Digital-only system for £1000?

[Geezee]

Have you seen the Nad D7050 and Kef LS50 Deal at Sevenoaks?

 

[jjbomber]

, I'm leaning towards separate amp and speakers,

That still won't stop the cult members! Stick to your guns and get what YOU want.

 

[lpv]

, I'm leaning towards separate amp and speakers,

That still won't stop the cult members! Stick to your guns and get what YOU want.

mr trump asked for an advice and recommendation ... you've made yours and I've made mine... do you actually own marantz/ tannoy combo? do you think the underpowered marantz is any good?

 

[davedotco]

, I'm leaning towards separate amp and speakers,

That still won't stop the cult members! Stick to your guns and get what YOU want.

mr trump asked for an advice and recommendation ... you've made yours and I've made mine... do you actually own marantz/ tannoy combo? do you think the underpowered marantz is any good?

Criticising the 5* Marantz is now categorised as 'hate speach'.

Leftards get everywhere, even into hi-fi. You should give a 'trigger warning' so that they can retreat to their 'safe space' anytime you dare to offer an opinion that they do not agree with.

 

[lpv]

cheers Dave.. you're a star

 

[luckylion100]

Hi everyone please be gentle I'm quite new to this so I might end up asking lots of stupid questions. I'm looking to build a digital only system for around £1000 and I'm trying to get my head round the options.

Some helpful background: much of my music is ripped CD's stored to a 128gb iPad Air as AAC, plus I use apple music and internet radio. The iPad sits on a Sony clock-radio dock in my bedroom (actually meant for an ipod but works fine with ipad) which shamefully is currently the only way I can hear my music other than on headphones. I have done some homework and I -think- my best way forward is one of the following:

(1) I buy some powred / active speakers, connect them to an airport express and stream to that

(2) buy regular speakers along with a separate amp + airport express

(3) buy regular speakers along with some kind of amp device with airplay built in

Space is limited because I still live at home with my parents so this will be a bredroom system (room is about 5m x 4m) but with a bit of re-arranging I will have room for speaker stands and amp. Though the stands will also have to come from the £1k budget.

Do I seem to have all my options covered for the price? Is there anything I've missed? Which is perhaps best value for money? What should take the bulk of my money, amp or speakers?

Thank's

DTW.

actually made a suggestion that covered the OP's first suggestion. Also as highlighted the OP states he had limited space (check)

This cult member actually recommended a well established and respected Japanese brand. Do Yamaha now have an evil cult following as well? The Yamaha still represent the best value for money unless the OP wants to chance his luck on the 2nd hand market which would be foolish because he admits he lacks knowledge hence the request for pointers. If suggesting actives qualifies one as being a cult member, surely the flip side of the coin is seemingly the closed-minded, almost religious like mention of passive setups. JJbomber stop being so silly. Have you actually auditioned decent actives yourself?

I've boxed swapped, admittedly not the best gear in the world but reasonable stuff (easily in OP's league) from the likes of Roksan pre/power, Maratanz and not too bad speakers, Q Acoustic Concept 20's, PMC GB1i and Twenty 23's (that were retailing at £2450) when I owned them. Your recommendation of Sale of the Century combo means little, especially when cheaper actives can easily trump it as they did with my own previous kit.

Shame that you needed to resort to cheap shots.

 

[ID.]

As someone who leans left politically and is a fervent fan of active speakers, I'd urge the original poster to consider them. At least try to get a listen and see for yourself what they bring to the party.

 

[lindsayt]

Clearly I have a lot of research to do regarding the systems and components you have all thrown into the ring. You have all been unbelievably helpful, but at the same time I didn't realise there were quite so many ways to skin the proverbial cat. Lindsay made a strong case to spend less and save more by buying second hand; I think it's great advice if you know what you're doing but probably less so if like me you're a bit wet behind the ears. Or perhaps I over-estimate the risks of an inexperienced enthusiast like me buying used.

Plenty food for thought in this thread, you have all been amazingly helpful, even though the thread has barely been up half a day. Thank you.

