Want to build my dream Hifi system!

[admin_exported]

Hi guys, new here had been looking around the site for a while but thought it was time I dropped by at the forums!

Ok, so as the title says really, I want to build my perfect HiFi system. My budget is around £3,000.

Ok, so there are only four main components I really need for my hifi which is the Amp, CD, Tuner and speakers.

I currently have Kef iQ10 speakers and I feel they are beautiful speakers, but the amp which I am powering them with I dont think is getting the best out of the speakers!

I really need some ideas on all of the components. The type of music I listen to vaires from acustic to bassy music. I like alot of base in my music, so maybe a amp with a subwoofer out on it would be good?

Thanks in advanced guys and please tell me if I have left anything out!

-Jordan

 

[Clare Newsome]

Welcome to the Forums

Could you also tell us the size of your room, and whether there's anything about it that could overly effect its acoustics - eg lots of soft furnishings, or wood floors/lots of windows?

Sure you'll get lots of great ideas here to go on a hi-fi auditioning spree

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:
Welcome to the Forums

Could you also tell us the size of your room, and whether there's anything about it that could overly effect its acoustics - eg lots of soft furnishings, or wood floors/lots of windows?

Sure you'll get lots of great ideas here to go on a hi-fi auditioning spree

Thanks for your quick reply. I cant exactly say the size of the room but I would say it's of a medium size. I do have wooden flooring and a few glass windows yeah. Will this effect performance?

As for furniture, I dont really have lot of soft furnishings.

 

[Anonymous]

idea for the tuner: ROTEL RDG 1520 (it will give you the option to listen to music form your personal lists you create out of CDs)

 

[Anonymous]

and one important thing. Will you be able to put the speakers 1 metre off the wall. With this kind of money it would be a shame to put speakers just next to the wall, because you will ruin the SOUNDSTAGE.

 

[audioaffair]

Jordan, welcome to the forum

The KEF IQ10 are good speakers but for the most impressive bass performance, itis worth taking the jump to floorstanding speakers. Some combinations of larger stand mount speakers and/or a subwoofer work well, but getting the synergy right isn't always as easy (or as successful in some rooms) as going for a good pair of floorstanders where high and low frequency drivers are already matched to offer a well balanced sound.

Within your £3000 budget, you could go for Roksan K2 amplifier, Roksan K2 CD player, Creek Evo FM/AM Tuner (or the Harmon Kardon TU980 if you really want DAB as well), which would leave enough for Focal 816V speakers and cables. These speakers take some beating - very transparent and well balanced with a range of musical genres, but importantly for you, they are able to really rock when you want them to and are some of the most solidly built speakers you could choose.

You would have enough left to match up to Chord Epic speaker cable and Cobra 3 interconnects which should come in at about the right level of 10% of system cost. I've heard this specific combo (without the tuner) and its a corker.

 

[chebby]

NaimUniti (£2145) All-in-one unit with amp/CD player/FM/DAB/internet tuner and DAC and wireless streaming and direct digital iPod connection.

Rega RS5 loudspeakers (£920)

That is £65 over budget, but you will have a pair of KEFs and some stands to sell 🙂

The Rega RS5s are pretty compact as floorstanders go (and quite elegant looking). They work very well with Naim and are extremely flexible with regard to postioning. They have excellent bass but don't 'boom'.

If the RS5s are a tad too big (or expensive) the £715 Rega RS3s are just as capable - in smaller rooms - and even more compact/elegant. (Actually I prefer the RS3s, but it sounds like you want the 'bigger' bass the RS5s can offer.)

I have heard the Rega RS5s and RS3s and the older R3s with Naim (Nait 5i, Nait XS, NaimUniti) often and they gel together brilliantly.

A lot of Naim dealers are also Rega dealers so there should be no trouble getting to hear them together.

 

[shooter]

Hi Fi biker:and one important thing. Will you be able to put the speakers 1 metre off the wall. With this kind of money it would be a shame to put speakers just next to the wall, because you will ruin the SOUNDSTAGE.

To be fair, there are a number speaker manufactures that build speakers specifically for close to wall application but yes knowing more about your room and it's constraints (if any) JordanUK would be of great benefit.

 

[Helmut80]

chebby:
NaimUniti (£2145) All-in-one unit with amp/CD player/FM/DAB/internet tuner and DAC and wireless streaming and direct digital iPod connection.

