hi what system do you suggest for under £1000, amp, cd player, turntable. i have been using my pc for listening to my music, its not the best, now after a few years i want a decent sounding system but dont have a big budget.can any one suggest something for me. mostly listen to soft rock, acoustic stuff, and abit early bowie now and again
under a grand
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Get a Rega Brio R £498, Rega RP1 £229 then you have £270 left for CDP - obvious choice would be an Apollo R CDP but this takes you over budget but would give you a very enjoyable musical system!
Another option would be to get a DAC and use your PC as source - plenty of DACs fit £270 budget - all really depends if you want a CDP, personally I like using CDs but streaming is convenient!
Another option would be to get a DAC and use your PC as source - plenty of DACs fit £270 budget - all really depends if you want a CDP, personally I like using CDs but streaming is convenient!
Go for the Marantz CD6004 (I think that Richer Sounds have it on for around £240) and that should just fit. Alternatively for a less warm sounding machine you could go for the Denon DCD-720AE but at is on at around £299. At the same price point there is also Cambridge Audio Azur 351C which got WHF 5 stars.
Finally, you do not mention speaks in your £1,000. Do you have no need for them as you have something already or do they need to be included in your budget?
Finally, you do not mention speaks in your £1,000. Do you have no need for them as you have something already or do they need to be included in your budget?
chebby
Well-known member
Marantz M-CR603 (£329 in Richer Sounds at this time). It includes amp, CD player, FM/DAB/internet tuner, streaming and AirPlay.
Rega RP1 turntable (£230 including new Rega 'Carbon' cartridge factory fitted).
Rega Fono Mini A2D phono stage (£85) *
That's £644 leaving you £356 for speakers (or speakers + stands if you go for stand mounted speakers).
Spend as much of that £356 as you can on speakers as the M-CR603 can perform well with speakers costing much more than it does.
If you can beg/borrow/steal another £40 then I would suggest something like these...
http://www.richersounds.com/product/floorstanders/q-acoustics/2050i/qaco-2050i-graph
... but if space is tight then Boston Acoustics A25s + a good pair of stands would match very well.
* The Rega Fono Mini A2D is a compact 'phono stage'. (Your turntable will need a phono stage between it and the aux input on any amp or system that doesn't have a dedicated built in 'phono' input of it's own.) It also has a USB output for those occasions when you might want to digitise your LPs or tracks to your computer. The Rega Fono Mini A2D is barely much bigger than a cigarette packet.
Rega RP1 turntable (£230 including new Rega 'Carbon' cartridge factory fitted).
Rega Fono Mini A2D phono stage (£85) *
That's £644 leaving you £356 for speakers (or speakers + stands if you go for stand mounted speakers).
Spend as much of that £356 as you can on speakers as the M-CR603 can perform well with speakers costing much more than it does.
If you can beg/borrow/steal another £40 then I would suggest something like these...
http://www.richersounds.com/product/floorstanders/q-acoustics/2050i/qaco-2050i-graph
... but if space is tight then Boston Acoustics A25s + a good pair of stands would match very well.
* The Rega Fono Mini A2D is a compact 'phono stage'. (Your turntable will need a phono stage between it and the aux input on any amp or system that doesn't have a dedicated built in 'phono' input of it's own.) It also has a USB output for those occasions when you might want to digitise your LPs or tracks to your computer. The Rega Fono Mini A2D is barely much bigger than a cigarette packet.
plastic penguin
Well-known member
I'm not going to suggest any specific components, instead I'm going to give advice 
from a different viewpoint - mystery system if you like.
Personally, I think CD is dead (i've got over 1000 of the them). PC / DAC is without doubt the way to go. Just make sure you RAID the disks or get a backup device. Perhaps get some extra cash from your CD's as well now to add to the pile. Control it from your android/ios phone / tablet - dual core tablet from china £50. I've been using an HP microserver N40L with 2 x2tb raid.
If you need a turntable (DACs outperform turntables at last for about the last 3-4 yrs), then get a second hand rega, spend the money on a ortofon red/blue and get it setup well. Maybe get it a decent stand - again used. Some digital amps / dacs are even doing riaa in digital domain nowadays but these are the pricey ones.
But perhaps you will decide you don't need a TT. In which case:
A DAC with volume can be had from £40 for something with fantastic quality. £130 with tube output. This leaves 900 or a lot more for power amp / Speakers. Chinese power amp e.g. 80w class A £400 delivered, leaving £50 for cables - ask the amp supplier and £500-600 for speakers depending what you did with your cd's. It's going to sound mightily impressive. On 6 months, Sabre / Wolfson are only going to bring out a new DAC with everything onboard again for £5 and make all the recent stuff sound even more obsolete and the need to upgrade, its advancing so quickly nowadays and so many diy/chinese people getting really good at maximising things like the sabre 9023.
At least then you will have some REAL hifi and something to build on. And can appreciate the next components you buy if you ever need any.
If you go the way of turntable, amp, cd, speakers, stands, cables etc.... you will get what you asked for but it wont sound much good and you will have to eventually sell it all for a loss and end up paying 3 times what you could have with costant upgrades. Speakers, look at some of the more independent sites for suggestions. Really, avoid most of the mainstream like the plague, lots of small companies out there that want your money.
from a different viewpoint - mystery system if you like.Personally, I think CD is dead (i've got over 1000 of the them). PC / DAC is without doubt the way to go. Just make sure you RAID the disks or get a backup device. Perhaps get some extra cash from your CD's as well now to add to the pile. Control it from your android/ios phone / tablet - dual core tablet from china £50. I've been using an HP microserver N40L with 2 x2tb raid.
