I'm looking to buy a hifi system (my cheap "home cinema in a box" and P.C. speaker systems just don't cut it anymore) and I'm thinking of spending about £1000 - £2000 sometime in the next year (should be getting my first job soon, but living with parents means I'll still be getting at least half my pay check, so 3-5 months post job) I'm hoping to keep it for several years, even if it stops being my main system, which includes during moving. It can't be too sensative to positioning (so preffereably front firing ports) and will be for relatively small to medium sized rooms. I listen to a bit of everything, but mostly rock, metal, heavy metal and songs with bass. I try to keep flat serfaces to a minimum but it's not always possible so a flexible system is nessecary. The system doesn't need to be super high quality, I probably wouldn't be able to tell anyay :roll: Just clear and fairly loud, so if I can get that on the cheaper end, that'd be great. I don't mind about the size (I'll fit it in) and style is deffinately a secondary consideration to quality. Also (in the hopes you can get better quality for cheaper without this stuff) I don't need or want bluetooth or networking or any of that funky stuff. Just looking for suggestions to get excited about and demo when I have the cash, so cheers in advance for the suggestions :cheers:
First HiFi £1000-£2000
- Thread starter theconspicuousninja
- Start date
I understand that you'd rather keep at the cheaper end of your budget but the reality is that the difference between a £1k and a £2k system can be night and day, especially if you delve into 2nd hand gear. What will your main source be? We'll start there.
My main source willprobably be my PC (guess I'll need to invest in a good sound card and decent recordings too) and I'd also use my phone from time to time. As for seperates vs all in one, I assumed seperates but I don't really mind if any all in one suggestions are the better quality option.
Also, why a USB digital/analog converter rather than a good sound card? Surely the latter would give better results for the same money as you're not paying for it to be compact? :?
theconspicuousninja said:
Logically you should be right, but in practice, outboard dacs are usually better. If you already had something decent soundcard, a Asus Sonar STX for example, then a cheapish outboard dac would not be much of an upgrade. Assuming that is not the case, then best go outboard.
Given your declared musical preferences the dac/active speaker route will probably give you the results you are looking for. Starting at about £500, a pair of Presonus Eris 8 and an Epiphany Odac for example, and range up from there.
The Mackie HR824-2 mentioned above would be great but might overpower a smallish room, a very good value combo such as the Matrix Mini-I dac/ preamp (£275) and a pair of Adam A7x (£800) would be my choice if the room was not too big.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2014-MATRIX-Mini-i-24bit-384kHz-Balanced-DAC-Headphone-Amp-AD1955-Remote-Control-/261362293812?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item3cda681c34
http://www.thomann.de/gb/adam_a7x.htm
Many internal soundcards have driver issues as well as possibly being adversely affected by the electrically noisy environment found within a PC. IMO far better to go the external USB dac route; many are available with line out and headphone out giving you the option to use both in the future. If it were me starting out I'd go for active speakers - less boxes, fewer wires and more bang for buck. On the other hand I would be sorely tempted to buy a second hand Quad 909 power amp and some Harbeth p3esr's.
Outboard DAC it is (also makes it easier to change source if I want to use a laptop or something) And I think I'm leaning on the active side at the moment, partly for the money reason. anything from the triangle color to the active's being suggested. Thanks for all the suggestions guys 
though I'll keep my eyes open for second hand gear...
though I'll keep my eyes open for second hand gear...Although, it does bring up further points like: "Would studio monitors be an okay audio solution when I was havinging a party" and "what are the best DAC/pre amps?"
If you want to go with Active speakers, take a look at the KEF X300, they are very good. Try to find a place to audition them.
theconspicuousninja said:
This is always an issue and one that I have touched on before.
The primary problem is that people massively underestimate the differences in two separate scenarios.
A hi-fi setup that is reasonably well chosen and matched will have no problem filling a decent sized room with music at a pretty respectable level, that is assuming that there are two or three people sitting quietly and listening to music. In fact most modern systems are so powerful that they do not even have to be that well matched, there is usually something in hand.
