Any stereo buffs in the room?

I'm looking for recommendations for a mid to high end system not over £1K.

Needs to have

• Pretty good sound quality
• CD/FM/DAB
• iPod dock, and HDD to store its own music

I've looked through the 'obvious' sites like Currys and the nearest they have is the Sony NASE300HD but Mrs TC doesn't like the style and I have some doubts if a mass-market product will give the best sound (yes I know MP3 is a shitty compressed format but I want to start with good kit for at least a fighting chance for my CDs and LPs).

TIA

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Never break more than one law at a time, and never carry more grass than you are willing to eat.

Seperates Hi-Fi is the way to go at this price, you'll not find anything like that in Curry's et al. Even a cheap set-up will sound better than a combined system.

I dunno if Hi-Fi buffs rate them or not, but I've always had excellent service from Richer Sounds stores. You really must try before you buy too, something that RS will let you do no probs. I'd just go to one of their branches and tell them what you've just told us.

You want to go down the separates route. Decent integrated amp (i.e. with preamp and power amp in one unit) or better yet separate pre and power, especially since you'll need a dedicated pre amp for vinyl.

Choice will depend on speakers (and stands) so I guess that's where you start because you'll want speakers to suit the room, you're preferred volume levels and of course your taste in "sound". Not as straightforward as it may appear because otherwise you'd simply get some "monitor" speakers (like mine) which they use to critically assess music while it's being mixed. They are dead "accurate" but hardly a musical experience.

So decide on speakers (and stands), find an amp to match then top up with your chosen sources. My guess is for a grand you'll want to spend £450 on speakers + stands, £350 on the amp(s) and a couple of hundred on sources.

Because it's me, I recommend going the preowned route for which you'll get a fantastic system for the money. You'll need to do a bit of research but at each price point there will be a known range of recommended kit.

Screwd.

What he said


Richer will be pushing Cambridge Audio (because they own CA ). Nothing wrong with Cambridge stuff - we've got one of their DVD players - but there's other choices out there.

Pick up a Yellow Pages, look for local hi-fi shops, Go and audition as much stuff as you can. And use your ears not your eyes

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onli mrns Us txt spk

The RS website looks promising - had heard the name but hadn't considered them thus far. Been to a few 'separates' shops but those seem to be run by techies for techies..... hence asking for any reccs

Thanks to all BTW - good stuff - keep em coming

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Never break more than one law at a time, and never carry more grass than you are willing to eat.

You could consider getting an AV receiver, and having surround sound for your TV, too.

I have an Onkyo receiver, which has FM radio built in, with a Samsung Bluray player providing DVD / CD source, and a Kensington iPod dock. A JBL subwoofer, JPW front and JBL rear speakers.

It's not the ultimate in hifi for music, but it's relatively compact, convenient, and sounds good enough for our living room. And having good quality sound for movies is awesome.

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At the risk of sounding like a copy of What Hi-Fi, I'd not bother with surround sound for a £1k set-up...you're just halving the amount of money you can spend on each speaker. Since the speakers are the bits that actually make the noise, you want them to be the highest spec you can get.

If you have the cash to splash, i'd get a valve based amp at least. The sound really is unique.

Checkout Richer Sounds - The UK's Hi-Fi, Home Cinema & Flat Panel TV Specialists! as they cater more for those who have the cash.

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GSX550.

Profile updated.

True. You'd only be wanting to buy surround at sub 1k if it's specifically that which you are after, rather than audio from radio/music.

I've also had good service from Sevenoaks in the past (Sevenoaks Sound & Vision).

One persons ace system might well be anothers horrendous cacophony because people prefer different "tones" to the music so it's always best to go and listen to it yourself rather than rely on a review or recommendation, although they are a good place to start.

For reviews, AVForums.com Home and AVForums home cinema equipment reviews are good alongside your normal review type sites.

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Rpoints.com cashback FTW!

If you're going to be playing mp3's or other lossy formats through a high-quality sound system then you're wasting your money. I've tried playing high bit-rate mp3 through my system and the system just shows how bad these lossy formats are in terms of fidelity.

As for separates..I recommend and use Arcam. Excellent stuff, but it isn't cheap.

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Sponsored by Demon Bikes & NYRRSC

I'm not disputing that separates are better, but if 'er indoors really wants to go small and neat try the Bose kit. SWMBO was determined to remove "ugly black boxes and wires everywhere" when we redecorated. She likes the small neat Bose, and for a very small unit it sounds good.
They also do a 30 day trial so if you cannot stand the sound you can send it back.

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Cousin Jack

A bof that rides a Bonnie T100.

This came up (similarly) recently. Richer Sounds is a decent place but far from the be all and end all. They push CA stuff as moff says but have other brands too - just not very many and mainly do end of line and cheaper stuff. You'll get a far fuller range of options from just about anywhere else but once you've made a decision then it's always worth looking back at RS to see if they have what you were looking for. Increasingly they don't though

Superfi and Hyperfi are two better starting points than RS from memory.

In terms of the iPod part, I wouldn't get too hung up about it. All you actually need is a 10-quid cable of course, or a 15-quid dock if you want it to look pretty. Quite a lot of lower-end stuff will have an integrated dock which is all very neat, but I wouldn't limit yourself by only considering these.

Likewise (possibly), the hard disk option is not something you'll find in all but a couple of either cheaper or specialist amps. Running a PC/laptop wirelessly to the amp is a much simpler and cheaper alternative if it suits you at all and then you'd be able to spend all your budget on amp and speakers which will give you something pretty good. The same money spent on something integrated with hard disk and iPod dock will give you something in a different league in terms of quality.

There is a problem with this insofar as the iPod (like every other mp3 player) does not have a proper lineout. You'd be using a headphone output and that just doesn't have the ooomph to properly drive sound into an amp. There headphone jack is usually tuned for a completely different input impedance. This results in a low volume output through the amp and not enough dynamic range. In short...it sounds shit.

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www.twpdracing.com
Sponsored by Demon Bikes & NYRRSC

I know you weren't specifically saying this, but don't get confused by connecting iPods with only MP3s. It's just as easy to play lossless stuff on one. All my music is on a hard drive in lossless and is as good as CD*.

Agreed. You'll be wanting to look at outgoing models in that budget though. I got my Arcam amp half price and am very happy. Would still only just fit in budget though.


*This isn't the thread for discussions on DACs

Agreed, and that's why I wouldn't bother with that bit and recommended using a PC as source. Far more flexible, far more potential capacity.