£900 to spend on my first hifi :-)

[admin_exported]

This is my first post and I know nothing about hifis

I have just started my first job and when I get paid at the end of the month I am going to spend it all on a new hifi.

After paying tax and rent to my mum I will have £900 to spend. Is this enough to get a good quality sound. I have a PS3 and a Mac mini with spotify and itunes. Can I use this or will I need to get a CD player to get good sound.

What is best for £900. The Monitor Audio Bronze BX2 speaker and Marantz PM6004

thank you

 

[caddyhound]

Welcome to the forum.Your mac mini will do very well as a source provided you rip your music into apple lossless or better.Add an external hard drive for purely music storage.A pair of second hand AVI ADM9.1 speakers with a digital cable to connect to your mac mini is all you need.They are standmount speakers ( stands would be good) with built in amps and Dac.They will give you a better quality of music than separates at this price and mean you don't have lots of big boxes to accommodate!

 

[FennerMachine]

Find a local Hi-Fi store and demo some kit. No nee to rush! Give them your budget and existing kit and see what they can come up with. Maybe take your PS3 and/or Mac mini.

Itunes and a PS3 might be good enough for you if your budget is strictly £900.00, that will get you reasonable amp and speakers.

You could always add a CD player at a later date if you notice a difference when demoing.

Possibly better to spend £900.00 on amp and speakers, about £450.00 each, than add a CD player and reduce to £300.00 each.

You may need to take into account stands and cables but you can usually get some freebies.

 

[Anonymous]

If I do not need a CD player then I can afford the Kef Q300 speaker which look good. Is the Marantz PM6004 a good amplifier for these.

I will not need stands because they will go on my desk next to the TV.

What wire will I need to connet my mac and PS3 to the amplifier.

 

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the forums. Negotiate with mother to give yourself £1000 (only joking!). Well done on getting a job and first hifi; as stated, do not rush. That's a decent amount for a budget and there are lots of kit you should demo as stated previously. Do post in with your buys!

 

[Memphismusic]

I wouldn't think you would go wrong with the mentioned Marantz 6004 amp, matching 6004 CD player and a pair of Warfedale 10.1's.

At £299 + £299 + £150 = £748 which will leave some cash for cable and half descent audio connections and possibly stretch to some budget stands if you shop around on line.

I think you could spend a lot of money trying to beat this system and it is a fairly versatile option for connections.

It will definately be a fun and entertaining system without any system matching problems - like most more expensive Hi-Fi

 

[nlanks]

+1 to the comments regarding take your time and go speak with your local dealer, demo some kit, compare models etc.

This should mean you walk out with exactly what you need, and what sounds good to your ears.

 

[acalex]

Have been there not that long ago and made an impulse purchase in the end as (like you) got a new job and wanted straight away a new system without knowing anything about hi-fi!

My first advice would be to avoid that. You have been given very good advices here.

- Do not rush! I know you really want something soon but I would strongly advise you to think it through and ask somebody for advice. This is because as soon as you start playing with your new system and reading the forum, you will start to understand how things work and start realising you maybe wanted something else.

- Find a good and honest shop that can assist you. This is a tough one...but if you are serious about hi-fi you will soon realise how important is for you this factor

- Demo a lot of kits! Don't be afraid to listen to a lot of possible combinations before buying. Every time you go out and listen you become more expert and competent. You could also share your findings here on the forum. Very important the point number 2 at this regard.

- Enjoy the process. It took me about 2hs to get my first system...and about 8 months to get my second and final one (still work in progress). The 8 months were an incredible experience for me and I enjoyed so much every time I could go out and try something new. Some people get stressed to try a lot...

Hope this helps a little bit!

Alex

 

[Ryan92]

What sort of thing are you looking for? New or second hand?

If you're using mainly computer sources then I'd be looking at a DAC-Amp-speaker set up. There is also the option to go wireless later on with the likes of a squeezebox or Apple TV/ Airport express.

What's your listening room like? Heavily furnished? Bedroom? Have you room for dedicated stands or will they be on a desk or similar?

And lastly what sort of music do you listen to? What kind of sound are you after? A menticulous neutral reproduction, or something a little warmer?

As mentioned earlier you couldn't do much worse than some second hand AVI ADM9.1s (going on a general basis) though these are very neutral sounding speakers and don't offer much in the way of upgrading in the future.

There's a million things you can throw together. I happen to think something like the Dynaudio BM5A mk2 with DAC/preamp would be the best you could do new for about £900.

(Really not wanting to start another active vs passive thread here, they're no use to anyone.)

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for all replies. I will listen to all of the speakers you have named and any other speakers in the shops. I think I will use my Mac to play music for now so that I have more money for speakers then I can still buy a CD player later if I want one. I do not have many CDs so the itunes and spotify will be better for now anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

They will be in my small bed room on a desk so no stands are needed and I want to buy new speakers so that I can listen to them before I buy them.

 

[basshead]

£900 can get you some very nice sounding spakers

what kind of music do you listen to?

a bit of a curve ball for you........ http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/adam-a7x-and-vibro-pad-package--89236

 

[Anonymous]

AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Aerosmith, Nickelback, Nirvana, Kasabian, Bob Marley, the Police,Classical. I will also use them with the PS3 and watching TV.

