A New System for a New House

[admin_exported]

Hi,

Recently bought an old house. About to start a major refurb on the back of the house that will include a major extension. My Hi-fi system is 10yrs old and needs replacement. I want to buy a new system (mid-range by What Hi-Fi standards) but at the same time consider how to integrate it into the new extension and the adjoining living room. My aims are thus:

• Listen to DAB, CD, and media (ie IPhone/IPod)
• Minimum wires, minimum fuss
• Great sound - I listen to a wide range of music from D&B through to Jazz and classical
• i like the compactness of some of the integrates systems such as the NAIM UNITI

The extension and living room will be adjoining. At times the doors between the rooms will be open, at other times they will be closed and you may only want to listen to music in one room. The living room will also retain the TV, DVD player etc.

Is it possible to have a system that can drive music into both rooms but at other times switch off one room and only drive sound into one room?

I also have to consider the home cinema amp. Is it possible to integrate this into the above wish list?

In order to maintain minimum fuss should all music be uploaded onto a seperate storage device?

Where do i start? Any advice would be really welcome.

 

[the record spot]

Depends on your budget, but for that money, AVI's ADM9.1 gear ought to be somewhere on the shortlist - throw in the sub and you'll still have change left over from the cost of the Uniti I think. You need to supply the source, but the 9.1 covers off not only your speakers, but all amplification and a good DAC as well. Job (nearly) done. £1125 for the boxes, add another £800 if you think you need the sub later.

 

[Anonymous]

RS, how did you rate the ADM9.1s compared to the Genelecs? I can't audition them here so would be interested in your thoughts.

Don't mean to hijack the thread, by the way.

 

[idc]

What is your old system? It may not be necessarily as bad as you think and may just need additional functionality.

 

[the record spot]

Good point IDC, and at only ten years old it's unlikely to be past it!

 

[Anonymous]

I have "permission" to buy some new hi-fi so I need to take the opportunity whilst I can. Current gear (B&W 601s, Yamaha CDX493, Marantz PM6010OSE, Sony ST-SDB900) will probably be passed on or used somewhere else.

Visited a shop yesterday and the dealer introduced me to the latest Sonos kit. Seems to do exactly what I want ie independent music in different rooms but i would obviously have to have a hard-drive/PC source for all the uploaded CDs. There is obviously a huge benefit to this but there is something about stcking Cds in a machine.

i note the Naim Uniti also has some additional modules that seem to do some thing similar.

Are there any other systems similar to the Sonos system that would be recomended by the forum?

 

[the record spot]

Active speakers, and use your computer/DAC/Apple Airport Express or various combinations thereof. A 500Gb laptop is a cheap-ish option these days and while some actives need a pre-amp capability, there are options around this too. I'd certainly be looking at this route were I shopping around for ideas now. Genelec being my preference having heard their gear which is very domestic sounding and would blend in nicely in the home as well as in the studio for pro-audio purposes.

 

[Anonymous]

A stupid question, but am i going to get the quality from a PC set-up and active speakers as I would with a traditional set-up?

 

[davemartin01]

bigburnsgeoff:A stupid question, but am i going to get the quality from a PC set-up and active speakers as I would with a traditional set-up?

Personally my active set up sounds better than than the months of auditioning I did with loads of kit including naim, pmc, cyrus, roksan, spendor etc. BUT audition and find out for yourself. It is just an option to consider at the end of the day and do what feels right. My personal opinion anyway. Plus changing cd's was what stopped me from listening to music. I just used to get fed up with having to get up and change disks every time my whim fancied a different band. It drove me mad with cd cases everywhere. The beauty of computer based or your sonos idea is the ease and availability. But have fun looking!

 

[Messiah]

bigburnsgeoff:A stupid question, but am i going to get the quality from a PC set-up and active speakers as I would with a traditional set-up?

In my experience you will get a better quality for less outlay.

I have the ADMs and they replaced my previous Cyrus / Monitor Audio gear which certainly cost more than the ADMs. I use a sub as well which I would recommend for the ADMs although is not essential.

After using Actives I doubt I will ever go back to a passive system.

I would certainly recommend you audition them if nothing else.