Complete set-up for £2000?

[iemslie]

Hi all

I’ve had a real urge of late to upgrade my entire set-up.

I’m currently using a SB3 and Rega P1 with a Sony DA2400ES receiver output to a pair of Diamond 9.1 speakers.

I’m looking to upgrade over about 3-6 months in the following order

Amp>Speakers>Turntable>Digital music player>TT cartridge/accessories, etc.

I listen to a wide range of music, mostly 70s soul, funk, rock and some Hip-hop and Reggae.

The living room is around 7 x 4M and the speakers need to be placed along the longer wall on either side of a fireplace. The speakers need to be fairly close to the rear wall and side walls of the fireplace.

Many thanks

 

[The_Lhc]

If you're only listening to stereo music why are you using an AV amp? Stick a half decent stereo amp in there and you might be very pleasantly surprised.

 

[sweety7272]

£2k is plenty of dosh to get a nice set up. Probably worth listening to a few complete set ups to get a feel for the things you like, as to be honest your biggest problem is likely to be narrowing down your search criteria - at that budget the market place is pretty well populated.

I would start with the speakers (although opinion will vary on that of course) as they can be the trickiest to get right - need to fit in your space and work well in the constrains of your living area rather than a dedicated listening room like at a dealers. A big decision is floorstander or standmount - one you'll have to make yourself I fear! Also if they need to be near a back wall, some speakers don't work too well in that position (typically ones with back reflex ports) so that might cut your list down a lot.

One other thing to consider before you start doing anything is whether you are up for s/hand or exdemo stuff. This can make your money go lots further, and the kind of people who buy expensive hifi gear are normally (but not always) the kind who look after it well. I've never bought brand new anything, and have had no problems at all.

Once you've done that, the list of options will reduce and you can start looking at a few specific brands which work well with the starting ideas you've had. Lots of previous advice on here, and dealers will help you too.

The fun is about to begin!!

 

[iemslie]

Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated.

The_Lhc – Yes I’m hoping a dedicated amp will make a huge difference, hence that being my 1st component in the upgrade path. I’ll continue to use the AVR for SACD/DTS ‘rips’ fed from the SB3 using my existing 5.1 speakers (Jamo something or whatever) as well as for movies, etc.

Regarding comments from sweety7272, I’m keen to purchase new.

I appreciate that people do look after their kit – I do myself, but I prefer to have a full warranty, just in case.

I’ll do some investigating, draw up a short list of components and report back.

Before I do though does anyone have any thoughts on how the overall cost should be split – just as guide really, I already have an idea that the digital player will be around £200 (10% of budget) How does this sort of split look?

Speakers 40%, Amp 30%, Turntable 20%, digital player 10%

Cheers

P.S. Thanks to the mod who deleted my multiple repeat threads earlier.

 

[the record spot]

Not so sure about the split - you could easily spend a little less on the speakers (or go active...) and I'd look to a greater spend on the turntable (e.g. Rega P3-24 and offboard PSU) and amp.

This assumes your amp will have an onboard phono stage, but if not, budget around a further £100 for a basic one from Cambridge or Graham Slee to get you going. NAD's PP1 is a bit less, but don't skimp if you intend to play vinyl. It skews your budget allocations a little but worth it to get good playback.

 

[CnoEvil]

Not so sure about the split - you could easily spend a little less on the speakers (or go active...) and I'd look to a greater spend on the turntable (e.g. Rega P3-24 and offboard PSU) and amp.

This assumes your amp will have an onboard phono stage, but if not, budget around a further £100 for a basic one from Cambridge or Graham Slee to get you going. NAD's PP1 is a bit less, but don't skimp if you intend to play vinyl. It skews your budget allocations a little but worth it to get good playback.

RS is spot on (sorry about the pun).

Recently I have been getting amusement from an old hifi mag from 1987 and it deals with this exact issue even if it is a little skewed by todays thinking:
"In a sensibly apportioned record-playing system you should always buy the very best record deck you can afford. If that means that only £99 each may be left for amp and speakers out of a total of £800, so be it."

The article waffles on, but goes on to say that there is a "strict system hierachy".
It says that any info that is lost at the start of the chain is lost forever.
"The turntable is more important than the arm,and the arm is more important than the cartridge.
Next up the theoretical ladder comes the amp. Far better to have a really good amp and a cheap pair of speakers than to split it down the middle.The speakers only do what they have been told to by the amp".

These were the principals I was weaned on, but as times have moved on views are different....but that doesn't mean the basic idea is wrong, especially in the context of a record based system.

 

[audioaffair]

Its very interesting how the overall view has changed from high focus on the front end to greater focus on speakers - with many now advising that its more important to spend as much as possible on speakers nowadays (providing you still have a good amp), so within your budget you could spend around £800 on speakers, £500 on amp (NAD?), £300 on turntable (Pro-Ject), leaving some money for cables etc.

 

[iemslie]

Thanks for the replies so far, all very useful. Well a trip to Cheltenham this afternoon resulted in a visit to a few hi-fi shops. I had a good look around, just checking out the finish and build quality as this is important to me. If it sounds great but falls apart after a few years I'm not interested. I was quite surprised how cheap and ‘plasticy’ some of this kit looked/felt, some of it way beyond my budget. My very 1st Hi-fi was an Arcam, Denon and Tannoy system, all solidly constructed and going strong 20 years on. I just didn't get that confident feeling with a few of the top brand items I inspected (Rotel and NAD were disappointing in this area). On the flip side some of it felt like it was made on the same production line as a Chieftain tank! (Rega, Cyrus, Naim and Audiolab in particular were solid, well-built and nicely finished) Regardless I got chatting with one of the guys in the 2nd shop I visited and discussed my general requirements. A complete Rega set-up consisting of P3 with TTPSU and Elys 2 cartridge, Mira and RS3 speakers was recommended as a starting point. In fact the guy basically suggested that with the budget I have he'd struggle to offer anything better. This intrigued me so I took up the offer of a demo. I couldn't spend an enormous amount of time demoing as this wasn't the reason I was in town, so all in all about an hour listening to a range of music - 80s electronica, Sabbath, Rush and Paul Young. Not bands I listen to regularly but as this was unplanned I didn't have any of my own material to listen to I have to say I was pretty impressed by the Regas. Not being particularly articulate when it comes to explaining how equipment sounds I guess I would describe it as smooth and detailed with a good midrange. Not overly bassy.....It just sounded good enough to listen to all day and not get tired (admittedly I was only listening for an hour, but that's the feeling I got). Build quality was great throughout, solidly constructed and nicely finished. Perhaps a bit too functional looking, I’d say the speakers looked a bit too bland when compared to the likes of B&W, Monitor audio offerings, but I don’t mind that too much. Ok, I’ve waffled on far too much so back to my requirements. The P3 is, and perhaps always was, going to be the turntable of choice. So I’m now looking at amps and speakers with Rega acting as a benchmark. Any thought on alternatives would be most welcome. Thanks

 

[richardw42]

I wouldn't dismiss ex-demo completely
For I stance I got my current hi fi speakers ex-demo from a dealer for £600, against a RRP of £1000, and they came with a 12 month warranty.
So as long as the dealer/manufacturer will give a warranty you can get equipment much cheaper, and run in.