New system on a budget

[CarlDW]

Hello fellow forum members,

I am looking to put together a seperates system for my lounge with a view to moving my Yamaha MCR-140 into the bedroom.

I would prefer seperates to an all-in-one unit as sound quality is more important to me than a multitude of features, and I can upgrade as and when funds allow. To start with I am after a CD player, amplifier and speakers.

I am putting together a shortlist of kit to go and audition - I would prefer new rather than 2nd hand so I can demo the stuff first. I have a strict £500 budget.

CD player - I am looking at the NAD C515BEE, Pioneer PD10, Yamaha CD-S300 and Denon DCD720AE (I've seen these at £200 or less)

Amplifier - NAD C316BEE, Pioneer A30 or Denon PMA-720AE (again I've spotted these at less than £200)

Speakers - I'm having trouble with these, just the Wharfdale Diamond 10.1 and Q Acoustics 2010i/2020i seem worth looking at, based on reviews.

I know that places like Richer Sounds have suggested systems around my price range, but I would like to audition as much as I can bearing in mind that this will be a big investment for me and I want whatever I buy to last.

My room is 4x3m and my musical tastes mainly revolve aroung rock, metal, indie, dance and some drum and bass (think Bloc Party, Parkway Drive, Radiohead and Pendulum).

Is there any other kit that I should try and audition, or does anyone have experience with any of the above?

Many thanks.

 

[BigH]

£500 is not a great budget, you may want to look at some Richer sounds systems which canbe good value. If you want to save a bit of money you could get a £100 blu-ray dvd player instead a cd player. That would leave you £400 for amp and speakers. Or you could add a bit more money and get better speakers. With your budget I maybe inclined to get some ex-demo or slightly used gear.

 

[bigfish786]

the marantz range are getting really good reviews all round, the budget range in richer sounds are only 300 quid ish for the cd and amp, leaving a bit left for some q acoustics speakers and some half decent interconnects!

 

[mwhyte]

If you have the physical room, have a listen to better speakers and cut corners on the amp and source.

 

[CarlDW]

Thanks for the replies so far. I think I have settled on auditioning the Q Acoustic 2010i/2020i.

Has anyone listened to the Onkyo C7030 CDP? Also within budget and seems to have good specs.

I have also seen the Onkyo A9030 at a good price too, if that would be a good match for the Q Acoustics?

 

[BigH]

As said before I would spend a bit more on speakers like Wharfedale 121s or MA BX2 which are both about £230.

 

[random7100]

Hi. Just a question, why so against used gear? For limited budget, such as mine up to now, you can get far more for your money used. I put together a cracking CD/amplifier/Speakers combo for only £165.00 (the components are listed in my signature) The speakers are probably the weakest link but for that money its still very respectable sounding.

Have a look on ebay for ideas and if youve got a local shop that sells used hifi gear go and have a browse

 

[the record spot]

Used would definitely be my recommendation to, or at least in part. Shop carefully and you'll land some great stuff. My current system has a Marantz CD 52 MkII SE, which is near mint and came to my door for less than £50. My current amp's a belter - huge thing! -and again near mint. Bought off Ebay for about £120. A Sansui AU-217 was mine, serviced and delivered a couple of years back for £33. It's still in service. Chebby, one of the other forum regulars on here landed some Mordaunt Short MS20i Pearls speakers for about £35 and again these were barely used.

Shop clever and buy shrewdly and you'll get a great system with plenty left over.

 

[BigH]

I agree used gear is great value, looking upgrade my system and struggling to find something better even at £2,000+.

 

[bigfish786]

i've got to agree that going 2nd hand can be the better choice, i spent some time slowly picking up different arcam products from ebay, i paid 110 quid for a dv88 , had it around 18 months and sold it for around the same money, i then got a dv79 (with hdmi) for 114 quid, then bought an arcam a70 brand new for 240 quid, ex demo. finally i added an arcam p85/3 power amp for 240 quid.. my speakers i bought new with a five year warranty for 300 quid, mission m35i. all of which i spread over a few years..

i initially started off with separates using a cambridge audio a1 and a technics cd player, bought for 60 quid for both of them. i plugged in an old pair of technics speakers from a mini seperates system i'd bought in the 1990's, and i was hooked.

i've been messing around with hifi ever since, i've bought hundreds more cd's since i bought seperates, because you really can hear the difference.

the first thing (and only thing since) i bought new, and full price were the speakers. everything else i've sought out for a bargain. to be honest, thats half the fun.

 

[CarlDW]

I am not adverse to looking into 2nd hand gear - I just want to get a great sound - if I was to go down the 2nd hand route, what should I be looking at?

I have read on here that some of the older Sony ES and Rotel amplifiers review favourably, but I wouldn't know where to start with CDP/speakers...

 

[BigH]

cd player I would look at Marantz players, very popular and plenty around, I have a 63SE and it is great you can pick them up for about £190 (refurbished) or more modern cheaper ones. Not sure about speakers, some of the Missions are very good value. Maybe have a look on ebay for some ideas.

 

[hoopsontoast]

I rate the Sony ES amps very highly, and are excelent value having used the TA-F670ES and TA-F770ES which are about £150 and £250 respectively.

