere - you're talking to a graphic designer who has to put up with stuff like, "oh just download that 2k gif and print it on our brochure at A4 - it'll be fine".

Right, back to cars: where's me spanner?

-- Ken Davidson

Reply to
DocDelete

I have yet to see a hifi buff measuring the v.s.w.r of their cables. Whereas radios hams are very fussy when it comes to cable conditions. Bad cables = radio energy escaping from the cable rather than that aerial mounted up high (= possible interference to next doors tv). Besides, peak audio runs to 20000 hertz, mr radio ham pushes 434900000 hertz up his 90p per metre cables. (Example).

-- Regards SDD

Warning: Email reply address is a spamtrap, remove teeth to reply directly !!!!

Reply to
Ahgowonwidya

For a reasonable LS cable, try Maplins. They do a nice range called "Van Damme", available in 2, 4 or 8 core, 0.75 to 4mm, max cost £5.00 a metre for 8 core, £3.00 for 2-core.

Alex

Reply to
Alex

Think it's more designed for stage etc l/s use as it is sheathed. Their XR72 Hi-Fi speaker cable at 0.69 a metre would be easier to conceal.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

Hmm. I prefer it sheathed. Keeps it nice and tidy. Plus I used to work on (behind) the stage, and you appreciate the durability there.

Alex

Reply to
Alex

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