is there a decent hifi shop out here?
Discussion
shirt said:
as it says. found myself a place to live that needs nothing housey other than a fresh duvet and sheets, so thinking of spending my furniture allowance on new hifi. a trip to dubai mall turned up nothing of note. any ideas?
As with most things, you will pay mucho over the top if you buy locally.If you are looking at spending $thousands you may well be better off buying a ticket to the country of manufacture.
How much do you have to spend? I'm no hifi affectionado so just bought Harmon Kardon stuff.
the HK and denon shops seemed to be 99% home cinema. the small place on the corner up from harmon house was better but v.pricey as you say. jackys/sharaf were a waste of time.
have 10k AED to spend on speakers, cd player & amp. i have decent speakers in shipping but they are far too big for bedroom use.
have 10k AED to spend on speakers, cd player & amp. i have decent speakers in shipping but they are far too big for bedroom use.
Dubai Audio. All the high end kit available including Arcam, ProAc, Cyrus, Naim, Linn, etc.
Bought my ProAc speakers there.
http://dubaiaudio.com/index.php/contact-us/map/
Speak with Adil.
Bought my ProAc speakers there.
http://dubaiaudio.com/index.php/contact-us/map/
Speak with Adil.
There's a place called Archimedia (http://www.archimedia-me.com) in a naff location in Karama, just below the approach ramps for Maktoum bridge. Big into B&W stuff, which I like.
There was also a second-hand shop in the Karama Centre (ground floor, at the back) that had some real bargains, high-end stuff that had been barely used then tossed aside in favour of something shiny and newer. Always worth a rummage.
That said, I ended up buying a half-decent HK system from Carrefour of all places, complete with four JBL floorstanders. Still got my Little Bit Three DAC, which transforms any system!
There was also a second-hand shop in the Karama Centre (ground floor, at the back) that had some real bargains, high-end stuff that had been barely used then tossed aside in favour of something shiny and newer. Always worth a rummage.
That said, I ended up buying a half-decent HK system from Carrefour of all places, complete with four JBL floorstanders. Still got my Little Bit Three DAC, which transforms any system!
i went to dubai audio earlier and spoke with adil about what i wanted. he was good enough to show me everything they had and demo'd a few things i liked. i'm quite drawn to a naim all in one cd/amp/wireless streaming player that seems great for a bedroom.
sharaf at times square was ok but didn't seem to be much mid-range stuff. karama sounds like a good plan for one evening when i'm in the mood for a good curry!
sharaf at times square was ok but didn't seem to be much mid-range stuff. karama sounds like a good plan for one evening when i'm in the mood for a good curry!
The Naim Uniti is a nice bit of kit.
http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Naim-Uniti/
Team it up with these babies
http://www.whathifi.com/Review/ProAc-Response-D18/
http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Naim-Uniti/
Team it up with these babies
http://www.whathifi.com/Review/ProAc-Response-D18/
it does seem to do 'everything' in a neat package. blows the full budget though and i'd need some smaller speakers - floor standers won't do in the bedroom. expensive do eh?
dubai audio also had a very nicely designed valve amp for under my budget, but then that'd set me on a 'must upgrade everything' path!
there's also a chap on dubizzle selling a cyrus XPA amp, cyrus quattro cd/pre-amp/tuner, and cyrus CLS50 speakers. wants 5000AED for the lot, fire sale!
dubai audio also had a very nicely designed valve amp for under my budget, but then that'd set me on a 'must upgrade everything' path!
there's also a chap on dubizzle selling a cyrus XPA amp, cyrus quattro cd/pre-amp/tuner, and cyrus CLS50 speakers. wants 5000AED for the lot, fire sale!
To be honest at £10K I'd give Kevin Scott @ Definitive Audio (Nottingham, Blighty) a bell. He may not come down to install it in Dubai at that sort of budget but then again if he gets £100K's worth of gig nearby he just might. 
To clarify, he's not the sort of guy who looks down his nose when faced with a more earthly budget - I think I spent all of £1,500 with him on S/H gear and he's still more than generous with his time - but he's got bills to pay, too...
Anyway, £10K is way too high to blow on high street audio stuff - you should be able to get some way onto the high end ladder on that sort of money.
To clarify, he's not the sort of guy who looks down his nose when faced with a more earthly budget - I think I spent all of £1,500 with him on S/H gear and he's still more than generous with his time - but he's got bills to pay, too...
Anyway, £10K is way too high to blow on high street audio stuff - you should be able to get some way onto the high end ladder on that sort of money.
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