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Topic: Anybody recommend a Hifi system? (Read 5688 times) previous topic - next topic
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Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

I'm lookig for a hifi sytem to connect my computer soundcard to.
I have been using an audigy1 sound card that sounds exellent with the latest drivers and a philips hs900 headphones that sound exellent for a consumer headphone and this setup give a very flat and clear sound which i have become accustomed to.

I went to my local electronics store and found that i would not be satisfied for my budget max 250€.

What i'm looking for otherwise is amp, cd-player and tape deck in the same chassi and good sound, size doesnt matter for me.

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #1 –
Well.to be honest bud for 250$ its gonna be hard to find a decent system,very very hard.Well for start you said you wanna get a sustem in one chassis-to quote you.Thats a biggest evil imo.The biggest mistake is to buy a mini-system-line which is a actually one component with one power suply and probably from outside looks like separate components.You should go with a separate components.
Also your sound card is not great but is decent,so i really dont seeing the point in buying a tape deck(you can use a hard drive)-unless you got a tons of old tapes so you need a deck to lis`n them.Also since your budget is very tight i would recomend a using a pc cd-rom and keep that money for buying a amp or speakers.Depending on your geographic location i would go with some older but reliable stuff like luxman,tandberg,also older marantz receivers were great like 2265 models.Couse for example i got at my parents home in Europe a old Tandberg receiver tr2075 which is now about 25 years ol older.It kicks ass of mu luxman preamp+poweramp,never broke down,weight around20kg  So generally just look for domestic things in your country couse thats goonna be a cheapest one to go imo,couse your budget is really small.For example i paid that tandberg 100 german marks maybe 10 years ago but when that thing was brand new it was around 25x more(found the prices in a catalogue).Also if you know how to use a soldering gun and have a voltmetar you can try to make a yourself a good speakers and amp,its not that complicated as it looks,specially for speakers you can find a good projects on net 
If i were you with that amount i would buy either speakers or amp couse you cant have em all so next time buy a rest,unless you find some really good deal

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #2 –
the bottom of the psb line runs around $150, and although they're still small $150 bookshelves with the inherent limitations of the title, they're still an unbelievable deal.

you might have to go over $100, but not much over to find a used integrated amp. it will be analog, heavy as bricks, decidedly unsexy but there are a lot of them(don't worry if it's from the 80's if it's in good shape) out there cheap that blow away anything from bestbuy and should drive a good number of headphones more than adequately.

so, gun to my head, that's how i would spend the 250(it sounds like it's for your computer, but if you need a cd player, you can find refurb denons and some other decent ones for around 50 bucks)

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #3 –
I got a psb stratus gold as front and psb bookshelfs for rear speakers(home theater)and they are good speakers although expensive for his budget,couse i bought cheapest model for 175$ 2 years ago.but used ones will do for a budget i guess

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #4 –
250 euro isn't toooo bad.

i got my setup entirely from second-hand and pawn shops...  not the most reputably of places, but you'll be astounded how many people are trading up their already decent stereos to buy into the home theatre con (well, only a con considering they trade up to the terrifically bad multichannel units).

if not for my speakers, my entire setup would have cost less than 250 euro - that's a 7 band eq (which i don't need anymore), a 65 watt amp (yamaha a-520), and a very old CD player (which again i don't use because i've got a DVD player hooked in now).

if you've just got soundcard and headphones, then just an amp will do you until you get enough to splash out on speakers, then some other components.

ebay is also a good place to look - i checked some of my components out on ebay and found they were very much cheaper there (for slightly better quality, at least from the picture...).

definitely all-in-one units are evil, considering if you're only needing to use the sound card with it - that means all you need is an amplifier and a pair of speakers (and don't forget cables - these can cost a fair bit if you're like me and want to link EVERYTHING up)

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #5 –
I might just have 300€.
The reason im looking for an all-in-one system i beacause I DO need a CD-player and tape deck, and i would be too expensive to buy everything seperate.

When i was in the electronics store and compared the sound of the different hifi systems they had, with my own recording as a reference, that fit my budget i found a few systems in the 250-300€ price range that sounded quite listenable.
Any other ideas anyone?

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #6 –
I think it might be worth a look around for some of the very recently discontinued denon mini-systems, they'll definetly be in that price range.  although i'm not super-familiar with them, denon used mission loudspeakers for these, which are going to stand out compared to most i can think of. also, i know there are tons of nakamichi soundspace 5/soundspace 8 out there at firesale prices right now and might be worth a look for design alone

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #7 –
You could always do what I did.  Go for a decent amp and speakers that are within your budget, and use your computer to play CD's until you can afford to buy yourself a CD player.

You will get a much better sound if you go for seperates.
Dan

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #8 –
Check out Ebay

There are some great pieces of equipment that are old or unfashionable on offer there.
I had a quick look just now and there is good quality amp (SU-V707) going for £16.00 (€24.25) + £10 p+p (€15) with 1day 10 hr to go. (On the uk site anyway.)
Take a look on your local site and see what's on offer...

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #9 –
Spin the discs in your computer instead of a CD player and buy used amplifier and speakers.  Speakers and amps usually last a long time if they are not abused or kept in poor environments.
Was that a 1 or a 0?

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #10 –
I agree with danbee, polandro and DigitalMan - try finding used equipment, preferably in a local second-hand stereo store as MugFunky did, or look on ebay.co.uk or another auction site.
  You should be able to acquire a credible stereo reciever and some good bookshelf speakers for your budget. I would recommend spending roughly 100 Euro or less on the used reciever/amp, and earmarking the rest for speakers. PSB, paradigm, Klipsch, NHT and Wharfedale (newer) all tend to make good speakers, but there are dozens of other comparable brands.

