Choosing first Hi-Fi system

[admin_exported]

Hi, this is my first post on this forum. I am looking to build my first Hi-Fi system and I need some advice from you.

First the details of the 'problem', the amount of money that I have available is around £300, the system will be installed in a living room with am area of about 30 sqm and the speakers will sit on a wooden table/bookshelf so I would like bookshelf speakers, the source is a PC with Xonar Essence STX and mostly Flac music and some CDs.

I've been in few audio shops to try some equipment and make an idea of what can I get for the money.

I've tried Marantz PM5004 amplifier with three sets of speakers: Tannoy V1, Q Acoustics 2010i and Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 and out of all I liked the most the Q acoustics and the wharfedale, in fact q acoustics are a bit more dynamic in my opinion but lack a bit of detail compared to wharfedale.

Tannoy V1 are no go in my opinion because they sounded really flat.

The second setup I've listened was a Denon PMA510AE with Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 which in my opinion sounded worse than the Marantz PM5004.

In the offers there was also available a Marantz PM6003 but not in the shop and I was told that it was a bit better than PM5004.

Marantz PM5004 £160

Marantz PM6003 £150

Denon PMA510AE £140

Q Acoustics 2010i £110

Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 £125

Can you please recommend me a setup in this price or suggest another components. I am considering used equipment from ebay if I can really get more quality this way. I don't want a 20 years old amp which will require heavy maintenance

Thank you very much!

 

[Overdose]

As a start, try these...

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/category/recording/monitoring/monitors/active-monitors/?sort=price_asc

with one of these....

http://www.studiospares.com/audio-interfaces/behringer-u-control-uca202/invt/380860/?source=215_73&gclid=COXjwe32gK8CFdISfAodET9N4g

These are the active alternatives to passive systems. Going down the second hand route might bag you a pair of Mackie HR624s within your budget.

Nice and tidy.

 

[Anonymous]

@Overdose: thank you for your recommandation but which system would you say it's most suited from that whole list?

I would incline more towards passive speakers and an amp because they will be used in a living room and my main concern is controlling the volume although I can control it from PC as well but it doesn't compare to a remote, plus I can turn it off from remote as well.

On the other hand I like the monitors because they are more compact in the abscence of an amp and it is easier to move them around. Maybe a DAC with a remote is the solution? what do you say?

Thanks

 

[idc]

Hi Allex_b and welcome to the forum. Your description of source and space and where the speakers are going to go is crying out for actives.

I would recommend isolating the speaker from the shelf or unit you put it on. Dedicated stands like this is one way

http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=3817

Blue tac is another! (Though it may mark the surface)

 

[Anonymous]

So what you say it's that the room is too small for having dedicated amp? I don't want to cantradict with you but I've seen passives in even smaller rooms.

My main problem with actives is the one I wrote above, how to control them assuming that I'm staying on the sofa 4 metres away from them

I was considering insulation, I have some kind of dense foam which I was going to try but I will experiment with different stuff when I get them...

Thanks

 

[idc]

I was basing what I said on this

"First the details of the 'problem', the amount of money that I have available is around £300, the system will be installed in a living room with am area of about 30 sqm and the speakers will sit on a wooden table/bookshelf so I would like bookshelf speakers, the source is a PC with Xonar Essence STX and mostly Flac music and some CDs."

PC based, £300, speakers on a table/bookshelf. That to me says active because of the simplicity of connecting your PC to the speakers, bang for your buck and actives are often made in mind of sitting on shelves or tables, so many have built in stands such as these

An amp with passives will fill the room with sound just as well as actives, I did not mean you to think otherwise.

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, I see what you mean now.

Can you recommend me a set of active monitors then?

And just for my interest can you tell me what you think about the amp and speakers from my first post?

Thank you!

 

[John Duncan]

Of the passive pairings you suggest, the Marantz PM6003 and Diamond 10.1 would be very good value and will sound lovely. Even better value would be the Diamond 9.1 if you could find them.

 

[idc]

Sorry no to your original suggestion as I have never heard such and as for actives, are there any pro-audio shops near you? They tend to do pro-audio/active speakers/studio monitors.

Rub-a-dub in Glasgow have a wall of speakers they can demo and I liked the Yamaha HS50M and the Mackie MR5 Mk2 which are in budget. The Mackie's are more bassy than the Yamahas. I was less kean on the Samson Resolv A5 which needed to go too loud for my liking to get dynamics and detail out of them.The KRKs and Genelecs I heard were both superb, but the models were well over budget. They do do others under £300 which I have not heard.

Be careful when you price such speakers as they are often sold as only one and not a pair for studio monitoring use. So they may not be as cheap as you first thought!

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your suggestions, yes there is a pro audio shop that I remember I've seen, possibly many others. I can go there and check what monitors they have.

Since you told me more about monitors I read few reviews and watched also some video reviews on youtube and some of them say that monitors are not intended to normal users because they might sound really bad with some types of music just because they are designed to reproduce the sound unaltered.

Well with flac music and CDs I don't think it will be a problem, but what if I watch a movie? which I will certainly do from time to time

 

[idc]

I have heard active speakers used with a TV and the sound was great.