The Adam speakers are ugly but I will listen to them if they are good.

 

[Ryan92]

The Adams are hideous, but I have listened to them and do think they sound great for the money. Are you open to the active route then?

 

[philipjohnwright]

My ten pennies worth......

The Mac Mini will be absolutely fine; I have one and it betters my Meridian CD player (that used to sound very good through my B&W Nautilus 802's). Maybe consider Pure Music or Amarra on the Mini as well, but don't worry about a CD player; a lot of people like myself are ditching them now. The purists will say Spotify is compressed. True, but at 320kbps (assuming Premium service) it can sound very good indeed.

Pay particular attention to the siting of the speakers; how far out from the wall, what you put them on (on top of the desk) etc etc. That doesn't mean spending a lot of money. Experiment with old paving slabs, granite chopping blocks and the like (and enjoy the look on your mum's face when you do!). Maybe consider some of the supports used by pro-studios (as mentioned in the post about the Adams speakers). I think this will be the single biggest factor affecting your sound, particularly as bass is likely to be important for you given the music you listen to.

Finally, if I were you, I'd seriously consider spending a lot less than £900. There are numerous decent amps at £200, pair them with a good £300 pair of speakers, and off you go. Put the rest on one side for when the upgrade bug hits; you'll then be more experienced in what sound you like.

Second hand is probably risky for you at this stage, but don't forget ex-dem kit available from good dealers (I agree you should find a good one so you can listen to equipment. It will save you money, even in the short term).

Hope this helps; welcome to the mad house!

 

[Anonymous]

I do not know what the active route means but I am open to any ideas and I have not yet listened to any hifis yet but I have a month to try out everything to get a feel for what I want. ex-dem is good if it saves some money but I do not want second hand unless I can listen first.

 

[Ryan92]

Ah, apologies.

You have two main routes to go down, active speakers or passive speakers. Actives have the amplifier built into the speaker whereas passives don't; you have to buy a separate amplifier. The monitor audio/marantz combo you mentioned earlier obviously being an example of passives, the Dynaudios I mentioned being active. Now, you'll find a lot of talk about synergy in a system and matching components on forums such as this. So "matching" an amp with some speakers can be tricky (I didn't do too well on my first system). In my opinion, the best thing about active speakers is that the manufacturer does it for you, saving you a bit of time. Hence for me, reccomending to a first time buyer who just wants to get into some decent reproduction of music rather than the world of Hifi (I've come to realise they are completely separate things) I'd say save yourself some time and go for actives.

 

[Anonymous]

Active and passive speakers sound like they will be ok. I do not mind if the amplifier is in the speaker or separate.

 

[Anonymous]

Today I have been listening to all of the speakers and amplifiers in shops. The ones that I am going to get are the Yamaha HS50M speakers with the HS10W subwoofer which costs £630.

The man in the shop said that I will need a special preamp amplifier and a dac so that they will work with a computer. What good preamp amplifers and dacs are there for about £270. It does not matter if I need to spend a bit more because I can wait until next month to get the subwoofer if I need to.

 

[Anonymous]

I have just seen some nice speaker stands that I like. Does any one know where I can get some stands like these.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/353449/external-dac-to-yamaha-hs50m

 

[richardw42]

The latest version of the AVI ADM9 (red spot) are £1250 new. Per & DAC included.

Believe me for the price they're probably about as good as it gets. You could add a sub at a later date, but it's really not needed.

 

[the record spot]

Welcome to the forum.Your mac mini will do very well as a source provided you rip your music into apple lossless or better.Add an external hard drive for purely music storage.A pair of second hand AVI ADM9.1 speakers with a digital cable to connect to your mac mini is all you need.They are standmount speakers ( stands would be good) with built in amps and Dac.They will give you a better quality of music than separates at this price and mean you don't have lots of big boxes to accommodate!

The only thing to bear in mind with earlier versions of the AVI speakers is some users have commented on their being bass light. The new "Red Dot" nicknamed versions apparently deliver more in this regard. Worth bearing in mind. They're a good solution for some people, others less so.

 

[Anonymous]

The AVI speakers do look good but they are a bit expensive for me and maybe a bit big for my desk. I think that 2 small speakers on the desk and a subwoofer hidden out of sight will work better in my room.

The Monitor Audio and Kef speakers that I listened to are too big and I didn't like the sound because they seem hard and fizzy. The Yamaha speakers are nice because they sound clear like I am listening to the music not the speakers. The Yamahas bass is good because it is in focus and sharp but most other speakers sound like the bass is blurry.

I have seen a Cambridge Audio and Teac preamp amplifier that has a dac. Is this ok for the Yamaha speakers.

http://www.froogle.richersounds.com/product/cd-players-recorders-dacs-cassette-decks/cambridge-audio/dacmagic-plus/camb-dacmagic-plus-b

http://www.froogle.richersounds.com/product/cd-players-recorders-dacs-cassette-decks/teac/ud-h01/teac-udh01