Please help a newbie with first Hi-Fi

[admin_exported]

Hi,

This is the first time I've ever bought seperates and I was thinking of pairing this amp http://www.maplin.co.uk/80w-hifi-amplifier-224023 with the Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 speakers http://www.richersounds.com/product/bookshelf-speakers/wharfedale/diamond-9.0/whar-9.0-blk.

I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with these speakers and if I would need to do any soldering to wire them to the amp?

Thanks,

 

[Anonymous]

Diamonds - great value. But why do you need an 80 watt amp to drive them ?

 

[Anonymous]

My best advice would be...

Set a maximum budget for all sources/cables etc but consider not going too cheap if you can possibly afford not to....I started out at the very cheapest end and soon regretted it learning that it was a false economy. What I had bought started to drive me nuts!

Try to get into a demo room at RS or somewhere and listen to some of the package deals. Don't forget a couple of your fav cd's

No soldering needed anywhere.

 

[Anonymous]

Diamonds - great value. But why do you need an 80 watt amp to drive them ?

Why, what power amp would you reccomend?

 

[Anonymous]

a higher quality 30w amp will give better results

set a budget for amp and speakers and we'll help you from there, what kind of music do you listen to, what volume do you like, also whats the source, is it cd's/computer/ipod?

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe around £200 for amp and speakers, being a student. At the moment I'm just looking at playing vinyl and I like the volume fairly high,listening to mainly rock and metal etc.

 

[Petherick]

I agree with the comments that maybe a better amplifier is called for, but if you do decide the Acoustic Solutions one is okay for you, you should be able to pick one up from ebay or wherever for about £40 or maybe less; The model is SP101.
Are there any second-hand hi-fi opportunities near you? It may be worth finding out what's out there.
Good luck!

 

[Blackdawn]

For the type of system you want and the price your looking at I would go second hand. For example, I purchased my Denon amp second hand for about £40 and it is still an excellent amplifier. Also you could get much better speakers on that well known market place for the £60 you are wanting to pay for the 9.0 Wharfdales.

 

[Anonymous]

Don't focus too much on quoted output of the amp. As above go for the best quality you can afford and try to get some demos under your belt.

As you are into metal/rock you may need to check out the amount of base you can squeeze but not forgetting that the treble can also be tricky.

Good luck

Diamonds - great value. But why do you need an 80 watt amp to drive them ?

Why, what power amp would you reccomend?

 

[Anonymous]

I leared a hard lesson when i built my last PC and that was dont buy anything from maplin ever. Has anybody ever heard of "Acoustic Solutions"? I certainly havent and considering whos selling it its likely of very poor quality when compared to a "proper hifi" band name. Just my opinion tho.

 

[Anonymous]

I am going to give you a few suggestions based on my experience of currently being a student at uni.

If your willing to look second hand and if you want loud and reasonable quality I'd look for a pair of used wharfedale valdus 500's/400's they will play very loud, louder than the vast majority of hifi equipment. Xarus 5000's are meant to be better if you can get hold of a pair of them. But they will likely be more expensive. They are VERY big so you may have trouble moving them to/from uni. PAY UP TO £100, THEY CAN BE A FOR MUCH LESS.

If you want more quality (but much less output) I would look at a pair of wharfedale diamond 9.1's (£100) they are a fair bit better than the 9.0's and I would always recommend that you spend at least as much on the speakers as you do on the amp.

I won't say which is better from those options as they are meant to fufill a different purpose. I would prefer to have the valdus/xarus' but I suspect the majority of people here would prefer own the diamonds. If you want to blow peoples ears off get the big ones. If not get the diamonds as they are a much more refined speaker. If you suspect you would like to blast them I would get the big ones as you will blow the diamonds.

For an amp I would look on ebay for a used arcam alpha 7 or 8/nad 325/320/cambridge audio/yamaha/technics/any other respected brand. Basically spend the rest of the buget here. If you want a new amp I would buy a cambridge audio a1.

Do you plan to add a sub in the future?

 

[Overdose]

For the type of system you want and the price your looking at I would go second hand. For example, I purchased my Denon amp second hand for about £40 and it is still an excellent amplifier. Also you could get much better speakers on that well known market place for the £60 you are wanting to pay for the 9.0 Wharfdales.

Seconded.

£200 will get you some respectible kit second hand.

Do a bit of research on high quality amps of up to 20 years old and see whats available. Similarly, good used speakers are easy to pick up for reasonable money. I see little point in buying cheap new kit, because it simply won't last long, or sound all that great.

Just my opinion mind you.

 

[Anonymous]

I wouldnt look at used b and w as their stuff tends to keep value really well, so won't be that much of a bargin.

Sure others will diagree...(I have nothing agaisnt b and w, the best setup i ever heard was built around b and w's)

 

[Anonymous]

For the type of system you want and the price your looking at I would go second hand. For example, I purchased my Denon amp second hand for about £40 and it is still an excellent amplifier. Also you could get much better speakers on that well known market place for the £60 you are wanting to pay for the 9.0 Wharfdales.

Seconded.

£200 will get you some respectible kit second hand.

Do a bit of research on high quality amps of up to 20 years old and see whats available. Similarly, good used speakers are easy to pick up for reasonable money. I see little point in buying cheap new kit, because it simply won't last long, or sound all that great.

Just my opinion mind you.

new wharfedale 9.1's for £100 are still a good deal though. Not my choice but they are good.

 

[Blackdawn]

Agreed, do research on individual speakers. The way to get the best bargain is go for a product that doesn't have so much of a following. For example, I have two sets of old Pioneer CS speakers which I find are much better than the wharfdale 9's and far cheaper. All depends on the sound you like.

 

[chunky70]

That amp (acoustic solutions) is utter crap. My mate had one for a month and had to sell it on, and i had to agree,muddy lifeless no soundstage and no finness! Better look s/h without a doubt!

 

[Anonymous]

Having got 15 good years out of a NAD 302 amp and Wharfedale Valdus 400 speakers before a recent upgrade (both still working fine), I can only back up what others have said. s/h models from reliable brands from even 10 - 20 years ago will get you much better quality than any dodgy brands new.

 

[Anonymous]

...Absolutely... no apologies for repeating myself. I made the big mistake of buying a complete system for less than £200 (new at retail) and hated it with a vegeance. it was also very unreliable.

I reckon it pays to consider that if a retailer is banging out amps at 80 quid including VAT ..... I estimate these amps will be bought in for around 20 quid or a little more. Enough said!

 

[Anonymous]

out of interest did the nad 302 ever overheat on the wharfedales?