A noob wanting to buy hifi seperates... help please

[harryj]

Hello,

I'm looking at putting together a seperates system. I have a budget of £350 so will be buying 2nd hand equipment as this will probably give me the most for my money. I'm looking for a set of speakers, cd player and an amplifier.

I have looked at information on forums but this will be my first system build so any advice will be appreciated. I am more interested in the sound quality rather than how loud it will go.

The music I am in to mainly consists of 90s indie rock, ie oasis, shed 7, cast, blur etc. The set up will be in my living room which is 19ft by 13ft. The speakers will be pointing across the width of the room (due to how tv etc is set out).

I've been looking at the vintage equipment and really like the way the old 70s pioneer amps look also I hear they are good builds with good sound and punch. With regards to speakers I understand it's what sounds good to you but as probably buying from eBay this will not be possible so any tips you can give will be well received.

As for the cd player I've not even started looking, but will probably go down the vintage route as well.

Thanks in advance

 

[knaithrover]

Hello,

I'm looking at putting together a seperates system. I have a budget of £350 so will be buying 2nd hand equipment as this will probably give me the most for my money. I'm looking for a set of speakers, cd player and an amplifier.

I have looked at information on forums but this will be my first system build so any advice will be appreciated. I am more interested in the sound quality rather than how loud it will go.

The music I am in to mainly consists of 90s indie rock, ie oasis, shed 7, cast, blur etc. The set up will be in my living room which is 19ft by 13ft. The speakers will be pointing across the width of the room (due to how tv etc is set out).

I've been looking at the vintage equipment and really like the way the old 70s pioneer amps look also I hear they are good builds with good sound and punch. With regards to speakers I understand it's what sounds good to you but as probably buying from eBay this will not be possible so any tips you can give will be well received.

As for the cd player I've not even started looking, but will probably go down the vintage route as well.

Thanks in advance

You can get decent kit 2nd hand for not a lot of money. Don't have any experience of the old Pioneer stuff unfortunately but Nad amps are great and very cheap. Marantz cd players are pretty robust and sweet sounding. I would go nearly new on speakers Q Acoustics or Dali probably best bang for your buck.

Nad C320BEE - £100 or less

Marantz CD6001 or CD67 no more than £75

Dali Zensor 3 - £200 or Q Acoustics 2020i £150

Very nice system from above.

 

[harryj]

Hi thanks for your response, I was looking at the dali zensor 1 but the 3s look nice too. They are bigger so will probably have better base.

Other speakers that I have been looking at are

Monitor audio bronze mx2 - I have seen these on sale for new at audiovisual online for £169 which is about the same as they sell for on ebay

Wharfedale diamond 9.1 - these r on sale at superfi for £99 which also seems a good price

If I were to spend a bit less on the speaker I could spend a bit more on the amp and therefore achieving the best possible sound from the speakers. Would this be right?

 

[chris_bates1974]

+1 for NAD amps... I sold an Arcam CD72 last year for under £100, it was a fantastic player, and well worth the money (was £400 new in 2001). If you go for older speakers, Mission did some belters, but beware of condition.

there are some absolute bargains out there if you're patient. My kids (9 and 7 years old) both have amp/cdp/speakers, and I've spent less than £100 on them in total!

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

I used to have an an old Pioneer amp (A-676) before I moved to an AV Receiver, and it was a fanatstic amp. They are big, but they sound fantastic, and can be had for around £100 on ebay etc.

Used speakers are more of a risk, but there are some real bargains to be had if you strike lucky. I have the Dali Zensor 3's that you're considering, and personally speaking, if you can stretch the budget to get them over the Zensor 1's, do so, they're a much better speaker.

Some used speakers to consider are Mordaunt Short MS20i Pearl Edition, which I have and still use as rears. They are over 20 years old, but still sound great, and can be had very cheaply.

 

[harryj]

The is a nad amp c320 bee, nad tuner c422 and a cd player c521 bee on ebay atm. It's up to £123 so far. System works and there r some scratches throughout. How high would it be worth bidding for on this.

Other amps I've been watching are

Technic su v2

Jvc ja s22

I prefer the look of the older amps like the ones just mentioned but the nad bee amp has got some good reviews. I'm in 2 minds as I'm itching to get up and running.

 

[knaithrover]

The is a nad amp c320 bee, nad tuner c422 and a cd player c521 bee on ebay atm. It's up to £123 so far. System works and there r some scratches throughout. How high would it be worth bidding for on this.

Other amps I've been watching are

Technic su v2

Jvc ja s22

I prefer the look of the older amps like the ones just mentioned but the nad bee amp has got some good reviews. I'm in 2 minds as I'm itching to get up and running.

£200 tops for the Nad kit, beware though Nad cdp's are brittle

 

[lindsayt]

Vintage Pioneer amps are great. Especially if you buy ones that were towards the top end of the model range. The one's I've heard have had a pleasantly self-efacing sound. They don't draw attention to themselves. Just get on with playing music.

If you're happy to go large you can get some genuinely good sounding speakers. Speakers that sound far far better than B&W CM1's. A lot better than B&W PM1's and better than Linn Majik Isobariks - for example.

At this price bracket, I like top of the range 1970's Japanese JBL homage speakers. Akai SW 175's. That sort of thing.

CD players, You can buy reasonable sounding ones for £50 or less 2nd hand.

 

[harryj]

That nad system went for £280. As Chris said patience Is key.

Thanks for all your suggestions everyone. Doing a lot of research and quite enjoying the project.