Been told my current Hifi is crap, need advice

asim18

asim18

asim18

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5 Dec 2006
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Hi I've been told that my current sound system is complete s*!te by adfinni and Raikiri.
Pic1: http://a-s-i-m.co.uk/other/tv/4_thumb.jpg
Pic2: http://a-s-i-m.co.uk/other/tv/5_thumb.jpg

Adfinni recommended I buy a Denon system, so I decided to do the best thing and go to their website.

The ONLY system they sell is this one (which looks pretty small and puny):
http://www.denon.co.uk/site/frames_main.php?main=prod&ver=&MID=3&sub=2&action=detail&Pid=313

I don't see how it will sound better than my current system.

  • Denon: 75W per channel (RMS or PMPO not stated)
    Current: 100W RMS per channel
  • Denon: 1 woofer and a super-tweeter per speaker
    Current: 1 woofer, 1 tweeter, 2 super-tweeters and subwoofer with bass reflex.
  • Denon: vaguely describes some sort of crossover
    Current: Crossover, with seperate amplifiers for high/low frequencies

Ideas, comments...?

will the denon system still sound better, even though my current "sharp" system's specs are higher?
 
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Yeah I hate to say it but the system you've got doesn't look like the pinacle of sound quality.

Power and number of speakers isn't everything. You'd get a much clearer and better sound out of the denons.

Also the fact that the denons are EXTREMELY high end and expensive helps too :p
 
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Why are you only looking at one system?

What's your budget? A £400 hifi system will generally be a lot better than what you have.

And yes, you can demo these. Most shops that only sell AV gear will normally have a demo room.

Edit:

Cambridge Audio A5 - £120
Cambridge Audio CD5 - £100
Wharfdale Diamond 9.1 - £150

Total - £370, probably cheaper if you look around and definitely much cheaper second hand.
 
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asim18 said:
  • Denon: 75W per channel (RMS or PMPO not stated)
    Current: 100W RMS per channel

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I would take the power ratings with a pinch of salt. With all intents you can derive any figure you want and manufactures of those type of hifi (in a loose sense of the word) are pretty much targeting the Argos types looking for flashing lights and "mega" power rating. There is no way on earth that that Sharp is producing an output of 100 watts.

The power rating of amplifiers is pretty complex but I would guess that the true power of that Sharp system is somewhere near 10 watts.

The thing you will notice if you do change is the response at high volume. The Sharp will sound awful above anything 1/2 way on the dial. The Denon will sound better the more volume you give it.

Best place to go is Richer Sounds if your a Hifi virgin, they tend to tell you as it is if you give them a budget.
 
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Edinho said:
I would take the power ratings with a pinch of salt. With all intents you can derive any figure you want and manufactures of those type of hifi (in a loose sense of the word) are pretty much targeting the Argos types looking for flashing lights and "mega" power rating. There is no way on earth that that Sharp is producing an output of 100 watts.
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I'm sure if sharp cant lie as a company?, it clearly states in the manual 100 watts RMS per channel (200 watts RMS Total)

The power rating of amplifiers is pretty complex but I would guess that the true power of that Sharp system is somewhere near 10 watts.
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would you care to explain how did you came to that conclusion?

The thing you will notice if you do change is the response at high volume. The Sharp will sound awful above anything 1/2 way on the dial.
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Nope. it stays extremely clear even if i turn it to maximum. I only turn to anything above 1/2 when im sure my neighbours and parents are out, even then the bass starts to hurt my ears so i dont put it above volume 20, (max 30)


Oh and, i braught it from Dubai airport duty free for £300, so it would probably cost a lot more if it was available here in Uk.
 
asim18:

I strongly advise you to book yourself in for a demo at a large hifi shop. Bring your own equipment with you (Your Sharp) and ask them to spec. you a <insert budget> system and then compare it to yours.

