Entry level hifi recommendations £500 budget!

[popjac11]

Hi everyone,

I'm a total hifi virgin and would like some advice on choosing a good set-up for my small 3x2 metre bedroom. I really like the cambridge audio azur 340 series amp and CD player, but I'm not sure whether to swap the CD player for a DAC as I would like to use my laptop as a major source for music. It would also be great if someone could let me know if I could hook up my tv and xbox 360 to play through the amp and speakers too!

Thanks guys, its a small room so the sound doesn't have to be earth shattering to fill it. Looking forward to your recommendations!

 

[plastic penguin]

Hi

Going out on a limb a little, but have you ever thought about Rotel RA-04? Far superior in terms of sound to the budget Cambridge.

Yes, from what you say, an external DAC would be better suited, this will connect your PC, DVD and improve a budget CDP (so I'm told). The popular one at the moment is the Dac Magic, although, personally speaking, I don't have experience of DAC's.

Speakers? very easy, either Wharfedale Diamonds 9.1 or the upgraded version 10.1. And, yes, you can connect the amp directly to the TV via AV or Video outputs, using phono leads.

Hope this helps.....

 

[popjac11]

Thanks! Just read the review for the Rotel RA-04 and it seems like it fits the bill perfectly, will definitely investigate further. I have also heard good things about the Wharfedale diamonds and their price makes them a viable bet. How would you recommend the budget be split i.e. is it worth splashing out £300-400 on a better amp if I can only afford £100 speakers?

The more I can get for my money the better really, if I can squeeze a DAC and a CD player in there somehow that would be awesome!

Anyone else got any advice on DACs?

 

[plastic penguin]

popjac11:

Thanks! Just read the review for the Rotel RA-04 and it seems like it fits the bill perfectly, will definitely investigate further. I have also heard good things about the Wharfedale diamonds and their price makes them a viable bet. How would you recommend the budget be split i.e. is it worth splashing out £300-400 on a better amp if I can only afford £100 speakers?

The more I can get for my money the better really, if I can squeeze a DAC and a CD player in there somehow that would be awesome!

Anyone else got any advice on DACs?

If your willing to haggle a little, you could probably pick-up the Rotel for around £200. Then I would splash the rest on better speakers, look at something like B&W 685. Or if you look on ebay I would look at Epos M12.2's for around high £300's and Rotel for a sub 200 figure.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd look at good used items

pioneer A400 amp for approx £100-£120 ... paid £70 for mine (or something like a harmon Kardon HK1400 for under £100) ..... or if you dont mind much older, then a good older sansui, kenwood or pioneer SA series amp

squeezebox duet (not sure of the used prices ... perhaps under £200)???

leaves £200 for speakers .... something like used dynaudio or older Harbeth speakers or even mission 751 or 753 floorstanders??

and if you need a cd player, you can pick up a good used older one for dirt cheap (i'd look at something like the old rotel RCD-9658X limited edition ... I used to have one and was really good .... have seen them being sold for under £50 now with remote)

 

[the record spot]

Good selection from dim_span there; the only minor query around the 753s being they typically needed a beefy power source to sound their best, so the HK1400 would be a good starter. A 6550 would be a sterling HK find if you see one though. Rarely come up in the UK - Germany appears to be a bit more switched on to HK than we are.

Bang on re: the Pioneer A400 and older Sansui kit though (but especially the -17 series gear in which I don't think there's a bad amp in that line-up at all). Can't really fault my Sansui AU-217 - around 30 years old (likely a little more, I think being a Mark 1 model, so probably 1977 or so) and plays like a dream. Better than the Marantz 6010-KI it replaced in my current set-up.

 

[matthewpiano]

The Marantz PM6003 is an awesome piece of kit. Pair it with a pair of Mordaunt-Short Aviano 2s and you've got a cracking amp and speaker combo that you would struggle to improve on without spending mega money.

 

[Anonymous]

Umm, if you want the lot for £500, I'd say the Rotel (~£200-230) is good, stick it with a Beresford 7510 (£120) and go with something like Wharfdale Diamond 9.1 (£100) and tone it down a bit with Chord cables (~£30 for a crimson interconnect and however much speaker cable at £6/m). Next investment would be some speaker stands. That's probably a bit bright. Other than that kind of thing I'd go second hand.

EDIT: You could look at the V-Dac, instead of the Beresford, that might be better tonally, not sure.

 

[Anonymous]

On the subject of used hi fi, I've been looking at some amps myself. Anyone got an opinion on the Marantz PM44SE? I've seen a few of them about and it's claimed on one website that it was a direct competitor to the Pioneer A400. Is it any good? What price would you think is reasonable?

 

[Anonymous]

I have a pioneer A400 ... not bad but save up a bit more, be patient and go for the Pioneer SA-9800 ... I paid £275 for mine in mint condition and am very pleased (you cannot compare the 2) ... total different league

Have not heard the marantz PM44SE but was looking closely at a marantz PM 7200 and the marantz PM 1200 (similar prices to the Pioneer SA-9800) ...

bought the Pioneer instead, as it was the 1st one that came for sale at my budget

 

[the record spot]

Cowps:On the subject of used hi fi, I've been looking at some amps myself. Anyone got an opinion on the Marantz PM44SE? I've seen a few of them about and it's claimed on one website that it was a direct competitor to the Pioneer A400. Is it any good? What price would you think is reasonable?

It's an okay amp, respectable enough from Marantz, but whilst they might've put it up to challenge the A400, there's a pretty good reason why only one of those two achieved a near legendary status.

If you fancied Marantz, I'd be more keen to look at one the 44's successors, the PM66SE-KI or the KI'd 7200, which is, or will be, a bit of a cult classic. Not many amps of its' kind gave out 25wpc pure Class A as well as 90wpc under more typical operating settings and well worth hearing IMO.

And much as I've mentioned them in recent days, if you see a Sansui AU-217, -317 or the rarer 517 and 717 amps, or something along the lines of their AU-999 and any or all for a good price, then snap it up. If you don't like it, you can resell later and possibly even make money on the deal (a Sansui pre/power combo from 1977 went for £800-odd recently on Ebay). Sound quality IMO is very sweet - great all rounders, good bass, nice midrange, articulate but not shrill treble and goes loud. Build is good too and the entry level ones come up regularly on Ebay and sometimes on Gumtree.

 

[popjac11]

Other than ebay, where would you recommend buying second hand kit?

And is it ok to play high-quality encoded music from my computer through older amps using a DAC? Sorry if that's a ridiculous question, like I said hifi n00b!

 

[plastic penguin]

popjac11:

Other than ebay, where would you recommend buying second hand kit?

And is it ok to play high-quality encoded music from my computer through older amps using a DAC? Sorry if that's a ridiculous question, like I said hifi n00b!

Most of the good retail outlet either have s/hand or ex-dem stuff, like Audio-T, Sevenoaks etc.

Second and third question is YES and NO, if that makes sense.