If you need a turntable (DACs outperform turntables at last for about the last 3-4 yrs), then get a second hand rega, spend the money on a ortofon red/blue and get it setup well. Maybe get it a decent stand - again used. Some digital amps / dacs are even doing riaa in digital domain nowadays but these are the pricey ones.
But perhaps you will decide you don't need a TT. In which case:
A DAC with volume can be had from £40 for something with fantastic quality. £130 with tube output. This leaves 900 or a lot more for power amp / Speakers. Chinese power amp e.g. 80w class A £400 delivered, leaving £50 for cables - ask the amp supplier and £500-600 for speakers depending what you did with your cd's. It's going to sound mightily impressive. On 6 months, Sabre / Wolfson are only going to bring out a new DAC with everything onboard again for £5 and make all the recent stuff sound even more obsolete and the need to upgrade, its advancing so quickly nowadays and so many diy/chinese people getting really good at maximising things like the sabre 9023.
At least then you will have some REAL hifi and something to build on. And can appreciate the next components you buy if you ever need any.
If you go the way of turntable, amp, cd, speakers, stands, cables etc.... you will get what you asked for but it wont sound much good and you will have to eventually sell it all for a loss and end up paying 3 times what you could have with costant upgrades. Speakers, look at some of the more independent sites for suggestions. Really, avoid most of the mainstream like the plague, lots of small companies out there that want your money.
matthewpiano
Well-known member
For CD, pick up a 2nd hand Marantz CD63SE for circa £100. Great machine and I still haven't found anything I'd rather have (I've even got a Roksan K2 CDS stored away). Leaves the majority of your budget for things that are going to make a bigger difference.
Speakers, I'd consider the B&W 685s, Dali Lektor 2, or Usher S520. Three different but equally enjoyable speakers, all worth an audition to see which would suit you the best. Personally I love the flexibility of the B&Ws across a vast range of music.
Amp? Maybe look second hand again. Nad C320BEE/C325BEE, Denon PMA355UK, Arcam Alpha 8R - all great for reasonable money.
Turntable? Rega RP1, preferably with the performance pack.
If you can squeeze one in I'd then suggest a DAC. See what you can get a Musical Fidelity V-Dac II for.
Speakers, I'd consider the B&W 685s, Dali Lektor 2, or Usher S520. Three different but equally enjoyable speakers, all worth an audition to see which would suit you the best. Personally I love the flexibility of the B&Ws across a vast range of music.
Amp? Maybe look second hand again. Nad C320BEE/C325BEE, Denon PMA355UK, Arcam Alpha 8R - all great for reasonable money.
Turntable? Rega RP1, preferably with the performance pack.
If you can squeeze one in I'd then suggest a DAC. See what you can get a Musical Fidelity V-Dac II for.
Forgot, I've got a cd63se tucked away somewhere and an 873le as well for that matter. Should add to my profile.
The cd63se sounds absolutely terrible compared to what you can get nowadays, you are missing 90% of the recording. Cant remember if I got mine tricord reclocked or not. For sure it had a transport upgrade when the laser died. But upgraded to a meridian which was leaps and bounds better, so much more refined, then the current cdp, behringer 2496 then hifimediy. The last few really kill the cd63se dead. I suggest you get something more modern when you can.
The cd63se sounds absolutely terrible compared to what you can get nowadays, you are missing 90% of the recording. Cant remember if I got mine tricord reclocked or not. For sure it had a transport upgrade when the laser died. But upgraded to a meridian which was leaps and bounds better, so much more refined, then the current cdp, behringer 2496 then hifimediy. The last few really kill the cd63se dead. I suggest you get something more modern when you can.
matthewpiano
Well-known member
Sorry, completely disagree. My CD63SE sounds superb and far more involving than the Roksan that I also have. It is a fantastic CD player IMO and I have actually found it better than the current/recent CD6003/6004 models, to the point where if this one died I'd probably seek out another.
Seems whf forum you cant pm, so sorry off topic.
So the Roksan sounds worse than the Marantz. I can understand it might be different for sure. Seems you are happy, so you are the lucky one.
I can only suggest (beg) you try some more modern gear. I still put stuff in my current CDP now and again and think, wow, never knew that was on the recording before comparing to my cd63se which completely misses so much detail and emphasises some instruments whilst positively masking others. One Day / weekend I'll get all my dacs/cdps out and have them spin just for interest. Might even compare them to a motherboard sound out of a modern PC, pretty sure it'll beat the 63.
So the Roksan sounds worse than the Marantz. I can understand it might be different for sure. Seems you are happy, so you are the lucky one.
I can only suggest (beg) you try some more modern gear. I still put stuff in my current CDP now and again and think, wow, never knew that was on the recording before comparing to my cd63se which completely misses so much detail and emphasises some instruments whilst positively masking others. One Day / weekend I'll get all my dacs/cdps out and have them spin just for interest. Might even compare them to a motherboard sound out of a modern PC, pretty sure it'll beat the 63.
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