Maybe it's because i'm tired but you seem to come across quite arrogant towards other people's opinions of your set-up? :)

I recently went in to the world of hifi and went for a demo for my latest setup a few days ago. I was blown away, literally. So reserve judgement until you go for a demo and report back your findings. For the best contrast etc, bring your Sharp and set it up with your favourite song, then play your favourite song at the hifi shop.

I recently paid £150 for a NAD C320BEE and i suggest that's where you start.

Just noticed something...you're saying you can turn your 100W Amp to maximum? If my NAD was turned to full, i'm pretty sure it would destroy several windows...and the NAD is entry level.


EDIT: Quickly remove the 's' word from your OP. :eek:
 
SideWinder said:
asim18:
Just noticed something...you're saying you can turn your 100W Amp to maximum? If my NAD was turned to full, i'm pretty sure it would destroy several windows...and the NAD is entry level.
Click to expand...

If you agree to send me a vid of that happening, i'll sign a contract to pay for any damages to and glass objects.
 
asim18 said:
If you agree to send me a vid of that happening, i'll sign a contract to pay for any damages to and glass objects.
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:confused:

This is what i mean - you appear to not believe anything anyone tells you. Seriously, go and book yourself in for a demo and take your Sharp with you and see what they say. If you aren't prepared to do that, then i'm not sure how you expect to be offered advice etc.

Come to Roehampton University and i'll show you my B&W 685s and NAD C320BEE. :cool:

Edit: Just noticed you live in London so it's possible. ;)
Edit2: Camden - there is a Superfi shop there where i went, extremely helpful and offer free demos. :)
 
yeh, sorry if i've been arrogant.

But i just cant believe that those tiny, puny looking denon speakers cost £2000, even though they're technically "crapper" than my £300 system!

Anyway, I guess i'll have to hear hear it to believe it.
 
asim18 said:
yeh, sorry if i've been arrogant.

But i just cant believe that those tiny, puny looking denon speakers cost £2000, even though they're technically "crapper" than my £300 system!

Anyway, I guess i'll have to hear hear it to believe it.
Click to expand...

Trust me, i'm with you on that one...i'm still learning the basics. :p

I can't justify £1000 speakers and £800 Amps but i'm sure one day i will. Hearing is believing. I've only had 1 demo but i tried out expensive and cheaper speakers. Ended up buying the top range. :o

If you want, i'll happily take you to Camden or whatever. :)

/goes to bed due to a lecture in 4 hours.
 
Asim,
Ignore all the BS sprouted by most manufacturers. What matters is how the unit sounds to you. As already suggested, go find yourself a decent dealer and have a listen. Why not start with a really high end set of kit to see what is possible, then look at what your budget can deal with. Try seeing if you can listen to a top end Naim system at Grahams or Vickers in London. Dependant upon speakers, it'll probably cost around £50k, but should give you some clues as to what your present system lacks.

BTW, with ref to the power output quoted for your system, this is a typical "statistic", i.e. that it most certainly can be abused. For example, it might be 100 watts at a specific frequency with 10% distortion for all we know. Most upper end hi-fi groups put the context of the amount of distortion on their claims.
Also be aware that watts aren't everything. The best amp I've ever heard was a Wavac using some 300B valves (run on search on google if you're interested). Chances are that the Wavac in question only produced 18 watts. Mate it up with the right speakers though, and it'll wipe the floor with anything I've heard to date, and I've heard quite a variety of kit.

With regard to Denon, like most of the big Japanese manufacturers, they do actually make a small number of high-end components, though these are normally only sold locally in Japan and we rarely see them.
 
asim18 said:
http://www.hifix.co.uk/sku.lasso?&item=7d8dd2c2dd08ba0647ebb81414650e3e3bf7b756c6a8be5f&rlog=froogle

£ 2699.95 ???? WTF!??

my system was only £300

is there any way i can hear them for myself? maybe in a shop?

they still seem very small and puny to me though
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Hey good to see ya in here.

