Search: “bang & olufsen”

This is just a quick review of this really great tiny and cheap Bluetooth transmitter/receiver. I’m posting about it for anyone googling a solution for their Bang & Olufsen A9 like I did.

Back in 2013 (so over 10 years ago which is crazy), I bought a Bang & Olufsen A9. Not sure what had gotten into me, probably related to some trauma from my divorce back then, but I somehow thought it was ok then to pay 890KD for it. The speaker actually ended up costing me more than that because after setting it up at home and realizing it didn’t look as good in my apartment as it did in the shop, I ended up redecorating my whole apartment around it (true story)!

Fast forward to today, I got married again and so redid my apartment and the A9 is back in the spotlight again. It looks even better now with my new aesthetic, but because technology has come a long way since I bought the A9, I was having issues streaming music to it. The AirPlay would work on and off, sometimes I needed to reboot the speaker to get it working right and it was just annoying to use, and so it was there for looks only. I was then googling to see if the unit had Bluetooth and confirmed it didn’t, but then I came across some people asking if there was a way to get bluetooth installed and someone mentioned getting a Bluetooth receiver. So I started researching and realized that, if I found a bluetooth unit tiny enough and ran off USB power, I could potentially strap it onto the back of the A9 with velcro or something, and just like that I’d have Bluetooth on my A9.

After doing some research on Amazon, I eventually decided on the LAICOMEIN 2-in-1 Bluetooth Adapter. It was both a Bluetooth receiver and transmitter, it was tiny, could be powered with USB, and it cost just $30. Now that I have it I can’t believe how perfect this little thing is.

My B&O A9 has a small compartment on the back with a cover. Inside the compartment is where you connect the power cable, ethernet, and RCA inputs. But, there is also a USB port which was used to connect to the iPhone during the first time setup. The LAICOMEIN came with everything I needed to connect to the A9 and the set up was SUPER easy. I just had to put the switch on the bluetooth unit to receiver mode, I then connected the USB cable and line-in cable to it, and then plugged the other end of the USB cable to the back of my A9 and the line out into the RCA inputs. As soon as I plugged it into the USB port a red light came on to let me know it had power, I then pressed and held the power button down to turn it on and switch to pairing mode. That was it! The A9 automatically detected there was a device connected to the RCA input so switched to that, and then my bluetooth turntable saw the A9 and connected to it. The whole thing took less than 5 minutes to set up.

The LAICOMEIN is also so small that I didn’t need to figure out a way to strap it to the back, it just fit inside the tiny compartment at the back of the A9, and then I just closed the cover and you can’t even tell there is anything there. It’s perfect!

Speaking of my bluetooth turntable. I recently found a great deal on a Pro-ject T1 BT turntable on eBay. It was a brand new open box unit and I managed to snatch it up for $284 with tax and shipping (add another 30KD to ship to Kuwait). In comparison it costs $499 on Amazon without tax so I basically got it for half the price. But, the T1 BT has the WORST implementation of bluetooth I’ve seen on any device ever. The bluetooth module is a separate unit at the bottom of the player with a separate on and off switch. The plan originally was to pair it with my KEF LSX speakers, but I couldn’t get the pairing to work. There are no lights on the T1 letting me know if bluetooth is on, if it’s connected to anything, or if it’s pairing and I just couldn’t figure it out. Eventually I gave up on it, but as soon as I installed the bluetooth receiver into the A9, I turned on the bluetooth switch on the side of the T1 just out of curiosity to see if anything happens, and right away it connected! So now my record player is connected to my A9 and I think I like this setup now.

So yeah, at just $30, LAICOMEIN 2-in-1 Bluetooth Adapter is a great purchase and I’m now thinking of getting one for my B&O Beolit 12 which I also purchased 11 years ago and also only has AirPlay. If you want to get Bluetooth on an old device, I totally recommend this, here is the link to it on Amazon.

Since I started working out at home I had been using my portable B&O Beolit 15 speaker for music. It was ok, but I felt I needed a bit more oomph to get me going during workouts plus I needed a CD player anyway. I still have all my CDs and there are some really great albums (like The K&D Sessions) that aren’t even available to stream. So I went out and bought myself a sound system and wanted to write about my experience in case anyone was interested in getting one, or just wanted to know what brands are available where.

There are three main places in Kuwait to get good audio system from:

Adawliah (Shuwaikh, Life Center location)
Brands: Bose, Jamo, Klipsch, Yamaha

Best Electronics (4th Ring Road, Shuwaikh location)
Brands: Denon, Definitive Technology, Earthquake Sound, Paradigm, Technics

Xcite (Avenues and Al-Rai locations)
Brands: AudioQuest, Bowers & Wilkins, KEF, Klipsch, Marantz, Onkyo, Polk Audio, SVS

In addition to the above, I also checked out Samma3a.com and Amazon.co.uk for AudioLab and Cambridge Audio brands since both sites would deliver to Kuwait. Samma3a had free shipping and Amazon UK although has expensive shipping, they remove the 20% VAT from the cost of the item when exporting so with the shipping cost the price balances out.

