£600 HiFi

MrKennedy

MrKennedy

MrKennedy

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Joined
20 Mar 2011
Posts
60
I am looking to buy some new hifi system, i have £600 to spend and no more so less would be better. that budget includes everything ie speakers,amp and cable. i have enough room for floor standing and bookselfs so space inst an issue.there primary use will be for music and the occasional film but not many. i listen to many rap, but i do like rock as well.My pc will be my source. i am new to the world of audio and would like some help with making my first purchase. Also i will be taking a CD and listen to some speakers later but i would like somewhere to start.

Shaun Kennedy
 
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Ok well if your using a pc as your source theres little point taking a cd along as this would change the sound (although you would get an idea of the amp/speakers)

How do you want to connect your pc to the hifi? You have 3 options

Cable from PC Soundcard to Amp
Cable from PC to DAC to Amp
PC to streamer (such as a Squeezebox) then to the amp

The best bang for buck option would probably be the DAC option.

Would you be willing to buy second hand?
 
New gear combo:

Onkyo 9155 (£150-£175)

Monitor Audio BX2 (£225)

Speaker stands (budget £50-£75)

Chord Carnival/ Carnival Silver Screen/ Rumour speaker cable (£4 - £12 per m)

Z plugs for the speaker cable (£20-£25)

Jack to phono interconnect (£20-£25)

Depending on what you spend on stands and speaker cables you might have £100 left to chuck at a decent USB sound card to get some better quality sound away from the electronic noise of the PC.
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That looks good, but do you think the amp will be enough for those speakers and would something like this be good with the extra money PROJECT DAC BOX USB DIGITAL TO ANALOGUE CONVERTOR?
 
MrKennedy said:
That looks good, but do you think the amp will be enough for those speakers and would something like this be good with the extra money PROJECT DAC BOX USB DIGITAL TO ANALOGUE CONVERTOR?
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Pro-ject know what they are doing when it comes to Hi-Fi audio products. They make decent turntables and their little phono box is a cracker for the money. I haven't tried their DAC. I'd be very surprised if it's a lemon, but I'll leave that to those with more experience of the product.

Where about in the country are you?
 
The Onkyo amp is very good. I've listened to it with Monitor Audio BX1, BX2, BX5 (floor standers @ £500) and Focal 705V and 706V. The Focals are far more revealing than the Monitor Audio's. The amp stands up well with all of them.

It's a good simple budget amp with a decent size transformer (amp weighs 8kg+) and it works well. If you were buying speakers in the £600+ price range then I'd think again about the amp choice, but that isn't happening here.
 
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