Just received the last of my orders for organ music   "Bach Organ Music from Soissons Cathedral".  That's in France.

Played the new record - lovely music but rather a lot of small scratches and pops.

7 hours ago, Gina said:

Played the new record - lovely music but rather a lot of small scratches and pops.

The 'warmth' of a vinyl LP being played...  You don't get that with CD/DVD audio... they're 'cold' and 'clinically sterile'. 

I find digital to be "rough", sounds rather like a slight distortion yet my technical side can't work out why.

Been looking at subwoofers yet more and the only difference I can see between different sizes (8" to 15") seems to be power capacity.  So I think I'll buy an 8" one and try it - not much to loose at about £25  

Looking at QTX 8-Inch Woofer with Kevlar Cone and this amp to drive it - DROK® TDA8920 Subwoofer Stereo/Audio Digital Home Amplifier 140W Power AMP Module DIY

I reckon I could use 12mm OSB as the baffle with extra bracing - easier that thicker board.

Here my set up from the 80s , 2 x rotel bridged mono amps 400 watts each, going to audiolab 8oooq  only have volume and gain, 2xcd players, + tanoy ,  turntable under the bed somewere. I still love the sound with or with out the turntable .

I've ordered that speaker to have a look at.  If I don't like it I can return it (for any reason within 14 days).  Might order the amp.  I have at least one spare 24v 5A PSU and might have two but they aren't expensive anyway.  (The amp wants two 24V 5A supplies.)

The speaker has arrived and boy, it's heavy   Total weight is 2.76Kg of which 1.1Kg is the magnet!  It's rated at 250W RMS and the lower frequency limit is quoted as 27Hz.  I reckon this will work so I've ordered the amp which is due to arrive tomorrow.  I have decided that I don't want to spend £300 on a subwoofer box and estimate the total expenditure on the fireplace subwoofer system as around £70-£80 plus a bit of time and elbow grease

Fireplace opening is a rectangle with dimensions of 16.25" wide x 23.5" high and I have several pieces of 48" x 24" OSB spare.  I had planned to fit the board inside the opening but I could just as easily put it on the surface of the fire surround and use battens to fit inside the opening.  That would save me cutting half an inch off one edge    I have power tools - a circular saw I can use for the outside and a jigsaw for the round speaker hole.

Amp has arrived