Please Help A Newbie With New Hifi Setup?

[Anonymous]

Thanks relocated,

Thats one of the reasons as soon as i read about them i just sorta fell in love. Like you said about testimonials where people have sodls 5K systems for these.....seems too good to be true.

Ill give them a closer read, but they are certainly high up on my list now

 

[Al ears]

So you've got a £1,000 total budget and the suggestion is that you spend it all on a second hand pair of speakers. Presumably you are going to look at them for the next couple of years as your budget is blown and you haven't got a front end, amp or wires. So the pros is that you have something nice to look at; the cons is that you have nothing to listen to. You need a budget of around £2,500 to justify £1,000 on a pair of AVIs.

Erm, THESE are active speakers, with built in DAC and preamp, but you knew that already, right?

Aren't thet more 'powered' rather than truely 'active'? OK I'm being pedantic and no I don't think he knew that.

Truly active.

This thread is probably not the place but I would call them 'powered' because the true definition of active is :- Each range of drivers has its own amplifier channel, ie, Sub, Low Mid, Mid High, And HF all controlled by an external electronic crossover placed before the amplifiers in the signal chain.

I'm pretty sure AVI's do not have an external crossover. No doubt I'll be corrected if I'm wrong.

 

[Crossie]

They are proper active speakers with the cross overs before the amplification stage... :wall:

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, buying stuff second hand can be a fun learning process. You can buy stuff, and, if it's not to your tastes you can resell, hopefully without too much of a loss.

A problem with buying from listening at a dealers listening room is that it might not sound the same at home, it takes time and experimentation, placement of speakers etc.

I'm not knocking buying from a dealer, a good one will be knowledgeable and helpful and might let you demo kit at home, try and find your local hifi specialist.

On a separate note, I had the Yam AS500 with Monitor audio 5bx floorstanders, a detailed, powerful sound, a little too bright and tiresome at loud (ish) volume levels for me, so I moved them on. You can do better at that budget, I bought end of line speakers, a secondhand amp then added a dac when I could afford it. I tried quite a few amps before I found what I liked, all via that auction site, even made £90 profit on one amp!

Another good source for us budget conscious is kit taken in part exchange at hifi dealers, some bargains to be found there.

Happy hunting!

 

[Overdose]

Active and powered speaker definitions HERE.

 

[omnibeard]

But whatever the final purchase is, i want it to be a system ill be happy with for years.

Good luck with that!

It is tricky - there's so much choice, and of course the concern is that when spending your hard earned pennies you need to know that everything will work together and you're getting a good deal.

There's a thread on here somewhere about what brands of amp go well with what brand of speakers. See if you can find that, it's useful. Maybe someone with a better memory than me can point it out?

Take a look at ebay - just do, say, a search on speakers under £500, ordered by price highest first. Keep an eye on what various makes/models go for, compare that to "buy it now" prices. You soon start to get a good idea of when something is a bargain. The thing is, if you're clever/lucky then anything you buy you should be able to sell for the same price (maybe even more) if it doesn't work out. Google like mad for reviews/opinions on anything you like the look of - that way you can find out what amps people are using with what speakers. Don't take anything as gospel though.

If I was looking at a new set of speakers and an amp, or active speakers, on your budget (or thereabouts), there's a couple of things I would be auditioning straight away, and I'd be making sure to do this in my own house...

Kef R100 speakers - would audition these with lots of amps to see what I liked the best

Rega Brio R amp plus Rega RS1 speakers - all-Rega set ups are SWEET!

Onkyo TX8050 - would audition this amp with the most expensive sets of speakers I could then afford. I've had it driving my Monopulse As beautifully and think it seriously punches above its price. Great connectivity, pretty much everything you could want from a "budget" amp.

AVI ADM9s - whatever the most recent model is. But would also look at much cheaper active speakers too.

 

[gregvet]

I'm pretty sure AVI's do not have an external crossover. No doubt I'll be corrected if I'm wrong.

The 'external crossover' is in the same cabinet, but they are definitely true actives. Its all about where the crossover comes in the order of things.

Powered passive would be amp - crossover - drivers. Can be in one box or several

Active is crossover - amps - drivers. Again can be in one box or several.

 

[omnibeard]

Not sure definitions of powered/active are very useful to the OP. Mind you, not sure what I'm about to write will be much use either!

If you love your Grado head-fi then you will definitely like the AVI ADM 9 ACTIVE speakers.

See, that's what I was told about the ADM9s - but you know what, I didn't really like them that much at all. I get all the pros, but the sound just wasn't for me. They're perfectly fine speakers, and much more than that besides, but I found the sound a little thin, lacking in bass and I think I can do better with a mix of new/ex-demo/second hand to please my ears. Admittedly the ones I heard were not the current model, and without the sub.

As to longevity and satisfaction, there are numerous people who have swapped multi-thousand pound systems for ADM 9s and have no interest in upgrading or tweaking.

Hmm, pretty sure I've seen numerous people on forums selling their older ADM9s for the ADM9.1s then the ADM9Ts and now the new Red Dots. Forgive me if I've got the models/order wrong there, I don't follow it too closely, but that's upgrading isn't it?

Having said that, if the OP can stretch his budget then the new ADM9 Red Dots, or whatever they are called, would probably be a very good choice bearing in mind he likes the idea of keeping box count down. Similarly, a cheaper option might be active monitors from Adam/Genelec/Acoustic Energy/Dynaudio etc. with Pro Audio DAC/controller of some kind.

