Recommend a budget system for a newbie.

[admin_exported]

I've done some research and feel I need some guidance.

My budget is £500, but I may be able to stretch to 6 if I'm convinced it will be better suited to my needs.

I have seen people on these boards recommend the Denon DM38 to people on a tight budget, and it seems to meet almost all of my needs; compact, good sound quality, CD player, USB port for Ipods and other mp3 players etc.

I've also heard good things about the Q acoustic 2010's, Mission MX1's and Monitor Audio BR1's to pair with the Denon.

The only reservations I have are weather this will be enough to listen to high quality audio, at relatively high volumes, with little or no distortion and get the most out of my eclectic taste in music.

I could get a larger setup with loudspeakers, but nothing too big because it is going to go in a room which is quite small and narrow.

Any help is very much appreciated.

 

[matthewpiano]

There are plenty of good deals around on the Marantz CD6003, PM6003 and various different speaker options. A system based around this would be better and more flexible than the Denon if you can stretch to the £600 mark. A friend recently purchased the 6003s with Wharfedale Diamond 10.1s and is delighted with it. Don't forget to budget for stands and cables, although you don't need to spend big money on either.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick reply. I will look into the Marantz and the Wharfedale speakers as alternatives.

 

[Anonymous]

Gareth_M:

I've done some research and feel I need some guidance.

My budget is £500, but I may be able to stretch to 6 if I'm convinced it will be better suited to my needs.

I have seen people on these boards recommend the Denon DM38 to people on a tight budget, and it seems to meet almost all of my needs; compact, good sound quality, CD player, USB port for Ipods and other mp3 players etc.

I've also heard good things about the Q acoustic 2010's, Mission MX1's and Monitor Audio BR1's to pair with the Denon.

The only reservations I have are weather this will be enough to listen to high quality audio, at relatively high volumes, with little or no distortion and get the most out of my eclectic taste in music.

I could get a larger setup with loudspeakers, but nothing too big because it is going to go in a room which is quite small and narrow.

Any help is very much appreciated.

Hi Gareth,

Sorry to trot out the obvious, but the best way to tell if the Denon fits the bill is to audition it with a selection of speakers as you've listed. You may have to compromise on your requirements if compact size and a usb port are quite important as opposed to more power which you will get if you go down a separates as Matthew suggested. As your room is small and narrow, I think the Denon+good budget speaker combo will sound great and satisfy your needs. Again, as Matthew mentioned, don't forget to cover decent speaker cable and stands which should help in maximising the sound performance.

Good luck and happy hunting,

Nick

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks very much for your advice Nick. I will see if there are any specialist hifi shops near me. There are numerous electronics stores close by, but they tend to only stock all-in-one systems. I see what you mean about finding an amp with a CD player and usb port built in. There only seem to be a few amps on the market that meet meet my requirements, and then you have to find speakers to combine it with. Before coming to this site I thought you could connect almost any speakers to an amp (providing it was powerful enough) and it would be fine, now, however I find that doing this could damage expensive equipment.

I'm now torn between getting the DM38 and some of the speakers in the OP or extending my budget slightly and getting a Maratz CD6003 as Matthew suggested or a MCR603 in the hope that the extra power to drive bigger speakers will come in useful.

I'm soon to be moving into the garage of my parents house (hence the narrow room) so for the first time in my life I may be able to get away with having a nice hifi setup, without aggravating neighbours and family members.

 

[Anonymous]

Gareth_M:

Thanks very much for your advice Nick. I will see if there are any specialist hifi shops near me. There are numerous electronics stores close by, but they tend to only stock all-in-one systems. I see what you mean about finding an amp with a CD player and usb port built in. There only seem to be a few amps on the market that meet meet my requirements, and then you have to find speakers to combine it with. Before coming to this site I thought you could connect almost any speakers to an amp (providing it was powerful enough) and it would be fine, now, however I find that doing this could damage expensive equipment.

I'm now torn between getting the DM38 and some of the speakers in the OP or extending my budget slightly and getting a Maratz CD6003 as Matthew suggested or a MCR603 in the hope that the extra power to drive bigger speakers will come in useful.

I'm soon to be moving into the garage of my parents house (hence the narrow room) so for the first time in my life I may be able to get away with having a nice hifi setup, without aggravating neighbours and family members.

Hi Gareth,

In the price range you're talking about, I would'nt worry too much about being in a position to damage your speakers due to an Ohm/Amp mismatch. When you say you "hope that the extra power to drive bigger speakers will come in useful", you might be surprised what kind of 'kick ass' sound you'll get from a good quality small speaker. Sadly, in the budget bracket, you may have to compromise with your set up

I guess, what's most important - Power, Quality, Compactness or Functionality? Determining this may help you go down the right path. It could be the stepped approach. As a starting point, you could always consider a great budget amp with the extra power and add a Russ Andrews cable for MP3 connectivity. Forgo the intial USB connectivity until you can afford a DAC like the Cambridge Audio Dacmagic, which can take a USB feed from a pc and ouput a quality analogue signal into your hi-fi amp. Next step could be a MP3 dock which outputs a digital signal and could also be fed into the DAC and provide an improved MP3 playback.

Anyway, just some other ideas which I hope help rather than confuse

Cheers,

Nick

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Nick, thanks again for the reply.

I could compromise on compactness, and functionality (although obviously the fewer boxes the better) if I could upgrade in the future. I would like high quality sound reproduction and enough power to fill a smallish room with enough bass for the speakers to sound punchy. I enjoy listening to high quality mp3s from my walkman with ultimate ears in-ear headphones, so I do like my music to sound clear with plenty of "attack". I've heard attack used in a few WHF reviews and I think that's what I like XP

Maybe I'm asking too much for all of the above in this price range, but if you've heard relatively compact speakers with these characteristics I think I'll give them a try.

I appreciate the help Nick

 

[dominos]

http://www.richersounds.com/product/mini-hifi-systems/denon/dm38dab/deno-dm38dab-blk

http://www.richersounds.com/product/bookshelf-speakers/mordaunt-short/aviano-2/mord-aviano-2-blk

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the recommendation domo.

After doing some reading on them it seems they would be a good option for me because they're a bit heavier on the bass than most speakers of that size and price.

 

[Anonymous]

Gareth,

Speaking from experience, you won't go far wrong if its attacking sound with the Wharfdale Diamonds. You can pick up some good prices as well...for example here.

Cheers,

Nick

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much for all of the advice Nick. The Wharefale's certainly look the business, but with all this choice, I think a trip to Bristol or Cardiff is in order, to give a few a listen.

Just out of curiosity....if you were to drive Wharfdale or Monitor Audio loudspeakers with an amp towards the lower end of the recommended wattage, would the speakers sound dull and bloated?I ask this because looking through the specs of various speakers, there is quite a range...25-100 or 30-100 watts, for example.

I would be very grateful if you could inform me on this.

 

[Overdose]

I suspect that the recommended wattage range you listed is for compatible amplifier output rating, so any amp producing power within the listed bracket would be fine.

This should help a bit.

http://www.the-home-cinema-guide.com/speaker-power-rating.html

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for the link, Overdose...It cleared alot up for me, and answered my question very concisely.