Rejuvenating My 3rm 30year Old Flat In Amk

[neubie 2]

Today, went to Isetan at Shaw. Saw this nice sleek looking BOSE Companion 5 speakers. With only 2 speakers and 1 woofer, it can actually give surround sound, quite amazing. Considering there are only 3 components, I believe the number of wires running around will reduce significantly as well. Anyone used these speakers before? Able to advice if BOSE produces good speakers?

Buy Other Sound Equipment

[edward 0]

Mystery! mystery! mystery!

Went over to my house over the weekend to check on the progress. Finally all the tiling for the floor and the walls are done. Happy. While inspecting, suddenly saw this yellowish looking "oil" droplets on the ceiling of my guest room. See the attachment.

Ask the contractor if the tilers accidentally applied anything on the ceiling, he said 'no'. Then went upstairs to try figure out if the neighbours let oil sip into the floor, but the room above seem quite normal (never knock on their door, just peep from outside).

So now my wife and I are wondering what are these droplets of "oil" and where did they come from? Especially if there are any sipage from the floor above, there should be an obvious oil stain on the ceiling, but there is none.... hmmm...... headache....

Anyone experience something like that before?

[Andrew New 3]

Mystery! mystery! mystery!

Went over to my house over the weekend to check on the progress. Finally all the tiling for the floor and the walls are done. Happy. While inspecting, suddenly saw this yellowish looking "oil" droplets on the ceiling of my guest room. See the attachment.

Ask the contractor if the tilers accidentally applied anything on the ceiling, he said 'no'. Then went upstairs to try figure out if the neighbours let oil sip into the floor, but the room above seem quite normal (never knock on their door, just peep from outside).

So now my wife and I are wondering what are these droplets of "oil" and where did they come from? Especially if there are any sipage from the floor above, there should be an obvious oil stain on the ceiling, but there is none.... hmmm...... headache....

Anyone experience something like that before?

Should clean up and monitor !

[edward 0]

Should clean up and monitor !

Ya, my contractor got it cleaned up. Today went back to check but there isnt anything at the moment, just that the area looks a little shiny. We will continue to monitor. Worse case think we will go up to knock on the neighbour's door. If still cant, then we have to go to HDB. But my wife kind of worried its "something" else

[dexufto 5]

Hi Edward,

I just happen to own the Companion 5 multimedia speakers. Do bear in mind that these are meant for PC/ Laptop

hence it is best enjoyed at a closer range. Retailing at $700+, it is quite costly, but I must say it is certainly worth the

investment. I previously gotten a Companion 3 and sold it to get the companion 5.

I had in mind to get the lifestyle 5.1 Bose systems for my new place, if the budget fits..

Yes, in terms of installation, Bose has the minimal amount of wires running around and doesn't require fancyful position

(due to its Truespace (multimedia) and ADAPTiQ technology).

There are indeed other premium HTS in the market and an Audiophile would probably dismiss BOSE.. knowing what Amps, Subs,

Speakers.goes with what. For lame person like me, whom doesn't want big bulky speakers cluttering my already small 3-room.

Bose is the way to go.

My 2-cents worth

Today, went to Isetan at Shaw. Saw this nice sleek looking BOSE Companion 5 speakers. With only 2 speakers and 1 woofer, it can actually give surround sound, quite amazing. Considering there are only 3 components, I believe the number of wires running around will reduce significantly as well. Anyone used these speakers before? Able to advice if BOSE produces good speakers?

Buy Other Sound Equipment

[edward 0]

Hi Edward,

I just happen to own the Companion 5 multimedia speakers. Do bear in mind that these are meant for PC/ Laptop

hence it is best enjoyed at a closer range. Retailing at $700+, it is quite costly, but I must say it is certainly worth the

investment. I previously gotten a Companion 3 and sold it to get the companion 5.

I had in mind to get the lifestyle 5.1 Bose systems for my new place, if the budget fits..

Yes, in terms of installation, Bose has the minimal amount of wires running around and doesn't require fancyful position

(due to its Truespace (multimedia) and ADAPTiQ technology).

There are indeed other premium HTS in the market and an Audiophile would probably dismiss BOSE.. knowing what Amps, Subs,

Speakers.goes with what. For lame person like me, whom doesn't want big bulky speakers cluttering my already small 3-room.

Bose is the way to go.

My 2-cents worth

Thanks dexufto and neubie for your advise. I managed to read a thread with regard to HTS & sound systems in the forum. Many like neubie thinks that the sound quality of BOSE is inferior as compared to brands such as Onkyo, Yamaha or Marantz (see link below). But on the other hand, I totally agree with your argument, the trouble with the cables running around and with many pieces of speakers in our already small 3-rm.

