Home stereo advice please

Home stereo advice please

Author
Discussion

popov123

Original Poster:

4,084 posts

242 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
Morning all,

I allowed myself to go and take a look in the Bang and Olufson shop the other day and was very impressed by the quality of the sound and appearance of their cd players / speakers...However, if I were to want one of their systems I would have to sell the 911 to afford it.

So,

What are the alternatives that still offer a fantastic sound quality etc - but have a more 'reasonable' price ticket?

alexkp

16,484 posts

251 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
I think this is a question that has literally thousands of answers.

It depends on what you really want - Sound quality or design or both.

And how much you are prepared to spend.

Sound quality is expensive, so is design, both together is the most expensive combination. B&O stuff is very strong on design, good but not outstanding on sound. But again this is subjective...and once you get above a certain level you have to be really obsessive to spot significant differences in sound anyway...

So, to sum up, I'm not a lot of help on this one.

I have a NAD system for my projection home cinema, a Sony Home Theatre for the Lounge. The NAD system is much better than the Sony, but the Sony is very acceptable.

And I have a Jukebox for music with hight quality external speakers.

rich-uk

1,431 posts

263 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
Go to a decent hi-fi shop and have a look at what they have to offer.

B&O stuff is form over function IMO. (and very expensive for what it is)

Where abouts in the country are you?

alexkp

16,484 posts

251 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
I should add that I have bought Denon in the past, and always found it very good.

And Richer Sounds is always worth a look for audio - their webste is excellent and very good value.

jeremyadamson

1,890 posts

266 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
Hi ya's - I have Pioneer separates; an AV Amp and a DVD player. I bought the Amp about 5 years ago for about £250. It's got all the usual DTS, Dolby ProLogic etc. It's got a fairly cheap set of Yamaha 5.1 speakers attached to it, plus some inexpensive Mission three way speakers. I bought a £100 Pioneer DVD player about a year ago to go with it. I have to say despite it's relative cheapness (maybe £700 for all of it) it sounds great. And with the right furniture to sit it all on, it looks pretty good too. I treated myself to a Pioneer 43" plasma display last month (early xmas pressie!) and the whole lot together looks superb. The Pioneer plasma really is classy, and a really smart piece of furniture as well.

B&O stuff is all very well, but as you say, it's a huge expense. If you like your brand names, Harman Kardon and Cambridge Audio do some great lower end stuff for not huge outlays. And if you're like me, you won't be able to detect the difference between them and the really expensive stuff anyway.

dick dastardly

8,319 posts

270 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
I've got a Bose lifestyle system which sounds better than pretty much anything else I've heard. They aren't exactly cheap but they're a fraction of a B&O system and well worth it IMO

Incorrigible

13,668 posts

268 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
With stuff that makes sound my advise woiuld be to listen to it

I remember the first time I went to a decent hifi shop for some speakers and they were shocked I didn't bring a few CDs etc. I was really impressed with the first set of speakers, until they brought out the next set etc

Anyway after half an hour I knew what I wanted, just had to dave up for a few more months

Most decent places have a demo room, go in explain your budget and requirements and make an appointment

alexkp

16,484 posts

251 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
Incorrigible said:


Anyway after half an hour I knew what I wanted, just had to dave up for a few more months



What did you have to do to Dave for the next few months in order to get your speakers?

BliarOut

72,857 posts

246 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
He had to up him whatever that means

Incorrigible

13,668 posts

268 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I wish I'd spent the extra on the ones that could correct my typing now

But seriously listen to ones from a wide range. You'll find some that sound just as good as the B&O stuff for half the price

What is the budget BTW, and what for

pstruck

3,518 posts

256 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
The choice available to you is mind boggling and everyone here will recommend something different (I love my Roksan set-up), but in the end it is a very personal decision.

You need first to set yourself a budget, then get yourself down to your local hi-fi shop and have a chat with them. Any good shop will have a listening room and I suggest you make good use of it. Take a selection of your own music, that way you can judge different systems playing the type of music you like.

I spent hours in the listening room with numerous different combination of CD players, amps and speakers. They will try and temp you with higher value gear, but stick with your budget and you will find something that suits.

Reckon spending about 10% of your overall budget on speaker cables and interconnects if you want to get the best out of your components.

