Looking for first budget seperate system... Help!

[seasonsdownfall]

Hi everyone, firstly, please excuse my ignorance, i know how annoying it must get when people ask 'would this go with this, etc'

I've had my eye on the Yamaha AS500 for the last couple of years, to build a system around.

I've now read how the as300 is still a good system, and have found this for £179 online...

I had the Arcam Muso speakers demo'd to me in a shop and absoloutly fell in love with them, I believe they retail around 499 but sevenoaks online have them for 149?? which i think is an absoloute steal!

I was just wondering what peoples views were on both of these products. I have a vinyl collection i've been collecting for many years, and I love yamahas audio products, and with its built in phono this appeals to me, although i will also look at incorporating a phono stage as well as.

Thanks very much for your time,

Would appeciate any feedback.

Dan.

 

[seasonsdownfall]

If any help, my budget is around 500.

Also, could anyone suggest any good websites for speaker cable, where interconnects can be included? I find the whole cabbling malarcky very confusing!

 

[Anonymous]

The Yamaha is a good little amp so will do well for you

However the speakers can be bettered IMO; The Dali Zensor 1's would work well with the Yamaha as would the Mission MX1's and, for a bit more £££, the Monitor Audio BX2's

The Yamaha electronics are known though for being abit bright/dry in their treble so some good copper speaker cable and interconnects should help to calm this (i.e. Chord Carnival Silverscreen speaker cable / Chord CrimsonPlus interconnect).

futureshop.co.uk are an online cable reseller I've used for years and they always deliver well

 

[seasonsdownfall]

Excellent, thanks very much,

Have had my eye on the bx2's as they always seem to pair them up in hifi package deals...

The only problem is the majority of these package deals include the Yamaha CD seperate which I don't really require.

 

[Anonymous]

I think the £149 Muso offer is per speaker not per pair if I'm not mistaken.On the Sevenoaks order page they are detailed as units of 1 (i.e. 1 speaker)

 

[Anonymous]

I think the £149 Muso offer is per speaker not per pair if I'm not mistaken.On the Sevenoaks order page they are detailed as units of 1 (i.e. 1 speaker)

That's correct

They're easily bettered IMO as well...

 

[the record spot]

If you're looking at smaller standmounts, definitely check out Tannoy's Revolution DC4 or Castle's Knight 1. The Tannoys deliver a big performance that's strong on a well rounded midrange, with a nicely rolled off treble albeit still detailed to pick out instruments or place voices or other effects. A car horn went outside just now, but it turned out it was in the film I was watching...! Lastly, the bass is better than the reviews would have you believe. They are similar to the Castle Knight 1, but the Castles have a slightly different presentation, a little more closed-in in comparison, but for the £299, really rather good. There's also the Knight 2 as well which is worth a look.

 

[Anonymous]

Don't rule out Whardale Diamond 10.1 speakers, of the five pairs I currently own they continue to be the most satisfying because of their cost vs perfomance ratio.

 

[seasonsdownfall]

Update: Have ordered the Yamaha AS-500 Amplifier, next for speakers, going to go for the BX2's I think.. But won't be for a while, student loan won't stretch that far! haha...

Got the as500 for £239, inc delivery which I thought was a real good deal.