Richer Sounds - anyone shopped there?
Discussion
Hi All,
We're about to upgrade the home cinema set up and are currently wondering if Richer Sounds are a viable option for a middle of the road sort of set up?
The Mrs and I are not audiophiles or heavily into cinema tech, but are wanting a separates setup as opposed to the old 'all in one dvd 5.1' thingee we have at present.
Budget wise I haven't a clue, but we'd like a good amp, blue ray player and floor standing speakers that cope with loads of action flicks and some half decent music (my half, not hers!
) via the ipod (all's stored in a lossless format).
My folks used to be into this stuff and I did rather like their Marantz and Mordaunt Short (sp?) gear.
Cheers for any hints, tips or advice.
DTC
We're about to upgrade the home cinema set up and are currently wondering if Richer Sounds are a viable option for a middle of the road sort of set up?
The Mrs and I are not audiophiles or heavily into cinema tech, but are wanting a separates setup as opposed to the old 'all in one dvd 5.1' thingee we have at present.
Budget wise I haven't a clue, but we'd like a good amp, blue ray player and floor standing speakers that cope with loads of action flicks and some half decent music (my half, not hers!
) via the ipod (all's stored in a lossless format).My folks used to be into this stuff and I did rather like their Marantz and Mordaunt Short (sp?) gear.
Cheers for any hints, tips or advice.
DTC
When I used to work for Julian (Richer) himself his aim was not to buy "s
te stuff" and sell it cheap but to buy as much quality components as possible and sell them cheap.
His largest source was the manufacturers who upgrade their equipment and have say 100 left in the warehouse and need an outlet to get rid of them (rather like the "outlet stores" do now for clothes).
So unless things have changed it won't be the sort of place where you do your research and go and buy it'll be the sort of place where you need to go clear on your criteria and see what they suggest.
te stuff" and sell it cheap but to buy as much quality components as possible and sell them cheap.His largest source was the manufacturers who upgrade their equipment and have say 100 left in the warehouse and need an outlet to get rid of them (rather like the "outlet stores" do now for clothes).
So unless things have changed it won't be the sort of place where you do your research and go and buy it'll be the sort of place where you need to go clear on your criteria and see what they suggest.
Marcellus said:
When I used to work for Julian (Richer) himself his aim was not to buy "ste stuff" and sell it cheap but to buy as much quality components as possible and sell them cheap.
His largest source was the manufacturers who upgrade their equipment and have say 100 left in the warehouse and need an outlet to get rid of them (rather like the "outlet stores" do now for clothes).
So unless things have changed it won't be the sort of place where you do your research and go and buy it'll be the sort of place where you need to go clear on your criteria and see what they suggest.
They do now have their own gear Cambridge Audio built in China and do have agreements with some of the "good" makers. But pretty much as Marcellous says do your research about the gear they sell and try it out. Most have demo rooms allowing you to listen to the setups.te stuff" and sell it cheap but to buy as much quality components as possible and sell them cheap.His largest source was the manufacturers who upgrade their equipment and have say 100 left in the warehouse and need an outlet to get rid of them (rather like the "outlet stores" do now for clothes).
So unless things have changed it won't be the sort of place where you do your research and go and buy it'll be the sort of place where you need to go clear on your criteria and see what they suggest.
I've used them in the past with no problems at all, Bought a surround sound amp for about 1/2 retail price because it was going out of production, as i'll keep it for several years this doesn't really matter to me.
having said that some of their stock doesn't seam to have huge percentages off anymore so you may find a local hifi shop will match their prices
having said that some of their stock doesn't seam to have huge percentages off anymore so you may find a local hifi shop will match their prices
Blue160 said:
Richer sounds is great. Fantastic level of customer service.
The only problem is they don't have listening rooms, so you need to have a good idea of what you want before you go. Great policy on returns if you don't like it when you get it home though.
When I bought my first system from the Watford branch they had a listening room.......it was great to hear the diffrence's between different components.. I was surprised at how somethings worked well to gether, whilst others didn't... in terms of sound.The only problem is they don't have listening rooms, so you need to have a good idea of what you want before you go. Great policy on returns if you don't like it when you get it home though.
They are fine. I'd recommend going at a quiet time though, they get busy and sometimes can't give you the time you'd like. They also do extended warranties which are some of the only in the industry NOT regarded as a rip off!
Check their website out before you go, set a budget and read some "what Hi-fi" reviews and the like.
Consider a PS3 slim as a Blu-Ray player - you might like some games and they're the same price and the same visual quality as a stand alone blu-ray, only they also have BBC iPlayer for example, and can act as a media centre through the home AV amp. It could work as a nice All-in-one solution. Whack a bigger HDD in, put all your uncompressed audio files on it and rock away.
Mordaunt Short still do some cracking speakers too. Try and have a listen and see if you like them.
One last tip. DOn't get sucked into buying very expensive HDMI cables. THey can be £50 for 5 metres easily. I've used the cheapest ones from cables direct or cables 2 U (google) and they are identical in performance from a home AV standpoint, and can easily save you £100-£200 but the time you've wired a system up. Still buy decent speaker cable though, that carries high currents (and an analogue signal) after all!
Happy shopping!
Check their website out before you go, set a budget and read some "what Hi-fi" reviews and the like.
Consider a PS3 slim as a Blu-Ray player - you might like some games and they're the same price and the same visual quality as a stand alone blu-ray, only they also have BBC iPlayer for example, and can act as a media centre through the home AV amp. It could work as a nice All-in-one solution. Whack a bigger HDD in, put all your uncompressed audio files on it and rock away.
Mordaunt Short still do some cracking speakers too. Try and have a listen and see if you like them.
One last tip. DOn't get sucked into buying very expensive HDMI cables. THey can be £50 for 5 metres easily. I've used the cheapest ones from cables direct or cables 2 U (google) and they are identical in performance from a home AV standpoint, and can easily save you £100-£200 but the time you've wired a system up. Still buy decent speaker cable though, that carries high currents (and an analogue signal) after all!
Happy shopping!
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