Sound Advice

Without Giving away my age, I can report that I spent my teen years indulging my love of music through Vinyl. We never owned an amazing sound system and  I listened to most of the music that my parents despised on headphones plugged in to their 'Sharp' 3 in 1. I still have a collection of LPs that are as notable for their cover art as they are for the actual music.

During the late 80s and early 90s I was regularly seen walking about with my Sony sports Walkman concealed inside my jacket - particularly as i backpacked around Europe, ensuring it didn't get swiped.


Eventually I of course progressed to CDs, and finally an Ipod. More recently still, I know listen to my music through headphones plugged in to my Iphone. Nothing unique there.

At home though, I have been listening to music by way of my lap top plugged into my  seriously outdated Sony 3 in 1 (the speakers being constructed from Beech will give you an idea of their vintage). It has proven loud enough for setting the scene at dinner parties and snappy little brunches at my humble abode. And supplying sufficient alcohol to guests on arrival meant that they were less likely to tell that sound was only being delivered through one speaker. Unfortunately (or not) that final speaker finally gave up the ghost. 

I secretly smuggled the offending equipment, dust covered ikea speaker stand and badly spliced speaker wires in to the lift just before 6AM one day for a discrete drop off at the garbage room downstairs. Unfortunately the very pretentious couple from one of the penthouses upstairs (where else) were in the lift going down at the same time, only adding to my embarrassment with the exclamation - 'oh my god - is that a tape deck??!'

But I had already vowed to up the stakes in the purchase of a new device for delivering sound for my next snazzy soirée. (notice I stopped short of saying sound system). 

Now let me tell you that since the 80s the range of retailers offering sound advice for an aspiring audiophile was significant. These days you can either seek out a high end audio retailer (and a second mortgage) and be embarrassed by your lack of funds and quality Vinyl, or take yourself off to JB Hifi, Harvey Norman or (god Forbid) the Apple store.

But truthfully the Apple store does stock an exemplary range of MP3 compatible devices. Unfortunately they full short of stocking a  full range of knowledgeable sales people.

My salvation came Via MrPorter.com, where I was able to narrow my options down to:

• Bowers & Wilkins 'Airplay'
• Bose 'Sound Dock'
• Bang & Olufsen 'Play'

Loved the look of the Bowers & Wilkins until I saw it - too small  I thought. link 

REALLY  loved the look of the B&O Play8 (and 9 to be honest) but in this case too large for my tiny apartment - http://www.beoplay.com/ 

So finally i thought that the sensible choice was going to be the Bose Sound Dock, backed by the idea that it was both economical (closer to $400) and i could road test it in our Villa during our week in Seminyak Bali. Loved the sound in our villa. Almost too loud. I was sold.

Long story short, I ended up in the Bose Store not long after the holiday and was immediately drawn to a newer model than the Sound Dock, the Bose 'SoundTouch 20'

http://worldwide.bose.com/axa/en_au/web/soundtouch_20/page.html - closer to $550 with similar if not better sound quality to the Sound Dock, but without the dock a much more streamlined unit.

At that slightly higher price point I was able to reconsider the Bowers and Wilkins and that is where I have made my choice:

• Looks very smart
• Sounds amazing
• Runs through Apple Air (upload the B&W app to your phone)
• small enough to fit my entertainment unit and, in theory, not annoy my neighbours.

I will report back once I have had it a while for a satisfaction rating.