Gonna start from scratch, recommend me a good amp and speakers.

The Matrix

The Matrix

The Matrix

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12 Jul 2012
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I currently have a set of Logitech Z906 speakers which sound superb but i want to go down the route of building my own system as it will be more flexible.

I'm into music so good clarity and controlled bass is important, i'm also into movies so again the sound really makes a film.

I'm starting from scratch here so any recommendations are welcome, i want to start off with the following, i'll be buying an Asus Xonar D2X sound card soon so that will be linked to the amp.

1. Amp/receiver
2. Front speakers
3. Centre speaker
4. Sub woofer.

I'll add satellites at a later date.
 
whats you budget i picked up a yamaha 673 for 400 quid for my surround system and its a brilliant amp for the money. Or do you just want a cheapy to drive your pc system, if that is the case richer sounds have a good looking little denon in for a hundred quid at the moment
 
stuie said:
whats you budget i picked up a yamaha 673 for 400 quid for my surround system and its a brilliant amp for the money. Or do you just want a cheapy to drive your pc system, if that is the case richer sounds have a good looking little denon in for a hundred quid at the moment
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I'd say around £500

I'm open to suggestions as ive not really got a clue when it comes to sound components and what works well together. Ive just bought the Asus D2X sound card so something to connect that too, then a sub, centre and side speakers. I don't know whether i need a receiver or amp, thats the things i'm struggling with etc

I can do without the centre for now if its not essential, i'm after really good clarity sound for music with good bass and clear high notes, also good for watching movies, its not really to game with, more of an entertainment system for my bedroom where i can chill out.
 
Thanks for the suggestions Stuie

The Edifier setup is not what i'd be after as its too much like what i have now the Logitech Z906 system.

The Yamaha reciever and Wharfedale speaker package looks interesting, i'll do some research on them.
 
The Edifier S550s aren't a bad buy at all for £320. That's on offer though. £390 is bordering on too much for PC speakers in my opinion. They've only got one 5.1 input, so if you decide at any point that you want to connect other devices, you won't be able to. A AV receiver will allow you to connect multiple devices, if you so wish.

What you could do, is to buy a AV receiver and a pair of speakers, then add to it as funds allow with a subwoofer, centre and rears. Doing it that way will obviously be more of an investment, but it will get you a system that will last many years, unless of course upgradeitis sets in. Terrible disease. :p

Nothing wrong of course with going with a AV receiver + 5.1 speaker package.
 
Tbh £500 for the whole lot will get you something fairly entry level. I'd look at second hand and spend it like this:

Stereo speakers £200
Sub £200
Amp £100

Avforums is well worth a look as there are some SH bargains.

Also this should probably be in Home Cinema & Hi-Fi subforum.
 
Marsman said:
What you could do, is to buy a AV receiver and a pair of speakers, then add to it as funds allow with a subwoofer, centre and rears. Doing it that way will obviously be more of an investment, but it will get you a system that will last many years, unless of course upgradeitis sets in. Terrible disease. :p
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I think thats the most sensible way, is their any difference between buying an AV Reciever and an amp ?

I presume that the AV reciever has some kind of amp built in anyway to output the power, ive just bought the Asus Xonar D2X, will that be fine to use with an AV reciever, i.e anologue out the the AV reciever then that outputs everything to the speakers.

Ive always liked Yamaha equipment, i found when i had an Onkyo in the past it ran very hot. Any suggestions for a good Yamaha reciever and some good front speakers to start things off and possibly a sub ? I'm open to any suggestions on them as i can make my budget flexible if i'm doing it over time.
 
A receiver AKA an integrated amp combines: power amp, switches for several inputs, and volume control, and usually remote control and other bonuses. It's what most people use, rather than a power amp and preamp separates.

Cheaper amps will only take analogue inputs and don't have a remote (e.g. classic Cambridge Audio Topaz line), more sophisticated ones can also take digital inputs. As you've got a good soundcard already you don't necessarily need the digital features, but you might want to look for an amp with 6 channel analogue inputs as not all have them if you want to move to surround later.

There are a lot of crap subs so you should do your research. Have a look at BK for some excellent subs.
 
Thanks Joey

Yeh ive heard that BK subs are very good, i'll probably start with the sound processor and front speakers then upgrade to the sub, i'll see what its like at that point.

Now its off to have a look at some receiver specs, thanks again.
 
I can confirm what Joey and Marsman have suggested as being true and correct.

Just to give you a bit of background, I go round the country listening, testing and setting up speakers (soon to be building them too!) and work in various studios as well as teaching audio production to 16-19 year olds.

