Christmas present , first hi-fi , 200 to 400 quid ?

[JamesMellor]

Thinking about buying my niece a decent system for xmas looking online I see the Onkyo CRN755 for £200 , the Denon Ceol Piccolo DRAN5 for £245 , The Marantz MCR603 for £299 . The Denon dosn't have a CDP but she has a iphone and ipod and a laptop so no real issues there .

To add Q 2020i's as a package to the Onkyo or Marantz is £150 or Dali Z1's to the Onkyo £150 , a pair of Mission MX1 to the Denon £ 75 .

I found a pair of TDL speakers under a pile of laser discs in the box room Hi-fi world lked them in 1997 ! I got them as rears
TDL Nucleus 1 £60 Apr 97 Clean, incisive, detailed and revealing, especially in the bass
do I give her these with the Marantz , is 60 quid 15 years ago £150 now ? or is that a waste of the Marantz ? better off going with the Denon and Missions ?

I'd like this system to last her out the other side of Uni like 5 years

 

[John Duncan]

The Marantz is quite a good call, but I'd be tempted by a Sonos play:3 and a year's subscription to Spotify. The only thing preventing the latter would be whether the network at uni will be such that she can create a Sonos network.

 

[SiUK]

Hi. you can get a Marantz M-CR603 + Q Acoustics 2010is + speaker cable delivered for £419.90 and includes 3 year warranty. The combo work great together.

 

[JamesMellor]

Thanks John , googled the sonus , it looks good but a single speaker ? I kinda want a resonable soundstage here , can the souns do that ? , but I guess its more moveable . the Marantz is really the top of thr tree , I cant really afford new speakers with that , I'm really liking the idea of the Denon / Mission

 

[iJoe]

Hi James, I would go down the active route as desk space in hall and student accommodation is lacking. Small speakers lacking in bass are preferable to avoid upsetting neighbors. Investing in some decent headphones and a dac/headphone amp may be preferable for her. To that you could add a cheap digital amp such as the Trends. http://www.whathifi.com/blog/trends-audio-ba-10-real-hi-fi-only-smaller

Headphones will need to be closed backed or in-ear for library use.

 

[JoelSim]

If she has an iPod, iPhone and laptop just get her some of these. Job done.

http://nocs.se/products/ns2-air-monitors

6 different colours. And if she is at Uni then they won't take up much space in her room and she can easily take them into a different room for parties etc.

As JD said, she can then stream iTunes or Spotify or Internet Radio directly to them.

Oh, and they are too cool for school.

 

[richardw42]

How about a pair of Sonos Play 1 s ?

 

[John Duncan]

If she has an iPod, iPhone and laptop just get her some of these. Job done. http://nocs.se/products/ns2-air-monitors 6 different colours. And if she is at Uni then they won't take up much space in her room and she can easily take them into a different room for parties etc. As JD said, she can then stream iTunes or Spotify or Internet Radio directly to them. Oh, and they are too cool for school.

Where can you buy them, Joel? ;-)

 

[John Duncan]

How about a pair of Sonos Play 1 s ?

Or that ^^

She can grab a play one and take it to her boyfriend's room just across the hall a party in halls whenever she wants. This is all theory though, since as in my first post, how the network works in halls is of prime importance.

I do think that the Marantz and some Qs will sound a bit better, but Sonos rocks, and I suspect your daughter won't care. And it is also dependent on network...

 

[JoelSim]

If she has an iPod, iPhone and laptop just get her some of these. Job done. http://nocs.se/products/ns2-air-monitors 6 different colours. And if she is at Uni then they won't take up much space in her room and she can easily take them into a different room for parties etc. As JD said, she can then stream iTunes or Spotify or Internet Radio directly to them. Oh, and they are too cool for school.

Where can you buy them, Joel? ;-)

Dunno JD. Beats me.

 

[SiUK]

... and I suspect your daughter won't care...

I think you'll find it's his neice he's buying for 😉

 

[richardw42]

If she has an iPod, iPhone and laptop just get her some of these. Job done. http://nocs.se/products/ns2-air-monitors 6 different colours. And if she is at Uni then they won't take up much space in her room and she can easily take them into a different room for parties etc. As JD said, she can then stream iTunes or Spotify or Internet Radio directly to them. Oh, and they are too cool for school.

Where can you buy them, Joel? ;-)

i know your post was T I C.

But for the benefit of the OP. http://store.apple.com/uk/product/H8251ZM/A/nocs-wireless-ns2-airplay-monitor-speakers?fnode=3f

 

[JamesMellor]

Thanks for all the replies Guys ,

First up got uni and college mixed up , she has two years left in school then two at college so she'll be at home , Uni after that.

I went to look at the Sonus speakers today , in the Local Apollo 2000 as they had a banner outside and they did have the arcam mini on sale last time I was in , not anymore . They are giving you the bridge with the speakers , but they don't have any kinda line in , they also had the denon with its own speakers so I had a play with that seems okay internet radio airplay and 30 pin on top but not the best finish in white if the orginal price ever was £349 , can't listen to sound ina shed so .

Those little amps look so fecking cool , There is a localish dealer near me but they are closed sundays . They are right near my dentist and I;ve got an appt next Saturday so I'll pop in , then go over to Sholihull the Music Matters has the Denon think I'll take those TDL's with me , then in the center there is a Ritchers that has the Onkyo and the Marantz , then the apple store to check out those actives . Should be a fun day .

As an aside does anyone use the sounus speakers , the shop said a unit to plug into a hifi was £280 , seems alot compared to the rest of the range , I ask cos I us Airplay but it has a habit of pausing from my laptop . I have a JBL air speaker in the Kitchen , great while cooking unless you turn on the mirco wave then it crashes and needs rebooting .

Thanks James

 

[JoelSim]

Best send that microwave to eBay then! :dance:

 

[John Duncan]

If she has an iPod, iPhone and laptop just get her some of these. Job done. http://nocs.se/products/ns2-air-monitors 6 different colours. And if she is at Uni then they won't take up much space in her room and she can easily take them into a different room for parties etc. As JD said, she can then stream iTunes or Spotify or Internet Radio directly to them. Oh, and they are too cool for school.

Where can you buy them, Joel? ;-)

Dunno JD. Beats me.

Nicely house rules compliant, thank you 🙂

But tbf you do appear to be cheaper than the Apple store:

www.musictoyourears.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=ns2&PN=nocs%2dNS2%2dair%2dmonitor%2ehtml#SID=19

and you have the orange ones :-o

 

[JoelSim]

If she has an iPod, iPhone and laptop just get her some of these. Job done. http://nocs.se/products/ns2-air-monitors 6 different colours. And if she is at Uni then they won't take up much space in her room and she can easily take them into a different room for parties etc. As JD said, she can then stream iTunes or Spotify or Internet Radio directly to them. Oh, and they are too cool for school.

Where can you buy them, Joel? ;-)

Dunno JD. Beats me.

Nicely house rules compliant, thank you 🙂 But tbf you do appear to be cheaper than the Apple store: www.musictoyourears.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=ns2&PN=nocs%2dNS2%2dair%2dmonitor%2ehtml#SID=19 and you have the orange ones :-o

[WHEREAS THAT WAS NOT, SORRY]