In his position, I would probably track down some great deals on older second hand kit - Pioneer A400, Mission 753 or 752, Marantz CD 63 KI and either a Squeezebox Touch or Airport Express with a stack of cheap as chips cables and interconnects. With a bit of luck you could get that lot for well under £500. You could then work out what you liked/disliked about the set up, do the research from there to work out how to improve it all, and sell the bits you don't like for (hopefully) the same money as you bought them. Money left over to buy more music/go on holiday/treat your significant other to some nice meals out.

Probably.

Hmm, maybe not.

It is confusing isn't it!

The ADM9s do keep things simple I guess!

 

[Overdose]

A pair of ADMs HERE.

A couple of things to note. They are only USB input (first model by all accounts), so if you wanted to connect another digital device, you might need a USB/optical interface, if one exists. You could connect an AEX or ATV for a wireless solution via line in and then use the laptop remotely. Another option would be to use a cheap netbook with a large HDD as a server and remote that via your laptop or an App on android or idevice.

The price might be a bit optimistic, although not too far off the mark, perhaps contact the seller for an all in price with delivery? Also £500 is a lot for a punt if you don't like them, but there you are.

 

[richardw42]

These USB Ones have been hanging around. The asking price is very optimistic. Personally I'd say £300 is nearer the mark.

Re. upgrading with the 9s. It's more akin to changing cars as you sell one set to buy another (no tinkering with cables etc), also the second hand values are really good.

 

[Anonymous]

I had already seen these, and ive messaged him already.

A few questions though:

1, whats the difference between these and other models?

2, is this a good price for these, as they were £1000 new?

thanks

Liam

 

[omnibeard]

Re. upgrading with the 9s. It's more akin to changing cars as you sell one set to buy another (no tinkering with cables etc), also the second hand values are really good.

So that's upgrading then? Or not?

Sorry to be a pedant, just I hear a lot of AVI owners saying how it's cured them of upgraditis, yet from what I have seen that is far from the case. ADM9 owners lusting after newer, improved ADM9s or ADM40s. ADM40 owners will be lusting after the next model of that speaker too.

 

[Overdose]

£400 might be a better deal, but for not much more than the £500 asking price, you'd get the later model with optical input, which is more versatile.

Sound quality, I doubt that there is much between them, except the later model which uses different drivers, has supposedly better bass.

I would scout around the AVI forum, sometimes the ADM9s come up for sale there at good prices and they would be better placed to answer any specific product related questions.

 

[richardw42]

Re. upgrading with the 9s. It's more akin to changing cars as you sell one set to buy another (no tinkering with cables etc), also the second hand values are really good.

So that's upgrading then? Or not?

Sorry to be a pedant, just I hear a lot of AVI owners saying how it's cured them of upgraditis, yet from what I have seen that is far from the case. ADM9 owners lusting after newer, improved ADM9s or ADM40s. ADM40 owners will be lusting after the next model of that speaker too.

I think AVI owners (myself included) probably see it more as an end of tinkering. Swapping cables in and out, trying to find the best amp/speaker match. The thing is you either like them or you don't. No need for tuning.

My car example. You might have a Mondeo and lust after a 3 series, when/if you can you might swap one for the other rather than continually fettling with the Mondeo. Some people love doing this though, same as with audio, all power to them just not for me.

 

[omnibeard]

I think AVI owners (myself included) probably see it more as an end of tinkering. Swapping cables in and out, trying to find the best amp/speaker match. The thing is you either like them or you don't. No need for tuning.

My car example. You might have a Mondeo and lust after a 3 series, when/if you can you might swap one for the other rather than continually fettling with the Mondeo. Some people love doing this though, same as with audio, all power to them just not for me.

Nope, not for me either - but I still can't agree that AVI actives stop people upgrading. To quote Relocated:

"As to longevity and satisfaction, there are numerous people who have swapped multi-thousand pound systems for ADM 9s and have no interest in upgrading or tweaking."

Well, there are similarly numerous people with ADM 9s who very clearly have an interest in upgrading - just like your car analogy, it's about people not being totally happy with what they have and hankering after something better.

Anyway, this is not helpful to the OP to whom I would suggest getting out to listen to as many kit combos as possible, finding out what kind of stuff he likes, researching like mad and then trying to maximise his budget by looking for a combination of new, ex demo and second hand that will, hopefully, create the knockout sound he's looking for and that suits his ears. I've done exactly that with a very similar budget from a similar starting point.

Supervillain, don't despair!

 

[Anonymous]

Thankyou for everyones feedback.

Could someone please tell what the difference is between the ADM9's vs ADM9.1T?

Im having trouble really finding a clear answer to this

 

[Overdose]

Thankyou for everyones feedback.

Could someone please tell what the difference is between the ADM9's vs ADM9.1T?

Im having trouble really finding a clear answer to this

Try the same question on the AVI forum. They will know the ins and outs and help point you in the right direction regarding price.

 

[Al ears]

There is a virtually new pair of ADM9T's going at the site listed below for £800. I do not know if this is a good price or not.

http://www.hifi-forsale.co.uk/moreinfo.php?prod_title=avi_ADM9T&p=speaker&prod_id=5947&offset=0

 

[Al ears]

a virtually new pair of ADM9T's for £800. Don't know if this is a good price or not.

http://www.hifi-forsale.co.uk/moreinfo.php?prod_title=avi_ADM9T&p=speaker&prod_id=5947&offset=0

 

[relocated]

Thankyou for everyones feedback.

Could someone please tell what the difference is between the ADM9's vs ADM9.1T?

Im having trouble really finding a clear answer to this

This should be what you are looking for. After 9T comes 9RS which have new drivers and all sorts of other changes.

[LINK REMOVED - house rules]

Hope this helps.