£300 or 2k..?

[letsavit]

Hi

My old system has been in the garage since i moved in my current home about a year ago, it is a pioneer a400,marantz cd67 and some tannoy M3's, as you can see by my the kit i havnt been into hi fi for a few years. Now doing my living room up and fancy a new system to go in it, the rooms about 14x12 and there is not really the room for a stereo on a stand and floorstanding speakers, even if i try to create some space the missis would moan and my 3&4 year old's would love playing with it...! So its got to be on a shelf between the chimney stack.

Fancy looking at the Naim 5i CD and AMP but am i wasting my money having this and some £500 bookshelf speakers sitting on a shelf? or should i just bite the bullet and get the onyke mini system with some F1's and forget hi fi for another 10 years.

Thanks

 

[Gwyndy]

How long is the shelf?
You could consider going for a more expensive system than the Onkyo mini-system and allocate some of your budget to isolation platforms, Nordost Pulsar Points et cetera. They may help make the most of whatever you do buy through isolating the components from some of the vibration effects.

 

[nads]

[quote user="letsavit"]
Hi

should i just bite the bullet and get the onyke mini system with some F1's and forget hi fi for another 10 years.

Thanks

[/quote] yes, it does not seem that you have missed it. Or you could be sneaky and go down the AV route but get a AV Amp that is respectable for Music....

 

[Anonymous]

Never bite the bullet!

There's real estate in between Naim and Mini Systems mate. If I were you I'd still spend the 2k, just reallign so that 1k of it goes into crispy new speakers, it's so common to blow amp and source all out of proportion imho. If your speakers aren't up to it there's no point. Try looking at Dali, ProAc and my beloved Totem (et al). Seriously go audition proper speakers, there's loads of reasonably priced kit out there to run them that will sound beautiful.

 

[drummerman]

I dont think you'd be waisting money. Get the best you can afford and like after listening to it. Dont worry about racks/stands etc. Of course you can optimise performance but a quality system will shine through. You can always add these things later.

 

[Anonymous]

Two ideas to bear in mind: "The law of diminishing value" and "A job worth doing, is a job worth doing properly". Your decision! : )

Note: Go with the second phrase....

 

[drummerman]

[quote user="Hughes123"]
Two ideas to bear in mind: "The law of diminishing value" and "A job worth doing, is a job worth doing properly". Your decision! : )
Note: Go with the second phrase....

[/quote]

I would normally agree but most people dont have what you and I would call an ideal set up, be that because of children, room layout etc. ...

... by the way, have you sorted your bedroom out with them Evo's squeezed in next to your (lovely) system ... ?

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="drummerman"]by the way, have you sorted your bedroom out with them Evo's squeezed in next to your (lovely) system ... ?

[/quote]

Well....no, not yet....I can't really move it...I don't have another place for it to go.....They are 1.2m apart!

 

[Anonymous]

...but my new garage set-up is awsome! Got all my old equipment in there (look at my signature) and it really does have room to breathe! Oh, and those Akai old micro system speakers (vener finished ones from 1997) are really good! DVD player was the best one money could buy at the time, 2001(or you could get in a shop)also!

 

[Anonymous]

Oh man we're going off-topic...

Hughes link me the pics of your set up man. I want to see all those creamy FMJ's.

See my new setup in the "what's in a naim?" post??? I'm quite chuffed.

 

[Thaiman]

2K!

 

[Anonymous]

Link: http://whathifi.com/forums/t/8860.aspx?PageIndex=2

 

[letsavit]

Thanks for the replies..

I know there is good stuff inbetween £300 and 2k but what i really trying to say is any worth buying any if not set up correctly?

Have been looking at everything from a mini system to the Nad set up at Superfi to Roskan and Naim. Think Naim is there because its the stuff i wanted years ago but couldnt afford, i can now..

what i'm really trying to say is at what price does hifi become a total waste if not set up correctly. Say i go for middle ground, the NAD stuff for 1k. I know its going to sound much better on a shelf than a mini but is it worth spending more after this without much approvment because its not set up correctly.

The other issue i going to have is a demo, what sounds nice in the shop will not represent what i have at home ie, a chimney, two shelfs either side in each alcove.

Am i better with two solid shelfs and front ported speakers on each side of the chimney or how about brackets?

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Ooh well I'd say you should DEF buy Naim if it's what you've always wanted. Otherwise you'll just toss whatever you get for Naim sooner or later. You should be able to get an in-home demo if you're dropping this kind of money so testing it out in ye olde awkward room shouldn't be too hard. Don't be afraid to go through a few speakers as testers, if you go to a good hifi shop they won't mind, too much.

As far as the speaker question, if floorstanders are a definite no-go then it sounds like front-ported would be the way to go. Provided the bookshelf one uses is solid-as-heck, anchored by a couple hundred books and you stick some brass cones, or a mat or blu-tac under the speakers you should recieve good sounds. As far as what there is in front-ported speakers... I can't think of any of the top of my head, but the forum will know. If you decide to go that route just start a new thread demanding good front holes.

 

[JoelSim]

Why spend £300 if you have £2k to spend. I guarantee that if you spend £2k you will spend much more time listening to it, and it will become much more part of your life again.