DTW

In that case I will make it VERY easy for you.

The Airport Express. I think you already know about those. If you don't have one already you can buy one off ebay for less than £30.

Connect your Express to your amp with one of these at a cost of £1:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-5mm-Jack-to-2-x-RCA-Phono-Audio-Cable-Gold-1m-Lead-for-Laptop-Tablet-to-H-Fi-/252135317531?hash=item3ab46fa01b:g:9Q0AAOSwhcJWJ6Tp

Buy something like this for £10:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Technics-SU-V620-Integrated-Amplifier-Incl-Remote-Made-In-Japan-99p-NR-/222310190600?hash=item33c2b84e08:g:x1EAAOSwB09YIhFY

There's plenty of choice for stereo amps for £10 or less. Pick one that's near you for easy collection.

Connect your amp to your speakers with an appropriate length of this stuff (a 10 metre mono / 5 metre stereo length would cost £6):

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10m-X-Loud-Speaker-Cable-Good-Quality-Transparent-322-Strand-Home-Cinema-HiFi-/270289849274?hash=item3eee87cbba:g:--sAAOxy4YdTVkYB

Buy HB1's for less than £25 if they need refoaming, less than £60 if they don't.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=heybrook&_sop=2

If they need refoaming buy a refoam kit for £20 and ask me to link you to youtube videos that will tell you EVERYTHING you need to know to refoam them yourself.

And don't forget to buy some nice sturdy speaker stands for £30. For example:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Speaker-Stands-Black-Good-quality-Near-mint-condition-/182348475507?hash=item2a74d0ec73:g:SRgAAOSwal5YI0ag

That would give you a reasonable sounding stereo music system for £140.

Leaving £860 in your bank.

 

[lindsayt]

pair of active AVI DM5 + AirPort Express..

£700 new or £775 for premium finish or go to AVI forum > buying and selling page > wait for a pair to appear ( around £500) and if you don't like them ( unlikely) just sell them for money you've paid

that's the only speakers you ever need !

Do AVI DM5's sound as good as AVI DM 10's?

What about a sub?

 

[lpv]

must have ( each under £0.99) additions to Lindsay's british/ japanese treasures

number 1)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131995771376

number 2) .. if number 1 collapse

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162274983333

 

[lindsayt]

Is this the thread where NOBODY answers any of my questions?

 

[muljao]

I think it's that if someone answers your question you'll tell them you can McGyver a better system for a tenner. It's brilliant that you can do this stuff with old speakers etc, but most can't do that stuff, or don't want to go to the trouble.

 

[DonaldTrumpsWig]

Can't believe all the excellent responses I've got from this thread and the plethora of different ideas.

In the end, and thanks really to this thread sparking my motivation, I drove to my nearest Richer Sound's to see what was on offer. Despite my reservations regarding all in one speakers (all eggs in one basket etc) I was prepared to give some a listen, but sadly none were in stock except Sonos, which weren't really what I was looking for. I listened to a few different combinations of products and eventually came out with a Marantz MC-R611 and Q Acoustics 3050s for £749. The Marantz won my heart with its compat size and inclusion of Airplay so I can stream my iPad to it without an additional adapters or Airport Express. The CD player and FM/DAB radio is even more icing on the cake.

I'll spend ages optimizing the speaker positioning but so far everything sounds phenominal in my bedroom, I have never heard music sound like this at all. And way under what I thought I'd need to spend. They even threw in some speaker cable for me.

You may say "what a wasted thread, he could have just gone to Richer's", but please don't think that, it's been incredibly useful and you've opoen my eyes to the many different possibilities nd products out there.

Thanks for all your time

DTW

 

[lpv]

enjoy mr trump *yes3*

 

[jjbomber]

I'll spend ages optimizing the speaker positioning but so far everything sounds phenominal in my bedroom, I have never heard music sound like this at all. And way under what I thought I'd need to spend.

That's all that matters. you've got exactly what you want and you're happy.

 

[muljao]

Excellent, enjoy