Like with everything I tend to buy, I do a ton of research first. I didn’t have a budget at first, I just found a nice setup at Best Electronics in Shuwaikh that had a Denon amp and CD player paired with Definitive Tech speakers and a small Earthquake sub for around KD500 which I liked. I initially decided I wanted to pay a lot less than that for my system, but, if I was to pay that much then I needed to make sure it was worth it. So I started the research process by looking at different brands locally and online.

I read and watched a ton of reviews and the more I did the more confused I was getting. The problem was that everyone had a different idea of what good sound is supposed to sound like. Most audiophiles for example would find what I like very “musical” which is their polite way of saying not authentic and over-exaggerated, but I also couldn’t agree with their idea of what bass is meant to sound like. In the end, the best thing I did was listen to the speakers myself before buying them. I had basically narrowed my options locally to three speaker brands, B&W, Definitive Technology, and KEF. I went to the showrooms expecting the salespeople to be unhelpful and I didn’t think they would actually let me test out the speakers, but, surprisingly, they were all super helpful. I had such a great experience in the audio sections of Adawliah, Best, and Xcite, they were all just fantastic. The salespeople I interacted with had no issues picking up and moving heavy speakers from one end of the showroom to the other just so they could connect them to a working amplifier and I could listen to them. I usually don’t like dealing with salespeople but something about the guys working in the audio sections, they all seem to have a passion for what they do.

In the end, I mostly stuck around at the Xcite branch in Al-Rai (shoutout to Cezar) since I decided I wanted KEF speakers and they had most of them on display there. I already had a pair of KEF LSX speakers which I had been using in my main living area and I really liked them so I decided to stick with KEF. Xcite had the KEF LS50W which is the LSX big brother selling for KD400 which was half the actual retail price and I was very close to getting it until I heard the KEF R7’s. While browsing I noticed the KEF R7’s were discounted and priced at KD379. So I had the salesman hook them up and I started listening to some of my music and that was it, I fell in love instantly. They were everything I was looking for in a speaker and I couldn’t believe I finally found the speakers I REALLY wanted. So I decided to buy them. The salesman checked his system and told me they were the last piece. It was odd cuz I could see his screen said he had 2 pieces left so I asked him about it and that’s when he hit me with the bad news. Turns out the R7’s were sold individually, not as a pair. Meaning the KD379 price was per speaker, so around KD750 for the pair after discount (close to 1,500 before). I ended up leaving empty-handed and sad since they sounded incredible but also cost wayyyyy more than I wanted to pay.

I spent the next few days thinking about a lot of things. Music was always something I was really into while growing up and something I always spent all my money on. The last time I bought a decent pair of speakers was 20 years ago, I was fresh out of college and right after moving back to Kuwait I bought a pair of Jamo X870 speakers from Adawliah. They were also discounted around 50% off and I spent maybe KD200 on them. And that was back when I was broke with maxed-out credit cards. I still have those speakers today and use them in my living room. So if I could spend that much money 20 years ago when I was broke, surely I can spend more now, so I did. I went back to Xcite and ended up picking the KEF R7’s. I then passed by Adawliah and picked up the Yamaha R-N803 integrated amp which was also discounted down to KD200. A few days later I headed back to Xcite and picked up a Marantz CD5005 CD player which was discounted down to KD60. And finally, this past weekend I dropped by Xcite one last time and picked up the SVS SB-2000 Pro subwoofer which was discounted down to KD259 to connect to my KEF LSX in my other room. My total bill is absurd, but, it’s been a a hell of a year so whatever.

So just a quick review, it’s been over a week now since I got the KEF R7’s and I really really love them. The sound comes out so clear and the bass really deep. I used to think my Jamo’s were great but they just sound so muddy now compared to the KEF’s. I’ve started listening to music more now while at home. Definitely no regrets with my purchase. The Yamaha amplifier has also been great, it pumps a lot of power to the speakers and also has the convenience of built-in WiFi. Because of the WiFi, I’ve now set up the KEF R7’s as AirPlay speakers making it super easy to stream to them whenever I want to. I also have the SVS subwoofer connected to my KEF LSX speakers downstairs and those sound even better than they did before, definitely worth the money.

If you’re looking to buy a proper sound system then Adawliah, Best and Xcite are your best options. Make sure you visit the locations I’ve specifically mentioned since that’s where you’ll find the brands I listed, their other showrooms won’t have them. Also, not everything is listed on their websites. Actually, nothing I bought was listed on any of the websites. At Adawliah the employee had to search through his system to tell me what 2-channel integrated amps they had in stock, at Xcite everything was showing as sold out, and Best doesn’t even have any of the brands I mentioned listed on their website.

Got questions? Let me know in the comments and I’ll try and answer them for you.

A few weeks ago I ordered a new turntable (Fluance RT81) from Amazon since the one I had was from the 60s and sounded great when playing old stuff, but not so great with newer music. Once the record player arrived I decided I’d look for a new pair of speakers that I would just use with it. I ended up passing by Xcite and narrowing down my options to the KEF LSX and The Sixes by Klipsch. Both sounded great, The Sixes looked retro which matched well with my player but they were also fairly big and bulky. The KEF were a perfect size, but they didn’t have the retro look of The Sixes which I liked. In the end, I decided not to buy either one because the KEF cost KD340 and the Klipsch KD240. I already had my B&O Beolit 15 speaker which I wasn’t using, so I decided to connect that to the turntable instead and save myself some money.