For similar price, you could look at stuff like the Primare A20, Restek Challenger, Rega Brio3 which are all in that same price bracket.

Speaker wise, I have similar music taste to yourself and found both my current Kef 104/2 and Acoustic Energy AE2 are within budget if you look around. Other speakers I have had which may do it for you are the Rega R3, Kef XQ1, ATC SCM7, ATC SCM10, Kord Tornado / Vulcan. All can be had for £300 and under.

For CD players, I would generally 'skimp' on that area first, and invest in the amp/speakers first, to get the best value IME.

For speakers though, I think AE2's would be right up your street with that sized room.

 

[bluedroog]

I’ve noticed on various other forums people almost universally raving about a system at the Scalford show consisting of pair of Q Acoustics 2010i speakers, I think on the end of a chucky Song amp. Now I briefly heard these on the end of the Denon micro system (D38 or something?) and they sounded woeful so I think careful partnering and an amp with plenty of grunt is crucial, I’m now tempted to buy a pair just to see what they are capable of doing on the end of my amp.

 

[hoopsontoast]

Yup, Richards Sony TA-F770ES/Q-Acousics 2010i combo with the Pioneer PD-71 at Scalford was a lovely combo, may find it hard to fill anything other than small room or low volumes with the OP's music taste.

 

[CarlDW]

I spent quite some time on eBay last night and saw (what I thought) were some bargins - a Sony TA-FB930R QS amp for under £100 and a TA-FB730R also less than £100 and both look in mint condition. Are these Sony amplifiers well regarded?

There also seems to be some huge Sony STR-DA1200ES AV amps available at seriously cheap money, I know they're a 7.1 channel amp but you seem to get an awful lot for your cash!

Speaker wise I will look around for some AE2's - CDP wise I wouldn't want to look at anything too old, if only because the laser/tray mechanisms can fail (from what I have read about), but do people think I can get away with getting a cheaper (and less superior) unit for now? I have quite a lot of CD's (400+) and I am not interested in streaming etc.

 

[hoopsontoast]

Another outstanding system at the show was using the TA-FB940R, so on that basis I think it would be worth a punt for under £100.

The QS range is supposed to be the range below the ES range, but the later models seemed to blur that line a little aparently.

Only thing to look out for on the AE2's is the bass driver surrounds are foam, and after 20 odd years start to disintegrate. These may or may not need re-doing at some point depending on the age and if they had been done by the previous owner. Its easy to spot, and does not cost too much to get them done if you need to.

 

[CarlDW]

Thanks for the advice. The AE2's seem out of my price range after a quick look, would B&W's deliver the big sound that I'm after?

Are there any specific Pioneer players to look out for?

 

[random7100]

CD players, the older Marantz are popular, as you can see on here. I wouldnt worry about them being old. a common thing to go is the drawer gear and you can still buy them for a lot of 90s models. I, among other people that have replied on this thread have a Marantz CD52 mk2 SE (Special edition) player. rated in the day and i can tell you still performs great now. You can pick one up on ebay generally for about £50 delivered, if not a bit cheaper. A top Bargain

Amps and speakers id be looking for something quite upfront, clear and punchy for your tastes in music. I can tell you Rotel amps do that cos i have one, but i dont know about others, so im sure other users will suggest other suitable models. I would steer clear of Marantz amps though, in my experience theyre very good but are very dissapointing in terms of punch and dynamics, or at least the older ones i tried were. bit of a snooze fest.

 

[random7100]

I used to have some B&W 601 speakers, which are probably the cheapest 'modern' B&Ws you will find on ebay. they have been replaced a few times over now but i was very happy with them when i had them, very punchy sounding. regret getting rid of them years ago tbh

 

[BigH]

A Marantz 63se just went for £72 on e bay. Parts are readily available and even intructions for DIY fixes.

 

[CarlDW]

Thanks for all of the helpful replies. I have seen quite a few Marantz players, mainly the CD-52 and CD-63 KI Sig, so there seems to be plenty about to choose from.

As I won't be able to listen to whatever I buy prior to purchase, if I went for a Marantz player which amplifiers and speakers would suit best? Bearing in mind my musical tastes, room size and budget?

I have seen the B&W DM601 going fairly cheap.

 

[CarlDW]

Does anybody know, off the top of their heads, what the price of the Sony CDP-XB930 and TA-FB940 were when new?? I seem to recollect they were around the £300 mark...

Many thanks.

 

[k77stan]

the Denon amp is a no brainer,rs are selling it for less than 200..bargain.. :shhh:

 

[CarlDW]

Well, after much searching and not much buying, I have finally got my hands on a mint Kenwood 3020SE amplifier for the princley sum of.... Nothing!

I am also hoping to be the proud owner of a Sony CD player in the not too distant future.

So, my question is, where do I go with the speakers? I appreciate the kit I have managed to get my hands on is all fairly budget stuff (when new), but so far spent nothing of my budget and I don't have a clue what would be a good match for my amp.

Any ideas? As previously stated, I mainly listen to rock, metal and dance in a 3x4m room.

Thanks.