So I walked into Sevenoaks, Cambridge yesterday...

[admin_exported]

...and came out £1,700 poorer!

I've always wanted a half-decent 'budget' Hi-Fi set-up and after coming into a bit of money recently I finally bit the bullet. After wandering with a budget of around 1k for a complete system, from scratch, I was taken into the demo room with some Rotel and Marantzkit with Monitor Audio speakers. Neither really hit the mark and so I tried a pair of B&W 685s which made a difference, but just not the clarity I was hoping for.

When I first went in the chap mentioned that the Arcam kit was the next level up (a mate at Uni had some old kit and sounded really good) and so he brought in the A18 and CD17- what a difference!!! The sound with both sets of speakers was so much richer and more open but I preferred the 685s which seamed a bit more balanced to my untrained ears. With Chord interconnects, speaker cable and stands I ended up paying 3/4 more than I planned to, but I doubt I'll be changing anything soon- with the Rotel and Marantz I know I wouldn't have happy with and would end up replacing in the medium-term.

It looks like I've got a weekend of speaker positioning and tweaking to look forward to, oh and listening to a stack of CDs as welll!!

Cheers,
Jamie

 

[fayeanddavid]

...and came out £1,700 poorer!

I've always wanted a half-decent 'budget' Hi-Fi set-up and after coming into a bit of money recently I finally bit the bullet. After wandering with a budget of around 1k for a complete system, from scratch, I was taken into the demo room with some Rotel and Marantzkit with Monitor Audio speakers. Neither really hit the mark and so I tried a pair of B&W 685s which made a difference, but just not the clarity I was hoping for.

When I first went in the chap mentioned that the Arcam kit was the next level up (a mate at Uni had some old kit and sounded really good) and so he brought in the A18 and CD17- what a difference!!! The sound with both sets of speakers was so much richer and more open but I preferred the 685s which seamed a bit more balanced to my untrained ears. With Chord interconnects, speaker cable and stands I ended up paying 3/4 more than I planned to, but I doubt I'll be changing anything soon- with the Rotel and Marantz I know I wouldn't have happy with and would end up replacing in the medium-term.

It looks like I've got a weekend of speaker positioning and tweaking to look forward to, oh and listening to a stack of CDs as welll!!

Cheers,
Jamie

So,..................an easy spend!!!

Well done and enjoy.

 

[WishTree]

...and came out £1,700 poorer!

I've always wanted a half-decent 'budget' Hi-Fi set-up and after coming into a bit of money recently I finally bit the bullet. After wandering with a budget of around 1k for a complete system, from scratch, I was taken into the demo room with some Rotel and Marantzkit with Monitor Audio speakers. Neither really hit the mark and so I tried a pair of B&W 685s which made a difference, but just not the clarity I was hoping for.

When I first went in the chap mentioned that the Arcam kit was the next level up (a mate at Uni had some old kit and sounded really good) and so he brought in the A18 and CD17- what a difference!!! The sound with both sets of speakers was so much richer and more open but I preferred the 685s which seamed a bit more balanced to my untrained ears. With Chord interconnects, speaker cable and stands I ended up paying 3/4 more than I planned to, but I doubt I'll be changing anything soon- with the Rotel and Marantz I know I wouldn't have happy with and would end up replacing in the medium-term.

It looks like I've got a weekend of speaker positioning and tweaking to look forward to, oh and listening to a stack of CDs as welll!!

Cheers,
Jamie

Congrats Jamie and I wish you all the fun in enjoying your new set-up!

Just to be sure.. what is the set-up that you finally bought? which Marantz & Rotel?

 

[roger06]

Thing is, if it's not the system you want then you're not saving anything by sticking to a budget as you'll only end up selling it 6 months later.

I too went to buy my CD/Amp/Speakers with a budget (£1500). The kit I listened to at that level did nothing for me and I ended up spending another £1000. But I got what I wanted and I'm still enjoying it nearly six years on...

You did the right thing.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers Roger, I'm happy with the system I brought, well it sounded great in the listening room in store- hopfully it'll sound as good at home. I'm sure i could have blown even more; the chap in store offered to bring in some Leemas (I think) which where going on for twice as buch as the B&Ws, but I dindn't let him as I could see my self spending too much!

Cheers,
Jamie

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers WT, I'm not 100% sure but I think it was the Marantz PM6003 Amp And CD6003 CD player and the Rotel RA-04SE Amp, the Rotel CD palyer was out on demo and Monitor Audio Silver RX1 speakers.

Cheers,

Jamie

EDIT: The system I ordered was the Arcam FMJ A18 and FMJ CD17 with B&W 685s; to be honest I'm not sure what the interconects were, they were the £100 Chord ones (1/2 price) and the speaker cable was big chunky stuff Ross in store recomended (agian 1/2 price)!

 

[Shanka]

Hi,

Sure this must be a common problem, late last year I was looking at matching cd and amp s with a budget of £1500 and felt sure listening to the new audiolab components would just be a formality.
After much listening and head scratching I ended up nearly spending double the amount to get what I was looking for but am very happy with my buys and felt if you are going to invest such sums you don't want to be feeling you compromised or should i have got............

Just to make matters worse due to my purchases my speakers are now feeling lacking and will (again) be subject of a new thread.

I hope you are reaaly happy with your buys and have great fun listening to your reinvigorated music collection.

 

[roger06]

hopfully it'll sound as good at home.

Well temper your expectations. If you've been listening to well run-in kit in store and all the stuff you've bought is brand new, then you'll be amazed how harsh it sounds at first.

I nearly cried when I first got my Naim stuff home, but it quickly warmed up and ran-in and then it sounded fab.

You may find it sounds better at home of course...

 

[Anonymous]

I was warned that the system would take a while to bed in and and I'm not sure how our livingroom's wodden clad concret floor will impact on the performance, I feel a large rug may be on the way!

Cheers,

Jamie