CnoEvil said:
plastic penguin said:
Think Matthew needs to tell us what he doesn't like about his current stock before recommending any additional makes/brands.
Working with (and playing) pianos all day and regularly going to concerts, means that MP knows the power and emotion of the real thing......it's very hard to to get close to his with budget kit.....too many compromises.
I had the same problem, but found the answer in Class A, Valves and certain AB amps (usually highly biased in A) and certain "musical" speakers. The Devialet shows promise though....but the problem is, it's not cheap.
Going second hand does have it's attractions....but also its dangers.
I'm with you (and Mathew?) on this, spending most of my adult life involved with live music of one kind or another seems to give you a different slant on things.
Like Mathew, I find that most inexpensive hi-fi simply does not sound 'right' to me, and strangely it all fails to 'sound right' in exactly the same way. Sure, there are differences in presentation, sometimes big ones, but the fundamental limitations remain which I think is why I (and maybe Mathew too) tend to look for different solutions particularly at the budget end of the spectrum.
Mathew is looking at vintage gear, Cno at valves and class A amplifiers (not that budget) and I find myself looking at active speakers for the simple reason that it is one way of putting together a cheap system that does not sound like the kind of everyday budget gear that is the norm.