No bullshit, a few days later I log into Reddit from my browser and noticed someone had sent me a direct message with the chat feature. I check Reddit from my phone daily but the app I use doesn’t support chat and so I didn’t know someone had tried contacting me. The message was two weeks old from someone at Xcite asking me if I’d be interested in reviewing the KEF LSX. I right away replied back with my phone number hoping I wasn’t too late. A few days later I headed to Xcite to pick up the speakers to review.

Full disclosure, I have a long-standing relationship with Xcite who provided me with this speaker to keep. They’ve been very supportive of the blog from the very early days and they’ve lent or given me a number of items over the years to review, as well as hooking me up with discounts. I’m a huge Xcite fan.

The KEF’s turned out to be a perfect size for my turntable. They don’t overpower it and although they don’t look retro, they did fit in looking very cool on my cabinet. The speakers come in five different colors but I opted for black since it would match my space better. All the colors are clad in a fabric made by the Danish contemporary textile designer, Kvadrat so the speakers look and feel very premium (they’re also pretty heavy).

Each one of the KEF speakers has it’s own built-in amplifier so I had to connect each speaker to a separate power outlet. The reason for this is the speakers can be used wirelessly and placed in different areas around the room so they each need their own power supply. The KEF has four sources of input, Bluetooth, WiFi, optical input and a 3.5mm auxiliary input. I connected the record player through the auxiliary input and as soon as I played one of my records I was completely blown away. I didn’t think records could sound so good or clear, that partially had to do with the fact I had previously been listening to records with my vintage record player but it also had to do with the fact how good these speakers sounded. For their small size, the speakers were crystal clear and fairly loud. I could hear so many different layers of instruments and even at max volume, they never distorted or sounded muddy. In fact, the speakers sounded so good I started researching KEF speakers for my home theater.

For those of you who are interested in wirelessly connecting to the speakers, other than Bluetooth they support Airplay 2 and have Spotify and Tidal built-in. Although I’m using it with an analog connection to my record player, I do have the speakers connected to my WiFi network so I could connect to it with the KEF app. The KEF app allows you to manage all the settings of the speaker including the volume control, input port as well as various detailed sound options.

Speaking of the volume control, there are some downsides to these speakers with the main one for me being the lack of a physical volume knob. The only way to lower or raise the volume is with the included remote control or through the KEF app. I guess that’s practical if you don’t want to get off the couch, but with my vinyl player I tend to spend a lot of time up next to it swapping records and flipping them over, so I want to be able to reach out and raise or lower the volume without having to pick up the remote. The other negative is the lack of deep bass. Although most reviewers online state the unit has good bass, that really depends on the music you listen to. I wouldn’t listen to electronic music with these speakers, not unless I attach them to a subwoofer (it has a subwoofer output port). But since most of my vinyls are composed of old music from the 70s or MTV Unplugged sessions, the speakers performed really well without needing a subwoofer.

At KD340 these speakers aren’t cheap, but then again you wouldn’t be looking at KEF speakers if you wanted something cheap. The best way to really appreciate these speakers is by listening to them in a quiet environment because no matter how many YouTubers say these speakers are great, you’re not gonna know what great sounds like unless you hear them in person. Personally, I think these speakers sound incredible, so much so that I’ve been trying to figure out how to make more use of them since I don’t use my turntable a lot and I really want to listen to these speakers more.

If you’d like to hear the speakers, they’re on display at the large Xcite in Avenues and their Al-Rai location. The speakers are also available on their website.

I used to post a gift guide on the blog back in the olden days (jeez wtf) so I decided to bring the list back this year again. If you still haven’t purchased a Christmas gift then the list below might help you with some ideas. Everything listed below is available in Kuwait, the links will take you to the place that sells the item. I might add more to the list as I think of stuff but for now these are my recommendations:

Over KD75
B&O BeoPlay A2 Speaker KD120
B&O BeoPlay H5 Earphones KD85
Micro 3D Printer KD169
Pure Fix Brewster Bicycle KD100
Typographic Light Box KD140

Under KD75
B&O BeoPlay H3 Earphones KD50
Crafted Gift Box KD60
Nintendo Classic Mini KD60

Under KD50
AeroPress Coffee Maker KD17
Alive Yoga (1 Month Membership) KD39
Apple TV (4th Gen) KD47
Breville Smart Kettle KD25
Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker KD32.350
Fujifilm Instax Mini8 Instant Film Camera KD25
Nespresso Inissia Espresso Machine KD45

Under KD15
Black Classic Logbook KD8
Brother Personal Label Machine KD9.900
Casio – Retro Gold Watch KD13
Casio – Retro Steel Watch KD8
Eneloop Charger with 4xAA Batteries KD12.950
Klean Kanteen Stainless Bottle KD10
Mossery Dye Notebook KD3
Striped Shopping Bag KD9.750