Help required re new home HiFi please

[Old_Skool_Fool]

Hi

I wondered if I could get some advice re a new home "system". I've owned 2 pioneer stack systems for about 30 years and the
2nd one has died. The CD multichanger no longer works. It's one of those awkward Pioneer seperates that have the colour
coded ribbon connecters on the rear, so they're not compatable with other seperates, or even similiar Pioneer systems(!), great....

So I'm looking into a new system, but use that term loosely as it'll really only be for my CD's (at a later date I might add
turntable and tape player).

What is important:

Bass, especially the kind for D&B, chill out, breakbeat and old skool rave/hardcore tunes. Even though I listen to all kinds of music now,
I'm not too fussy about the quality of other genres / music, quite happy to watch / listen to stuff whilst watching youtube i.e. grunge Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and classics like Rolling stones and The Who, aswell as 80's cheese, Chilli peppers, Happy Mondays, Stone Roses etc etc. Pretty much everything like that is "OK" via headphones and youtube.

But I still like to go back to the basslines and have most of this on CD and love to listen to Bukem and Big Bug, as well as chill out, most nights while going to sleep, something I can't do with headphones.

I have no idea about home hi fi, but done a little with incar stuff, both installing simple crossover systems and understanding basics like quality of signal from headset compared to quality of amp / speakers - speaker enclosure. Max quoted Watt compared to continuous RMS.

What I understood from Incar systems is that the amp and speakers will play any distortion received from the headset or source, they won't clean up any distortion. Whether it be playing either a badly recorded tape on a high end headset, or playing a CD on a super cheap and nasty head unit but the amp and speakers are high end.

Is this the same for home HiFi or have I got this all wrong?

Budget anywhere from £250 to £750

Re the Hifi / seperates, I'm not not fussed about:
I don't mind make / brand or how it looks, either for the seperates or speakers.
Volume. It won't ever have to shake the house down, if anything the opposite, it'll be played at quite a low volume.
TV Films or anything like that being played through it, or needing it for these.

Things I'd like:
Remote control for volume
Multi disc CD player

Questions:

I'm presuming / guessing I'll need amp, CD player, speakers (?) but how much of the budget should I allow for cables / connectors and how much would things like cables be a factor in sound quality?
Which part(s) of HiFi seperates are important for the sound quality?
Are there any "deals" for ready made systems, or would I be better off buying each individual part seperately?
Would I need a sub or are there all round speakers that would cope?
Would a graphic equaliser be of use, or would it be better to spend money elsewhere?
Which part of the hi-fi / seperates would be best to spend the money on, the amp, speakers - or spread the cost evenly??
I'm not in a major rush, so can afford to wait for something 2nd hand to come, or can I get it all "new" or a bit of both, if so where?
Places like Richer sounds or 2nd hand shops / ebay, or try to take advantage of possible Black Friday deals over forseeable future?

Many thanks in advance for any help / advice given..

Kind regards
OSF
aka Andy

Examples of songs (available on youtube):

Kristine Blond - Love Shy (Sandgate Remix) [2001]
PFM - One and only Original 12" Mix
Essence of Aura Northern Lights (remix)
Danny Breaks - Volume 2 (EZ Rollers Remix) Droppin Science
Morcheeba - Shoulder Holster
banco de gaia tongue in chic
LFO - LFO (Leeds warehouse mix)
The Aloof - Never Get Out Of The Boat

My playlists if anyone interested:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Padded1Cell/playlists

[StescoG66]

I would be looking at second hand for bang for your buck.
Speakers TDL RTL 2 or 3
Amp Arcam Alpha 9

[Itsallicanafford]

Few thoughts from me.

Your existing system. Have you looked at finding a exact replacement CD player on eBay? Secondly, does it have an AUX in anywhere, you could buy a different branded player on eBay and use the AUX in connectors (search Sony cdp-c on eBay to see what Sony has to offer, ES models are their top offering)
Thirdly- can it be repaired?

New system, personally I would go used, Marantz do a range of separate amps and CD - they do a 6006 uk edition of both which I would try to get a listen to. Each are £300 or less on eBay.

Do you like your existing speakers? If so, reuse these. Otherwise again used, how about a pair of B&W speakers - £150 would score you a set of 602 or similar. Rotel also offer good value second hand

How much would I spend on speaker cable - personally, very little. Amazon do a nice thick home brand basic range…

[TEKNOPUG]

Just buy this:

https://www.richersounds.com/denon-dm41-dab-silver...

Spend the balance on an active subwoofer that matches your room size.

No one makes home CD changers anymore so you'd have to buy secondhand if you really wanted one.

If you don't want to get up and change a CD, just rip then all to your PC and stream them via your phone to the HiFi. I have no doubt that you could stream CD qualities of everything that you like listening to anyway.

For example, your entire Youtube playlist you could just stream from your phone/PC to the HiFi.