 

[huddo]

[quote user="JoelSim"]Why spend £300 if you have £2k to spend. I guarantee that if you spend £2k you will spend much more time listening to it, and it will become much more part of your life again.[/quote]

Yep, what Joel said.

 

[drummerman]

[quote user="letsavit"]The other issue i going to have is a demo, what sounds nice in the shop will not represent what i have at home ie, a chimney, two shelfs either side in each alcove.[/quote]

Again, you need a good dealership that allows you to dem at home. Some people seem shy at asking dealers to allow them to try at home but a good one will let you dem in-shop and then take your shortlisted stuff home for a few days. If not happy, bring back, try again and so on until your happy. He (dealer) will know you are much more likely to come back for future upgrades etc.

 

[the record spot]

You've set yourself a budget, at least the paramaters within which you are likely to spend, your best bet is then to decide what gear you want, either through listening or checking out the various magazines. You can buy new, or source through an increasingly popular used market which can turn up some amazing deals.

You could pick out some of the best items at two or three price points within your range, both new product and used (if you want to go down the latter route). If space is limited, can you put up some wall shelves? Sorry, I haven't read all of this thread, but not having room for a rack is no barrier to getting some decent sounds. Ultimately, only you can decide what you want pay for a system, but whatever you end up deciding make sure it's from an informed position. Heck, involve your other half in it all - or at least in the auditioning process!

One last thing, though I know others disagree...with this budget, I wouldn't lay 50% of your maximum on speakers alone. You'll get some great boxes for significantly less and you won't have the problem of great speakers not having the best made of them by the partnering source equipment going in to them. Consider AVI Neutron VIs or Vs at around £500 which are tiny, but are total winners at the price and which perform way beyond what you might expect from their diminutive cabinets. They'll only take up a quarter of your budget and leave you plenty of room for the components which matter - GIGO still applies even today!

 

[Anonymous]

IMO those one box Onkyo's are awesome! I'd rather have one of them over some much much more expensive kit...

 

[JoelSim]

[quote user="BigGuads"]IMO those one box Onkyo's are awesome! I'd rather have one of them over some much much more expensive kit...[/quote]

You'd be missing a trick if you did that. This is just a compromise.

I agree that the AVI Neutron IV are great speakers but I would be tempted to split the budget roughly £600, £400, £800 CD/amp/speakers and allow £200 for cables etc. Then in time buy a matching power amp as an upgrade.

Or go used now and blow your £2k on some seriously good kit.

 

[John Duncan]

[quote user="JoelSim"]I would be tempted to split the budget roughly £600, £400, £800 CD/amp/speakers[/quote]

Agreed, but I'd swap the budget for amp and speaker, or even go 300/500/800, or even more controversially, 200/300/1k+

 

[the record spot]

£1,000 gets you great speakers. So, those of you out there who bought the £600 Saxon that was panned in WHF 6 or 12 months back can find out just HOW great it sounds after all if you spend another £1000! And that's using a rubbish £600 player.

This would put John's theory to the test - and mine I expect. The Saxon and maybe a pair of Dynaudio Audience 52s, which were around the £1000 mark I think? Use a Cambridge 640A or Marantz PM7200 or similar around the £300 mark and do the shootout!

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="JoelSim"][quote user="BigGuads"]IMO those one box Onkyo's are awesome! I'd rather have one of them over some much much more expensive kit...[/quote]

You'd be missing a trick if you did that. This is just a compromise.

I agree that the AVI Neutron IV are great speakers but I would be tempted to split the budget roughly £600, £400, £800 CD/amp/speakers and allow £200 for cables etc. Then in time buy a matching power amp as an upgrade.

Or go used now and blow your £2k on some seriously good kit.[/quote]

I strongly disagree. I've the heard Onkyo sound far more enjoyable than a lot of much more expensive kit including naim 5 series, Linn Klassik, Cyrus 8, Arcam etc. The only trick i'll miss is one of handing over a large wad of cash for less enjoyment...

 

[letsavit]

Thanks for all the replies

BigGuads, kinda went you way,....got the marantz 6002 pair for only £400...so now need some budget bookshelf speakers and cables including one for an ipod, budget say around £300....what you reckon guys.?

Also fancy some cheap outdoor speakers and ill set the old system up in the garage for music on the patio..

To be honest unless i get the upgrade bug and get back into hifi as a hobby ill think this will do me for a good few years..

Thanks

 

[drummerman]

[quote user="BigGuads"]I strongly disagree. I've the heard Onkyo sound far more enjoyable than a lot of much more expensive kit including naim 5 series, Linn Klassik, Cyrus 8, Arcam etc. The only trick i'll miss is one of handing over a large wad of cash for less enjoyment...[/quote]

Yes, they are pretty neat little systems and I would add the little yamaha too. I think, if I was really cash strapped I could easily live with one of them for a while. They also kind of take all the 'audiophile obsession' with sometimes useless, overpriced accessories out of the equation and let you enjoy just the music. I am seriously considering Primares All-in-one as a birthday present to myself

to place in my girlfriends flat, where I spend as much time as in my own place. I start a thread on that soon as I'm interested in what experience people have had with that component. Heard it a couple of times and its nice.