Rega RS5 loudspeakers (£920)

That is £65 over budget, but you will have a pair of KEFs and some stands to sell 🙂

The Rega RS5s are pretty compact as floorstanders go (and quite elegant looking). They work very well with Naim and are extremely flexible with regard to postioning. They have excellent bass but don't 'boom'.

If the RS5s are a tad too big (or expensive) the £715 Rega RS3s are just as capable - in smaller rooms - and even more compact/elegant. (Actually I prefer the RS3s, but it sounds like you want the 'bigger' bass the RS5s can offer.)

I have heard the Rega RS5s and RS3s and the older R3s with Naim (Nait 5i, Nait XS, NaimUniti) often and they gel together brilliantly.

A lot of Naim dealers are also Rega dealers so there should be no trouble getting to hear them together.

RS5s can be had for less than that, should be able to have some left for beer.

 

[chebby]

Helmut80:RS5s can be had for less than that, should be able to have some left for beer.

I was using the latest (January 2011) post VAT rise Rega and Naim pricelists as a reference.

Of course there might be bargains/ex demo deals or other discounts but I don't know them all. (And often websites are out of date.)

If I post what I know to be the latest manufacturer's RRP (on the latest variant of the models concerned*) then any better deals are a nice 'bonus' if the OP finds them.

*Naim and Rega have 'updated' versions of the NaimUniti and RS floorstanders respectively, and some 'deals' might refer to the older variants.

 

[Helmut80]

chebby:
Helmut80:RS5s can be had for less than that, should be able to have some left for beer.

I was using the latest (January 2011) post VAT rise Rega and Naim pricelists as a reference.

Of course there might be bargains/ex demo deals or other discounts but I don't know them all. (And often websites are out of date.)

If I post what I know to be the latest manufacturer's RRP (on the latest variant of the models concerned*) then any better deals are a nice 'bonus' if the OP finds them.

*Naim and Rega have 'updated' versions of the NaimUniti and RS floorstanders respectively, and some 'deals' might refer to the older variants.

thanks, didn't know that. Do you know if there is some info about these updates on the naim and rega websites?

 

[chebby]

Helmut80:thanks, didn't know that. Do you know if there is some info about these updates on the naim and rega websites?

From September 2010 onwards the NaimUniti has a front panel mounted USB (and software/firmware) for direct digital connection of iPods/iPhones (bypassing the iPods own internal DAC and giving remote control of the iPod and recharging it too.). The older Naimunitis did not have this. The 1st generation NaimUniti needed an optional £95 n-Link cable, but now - with the revised version - you just plug in with the standard white Apple iPod USB lead. So the NaimUniti iPod 'functionality' has effectively become that of a full-blown iPod 'digital transport'.

For the last few months all Rega RS floorstanders have had redesigned feet and slightly different grilles (sleeker looking now) and the RS7 has a new crossover design.

 

[Anonymous]

Ok guys. Spent some time looking about and came up with a system. Decided to up my budget to £5000 🙂

Let me know what you guys think!

http://img600.imageshack.us/i/systemf.png/

 

[Anonymous]

Please can you guys let me know if you think this is a well matched system 🙂 thank you!

 

[Rich27]

If you are seriously going to spend £5k on system you need to be prepared to invest some time in listening to various combinations at a supportive dealer, narrowing it down and then preferably listening to it all in your home.

 

[chebby]

Matching things on paper is no substitute for finding somewhere to actually hear combinations for yourself.

My recommendation was based on your original budget and what I have heard for myself.

I can't comment on your proposed Yamaha/Focal combination.

With, potentially, thousands of variables, you are going to be lucky to find anyone with experience of any given random selection. (Except - maybe - one or two of our forum's tame hifi dealers or someone from the review team.)

There are a few people on this forum who spend months (years) agonising over every possible combination of equipment and constantly fret over 'the one that got away', the one combination that will be 'perfect', for every genre they enjoy, for them, for their room.

The stark truth is that finding that system is a bit like running towards the end of a rainbow.

Go to a few good dealers (if you are lucky to have that many within a reasonable distance) and try out some suggestions. Theirs, yours, ours, What Hifi's and you should find something you like.

Even should you happen to chance across your 'dream system' you will still never know it. (Unless you have heard everything, in every combination, beforehand and - mathematically - that isn't possible.)

 

[Crossie]

Go and listen is of course the right thing to do. I am concerned that you may be spending too much on speakers. At your price point I would hope that dealers would be gagging to demo different combinations.

 

[matthewpiano]

Agreed. Spending that sort of money without some really committed auditioning is only going to result in misery.