Stereo Set Recommendations for the UK?

[matthewpianist]

Wow, I've never come across £35 for selling a HDMI cable! No wonder most Sony Centres went bust! Things were obviously a little different in branded stores.

Cost price was £12, and they retailed at £60. A lot of Sony products were very low margin - VAIO around 8%, PlayStation virtually nothing, Cybershot high teens. Bravia wasn’t bad at 25-30%, but that dropped dramatically as margins got trashed by national electronics and white goods stores.

 

[matthewpianist]

Oh, and £35 commission was for selling a £350 stand. The commission on upselling from a £30 HDMI to the Prowire one was £10.

This was the time of digital switchover, the beginning of 1080p ‘Full HD’ etc.

 

[davidf]

Cost price was £12, and they retailed at £60. A lot of Sony products were very low margin - VAIO around 8%, PlayStation virtually nothing, Cybershot high teens. Bravia wasn’t bad at 25-30%, but that dropped dramatically as margins got trashed by national electronics and white goods stores.

I know there wasn't really any money in Sony (or Panasonic for that matter), as a previous employer owned some Sony centres. All went.

 

[record_spot]

Going to a dealer is fine, but notify them upfront by email what you're looking to do as turning up won't guarantee they'll necessarily have what you are interested in instore. So much inventory from dealers is displayed online but not necessarily inferior.

This maybe goes back to you having an idea of some gear at the outset then going in with a blank sheet and matching expression. You do really need to do some legwork instead of just "heck, I'm new at this guys!". It'll serve you well in the long run.

 

[Fandango Andy]

Thank you all for your suggestions! I'd like to begin with choosing streaming servers-I stream from ROM using JRiver and HQ Audio. Which models would you recommend for optimal clarity?

You have asked about the UK a couple of times suggesting you are not from or haven't been living here. I wouldn't get too hung up on which brands as most brands are available all over.

You mention "I stream from ROM using JRiver and HQ Audio", you are clearly not a total novice, although I wonder if some of your question has got lost in translation. "I'd like to begin with choosing streaming servers" Server suggest to me like the storage device you use to hold your media files. Is that what you are looking for, or are you after a streamer to play music from a library or streaming service?

If its the latter, What HiFi recently listed their best music streamers 2025. Cambridge Audio EXN100 and Audiolab 9000N won best premium and best audiophile. At around £1,500 and £2,500 they are about the right price for your budget. I would start their by asking a dealer to provide a demonstration of these plus one of their recommendation.

Once you have that nailed down you can do the same to choose an amp. In an ideal world, you want to borrow some speakers to try at home in the room you are going to be listening to them in.