First things first -

Has your graphics card got an HDMI output on it? If so, I would actually recommend outputting sound via HDMI for several key reasons:

1. It is uncompressed/lossless
2. It carries all major surround formats
3. Its one cable!

I would personally ditch the soundcard you bought tbh dude (although I run a load of pro cards/interfaces in my studio so I'm a bit of a audio snob!).

I recently got my RME Fireface 800 modded by a company called Black Lion Audio (www.blacklionaudio.com). I run this interface into a Rega Brio-R amplifier and out into a pair of KEF LS50s (also I have some Genelec 8040As connected to the FF800).

People are always stunned by the quality of sound in my studio but just for that setup we are talking £3,000+. Obviously a little out of budget.

However, there is no reason you can't get 80% of that with much cheaper components (and well within your budget).

I would definitely go the Home Cinema Receiver route in your situation. Spend as much money humanly possible on the receiver as this will be acting as your DAC (Digital -> Analogue Converter) if you connect to it from your graphics card via HDMI. I would even go as far as to say spend the entire budget on the amplifier and then save some money for a pair of bookshelf speakers and speaker stands.

Also, I am always recommending the following speakers on here but they are a steal for what they are in my opinion (and I hear new speakers all day every day in my line of work).

Monitor Audio BR-2. They are a steal for what they are. Yes, they use cheap components but they are finely tuned and good performers for the budget.

Be sure to buy some decent stands (almost as important as the speaker...seriously!) and some decent cables.

So in summary, I would sell the Xonar, buy a decent AV Amp, Monitor Audio BR-2s (or BX-2s) and output sound via your graphics card.

Alternatively, if you want to hear the best speakers for under a grand just go and buy some KEF LS50s! You will NOT be disappointed...
 
Hughy, thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed reply, thanks mate you have given me a lot of food for thought, those Monitor Audio BR-2 speakers you suggested are not easy to find.
 
Monitor Audio also do a BX Centre which you could have a look at ;) Although you might find the BXW10 sub is a little expensive :p

Another option you could look at is the Q Acoustics 2020i speakers, 2000Ci centre speaker and 2070i subwoofer

As for amps the Marantz PM6004 is worth checking out but there's good offerings from the likes of Yamaha, NAD and Cambridge Audio too.
 
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I thought you're budget is £500? You're going to be struggling with an amp that costs £400 alone :p

The best thing to do would be go into a local richersounds store and try out different speaker & amp combos and see what works best for you :) Ring them up first and let them know you are coming to re-arrange their store ;)
 
dacads said:
I thought you're budget is £500? You're going to be struggling with an amp that costs £400 alone :p
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LoL yeh, i actually replied in a post above where someone recommended doing the upgrades over a period of time rather than all at once, i said if i did it that way i would probably up the budget.

Someone, not sure if it was on here or something i read on the net where they were suggesting to spend as much as possible on the reciever, i was just following advice really.
 
[Hahah yer trust me to get carried away as usual with sound :P

Well, look at it like this The Matrix, if you do as I suggested earlier (connect your graphics card via HDMI to your shiny new receiver) then the actual AV Amp/Receiver will be doing the conversion of Digital -> Analogue. On top of this, the Amp will be driving your speakers by amplifying the current.

I've literally spent the last ten years+ buying, trading, selling, listening and setting up various bits of audio gear both on the consumer market and in the pro sector.

The best advice I can give you is spend as much money as possible (!)

No seriously...

I personally think it is a false economy to buy budget gear because you will invariably grow out of it and then in order to facilitate an upgrade you will have to either ditch the original purchase or move to sell it. Both routes are a pain in my opinion.

What would be better is that in the first instance you purchase a very good bit of gear that hopefully will not go out of date and provide excellent sound quality for years to come.

Now, the only problem I can forsee in this instance is when the 4k TVs come out the HDMI standard presumably changes (again). Therefore, there is a possibility that buying a home cinema receiver might entail it eventually turning into obsolete technology.

Having said this, at least you know it was providing you with top notch sound quality from the moment you made the purchase.

Yamaha RXV673 looks good on paper dude but how does it sound? I can only vouch for the gear I've heard over the years and I know that Yamaha have been seen to recently really get their stuff together in terms of sound quality. But, how does it sound?! lol.

Like was suggested earlier, definitely head down to a local RicherSounds or equivalent (I like Sevenoaks myself as they have listening rooms) and try a load of gear out.

Don't you dare not listen to the KEF LS50s if you do though. Best £700 you could ever spend in my humble opinion! As for the receiver - anything in the £350-£500 should be suitable but the more you can spend the better tbh. Don't be afraid to ask the sales reps their opinions as they will invariably hear a lot of different speakers day to day.

Rant adjourned.]
 
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