New Purchase Price/Percentage Ratio --> Speakers, Integrated Amp, DAC

[rana_kirti]

Hello members,

I'm looking to get myself a stero setup and i was wondering what is the ideal price ratio to be decided for same. I'm working with £ 1500 budget and wanted to figure out how should i divide the money between the different components.

Is it ideal to spend more on the speaker or amp or dac ? If you had a £ 1500 budget or rather any budget then in what proportion/percentage would you spend the money ?

Is there a ideal/perfect formula to this ?

Regards,

Rana.

 

[Anonymous]

Do you plan to keep the same system a long time or plan to upgrade along the way ?

Assuming it will be not often upgraded I would be looking at a split like this... Approximate of course and it's only my opinion.

Amp 500

Speakers 500

Dac 250-300 although I would be spend less as this could end up being the most upgraded

Stands for speaker 150

Cables 50

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hello members,

I'm looking to get myself a stero setup and i was wondering what is the ideal price ratio to be decided for same. I'm working with £ 1500 budget and wanted to figure out how should i divide the money between the different components.

Is it ideal to spend more on the speaker or amp or dac ? If you had a £ 1500 budget or rather any budget then in what proportion/percentage would you spend the money ?

Is there a ideal/perfect formula to this ?

Regards,

Rana.

hHi rana_kirti

You're back

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[rana_kirti]

thanks evan

how you been Rick ? How's life & business ?

 

[rana_kirti]

thanks evan,

how you been Rick ? How's life and work ?

 

[rana_kirti]

Hello members,

I'm looking to get myself a stero setup and i was wondering what is the ideal price ratio to be decided for same. I'm working with £ 1500 budget and wanted to figure out how should i divide the money between the different components.

Is it ideal to spend more on the speaker or amp or dac ? If you had a £ 1500 budget or rather any budget then in what proportion/percentage would you spend the money ?

Is there a ideal/perfect formula to this ?

Regards,

Rana.

hHi rana_kirti

You're back

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

thanks evan,

how you been Rick ? How's life and work ?

 

[rana_kirti]

thanks evan,

how you been Rick ? How's life and work ?

 

[rana_kirti]

thanks evan,

how you been Rick ? How's life and work ?

 

[rana_kirti]

thanks evan.

hi rick, how's life and work ?

 

[Anonymous]

I once read the following rule of thumb at an old version of the the B&W website:

-1/3 for an amplifier

-1/3 for the source (CD player)

-1/3 for speakers

-10 % of the "1/3-amount" for speaker cables.

I don't know what to do with the dac but the following would probably make sense?

-500 £ for an amplifier

-500 £ for a source + dac

-500 £ for speakers

-speaker cables 50 £ (you always spend more than your initial intention

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Consider this kind of system:

Storage - a USB hard drive - any - 50£

Management (ripping, playlists etc) - existinng computer (assume you already have one) - 0£

Playback - streamer - Squeezebbox Touch - 150£

Control - remote from Squeezobox or free app for iphone/ipod if you have one - 0£

DAC/Amp/Speakers - AVI ADM 9T - about 1100-1200£

Cables - 20£

Total - about 1400£

For this you get all your music easily accessible, very high sound quality adn low box count - very hard to beat.

Later you can upgrade by adding a subwoofer.

 

[Anonymous]

I've recently switched from a Marantz/Mordaunt Short setup to Adam pro active monitors and they sound simply incredible. These are not the ones I have but look like a great bargain and one I'd take if I had the money.

http://www.absolutemusic.co.uk/store/index.php/dynbm6a2bmc/p_46434.html?utm_nooverride=1/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=Google%2BShopping

With a DAC thrown in

You'll need to get xlr - xlr cables to connect DAC to monitors, van damme maybe for around £40 for the pair. The DAC will accept anything with an spdif out so spend the rest on a squeezebox to control it.

Just a thought.

 

[rana_kirti]

i'm a bit new to hi-fi audio though i know the kind of sound i prefer. - I like an easy on the ears, smooth kind of sound which is comfortable to listen for long hours. Basically fatigue free listening.- At the same time i'd like the sound to be involving & exciting with a melodious character with a bit of detail. Taught bass with excellent vocals is preferred. I'm willing to add a Subwoofer. ( separate budget )- I don't like clinical or bright sounding gear. I get instant discomfort from a harsh/bright/forward sounding speaker/amp combination. Almost makes my ear ring and gives me a headache. Probably my ears are very sensitive to treble.My source will be PC and this will be a desktop setup. I'd like to welcome suggestions for a Speaker ( Book Shelves ) + Amp + DAC combo from

some very informative ideas there... thank you guys.

i'm a bit new to hi-fi audio though i know the kind of sound i prefer.

- I like an easy on the ears, smooth kind of sound which is comfortable to listen for long hours. Basically fatigue free listening.

- At the same time i'd like the sound to be involving & exciting with a melodious character with a bit of detail. Taught bass with excellent vocals is preferred. I'm willing to add a Subwoofer. ( separate budget )

- I don't like clinical or bright sounding gear. I get instant discomfort from a harsh/bright/forward sounding speaker/amp combination. Almost makes my ear ring and gives me a headache. Probably my ears are very sensitive to treble.

My source will be PC and this will be a desktop setup.

I'd like to welcome suggestions for a Speaker ( Book Shelves ) + Amp + DAC combo from members here. Budget = £ 1500

Regards,

Rana

 

[altruistic.lemon]

If it's for PC then active speakers are a good idea, especially as you'll be listening to them from up close.