Have fun!

>> Edited by pstruck on Thursday 9th December 10:58

edelbrock

9,743 posts

240 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
pop into a specialist dealer such as audio excellence or sevenoaks,the seperates systems are the way to go with floorstanding speakers etc... the top hi fi mags will give you good details on reviews and any good shop will let you test run the systems in store

alexkp

16,484 posts

251 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
I think you simply have to decide "Am I going to spend a grand or two?" or "Am I gonna spend as much as a nice car?" or "Am I gonna run the risk of a divorce over something to listen to The Darkness and Jonathan Ross on?"


I have a friend who has a stonking Tag-Maclaren system. Probably cost as much as a my TVR.

Which would I rather have....

Yep. No contest.

tuscan_thunder

1,763 posts

253 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
my mate has a NAD separates system with Mission speakers. all bought from Richer Sounds. top class sound.
I have denon CD, pioneer amp and Kef speakers, which come close, but his has the edge, possibly because it's newer.
also, pay very close attention to cables and speaker stands. you wouldn't believe the difference a high quality cable makes with that level of equipment.

ph_flyer

434 posts

257 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
I've got a full B&O system. I've noticed that there's always someone who'll trot out the "form over function" line when discussing B&O. I understand that my decision to purchase means that I'm slightly biased .

Yes, the design is exquisite, but the sound quality is wonderful. I've recently bought Craig Armstrong's Piano Works (just as an example) and the detail that's exposed when played on the B&O is astonishing. It may be expensive, but most definitely worth it.

I had a demo of B&O's fairly new Beolab 5 active speakers (£10k a pair ) listening to Gary Jules' Mad World (amongst others); they look wacky, but, what an intense, incredible, detailed, powerful, beautiful sound they dispensed. One day ...

Incorrigible

13,668 posts

268 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
tuscan_thunder said:
also, pay very close attention to cables and speaker stands. you wouldn't believe the difference a high quality cable makes with that level of equipment.
Although once you've bi-wired the main speakers I found going to anything more expensive that close coupled 79 strand (and that was £40 for a reel) made no discernable difference, The only decent interconnects I've got are the phono and CD ones

Don't forget to wire the house up properly

Here's the corner of my lounge during re-fit

Incorrigible

13,668 posts

268 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
ph_flyer said:
Yes, the design is exquisite, but the sound quality is wonderful. I've recently bought Craig Armstrong's Piano Works (just as an example) and the detail that's exposed when played on the B&O is astonishing. It may be expensive, but most definitely worth it.
I think the problem with this sort of statment is that you haven't (guessing) listenned to a well put together system that cost half as much. I think you'll struggle to justify the expense fom purely a sound quality perspective

OTOH it's your cash, and having something that looks as good as a B&O would be bloody nice

GregE240

10,857 posts

274 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
I think the best thing that you can do is find a sympathetic dealer and go listen to a load of different combos.

When I bought a system years ago I went up to Tottenham Court Road with my budget in cash. The salesperson advised me to actually work backwards that is to say, we first set up the system I definitely could not afford. Then we gradually swapped out interconnects, CD players, amps and so forth until I found the right combination.

That helped me make the most informed choice. I was also up front with the salesman and showed him the money, so knew the budget from the outset.

I have to say though that George Bensons "Give me the Night" sounded astonishing on the high end system, the clarity and depth of sound stage was amazing.

robdickinson

31,343 posts

261 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
Its your ears and the space in which the HiFi will occupy that should be the deciding factors.

Someone above said floor standing speakers, well I love them too, but in the wrong room (small etc) they'd )(probably)sound much worse than cheaper bookshelf speakers.

Go listen to some stupidly expensive stuff to get an idea what your aiming for, then find the closest match to your ears.

Buying on spec/recomendations, even magazine glowing reviews wont do it, a 5 star speaker may not be the right one for you.

popov123

Original Poster:

4,084 posts

242 months

Thursday 9th December 2004
quotequote all
Thanks chaps...

I am looking at probably spending about a grand I guess. Thats just for cd and speakers (incl cable etc).

I want a system just for music - ie not for linking up to the tv or home cinema etc.

I have to admit to being incredibly impressed with the B&O stuff, but then with the cd player at £2.5k and the speakers at £10k

Im in Norwich by the way