  Listen to any prospective speakers with a few CD's you own and know well that are representative of different genres before you make a decision.

Do not spend more than two Euros on speaker wire regardless of the fantastic claims made

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #11 –
I went to a hifi store that have a lot in budget hifi.
They showed me a these products:
CAMBRIDGE A300 Amplifier
http://hifiklubben.se/iz.asp?id=3|p|143|143|890|pdetail#
GALE 3020 Speakers
http://hifiklubben.se/iz.asp?id=3|p|178|178|1110|pdetail

I couldnt belive how well these sounded with my recording, the clearity and presence was amazing.
And its only just above my budget so i only have to starve for a month of two.

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #12 –
Quote
I went to a hifi store that have a lot in budget hifi.
They showed me a these products:
CAMBRIDGE A300 Amplifier
http://hifiklubben.se/iz.asp?id=3|p|143|143|890|pdetail#
GALE 3020 Speakers
http://hifiklubben.se/iz.asp?id=3|p|178|178|1110|pdetail

I couldnt belive how well these sounded with my recording, the clearity and presence was amazing.
And its only just above my budget so i only have to starve for a month of two.

hua.. that's a lot more than the 250 euro you started with... Well, who needs to eat anything else but noodles anyway? 

I recommend you to be very careful with this chain. They are defenitely not a budget store anymore - they have steep prices for their products. Make sure you check prices in some other places before buying...

Also they like selling expensive cables to people. (At least they did to a friend who was there, and tried to with me also. Grr.)

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #13 –
Quote
Quote
I went to a hifi store that have a lot in budget hifi.
They showed me a these products:
CAMBRIDGE A300 Amplifier
http://hifiklubben.se/iz.asp?id=3|p|143|143|890|pdetail#
GALE 3020 Speakers
http://hifiklubben.se/iz.asp?id=3|p|178|178|1110|pdetail

I couldnt belive how well these sounded with my recording, the clearity and presence was amazing.
And its only just above my budget so i only have to starve for a month of two.

hua.. that's a lot more than the 250 euro you started with... Well, who needs to eat anything else but noodles anyway? 

I recommend you to be very careful with this chain. They are defenitely not a budget store anymore - they have steep prices for their products. Make sure you check prices in some other places before buying...

Also they like selling expensive cables to people. (At least they did to a friend who was there, and tried to with me also. Grr.)

Well, the prices for these products arent that bad and you seem to get a lot for your money. 

But the salesman i talked to seemed incompetent, he told me tape sounds as good as cd these days. 
I not thinking about buying cable from these guy anyway, there to expensive for me.

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #14 –
how about JBL? do they have good speakers? and how are they pricewise?

i can't stand "computer" speakers, even Klipsh's 2.1/4.1/4.2/5.1s...  those 2-3" speakers just don't seem cut it. others (HAers) say the midrange is missing (from them), but i myself can't put my finger on anything specific, other than it just doesn't sound right (i can't listen to something and say "oh, the midrange is missing" .. yet)

i heard a friend's JBL's shelf speakers and they made me want to cry (in a good way), they sounded so good (she didn't have the greatest in taste of equipment; her first amp was some generic brand that died in the first few months, but she ended up getting a nice Yamaha later...)... granted, she DID have a sub to go with it...

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #15 –
with nice enough speakers a sub isn't really necessary.

tape sounds as good as CD if you have chronic tinnitis and hiss gives you comfort.  also if you've been to so many open-air gigs you've lost the ability to hear above 8k  (although the state of CDs today, you'll be getting the same effective dynamic range... grr.).


best way to audition a system - play a dynamic CD on it (that's one that's not limited to ineffectuality.  i find "jamiroquai - travelling without moving" to have sufficient punch, or anything from the '80s), turn off the tone controls (or set them to flat - they f*** up the phase and remove most of the good bits), and turn the volume as high as it goes.  there should be no pain, but a pleasant beating on your chest with the kick drums.

another pointer - don't buy anything that says 1000 WATTS PMPO!!!!!!! W00T!!! on it.  it's crap by definition .  RMS is the measure that actually means something.  PMPO is simply the most power it can take for 10ms without all the magic blue fairy dust leaking out of the amp.
 

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #16 –
If you can continue to live with your PC sound card and CD source, this 2.1 speaker system has been extensively reviewed and found to sound excellent:

http://www.acoustic-energy.co.uk/products/aego/aego.html

It's about $400 US; not sure how many Euro that is.

Anybody recommend a Hifi system?

Reply #17 –
Quote
with nice enough speakers a sub isn't really necessary.

This is very subjective. For movies, a sub is a must and if you listen to hip-hop or some orchestral stuff it really adds punch. I was very suprised when I added a sub to my current system. It's not very powerful, but picks up the slack below 80Hz and makes the system sound really good. A sub is far from a must and can be added later when you have more money available.
Quote
turn off the tone controls or set them to flat they f*** up the phase and remove most of the good bits

I would tend to disagree with you here. Depending on the listening environment, well implemented tone controls might be very important.
Quote
another pointer - don't buy anything that says 1000 WATTS PMPO!!!!!!! W00T!!! on it. it's crap by definition

Agreed.
Quote
PMPO is simply the most power it can take for 10ms without all the magic blue fairy dust leaking out of the amp.

Worse than that. PMPO is the biggest number the marketing department could think of at the time.  I have seen a 40000W (yes, 40KW!) set of crap plastic 2.1 PC speakers in a local shop. And they came with a 40VA wall wart. Amazing what you can do when you ignore the laws of thermodynamics.
Amplifier Power Ratings
PMPO can, as MugFunky hinted, be a very useful indication of the quality of a piece of hifi equipment. That is, kit with believable numbers printed on it is fairly likely to be decent.