[Old_Skool_Fool]

StescoG66 said:

I would be looking at second hand for bang for your buck.
Speakers TDL RTL 2 or 3
Amp Arcam Alpha 9

Thank you for your reply.

Apologies if this is a stupid question - if I wanted to run a subwoofer from this Arcam amp, could I use the External PREAMP out connections, next to the normal speaker connections?

Itsallicanafford said:

Few thoughts from me.

Your existing system. Have you looked at finding a exact replacement CD player on eBay? Secondly, does it have an AUX in anywhere, you could buy a different branded player on eBay and use the AUX in connectors (search Sony cdp-c on eBay to see what Sony has to offer, ES models are their top offering)
Thirdly- can it be repaired?

New system, personally I would go used, Marantz do a range of separate amps and CD - they do a 6006 uk edition of both which I would try to get a listen to. Each are £300 or less on eBay.

Do you like your existing speakers? If so, reuse these. Otherwise again used, how about a pair of B&W speakers - £150 would score you a set of 602 or similar. Rotel also offer good value second hand

How much would I spend on speaker cable - personally, very little. Amazon do a nice thick home brand basic range…

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, I've looked on internet as a whole, there isn't a replacement. I phoned a couple of local shops, they suggested the same, use an AUX port, but these Pioneer systems don't have one. The connectors (from amp to CD player, tuner, turntable, tape player) are ribbon connectors and colour coded, they are specific to the system and even other similiar connectors don't work - my first system had the same connectors for some of the seperates, I knew the tape player worked on my first system, the connector was the same, fitted and plugged in fine but it wouldn't play. I think the system is from the 90's.

I was told it was difficult to find replacement parts, and probably be more cost effective to start over, especially as I wanted something specific.

I don't really like the exisitng speakers, however, as I specifically want low bass, I was wondering whether to keep these temporarily and maybe see about getting a sub (which is why I mentioned this in reply to StescoG66 above) and then upgrade the speakers if the mids/highs are not up to it later.

I'm still trying to get my head around the differences between car and home systems.and trying to plan for my budget and requirements now, and then possible future upgrades, so apologies as I can be a little slow at picking things up and easily confused.

[Old_Skool_Fool]

TEKNOPUG said:

Just buy this:

https://www.richersounds.com/denon-dm41-dab-silver...

Spend the balance on an active subwoofer that matches your room size.

No one makes home CD changers anymore so you'd have to buy secondhand if you really wanted one.

If you don't want to get up and change a CD, just rip then all to your PC and stream them via your phone to the HiFi. I have no doubt that you could stream CD qualities of everything that you like listening to anyway.

For example, your entire Youtube playlist you could just stream from your phone/PC to the HiFi.

To be completely honest, I never thought of that. I'm old and a bit of techno-fobe, I only just got my first iPhone a few months ago. I'm so used to using my home PC (for listening to youtube playlists) and home phone, I haven't explored, or even thought of, other options.

I usually just keep my mobile as emergency use only, I probably should dig my head out of the sand and get up to speed with modern technology a bit more....

Thank you for your reply and suggestion.

[TEKNOPUG]

I would definitely look at a system that has a dedicated subwoofer out if you want decent bass but at relatively low listening volumes. It also means you can get smaller, cheaper speakers and don't need such a powerful amp to drive them (which also means that it will be cheaper). A system with bluetooth AND wifi will allow for greater flexibility when connecting devices. Maybe look for something that has Airplay also, if you have an iPhone, like this Yamaha: https://www.richersounds.com/yamaha-crxn470d-blk.h...

I think that you can achieve what you want with a mini-HiFi and mix'n'match the speaker depending upon cost/suitability.

[StescoG66]

Old_Skool_Fool said:

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, I've looked on internet as a whole, there isn't a replacement. I phoned a couple of local shops, they suggested the same, use an AUX port, but these Pioneer systems don't have one. The connectors (from amp to CD player, tuner, turntable, tape player) are ribbon connectors and colour coded, they are specific to the system and even other similiar connectors don't work - my first system had the same connectors for some of the seperates, I knew the tape player worked on my first system, the connector was the same, fitted and plugged in fine but it wouldn't play. I think the system is from the 90's.

I was told it was difficult to find replacement parts, and probably be more cost effective to start over, especially as I wanted something specific.

I don't really like the exisitng speakers, however, as I specifically want low bass, I was wondering whether to keep these temporarily and maybe see about getting a sub (which is why I mentioned this in reply to StescoG66 above) and then upgrade the speakers if the mids/highs are not up to it later.

I'm still trying to get my head around the differences between car and home systems.and trying to plan for my budget and requirements now, and then possible future upgrades, so apologies as I can be a little slow at picking things up and easily confused.

Yes the pre amp outputs will drive an active sub. I do this at home from my system.

If you want new, have a look at Fyne F303 which has just been superseded by the F303i so there are deals out there to be had.

Yamaha also do a good streaming amp which would give you the best of all worlds. Take a look on Richer Sounds