A complete novice and an even tighter budget

[DMorris]

Hi, my first post on the forum and I imagine you know what that means. I am new to the whole Hi Fi world and I am looking to make the venture into have a lovely hi fi system to play my music through. Now I have been looking at several options, but my budget might be restricting me; I am on a very tight budget. At the moment I don't really want to spend more than £160, now I know this might seem a little silly given that I want the best but don't want to pay for it.

At the moment I am only looking to play my Ipod through the system, so am not sure whether to go for a docking system, a mini hifi or an amp with dock and some nice speakers. I've been looking at the Fatman Itube valve systems but have been put off a little by a friend. Also the fact I am thinking about getting into vinyl has put me off them and the mini systems.

An option I am looking at is from Richer Sounds and is http://www.richersounds.com/hifi/hifi-offers/offer1 which is a Cambridge Audio Topaz AM1, Cambridge Audio ID10 dock and Eltax Concept 180 floor standing speakers all for £149.95 Is the deal any good? or is it too good to be true?

Also I will probably attempt to who my television up to it for better sound for movies and my Xbox 360.

Any advice anyone can give me would be helpful, as I have no idea when it comes to this side of things.

 

[simon3102000]

Thats a hell of a tight budget, no idea m8.

 

[DMorris]

Oh I know. I am in need of having something but I am tight. I could be tempted to increase it but I don't want anything amazing as its my first system and I won't be using it to its full potential yet.

 

[bretty]

You can't really say fairer than that deal at Richer. I'd go for it mate. It gets you on the first rung of the hi-fi ladder.

 

[plastic penguin]

DMorris:Oh I know. I am in need of having something but I am tight. I could be tempted to increase it but I don't want anything amazing as its my first system and I won't be using it to its full potential yet.

If I was in your shoes I'd be looking at this.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/iSymphony-DVD-Micro-Music-System-iPod-Dock-/180489293868?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_PortableAudio_MP3PlayerDocks&hash=item2a0600102c

 

[DMorris]

Thanks for the advice. I was unsure about pretty much every bit of the deal but it sounded good and would give me the option to add to it if I wanted to get some vinyl. My worries were the speakers, and from a novice they seemed very good but you never know.

Thanks for the recommendation for the Isymphony, but not sure its exactly what I want at the moment.

 

[simon3102000]

Also remember you will need to get a hi-fi rack, speaker stands and cables! This can add alot to the overall cost of it. Why dont you want to spend more? is it you cant or you wont?

 

[DMorris]

I would like to spend more, its just at this moment in time I can't afford to. One thing that might be working in my favour is, my brother's old lodger has left a teac amp, at the moment I don't know anything about it but if its decent that would save me having to buy an amp and make my budget that much bigger.

 

[matthewpiano]

The Cambridge Audio Topaz amps suffer from poor channel balance at low volumes. I'd avoid if I were you.

Your budget is tight but there is no reason why you can't put together something decent if you look at the used market. My money would be on a Denon amp - probably a PMA250 III or similar - and something like Mordaunt-Short MS10i speakers. Then buy the Onkyo DS-A2 iPod dock or the Cambridge Audio one and you'll have the makings of a decent little system. For speaker cable use something cheap, cheerful and copper like QED Micro which will be more than good enough to get you going. This set-up will sound surprisingly good for little financial outlay.

 

[idc]

I agree with Matthew, go to ebay and hunt for second hand stuff. I had the PMA 250 as well and paired with B&W DM302 speakers, of which there are some on bids still in your overall budget, you will get great sound.

Basic cabling can be had from Amazon or ebay. It will work fine.

 

[DMorris]

HI, thanks for the advice. I'm looking at docks and speakers on ebay. I'm getting an amp tomorrow from my brother, its not costing me a thing so will wait and see if its decent and then no doubt ask advice on what speakers to go for. He thinks its a teac, are they any good?

 

[DMorris]

An update!!! Well it turns out the amp isn't what I thought. I still haven't got it but it looks like its an Alba amp with a separate eq, are these any good? I've also managed to get myself some Mordaunt Short MS 10i speakers and in the process of acquiring a Onkyo dock. AM I best off trying the system and upgrading the amp over time?

 

[John Duncan]

Burn the Alba amp

How much have you spent so far (ie how much do you have left)?

 

[DMorris]

Alba amps that bad? well the Mordaunts were about £30, which I thought was cheap and the dock is a DS-A3 and that cost £40. how am I doing so far?

 

[Blackdawn]

Thats good so far. Now get yourself a good second hand budget amp such as a Denon, as suggested above . A basic tuner can be had for less that £20 as well. You could always get stands and racks a bit later on.

 

[DMorris]

I will have a look into getting a Denon amp, I gather that the alba is not worth having. It might have to make do for the time being until I find a decent second hand amp.

 

[DMorris]

Right I've delayed it and seemed to have missed on some bargains. There is a Denon 255se amp going on ebay now for £50 including postage, is that a decent enough deal or can I get one cheaper?