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?sh...=25083&st=0

In addition, since the house is a super old 3-rm, hence, everything cannot conceal, so the problems are (1) untidy appearance of the house and (2) traps a lot of dirt when everything left exposed. As such, I will have to comtemplate between quality vs convinence and appearance. My wife is a music lover, who will love to own a piece of high quality sound system, in contrast, I am more a fuss-free person (fuss-free because I will have to clean the house eventually hahahahahaha). Think for now, I will put this aside, let me discuss with my wife, do some more research and comparisons on the speakers before making a decision.

By the way, I think its amazing so many of you bros and sis knows so much about everything.....

[neubie 2]

Thanks dexufto and neubie for your advise. I managed to read a thread with regard to HTS & sound systems in the forum. Many like neubie thinks that the sound quality of BOSE is inferior as compared to brands such as Onkyo, Yamaha or Marantz (see link below). But on the other hand, I totally agree with your argument, the trouble with the cables running around and with many pieces of speakers in our already small 3-rm.

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?sh...=25083&st=0

In addition, since the house is a super old 3-rm, hence, everything cannot conceal, so the problems are (1) untidy appearance of the house and (2) traps a lot of dirt when everything left exposed. As such, I will have to comtemplate between quality vs convinence and appearance. My wife is a music lover, who will love to own a piece of high quality sound system, in contrast, I am more a fuss-free person (fuss-free because I will have to clean the house eventually hahahahahaha). Think for now, I will put this aside, let me discuss with my wife, do some more research and comparisons on the speakers before making a decision.

By the way, I think its amazing so many of you bros and sis knows so much about everything.....

there are similar but far cheaper satellite speaker systems than bose... it's similar in setup,

music centre <-----cables-----> amplifier module cum subwoofer <------5 cables ------> 5 speakers

so not really true that other lesser systems have more cabling to work with.

i last time oso bought their lifestyle series after auditioning in their Atlas showroom, which is heavily soundproofed and accoustically tuned, paid 4k+, happily carry back, setup, and found the quality not so good as what i heard there... but still ok, but the novelty wears off...

the main advantage of using small satellite speakers is its low visual impact wrt the interior furnishings, but that's where it ends there.

generally, the cube speakers are not really capable of producing quality sound thru out the entire audio range. they may lack the details that's expected of a floorstanding speakers with separate speaker drivers. worse still, the subwoofer module is expected to play bass that maybe overwhelming when playing YoYoMa's pieces...

strictly speaking, if listening to pure audio, 2 front speakers will be more than enuf, no need the rear/centre speakers that destroys the stereo imaging and depth of Norah Jones or Rebecca Pidgeon. my 2 cents worth...

Edited October 10, 2010 by neubie

[edward 0]

Back to the renovations. Haizz the mystery of the oil droplets not solved, but life has to move onnnnnn.

Over the weekend, went over to check on the progress of the house. Despite the oil droplets mystery, I must say that I am very happy with the work done so far. All thanks to my project manager Yen for putting in effort to make sure that our many requests are fulfilled. As of today, all the tiles are completed, plastering of all the walls are completed and all floors/walls are washed (and chemical washed). Below are some of the photos, pardon me, I think I am not good with taking photos, they all seem the same as the previous ones

MASTER BED ROOM

KITCHEN

LIVING ROOM

I must say I am particularly happy with the feature wall in the kitchen as well as the tiles selected for my toilet. Think they make the house look like condo (hahaha, I know I sibei thick skin).

BEAUTIFUL FEATURE WALL FOR KITCHEN

NICE WALL TILES FOR TOILET

Despite all the nice work done, of course there were some problems along the way. Intially, I got a main door gate from my in-law's due to their house upgrading (they decided to use their old main gate and pass the new one to us), under the HDB ungrading scheme. So we thought can save a few hundred bucks from the gate. But 2 weeks back, after we brought it over to our house, realised that the gate is too long. Cannot fit our main door. So I asked Yen if he could get us a new main gate, but he was really nice to tell us that it will be more expensive to get through him (he quoted $450). Instead, through the newspaper, he found a supplier and told us to buy the main gate directly from the supplier (But of course he warned us that anything happen to the main gate, cannot be covered under his reno warranty). For that I think he deserve some credit.

