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Home Audio



  Polo + Micra
there is bound to people on here that know about Home audio

all i'm after is just an amp and speakers

looking for some recommendations (not stupid prices please:D)

say £200 for the amp and £*** for some decent bookshelfs
 
  182
cambridge audio azur 640A Amp

coupled with some wharfdale or mission speakers might do the job.

Check out what hifi as they have just announced their years award winners.
 
  Chocolate Bar™
richer sounds are also a nasty company with no sense of 'service' or 'quality'

i would buy what hi-fi and look at their suggestions of best buy and just see what you can get when shopping round. personally i went for mission bookshelves and a marantz multi-stacker and i like it :)
 
  Chocolate Bar™
and bi-wiring does help if connected to proper audio equipment. never tried it on mine, but my mate did it and it did sound like there was an overall improvement.
 
  Polo + Micra
yeah it would actually be bi-amping it (as i've done in my car off the hu)

anyone know if the marantz pm4400 has two sets of speaker outputs(as i don't believe it has)
 
When I was auditioning my system a few years ago I found that NAD amps were very good for the money. They had a very tight and punchy sound IMO, couple this with a pair of JBLs which again IMO offer excellent value for money. Not really sure what to recommend for a CD player Im afraid, it could be worth considering buying a XBOX 360 and killing two birds with one stone, spanking new console plus decent CD playback and a DVD player which supports the latest connections if you fancy upgrading your TV fairly soon.

At the end of the day it is all down to personal taste, I run an Arcam amp and CD player with B&W speakers and this suits me fine. I would say your best bet is to go to a decent independant shop, tell them your budget then listen to a good few setups.
 
  Polo + Micra
yeah that seems to be the problem is finding an independent store that is fairly local:dapprove:
 
  Monaro VXR
I have a cheap set of eltax speakers and a technics 5.1 amp at home set into stereo mode powering the big floor standing speakers its more than enough to get the house bouncing. And get the neighbours banging the doors down.

And i didnt even have it half way up also sounded absolutely brilliant for the price they cost which is under £100 for the speakers they seriously do give some decent sound quality i hooked my bass guitar into the amp to see how low it could drop they surprised me quite a bit.
 
  (ex-2.0 Hybrid)CorradoVR6
hey Dink I have some Acoustic energy aegis ones bookshelf speakers for sale, very good speakers (what hi-fi 5 star winners), cost me £150. Selling for £50!
 
  BMW e46 320 Ci Sport
i use a simple creative megaworks, 550W RMS, 5 satts and 1 bassbox, gives out awesome sound connected to my pc... Wonder how it would stand up to proper home audio systems...
 
  BMW E46 330i Touring
Middo said:
richer sounds are also a nasty company with no sense of 'service' or 'quality'

:eek: They've been very good for me every time I've visited a branch.

I'm assuming that if all you want is an amp and speakers, that you already have an output for your sound?

Also, always allow a bit of your budget for decent cables/wiring.
 
  BMW e46 320 Ci Sport
thing is i heard my mates cabridge audio and mission speaker setup and it isn't as clear as mine...dunno, sure when i hear a proper one i'll change my mind but i've always been well chuffed with them. They cost me £350 odd around 4 years ago now. Still going strong too...
 
  Polo + Micra
yeah just looking for a amp and a pair of speakers (only going to be used for music from the pc)

also i'm not going to buy expensive speaker cables as i don't believe they make a difference(unless they are undersized)

going to get some thing like this
 
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  182
Dink said:
yeah just looking for a amp and a pair of speakers (only going to be used for music from the pc)

also i'm not going to buy expensive speaker cables as i don't believe they make a difference(unless they are undersized)

going to get some thing like this

i would go for "better" speaker cable if i was you. you can pick up some cheap QED silver anniversary for pennies.

can i ask why you are getting this set up and sourcing from a PC? do you think it will soud ok? i suppose from a good sound card it might be even better than CD as a source.
 
  Polo + Micra
yeah i'm getting a new SB x-fi sound card.

i can't believe for a second that different cables sound different.
 
  Monaro VXR
Depends how good the speakers are. When you get into the higher end of audio cables can make all the difference to a little bit of background noise being there or not.
 
  BMW E46 330i Touring
Cables do make a difference when you get into higher-end audio.

Running my PC sound through an amp and speakers, I find it distinctly average, possible due to the phono cable I use being pretty thin and flimsy. I have to turn the amp volume up a long way to get decent noise. When I then put my CD player on, it bursts my eardrums!
 
