It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Written by Published | Rapallo AV Team

The Rapallo families have been on to it this year. You’re not going to believe this, but we have Christmas shopping largely sorted already. No, we’re not the sort of folks who put up Christmas lights before daylight saving and display the reindeer in the garden by mid-October. But we don’t enjoy the last minute Christmas craze either. Let’s just say we have been pretty well organised this year. 

So, the real question here is: how is your Christmas shopping coming along?  And as a result, can we help you with that, maybe? 

So we asked our Rapallo guys whether they can inspire you with some great ideas for loved ones (Hello to the in-the-zone audiophile blokes, proud new home owners, movie-loving wives and partners, travel-eager parents, vinyl-spinning students and hip-shaking young adults). Unless you’re into cookbooks and high-heeled shoes, chances are we may be able to offer some inspiration. 

 

So what would be in our Christmas present for you if you…

 

… were a young couple or family that just moved into their new home. We would get you the Yamaha MusicCast BAR 400 Soundbar

The Rapallo guys listened to the Yamaha BAR 400 for the first time the other day, and they found the audio quality superb (Yes, we know Yamaha has got a thing with creating awesome soundbars!:-)). They loved how it provides the punch of a good stereo set up. It comes with all the perks of the latest MusicCast updates  and it can be expanded to a cool wireless surround system with the Yamaha MusicCast 50’s. We think it’s a vital step towards a very sleek TV and HIFI system for an apartment or small lounge.

 

…were a teenager. We asked Ben (who is not really a teenager any more, but young enough to relate to the age.) He thought the Klipsch R-15PM powered turntable system would be an awesome gift.

Have you noticed too, how young people get really excited about vinyl? (We have!) Here’s what Ben has to say: ‘It’s a great system for someone who wants to get a foot into the vinyl world. It comes with everything you need, and sounds really good for the price. Apart from the fact that the Klipsch R-15PM speakers are great desktop speakers, it’s also really cool that they have USB DAC and Bluetooth input, so you aren’t exclusively restricted to listening to vinyl alone.’

 

…were a busy father. Ben has some more ideas for a gift for his dad. He suggests the Cambridge Audio CXN v2, which is one of the most popular streamers on the market . And it’s an excellent one at that.

It’s a really smart and flexible Network streamer, with incredible upsampling capabilities that makes everything it plays sound amazing! Their proprietary 2nd Generation ATF2 up-sampling to 24-bit/384kHz makes you question everything you are listening to. ie: “Am I actually listing to Spotify, and not Hi-Res files?”

As a cheaper alternative, the Arcam rPlay is a great choice.

 

… were the cook or baker of the house. Now we might not do cookbooks, but we do have the Systemline E50 Multi-Room Audio System to get them to push out the food swinging.

The Systemline E50 Multi-room system is an installed Bluetooth music system with touch and gesture control that includes a pair of Q Acoustics Qi 65CB In-ceiling Speakers.  You might need some help getting it installed, but once it’s in, it’s really simple to use. What’s even better, it’s not taking up any bench-space and you can control it without touching anything. So no batter on the display.

 

…were a keen traveller. There was no way we were not going to include this one: the Beyerdynamic Blue Byrd ANC Noise Cancelling In-Ear Headphones. 

If you’re flying to visit family soon, will be great for the flight. It’s very compact to fit into your carry-on, it has exceptional sound quality, and great connectivity. And once you are done traveling, it becomes equally convenient at the gym.

Bart insists on adding that the Beyerdynamic Aventho wireless need a mention as well: ‘I really love the MIY app, as it calibrates the headphones with a detailed hearing test to my personal hearing and the results are impressive. The Aventho’s are the first on-ears that I enjoy, as they are light but fit my ears very well and the sound is excellent. I thought I’d never say it, but the brown leather finish looks pretty cool, a bit retro maybe but I love it.

 

…were a Home Cinema Enthusiast. The new JVC LX-UH1 4K UHD/HDR Projector is a great place to start and DLP projectors have come a long way, we think.

JVC make excellent top end projectors. With that in mind, it’s no surprise the LX-UH1 will be a market leader in the budget realm. With a few extra’s compared to the other DLP’s (like motorised lens shift), the Rapallo guys can testify it is an excellent picture for the money. It’s in the Rapallo demo room, so you can check it out there.

For a more upmarket option, the new Sony’s have our own pockets itching. That lens on the new VPL-VW870ES…man!

 

… were a gym lover. This one comes from Deano, who’s wife lives at the gym. Well sort of…. 😉 He reckons the FiiO M9 Digital Audio Player is the bees knees for her hardcore crossfit sessions, The portable audio player comes with a huge amount of memory and amazing hi resolution sound, so she can rock with every move.

 

… for the audiophile. Bart really thinks people should come and audition the Yamaha NS-5000 speakers for a high-end 2.0 set-up.

His arguments: ‘They’re not cheap, but I predict Santa will win Lotto this year and then I can listen to detail I have never heard before. The tweeters are impressive, producing a very detailed higher end, but without imposing on the mids or lows. These are speakers that are not fatiguing at all.’ Listening to Bart, we are thinking he would rather keep the speakers to himself. 😉

Santa failing to win the big ticket, the upcoming ELAC Vela’s (or any of their more budget siblings like the Debut 2.0’s or the Uni-Fi’s) or the Q acoustics 3000i Series are serious audiophile material.

 

…for my family. This is another Deano one:

‘I suggest buying a Rapallo’s gift vouchers, because let’s not beat around the bush, they are a pain to buy for and this way they can choose exactly what they want – easy, peasy.’

 

And what do the Rapallo men have on their Santa list for themselves?

 

Already the owner of a pretty cool home cinema, Bart dreams of building an audiophile 2.0 set-up. We already figured that he is tipping Santa to win the lottery for the Yamaha NS-5000 speakers, but he also thinks amplification should be done by the Kiwi made Perreaux amplifiers. The monoblocks with their preamplifier have caught his eye. But if Santa is a bit short-strapped on cash, he thinks even the entry level Perreaux integrated 80i is an amazing piece of amplifier.

 

Ben is still working on his stereo-set-up on a budget, that featured in our blog a while ago. Next item on his wish-list is the Emotiva BasX S10 Subwoofer.

‘It’s a great little subwoofer for my desktop audio system. I love my digital music. I currently have a pair of Jamo Bookshelf speakers, with the awesome Klipsch Powergate. Using the Emotiva Subwoofer will certainly add another level to my listening experience. It goes down to an incredibly low 27Hz, with 200 watts. This sub has the specs of an a subwoofer double its price. It’s a no brainer purchase in my books.’

 

And finally Deano is a man of few words. He is looking at Santa for the Chord Electronics M- Scaler.

‘Why? Because I heard the unit before release and it blew my mind. Finally digital sounds just like vinyl. Phenomenal!’