If you had £50 - could you improve this?

[admin_exported]

Hi All,

A friend of mine had a listen to my system last week and was tempted to take his first steps into hifi. Unfortunately he has very little money at the moment but asked me to consider whether he could improve what he has for £50. His current hifi is a 1980's aiwa - one of those huge things with seperate units for graphic equalizers and the like. The amp 'section; is a stereo integrated amplifier mx-z7000mk (I don't know power rating). He has the corresponding CDP and TT from this system (cd player dx-z7000m and turntable px-e800)- both of which he uses as sources. Speakers being used are 'aiwa front surround 3 way bass reflex speaker system'

My question is - can significant improvements be made on such a system at minimal cost - lets say £50 to start with! Given the nature of the stero, I guessed the best bet would be to improve the speakers and was looking at stuff like the wharfedale 9's. Wasn't sure what was good at that price level on auction sites? Will a speaker upgrade actually improve the sound given the sources?

He listens to all sorts - pop, rock and classical mostly.

Any information or opinions gratefully received!

 

[cjackson]

I had a friend with an Aiwa system and helped him to upgrade, the system itself was hugeeeeee! but the sound was not good at all. I think the amp was something like 100Watts total consumption.

He upgraded his speakers or tried to, he bought some wharfedale valdeks I think they where and the stumbled upon a problem that the amp uses diffrent connections for speakers. The speakers he had the Aiwa ones had two diffrent sets of wires which where ble - black and red - black.

SO he had a problem when he got his speakers home and found out that all he had on the speakers where the standard 2 wire. I think he got rather annoyed and binned the whole system.

I've tried to build my system lately on a budget maybe you could try your local freegle group 🙂

 

[Andrew Everard]

There's the odd pair of Tannoy Mercury M2 or MX2 speakers on fleabay at the moment - these, or the likes of older generations of Wharfedale Diamonds, KEF Crestas, Missions, etc., would be a good bet for the system.

Or if your friend fancied taking a wild punt, how about something like these ?

 

[Frank Harvey]

Do forums refer to that site as fleabay so as not to promote them? Or is it just a nice warm, cuddly affectionate nickname people like to call it?

 

[Andrew Everard]

The latter as far as I am concerned.

 

[Andrew Everard]

cjackson:He upgraded his speakers or tried to, he bought some wharfedale valdeks I think they where and the stumbled upon a problem that the amp uses diffrent connections for speakers. The speakers he had the Aiwa ones had two diffrent sets of wires which where ble - black and red - black.

The second set is probably for the front surround effects on the speakers the OP's friend has. If connecting to some conventional speakers these connections can just be ignored.

 

[Anonymous]

a quick look on ebay and:

for £55, I would first start with replacing the amp

here is an old Pioneer SA 6500 MK II for £55

then for £30 you can get a pair of Mission speakers

obviously, if you are patient and look for auctions instead of buy it nows, you may get the items cheaper

 

[Andrew Everard]

But that's over the £55 limit already, and I'm not too convinced that the existing sources will justify such an improvement. One thing's for sure - the speakers are usually the weakest link in systems of this kind, which is why I'm confident a simple speaker swap should bring the greatest benefits.

 

[Anonymous]

Very interesting replies - thanks. I guess if we're talking about replacing the amp, I'd need to suggest replacing the cdp and maybe even tt too to take advantage. I think being honest what my mate wants is a noticeable jump in quality for as cheap as possible (and £50 will have to do for now). I had assumed a speaker upgrade would be the way to do it as assumption was this was poorest element of setup. Maybe I'm being too optimistic that you can get such a leap in quality for £50.

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:One thing's for sure - the speakers are usually the weakest link in systems of this kind, which is why I'm confident a simple speaker swap should bring the greatest benefits.

Agreed, however one thing to watch for, with older speakers, is the rubber/foam surrounds to the drive units. Very prone to rot / disintegrate on some makes - so best if you can check before parting with cash.

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:But that's over the £55 limit already, and I'm not too convinced that the existing sources will justify such an improvement. One thing's for sure - the speakers are usually the weakest link in systems of this kind, which is why I'm confident a simple speaker swap should bring the greatest benefits.

OP says he has £50 ... amp costs £55, but can be bought cheaper on auction format ...

I agree with you as regards the speakers, thats why I also included speakers for £30 ...

however ..... I have also found that a good amp brings out the best in speakers ....

for £50, I am sure that if the OP is patient, he will find a similar amp aswell as similar speakers on auction format for approx £50 .... have seen some of these amps get no bids at a start price of £1.99 and they are pretty good

 

[Anonymous]

Would be nice to upgrade amp and speakers - thanks dim_span. I'll make these suggestions.

 

[Anonymous]

this gives you an indication of what these older Pioneer SA series amps sell for .... some as cheap as £14.50 ... do research, make sure that the item works properly and be patient and you should get something decent

also check the older Sansui amps ... they are very good and some bargains around

 

[Escapism]

Probably a dumb suggestion, but I wonder if you can get a quality sounding mini/midi system for around £50 these days.?? (Onkyo or Denon)

 

[Anonymous]

Escapism:

Probably a dumb suggestion, but I wonder if you can get a quality sounding mini/midi system for around £50 these days.?? (Onkyo or Denon)

anything is possible on ebay

my cheapest system I bought was a Pioneer SX700L receiver/amp, plus a pair of Leak Sandwich 3-way speakers plus a Pioneer PD S-703 cd player ... all of that for £22 .... use it as a bedroom system, and sounds pretty good, especially for the price paid

 

[the record spot]

Sansui AU-217. Superb little amp, not too well known and can be had for less than £50. Excellent range, and definitely one to shortlist. I have one (it preceded my current AU-717) and it is superb; clear, detailed, but highly musical - very rhythmic little amp. Don't think for a minute that 1970s hifi is all warm and woolly.

Speakers: Check out the likes of Mission's 731 (or the 731i later model) which will go for a good price and likely around the £50 your mate's got to spare. Lovely sound (a record shop in Edinburgh I go to uses them) can do a good big sound for such a small box too.

 

[JoelSim]

I wouldn't bother, probably too many cabling issues ie ribbons and bellwire.

I would advise him to save up £150 and then buy a new amp, cd and speakers second hand.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks all for your comments and suggestions. I'll let you know if there's any purchases and how they sound.

 

[Anonymous]

Just quickly - tell your friend to spend the 50 nicker on booze. After that lot, it's sure to sound better - even if for one night only ! 🙂

 

[Anonymous]

Richer Sounds are doing a pair of Wharfedale 9.0's for £39.99 - is this worth snapping up or are there better options to be had 2nd hand?