[edward 0]

Continue from previous post (because I attached too many pictures, have to post on 2 replies)

With the completion of the renovation getting closer, I really look forward to the end of next week... The schedule will be plumbering, electricity and aircon. Attached below is the photo of the toilet bowl (claytan brand) I got, I think it looks sleek and importantly, not very expensive

Edited October 10, 2010 by edward

[vicenzo70 0]

Hi Edward,

I had in mind to get the lifestyle 5.1 Bose systems for my new place, if the budget fits..

Yes, in terms of installation, Bose has the minimal amount of wires running around and doesn't require fancyful position

(due to its Truespace (multimedia) and ADAPTiQ technology).

There are indeed other premium HTS in the market and an Audiophile would probably dismiss BOSE.. knowing what Amps, Subs,

Speakers.goes with what. For lame person like me, whom doesn't want big bulky speakers cluttering my already small 3-room.

Bose is the way to go.

My 2-cents worth

Hi all

Sorry i HAVE to clear all perceptions on BOSE.

One dont need a premium brand to sound better than Bose. In fact am entry level $2.5K Definitive Technology speakers sounds 200 times

better than Bose.

The only minus point for ADAPTIQ (whatever that is) is that they dont decode HD audio format eg True HD & DTS master Audio. In fact, Bose are

still selling jurassic technology with future premium prices. If you decide to get a bluray player, I can 100% guarantee that you have to upgrade

your system coz Bose cant decode HD formats. A basic $1K receiver (Yamaha, Onkyo, Denon) would suffie for the job here.

So think twice before getting Bose. Its expensive, its old tech & it doesnt sound any greater tahn a HTiB.

Cheers

[berry_surprise 0]

NICE WALL TILES FOR TOILET

we have the same tiles for toilet

[edward 0]

NICE WALL TILES FOR TOILET

we have the same tiles for toilet

Hahaha... they are the same. Arent they beautiful? The "fake" version of those italian tiles but look as good. BTW do you have problem maintaing the tiles? Especially algaes?

[edward 0]

Hi all

Sorry i HAVE to clear all perceptions on BOSE.

One dont need a premium brand to sound better than Bose. In fact am entry level $2.5K Definitive Technology speakers sounds 200 times

better than Bose.

The only minus point for ADAPTIQ (whatever that is) is that they dont decode HD audio format eg True HD & DTS master Audio. In fact, Bose are

still selling jurassic technology with future premium prices. If you decide to get a bluray player, I can 100% guarantee that you have to upgrade

your system coz Bose cant decode HD formats. A basic $1K receiver (Yamaha, Onkyo, Denon) would suffie for the job here.

So think twice before getting Bose. Its expensive, its old tech & it doesnt sound any greater tahn a HTiB.

Cheers

Hi Vicenzo70, thank you for the advise. With so many people warning me on BOSE, I guess I better think twice I think I will make a trip down to Adelphi to see what are the options available, but if the $$$ is way beyond my budget, maybe I will go for a household brand for the time being. Maybe philips HTS7200/98, looks pretty nice.

http://www.philips.com.sg/c/home-theater-s...hts7200_98/prd/

[edward 0]

Disappointing monday

Took leave today because the plumber was supposed to start work today. I have many questions to ask him with regard to the installation of the storage-type heater tank and the running of the hot-water pipes because I intend to invest on the Hansgrohe basin and shower taps.

The consideration is, if the plumber tells me that he cant install the storage-type tank, then I can return the tank to Poh Joo and exchange for 2 x instant heaters and the cold water taps. But if I buy the Hansgrohe taps (before the plumber confirms that he can install and run hot water pipes in my 3 rm), and if the plumber tells me he cant install the tank, chances are I cant exchange for anything from Hansgrohe since they dont produce cold water taps (= money down the drain). So, happily I woke up at 8am, make my way to the house by 9am. 15mins after I reached, got a call from Yen. He told me the plumber reported sick, ATTEND C, for dont know how many days. Faint.

Anyhow, I was informed that the plumber can only come over on Wed. So no choice, I have to buy all the taps today (since cannot take leave on Wed) and pray for the best, though Yen told me "no problem".

On a brighter side, today went over to the wrought iron gate show room at AMK industrial park intro by Yen. To my surprise, they are selling this budget and decent looking wrought iron gate (only 1 design and 1 color, cannot choose, take it or leave it type) at only $188net. Faint again. Cheapest found so far. Fast leg, fast hand, tell the sales lady to register my purchase (before they change their mind about the price).... hahahahahaha......

[berry_surprise 0]

Hahaha... they are the same. Arent they beautiful? The "fake" version of those italian tiles but look as good. BTW do you have problem maintaing the tiles? Especially algaes?

so far no problem