New Hi-Fi Help

[Loczki]

I currently have a bundled sony hi fi. The MHC-GX45, i am getting rid of it and need some help on what to get. I would like to do it properly this time rather than opt for a bundled set. I have no experience in the 'Hi-Fi' area and would greatly appreciate some help. The hi fi will be used to mainly listen to music, almost every genre, and to watch films. I would like it to be quite powerful but i dont need anything crazy. My room is 6.5x4 metres. Thanks.

 

[Razz]

What budget do you have in mind?

 

[Loczki]

Quite a tight budget here, 300 pounds is the max basically. Obviously I am not going to get an amazing set up with this amount of money, im just looking for a good sound to pound budget set up.

 

[Loczki]

Ive just realised that i am probably kidding myself that i will get something for 300 pounds or less. So maybe ill have to wait a while until i get a new system and allow myself to spend some more money on it. But any suggestions will still be appreciated.

 

[Andy Clough]

OK, couple of things to thinks about here. I'm assuming you want to build a system of hi-fi separates, rather than an all-in-one system such as you had before?

And you say you want to use the system for watching films too. So, are you happy to have a stereo-only system for film watching, or do you want full surround sound? A dedicated stereo system will give you better performance with music, but will still enhance your movie experience, so you don't necessarily have to go for a full 5.1 system if you don't want to.

 

[Loczki]

Yeah im good with plain stereo i really dont need or really want a surround sound system as this set up is just for the bedroom, 95 percent of the time it is music and only occasionally will i watch a film on it. And your assumption about the seperates is correct. But with this budget maybe i will have to opt for an all in one bundle???

 

[Razz]

If I would only have 300 quid to spend on a hi-fi I would immediately think second hand/ebay. I would watch ebay closely for a while and would get a second hand Arcam Alpha 7 CD player (for around 70-80 quid on ebay), a Marantz PM7200 amp (around 130-150 on ebay) and a pair of second hand B&W 601 S2 speakers (for around 100 on ebay) and I'd be much more at peace in my mind then with any modern all-in-one boxes. You have the right to be fussy about second hand speakers in which case I would recommend a new pair of Q Acoustics (100 quid) or Tannoy F1 (110). I guess the system above would sound better than any micro anyway...

Razz

 

[Andy Clough]

An Arcam/Marantz/B&W set-up would definitely sound better than any micro system. Looking for secondhand kit on ebay is a good start, otherwise you'd have to build the system one piece at a time.

If you were buying new, you should consider the Marantz CD5001 (£170), maybe a Marantz PM4001 amp (£180) and Tannoy Mercury F1 Custom speakers (£110). I realise this is over your budget, but if you could find the extra £160 it would be a great system and you could always upgrade at a later date.

 

[Loczki]

Thanks for your suggestions. I forgot to mention that most of the music will be coming out of a computer, i dont know if that will change anything or not. Since I am playing almost everything through a computer i could leave out the cd player (is this possible) until i am ready to spend some more money on it. Is that a valid idea or just uninformed rambling?

 

[Razz]

That's not such a bad idea at all given your budget and your setup

I would recommend the same setup I suggested above - or indeed the one suggested by Andy - bar the CD player. Instead I would get a M-Audio Audiophile USB sound card which means you'll have a much better DAC for you audio digital files, and proper RC connectors for your amp (plus a rather good headphone output). Remember the M-Audio is designed with studio standards in mind so it is very good. I have listened to it a lot so I can testify for that. (Indeed if using some upsampling algorythms in the form of Winamp or Foobar plugins, you can obtain a sound that would rival a few very good stand-alone CD players...).

Marantz amps are generally very good for the money but the PM7200 was truly astounding in my opinion... Other Marantz or Arcam amps that originally costed around 300 quid would be very good though. As for the speakers - if new the Tannoys suggested by Andy are very good for not too much money; second hand: B&W speakers seem to be like the best choice...

Good luck with your shopping

Razz

 

[Loczki]

Alright thanks a lot Razz and Andy for your help, its greatly appreciated. I will have a think about it and look on ebay and the likes. Cant tell you how much this has helped. Thanks again.

 

[Loczki]

Hi again, just one more question, in my current set up i have 2 front speakers and a sub woofer, will it make the system better if i have a sub with it? Should i use my current sub until i can afford a better one or are there relatively cheap subs out there?
Thanks