I only recommended a denon or teac mini system as they would sound much better than that current thing, and should on cost about £300 new. But if your ready to delv into the world of separates then you really need to audition some stuff at some hi-fi dealers like sevenoaks, super-fi, and especially richer sounds. Even the budget NAD, Cambridge audio etc systems with a nice pair of small standmounts speakers will sound amazing and blow you away. But one thing is that they will sound a LOT less bassy because a separates system will produce more taught and accurate bass whereas the system you have will just pile out shedloads of booom booom booom.

As said before it's not about how much 'Uber bass boost port equalisers' a speaker has, but the electronics driving it that matter. My amp is 70W RMS per channel and deafens me in my room with my speakers which are rated about 80w RMS.

Ebay is pretty good for picking up great dealers on 2nd hand separates a few years old. Age doesn't matter too much, im using a 10 year old arcam amp which still sounds fantastic, and i have a £12 marantz cd-player that i repaired and fitted with loads of mods. Anyway an amp and standard cd-player like mine should set you back about £150-£200 allowing you to spend the other £100 on speakers. And i know that on ebay my speakers (Monitor audio B2) go for under £100. BARGAIN !
 
adfinni said:
<snipp>:

As said before it's not about how much 'Uber bass boost port equalisers' a speaker has, but the electronics driving it that matter.
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EXACTLY that £2000 denon system has nothing in it. My £300 system (which i got from dubai duty free, so probably more expensive if available here in uk) one has a Mid-High/Low crossover, and dual 2 channel amplifiers, PLUS full range speakers.

I dont think i've missed something in the specifiactions on the denon website.
 
If you're not prepared to take anyone's advice and go to a proper hifi shop for a listen then why are you continuing to act like a child on here?

I had a similar hifi to yours when I was 14 (a long time ago!) and I can assure you that although it may be loud there's definately more to sound quality than that.
 
sharp should be quoting their power outputs across the entire audio spectrum with a distortion of less than 0.1% - they dont. they dont even give you any numbers, instead simply stating din 45 500 which, correct me if im wrong, is your bog standard 1% distortion @ 1khz / 8ohm. useless in other words.

that sharp has the same rated output as a high end (mosfet) power amplifier. but numbers (or lack of) give you no idication of anything. power is something that can be WILDLY skewed without actually lying by quoting all sorts of insain measurements, like quoting power at 1khz only (instead of the full audio spectrum) and high distortion figures (1% instead of 0.0x/0.00x), output at 6ohm instead of 8ohm.....all sorts of ways they can artificially inflate the numbers.

its important to realise how much power you actually need as well. i was testing my 'hideously hot and inefficiant' av amplifier (as said by members of this forum) with a power meter. well above reference level (peaks of 105db) , listening to music in all-channel stereo (same output to 5 speakers, bi-amps fronts as well so all 7 channels driven in one way or another) and my amp was peaking under 300w draw from the mains. what does that mean? <60w a channel was being used (in reality it could have been half that) and it was sodding loud. bear in mind it wasnt running full range though, my sub was doing the bass duties but my point is......power is pretty irrelivant which is why you can get away with a nice tube amp and a suitably sensitive pair of speakers for music.
 
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Put it this way - those sharp etc systems are designed to be flashy, and sound and look big. They're really really not that good, although you've been advised of this. Ignore the figures, because with sound, figures can and commonly ARE massaged to give a better figure than realworld performance, especially by mainstream (Argos) etc hi-fi brands, because its the only way they can stand up to the real stuff.

Loud means sweet f all. Its the quality underneath thats important.

Sharp packed your system with big buzzword features to make it sound better, the fact that all those 'features' are probably backed up by poor performance, low quality components means they're roughly useless - the electronic back end of sharp is cheap and mass market - NOT Hi-Fi. Its the sound quality and performance that matters, not some mass market selling buzzwords.
 
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