Something like the Adams or Genelec plus a DAC would be fine, or the ADMs. You really need to audition though, as studio monitors tend to be very clinical and I found some hard to listen to for long without getting a headache.

You might also be interested in the NuForce amplifier/Amphion loudspeaker bundle which looks really good and which I'd like to audition myself, but dealers seem to be a bit few and far between..

 

[Anonymous]

If you're after warm sounding gear then pro monitors probably won't be for you, they do tend to be incredibly detailed (at least mine are) but their ultimate aim is to reproduce the source as accurately as possible, without any colouration so you wouldn't hear any more 'warmth' than was in the original recording. I do think that on average pro monitors represent fantastic value for money when compared to similar amp + speaker consumer packages though.

Good luck with your search.

Teeter

 

[Overdose]

Given your requirements, I would say almost certainly the active route. Plenty of choice available, but for a few ideas try the following...

ADM 9s (actives with built in DAC and preamp)

Genelec, Adam, Mackie or Dynaudio monitors with the following Pre/DAC combos....

Cambridge DACmagic plus

TEAC UD-H01

Matrix Quattro DAC

Matrix mini-i DAC

Beresford Caiman

There are lots of choices, but this solution gives you the most compact result.

 

[Anonymous]

The dynaudios tend to have a laid back sound when compared to other active studio monitors. They probably won't be as relaxed as the AVIs which are intended for hifi use but will better them in almost every respect IMO. Plus you get a pro quality DAC thrown in for the price.

Also, the Dyn go down to 40hz so you probably wouldn't even need a sub to get that full sound.

Review here:

http://emusician.com/monitors/dynaudio_acoustics_bm_mkii/

Just two quick notes, if you did go for these it'd be worth familiarising yourself with pro audio, it is a different world with different levels etc. but I haven't found the switch difficult. Secondly, you'd want to play the highest quality files you could as you will really hear the difference on a set like these.

teeter

 

[Anonymous]

Quick addition: As is said almost daily on here, listening to a pair and deciding for yourself is key as sound is so subjective.

In spite of this, I still stand by my recommendation.

Teeter

 

[the record spot]

If you're after warm sounding gear then pro monitors probably won't be for you, they do tend to be incredibly detailed (at least mine are) but their ultimate aim is to reproduce the source as accurately as possible, without any colouration so you wouldn't hear any more 'warmth' than was in the original recording. I do think that on average pro monitors represent fantastic value for money when compared to similar amp + speaker consumer packages though.

Good luck with your search.

Teeter

That's not entirely the case, though for many it is. Some models will sit quite nicely in the home from an audio perspective if not looks! I've heard several Genelecs and a few Yamahas (amongst others) - the latter's MSP5s sound detailed, but not clinical. Genelec just sound gorgeous.

On the other hand, Yamaha's HS50 is very flat, quite neutral and more suited to the studio. The HS80 however, could be a different beast. Of course, EQ settings can be set to boost frequencies and optimise for the listener's preferences. In effect, you become your own mastering engineer!

 

[Anonymous]

I have listened to the HS50s and personally found their treble to be very forward and bright. Can't comment on the gennies as I haven't heard them but have read posts from people praising them for hi-fi applications so would be inclined to agree with you there.

I think this highlights the importance of the OP listening for themselves!

Quickly as you mentioned looks, a lot a studio monitors are pretty ugly, like my ADAMs but the Dyns look like any other dyn speaker, pretty nice imo.

Teeter

 

[tino]

Depending on the size of your listening room and how loud you like your music played I can recommend a Wadia 151 Power DAC. There is a package offer on now for £1300 for this digital amplifier speaker plus Sonus Faber Toy speakers. The amp power is 25W into 8 ohms, but the sound is excellent for such a small amp ... natural, precise and tight, but never bright. Beware in that it only has 4 digital inputs (no analogue) but should be OK for you if you intend to hook it up to a computer or CD. If you shop around you will be able to pick up the amp on its own for less than £600 new which is a saving of nearly £400.

 

[tino]

Ooops .. double post ...

 

[CnoEvil]

If it was me, I would either get a full Rega system (DAC + Brio-R + RS1); or

I would build it round discontinued components like the Leema Pulse here:
http://marketing.sevenoakssoundandvision.co.uk/store/southeast/brighton/3569/content.aspx

and add maybe Teac UDH01 Dac and some Dynaudio DM 2/7 Speakers.

 

[tino]

Good advice Cno ... lots of ex-demo and end of line gear at very good prices .. that's how I buy most of my stuff ... At approx 50% or less than normal price. As well as the Leema, I think there are some end of line Peachtree (i)Novas and (i)Deccos out there at good prices. If you are buying multiple items, sometimes if you buy one piece of kit from a retailer, then you can sometimes get a discount on your next off your next purchase. So it could make sense to buy your stuff one at a time.

I would be tempted to get an amplifier with integral DAC for now e.g. Leema Pulse III or Peachtree and upgrade to an external DAC in the future.

 

[CnoEvil]

Good advice Cno ... lots of ex-demo and end of line gear at very good prices .. that's how I buy most of my stuff ... At approx 50% or less than normal price. As well as the Leema, I think there are some end of line Peachtree (i)Novas and (i)Deccos out there at good prices. If you are buying multiple items, sometimes if you buy one piece of kit from a retailer, then you can sometimes get a discount on your next off your next purchase. So it could make sense to buy your stuff one at a time.

I would be tempted to get an amplifier with integral DAC for now e.g. Leema Pulse III or Peachtree and upgrade to an external DAC in the future.

I didn't know the Peachtree was on offer....so another "must consider", that should give the OP the sound he's looking for.