The problem occurs when you stick 20 or 30 people into the same space, all chatting and having a good time. All kinds of things start to come into play at this point, your ears adjust to the higher background levels so the music has to be cranked up to sound as loud as it did before, a mass of bodies absorb sound energy to an huge degree so turn it up a bit more. Add a bit of bass boost to the dance tracks, a bit more level to make it more exciting, etc etc. This might be difficult to come to terms with, but we could easily be talking about power requirements that are 10, even 100 times greater than normal hi-fi listening.
Before you know it the amplifier is being driven well into clip and your system is damaged, happens all the time, even with systems that are pretty powerful by hi-fi standards. The only speakers I know of (within budget) that I am sure will cope with that sort of use are the Mackie HR824s mentioned above.
These speakers have colossal ouput and a very powerful bass, a combination of powerful amplifiers (150 + 100 watts continuous), sensitive drive units and direct 'active' drive sees to that. I used to have a pair of 15inch JBL studio monitors as a party system driven by Crown (Amcron) amplifiers, but if I was buying a system today, the Mackies would be my choice.
Bear in mind that these are designed primarily for the US market and are perhaps a little unrefined for hi-fi use, a better all rounder might be the Adam A8x, still pretty potent but smoother and sweeter for hi-fi use. Both these and the Mackies are in the £1000-1200 price range, the smaller Adan A7x at around £800 are also fine speakers for normal use, and will play louder and cleaner than most conventional hi-fi at the price, but do not have the prodigeous output of the other two models mentioned.
Would it be sensible or foolish to try the AVI ADM9.1s first and use them as a reference pair (due to having their own DAC as well as amp) and then test other DAC/ active speaker combos from there? Given that I know little about pairing I thought I might find it useful to hear a whole system first. Though from the review it looks like if I chose them I'd have to save up and add an active sub at some point afterwords, but I'm not adverse to doing that.
Vladimir said:
I could imagine that would be a very powerfull sound, don´t know Kandy K2 BT,just the K2.It is also a very good suggestion I guess if you dont go the active way.
Within the given Budget of max.2000,- my choice would be Monitor Audio RX6/(Focal Aria 906 if you want it more mellow) + Peachtree Decco Hybrid Amp + Logitech Touch or Sonos as Transporter and maybe if you need cdp something like a Marantz 6005.Just good normal standard cables.Thats a very pleasing and synergetic combination hard to beat at this given budget imo if you also care about the looks and maybe want to built around later or use the system later in your own rooms.
If you are gonna use you pc for music then you can use internet radio and you cd/dvd for cd's, you can also get something like spotify
Nad D3020 and sensitive speakers min 88-89 db, i use a pair of boston A26 which i think is a good combination (nuforce usb cable,clearer audio mains and van den hul clearwater speaker cable,for my speakers i use the isoacosutics 155 stands)
Keep it simple don't buy as you first hifi something with 10 channels lots of light big speakers with huge bass
buy something that sounds good.
if you want active speaker i would surgest listening to jbl Lsr 308 (a bit big like the Adam A8X but not as expensive) and a dac you can use as a preamp, don't forget good cables and mabye som isoacoustics stands (which do make a difference)
Nad D3020 and sensitive speakers min 88-89 db, i use a pair of boston A26 which i think is a good combination (nuforce usb cable,clearer audio mains and van den hul clearwater speaker cable,for my speakers i use the isoacosutics 155 stands)
Keep it simple don't buy as you first hifi something with 10 channels lots of light big speakers with huge bass
buy something that sounds good.
if you want active speaker i would surgest listening to jbl Lsr 308 (a bit big like the Adam A8X but not as expensive) and a dac you can use as a preamp, don't forget good cables and mabye som isoacoustics stands (which do make a difference)
Similar threads
TRENDING THREADS
-
-
-
-
-
-
Question How do I get my sound working through my DAC? Need some advice!- Started by Yoran
- Replies: 40
-
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram