so if you had 10k to spend...

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Deleted member 188516

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so if you had 10k to spend on a brand new system which included a cd player, amplifier and loudspeakers how would you divide the budget ?

i ask this question as many years ago i read an article (in hifi news i think ?) where it was stated that the interviewee would spend £8500 on just the speakers !

his reasoning was that you could get a "cracking" cd player for roughly £1000 and that loudspeakers were the best place to assign the bulk of the funds.

therefore, bearing in mind that cd players, amplifiers and loudspeakers have a different price point regarding the (steep ?) "diminishing returns effect" in performance, how would you spend a 10k budget ?

edit :- here is the article
 
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Deleted member 188516

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i'll add (going by the above formula mentioned in the article in the op) would it be daft to power £8500 speakers with a cd player / integrated amplifier combination costing £1500 ?

(personally, i would not mix and match my components, so i would be choosing the cd player and integrated amplifier from the same company hence something like the musical fidelity m2scd plus the matching m2si integrated amplifier).
 
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Deleted member 116933

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Ill bite, Yes it is daft to spend that much just on speakers alone. Speakers should be the most considered but one of the cheapest aspects of the hifi chain. Even "cheap" speakers require control and its very surprising how far they can be pushed, KEF ls50 are a case in point along with ATC. People think that cheap amps will cut it with them, But they require a very meaty amp indeed hence there's always plenty on eBay. Think they can drop down to 3.2 ohms and stay there for a long time. Properly driven speaker matters a lot.

Speakers are like cables you hit the ceiling very quickly in regards to diminishing returns after all there's only so much that can be done with 2 pistons in a square box. hence after certain price you start seeing exotic materials and strange and funny shapes.

Me Id, split the budget into thirds or quarters if you needed something else like a record player.

The article is just giving such stupid advice and articles like this is why people come here with such wonky systems.
 
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Deleted member 188516

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Ill bite, Yes it is daft to spend that much just on speakers alone. Speakers should be the most considered but one of the cheapest aspects of the hifi chain. Even "cheap" speakers require control and its very surprising how far they can be pushed, KEF ls50 are a case in point along with ATC. People think that cheap amps will cut it with them, But they require a very meaty amp indeed hence there's always plenty on eBay. Think they can drop down to 3.2 ohms and stay there for a long time. Properly driven speaker matters a lot.

Speakers are like cables you hit the ceiling very quickly in regards to diminishing returns after all there's only so much that can be done with 2 pistons in a square box. hence after certain price you start seeing exotic materials and strange and funny shapes.

Me Id, split the budget into thirds or quarters if you needed something else like a record player.

The article is just giving such stupid advice and articles like this is why people come here with such wonky systems.

thanks for "biting" with such a detailed reply. looking at the size of his speakers i can understand his system budgeting advice !
 
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I can't.
He says speakers first purely because you can get a decent CD player for under £1000.
If it were an analogue system I'd suggest the source first.
However, even with speakers first they still have them controlled adequately and often that means a very decent amp.
That's suggesting no more than £1000 on an amp.
 

jonathanRD

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The guy's room is 7m long by 5m wide, and he likes very big speakers that are usually very efficient - hence the smaller amount need for an amplifier.
Does anybody here have a 7mx5m room?

Me?
ATC SCM40a's plus a decent CD transport and a DAC that doubles as a pre-amp - sorted!
 

rainsoothe

Well-known member
I'd go for sh Naim Nac 282 + Nap 200DR (this should be around 4k total), Harbeth Monitor 30.2 (which should be under 3k used, if you could find a pair), which would leave 3k for a decent R2R DAC and a transport (maybe a sh Aqua LaVoce and Audiolab CDT 6000) if I were into CD playback. Speaker cable would be Tellurium Q Black 2, Chord Shawline interconnects. One can dream...
 
The guy's room is 7m long by 5m wide, and he likes very big speakers that are usually very efficient - hence the smaller amount need for an amplifier.
Does anybody here have a 7mx5m room?

Me?
ATC SCM40a's plus a decent CD transport and a DAC that doubles as a pre-amp - sorted!
He obviously doesn't practice what he preached.
His system didn't reflect the sort of pricing he was proposing.
 
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Deleted member 188516

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The guy's room is 7m long by 5m wide, and he likes very big speakers that are usually very efficient - hence the smaller amount need for an amplifier.
Does anybody here have a 7mx5m room?

Me?
ATC SCM40a's plus a decent CD transport and a DAC that doubles as a pre-amp - sorted!

the atc speakers suggested combined with the atc cda2 maybe ?
 
D

Deleted member 188516

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I can't.
He says speakers first purely because you can get a decent CD player for under £1000.
If it were an analogue system I'd suggest the source first.
However, even with speakers first they still have them controlled adequately and often that means a very decent amp.
That's suggesting no more than £1000 on an amp.

i can imagine his speakers cost a lot due to the size of the things !

he does not seem to be using a £1000 (ish) amplifier set up though so i see your point !
 

abacus

Well-known member
I would ditch the CD player as they are an irrelevance these days, (Even if you have plenty of CDs just rip them to FLAC files (Or ALAC if you are in the Apple Eco system) as it makes things much more flexible)

Replace the CD player with a NAS and install either a Plex or Roon server software.

Go for a high quality pair of active speakers (As always only you can decide which is best for you by trying them out) and Streamer/pre-amp. (Ideally controlled by an iPad or similar)

Bill
 

Friesiansam

Well-known member
Unfortunately, for me speakers are not possible, so I'm on closed back headphones. Not enough space and the wife doesn't share my taste in music, nor my liking for it to be fairly loud. So, 10 grand would buy a damned good DAC, headphone amp and headphones.
 
D

Deleted member 188516

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Read the article, he probably never paid full price for any of his kit

he was a hifi reviewer correct ?
if so i can write fairy tales about hifi kit too if it will help me get my next system !
 
D

Deleted member 188516

Guest
I would ditch the CD player as they are an irrelevance these days, (Even if you have plenty of CDs just rip them to FLAC files (Or ALAC if you are in the Apple Eco system) as it makes things much more flexible)

Replace the CD player with a NAS and install either a Plex or Roon server software.

Go for a high quality pair of active speakers (As always only you can decide which is best for you by trying them out) and Streamer/pre-amp. (Ideally controlled by an iPad or similar)

Bill

agreed regarding the active speakers !
 
D

Deleted member 188516

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By coincidence just come across one of these ATC CDA2's - yes you are right - what a great combination with the SCM40A's - there's your 10k spent!

exactly !

why complicate things with additional boxes, cables etc ?

(and they are designed to work together).
 
D

Deleted member 188516

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Two reasons, upgradability and flexibility.

but you could upgrade to the next active speaker up in the range... and still have amplifiers perfectly tuned to the drivers !
 

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