  Monaro VXR
You wont notice until you get into the very high quality speakers then it will become more noticable.
 
if your looking for cheap then go the richer sounds way. problem is 90% of there stock is last years even 2-3 years old stock. thing is you can get ya self a very good sounding system for meny ££££ less than buying this years stuff and trust me stuff from 3 years sounds the same as stuff from this year just a lot cheaper.
just check to see what they have in stock on there web site then do a google search to find some reviews about the item. may take you 2-3 hours of browseing but you will get ya self a midrange system for one 3rd the price it should have been.

example like wan82 said

the Cambridge Audio AZUR 640A gets very good reveiws paired with a set of £150-£200 speakers you should have a good system. richer sounds are limited on what they have in way of book shelf speakers but IMO i would really go for some floor standers. just keep away from there TDL range because these speakers are not made by TDL richer sounds have bought the name and thought they would destroy the reputation of the TDL and stick it on a crappy set of unbranded speakers which sound poop.

anyway best beat is purchase what hi-fi and check there review section and then try and find good deals on line. remember even if you find it on richer sounds they aint always the cheapest. i bought the Mordaunt Short 302 Avant surround system from them they was very cheap from richer sounds but i found it £150 cheaper from another company who wernt that very well known.

and audio cable of any type does seem to make a system sound that slight bit better. i had a arcam alpha set up about 2 years ago which i spent over £200 on cables alone and there truely was a difference from the standard cables. but if ya only going to spend £500 on a system then i wouldnt go mad on cables if i was you.
 
  Polo + Micra
haven't got the room for a set of floor stands tbh

thats why i was looking for bookshelfs.


anyone know of any other websites like richer sounds??
 
For good bookshelf speakers I'd highly recommend taking a look at Tannoy, although I am not up to speed on their latest ranges.
 

Martin_172

ClioSport Club Member
ive got a NAD C 320BEE amp wired up to B&W DM601 S3 speakers and the sound quality is amazing, but i'll add that going from the cheapest speaker cable from an old aiwa system to some really expensive stuff made absolute no difference to the sound quality, i just like to know ive got it!

i got told by hi-fi enthusiasts that bi-wiring makes no difference eather really but they do it anyway. speaker cable is so over rated about how you can get deeper bass and clearer sound from it, yes you may notice a very very slight difference but likely wont notice anything at all and its hard to tell anyway.
 
  Polo + Micra
yeah the difference between bi-wiring and bi-amping should make a difference.

i'm finding it really hard to find some round 4 core speaker cable
 
Martin_89 said:
ive got a NAD C 320BEE amp wired up to B&W DM601 S3 speakers and the sound quality is amazing, but i'll add that going from the cheapest speaker cable from an old aiwa system to some really expensive stuff made absolute no difference to the sound quality, i just like to know ive got it!

i got told by hi-fi enthusiasts that bi-wiring makes no difference eather really but they do it anyway. speaker cable is so over rated about how you can get deeper bass and clearer sound from it, yes you may notice a very very slight difference but likely wont notice anything at all and its hard to tell anyway.

I would have to disagree with you there, I tried a few different makes of cable and there was definatley differences there IMO, small perhaps but certaily enough that they were noticable and could lend you to buying one brand over the other. Certainly the phono leads between anp and CD player made a big difference and worth trying various ones out.

That said, audio is very subjective and what one person may notice the other may not nor care!
 
  Revels Mum & Sister
Different cables offer different resistance

IMO better cables do make a difference. If you ask any KNOWLEGABLE hifi place and they will stress how important interconnects are. You dont have to spunk ££££££ just a decent amount.

I have a NAD amp and Focal JM Labs Chorus Bookshelf speakers they sound fantastic and were about £190 a year or so ago.

Dont just pick up What Hi Fi and pick the speakers THEY think are best listen to them for yourself, speakers are individual and to buy speakers without hearing them IMO is just plain stupid!
 
Bi-wiring has made a big difference in two systems that I've done it to.

My own Denon/Mission, and also a freinds Yamaha/Tannoy setup. In both cases the sound quality was improved, and even the sceptic friend was pleased. I have heard lots of people say it makes no difference, but in my experience it does. Maybe it depends on the equipment, and how sensitive your lug holes are?

I should add that my main speakers are biwired from different binding post sets, so each core has its own post - the centre speaker cables share posts.
 


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