New or 2nd hand?

[Rich_D]

Hi, after years of growing up with hi-fi around, dad has always been mad on it, I've finally made the decision to start acquiring a nice collection.

Now I havnt got the biggest budget by any means, but I have no problem at all buying 2nd hand. I'm big into bicycles and know that a small amount spent on decent old gear is better than the same amount spent on brand new gear.

Although my dad loves hi-fi, he has now owned his dream set up for a good 10years and it sounds sublime, so naturally he's not clued up on what's around nowadays. I remember enjoying some of his old equipment such as Mission and Castle and they all had a lovely warm sound to them.

So at the end of a long post, where would be a good place to start? Second hand or new? Admitidly I don't have a particular budget at the moment just want to do some ground work on where to look. Any help is greatly appreciated

Thanks

Forgot to say I'm looking at CD, amp and speakers, no need for anything else for the time being. Cheers

 

[Andrewjvt]

Hi, after years of growing up with hi-fi around, dad has always been mad on it, I've finally made the decision to start acquiring a nice collection.

Now I havnt got the biggest budget by any means, but I have no problem at all buying 2nd hand. I'm big into bicycles and know that a small amount spent on decent old gear is better than the same amount spent on brand new gear.?

Although my dad loves hi-fi, he has now owned his dream set up for a good 10years and it sounds sublime, so naturally he's not clued up on what's around nowadays. I remember enjoying some of his old equipment such as Mission and Castle and they all had a lovely warm sound to them.?

So at the end of a long post, where would be a good place to start? Second hand or new? Admitidly I don't have a particular budget at the moment just want to do some ground work on where to look. Any help is greatly appreciated

Thanks

Forgot to say I'm looking at CD, amp and speakers, no need for anything else for the time being. Cheers

Id start with a decent amp then think about speakers and also think about what media you will be using? Turn table or cd or pc with dac?

How big is your space and how loud do you want to go.

Also do you want a decent budget set up or are you looking mid to higher end?

There are just too many options to offer before we can start to offer opinions as we will be all over the place

 

[lindsayt]

Rich_D for you, with your background, the best solution will be 2nd hand.

The only things you might want to buy new are cartridges / stylus for a vinyl source or passive pre-amps (resistor based volume controls) which cost a couple of hundered quid new.

Check out German, US and UK ebay.

Find out how much it would cost to put together the same or similar system to your dad's. If that's within your budget it would make a good starting point.

 

[Rich_D]

Thank you chaps. I completely forgot about room size etc! My lounge is approx 13ftx15ft so not huge. In terms of how loud I want to go luckily my two boys are heavy sleepers, so a setup that fills the room with a warm full sound would be perfect.

The idea of reproducing my dads setup would be amazing, however I feel in places a tad out of reach! Ha.

He has Musical Fidelity A3 cd, pre amp and power amp running a pair of Sonys Fabers, can't remember the model of them.

In terms of budget, how much would a decent budget set up be? I was hunting around today and yesterday for second hand bits and found that the MF A3 CD player was around £200, which I thought was pretty reasonable, however getting similar standard speakers is way out of my league at the moment unfortunately.

Sorry if I'm being vague, relatively complicated world once you start looking into it.

Thanks again for any help

 

[NJB]

If you are budget conscious then second hand is a great bet. As you will have guessed, the matching of the amplifier and speakers is key in getting the sound that you like. When you say that you want a warm sound, then that suggests a full, rounded, bass. For that, you will be looking for speakers with a response that drops well down and can achieve it with ease. I have recent experience of various speakers, and size counts. I find that standmounts are more controlled, and in your size room then floorstanders could sound a bit overpowering.

The big problem with secondhand is getting to hear the system together. You have to hear the amplifier with the speakers, as reviews and advice can only go so far. How about an old version of a current model. For example, if you want a Naim 5si, which is decent little integrated amplifier, then many dealers will stock new ones and you can go and audition it with speakers. Find out what you like, then hit the classifieds. It is a bit cheeky, but looking around is half the fun!

 

[Rich_D]

That's exactly the kind of sound I'm looking for, not in your face, just a warm sound that rumbles along nicely.

I had a feeling floor standing speakers would be a bit much, in sound and overall size! So speakers on stands it is.

Youre absolutely right about the difficulty of listening to second hand equipment, but looking for an older version of something i have listened to and been advised on sounds like a very good idea, and like you say a whole lot of fun.

Out of interest, long shot I know, what sort of thing would be similar to the set up my dad has? Purely so I have more brands to look into.

Thank you bud

 

[acalex]

Something like this would be out of budget? I heard personally this amplifier in several occasions and I think it's a brilliant value for money

http://www.audiograffiti.com/area_usato/amplificatori-integrati/vendo-musical-fidelity-m3i-amplificatori-integrati_id155195_lit.asp

 

[Leeps]

One good thing about buying used (as long as you don't pay over the odds) is that you can try it for a few months allowing your ears to adjust to the sound, then if you're not keen on it, you can sell it on without losing too much money. So this slightly makes up for not being able to demo so easily.

Some good advice I heard on this forum in the past is buy in this order:

1. Buy the speakers that suit the room

2. Buy the amp that suits the speakers.

3. Buy the source that suits everything else.

The first step is so crucial and one a lot of people get wrong (especially in typical UK sized homes). You can have a wonderful system, but if it's in the wrong room, it can sound dreadful. There are plenty of good threads on this forum about room acoustics, so it's worth trying to understand the subject before starting with step 1.

For example if you need to sight speakers close to a wall, you might consider sealed speakers, but they tend to need more beefy amplification to sound at their best. ATC SCM7's for instance recommend a minimum of 70wpc which is quite a bit higher than their ported counterparts. So see why it's useful to start with the speakers?

Try to listen to as much as you can though. It helps you get a feel for the brand house sounds that you like and ones you don't.

 

[Rich_D]

Righty ho cheers bud, lots of research and reading to do then, but atleast I know where to start and what I'm now aiming for.

Thanks everyone, shall let you know how I get on

 

[Gaz37]

Take a look at my system (below) the whole lot didn't come to £200 & I doubt you could get a lot better sound per pound anywhere, in fact it sounds better than my son's system that's much newer & cost at least twice as much

 

[Rich_D]

Please bare with me and if I'm totally off the mark please be gentle ha ha.

Ok so I've been hunting and researching room acoustics and some kit that appeals to me after reading reviews. Ive found the three main components that seem like they could work really nicely together and produce a sound that I like (I'm well aware I could be horribly wrong though) and with some help from my 30th in December seems to be achievable as it all comes in under £500

Here goes:

Musical Fidelity A100 (fine tuned)

Marantz CD63 se

B&W DM601 S2

I chose the amp because it has decent power but produces a very clear sound that compliments the range of music I listen to and appears to drop to a low frequency. The cd is the same that my brother has and he is very happy with it and other reviews are equally as good. The speakers according to review throw out a lovely neutral sound that is clear and crisp and once run in produce warm bass, theyre also front ported which I need as the will be close to a wall and rear ported could ruin the bass.

Im hoping my research has paid off but as always any advice is welcomed, especially if I'm completely wrong.

Cheers

 

[Rich_D]

What are the important things to look for when choosing leads and speaker cables? I'm guessing gauge is high up on the list, but what else should I look for in a half decent cable?

 

[lindsayt]

Thick conducting cores made of copper or silver combined with a low price for you to buy. Beware of cables with thick insulating layers around thin conductors selling for boutique prices.

For interconnects, get them as short as is conveniently possible.