I'm looking to upgrade my home entertainment systems, but the last time I was in the market to purchase hifi equipment was a long time ago and everything seems to have changed! I've always been a music lover and about 15 years ago I purchased an Arcam Alpha 5 amp, Mission 760iSE speakers and a Marantz CD52mkII CD player, I then added a NAD 402 tuner and an old DJ style turntable (the turntable was just a stop gap but has been there too long!) I also have lots of digital music on a Mac Book which I connect to the Arcam amp with a minijack fromt the Mac to the Aux input on the amp.
I have a Sony DAVS800 Home Cinema system which is giving up the ghost which is what is prompting me to want to replace / consolidate my entertainment equipment as I really do not have room for 2 seperate set ups.
So, what I think I need is:
* AVR - need to be able to connect Mac book and later a turntable
* 3.1 speaker set up (I can upgrade to 5.1 later as space & budget permits
* CD / DVD / BlueRay player
* (I'm looking into getting either a Project or Rega turntable under a seperate budget of approximately £250)
I visited my local Sevenoaks HiFi and explained what I wanted but i didn't really feel that the advise that I was getting was particularly informative. It felt as if I was being sold what they had in stock rather than knowledgeable options.
They suggested I try an Onkyo 609 AVR, Marantz DVD / Blueray (£400) and either Monitor Audio or B&W Mini Theatre speakers. Not sure what Sub they put with this.
When I listened with the MA speakers the treble sounded very disconnected from the bass and it sounded like there was mid range missing leaving the sound very harsh. I could not listen to music like this for any length of time. We then tried the B&W speakers and this did sound a little better but still had a slight disconnected sound between the bass and treble. Is this becasue i'm used to the mellow sound of the Arcam amp?
So, I'd really welcome some advise on where to go next. Like I say, I have a budget of around £2000 but i'm not sure what to spend it on!
Thanks,
I have a Sony DAVS800 Home Cinema system which is giving up the ghost which is what is prompting me to want to replace / consolidate my entertainment equipment as I really do not have room for 2 seperate set ups.
So, what I think I need is:
* AVR - need to be able to connect Mac book and later a turntable
* 3.1 speaker set up (I can upgrade to 5.1 later as space & budget permits
* CD / DVD / BlueRay player
* (I'm looking into getting either a Project or Rega turntable under a seperate budget of approximately £250)
I visited my local Sevenoaks HiFi and explained what I wanted but i didn't really feel that the advise that I was getting was particularly informative. It felt as if I was being sold what they had in stock rather than knowledgeable options.
They suggested I try an Onkyo 609 AVR, Marantz DVD / Blueray (£400) and either Monitor Audio or B&W Mini Theatre speakers. Not sure what Sub they put with this.
When I listened with the MA speakers the treble sounded very disconnected from the bass and it sounded like there was mid range missing leaving the sound very harsh. I could not listen to music like this for any length of time. We then tried the B&W speakers and this did sound a little better but still had a slight disconnected sound between the bass and treble. Is this becasue i'm used to the mellow sound of the Arcam amp?
So, I'd really welcome some advise on where to go next. Like I say, I have a budget of around £2000 but i'm not sure what to spend it on!
Thanks,