Advice on a hifi setup!

halliwelldj · 13 Dec 2010 at 00:39

So I'm looking into getting a decent hifi on the lower end scale and I was looking at these speakers Yamaha NXE700BL Piano Black 100W and this Amp Cambridge Audio TOPAZ AM5

I'm basically new at dealing with Amps and speakers separately and have originally only owned the compact HiFi’s etc so just looking for some advice on them if they’d be good together? Or if anyone can suggest anything better for around the same price (pretty flexible with the budget). Because it will mainly just playing out of my iPhone I was thinking of getting Cambridge Audio iD10

Thanks!

lucid · 13 Dec 2010 at 20:41

First thought; Although Yamaha has a big range of speakers, very few models actually make it to the these shores. The UK is a tough speaker market for foreign competitors. It is home to several world class leading manufacturers already.

Second thought; These speakers don't appear on Yamaha's UK web site either as current or older models AFAICT. The advertising blurb I've read suggests that they are designed to partner the little Yamaha micro systems. Is this a case of style over substance?

Third thought; You're planning on buying an amp from Richers. Why not audition some similarly priced speakers while you are there? Tannoy Mercuries perhaps. After all, the difference is only about a tenner, and at least you'll know what the system would sound like with a decent CD source rather than buying speakers just on looks.

halliwelldj · 13 Dec 2010 at 23:35

Definitely not about the looks I figured they seemed pretty decent speakers for the price only reason I was looking at them otherwise I was thinking about getting Cambridge Audio S20, Cambridge Audio S30 or Cambridge Audio SL20. Pretty much why I was asking for advice really. Apart from the Tannoy speakers you suggested any others in that price range? Kinda want to keep it around £200 if I can but doesn't matter too much.

lucid · 14 Dec 2010 at 01:09

TBH, I'd consider them all to be entry-level speakers with an entry-level amp, so getting too hung up on subtle differences is a bit of a waste of time. The best thing you can do is go have a listen.

FWIW, on the speakers I'd favour the bass reflex designs (Tannoy Mercury and CA S30) over the infinite baffle (sealed box) S20 and SL20. A bass reflex ported design is going to produce a bit more bass than a sealed box. The Tannoy is physically bigger so I'd expect it to produce deeper bass than the CA S30 too.

The CA S30 are a bit more efficient than the Tannoys though, so if you listen at the same volume position on the amp then if the CA's are any good they should sound a bit louder. Don't confuse that with sounding better. Ask yourself which speakers make the bass stop and start most cleanly. Which ones allow you to hear individual instruments. Which ones make the vocalist sound most natural. Which make music more enjoyable.

Budget for some speaker stands - Soundstyle Z2 - £59 - if you can afford them. Pixel T50 - £39 if you're on a budget.

Speaker cable: 1st choice - QED SILVER ANNIVERSARYxt - £5.50/m. 2nd choice - QED Micro - £2.50/m

halliwelldj · 14 Dec 2010 at 17:13

Thanks for the info, I'll defentiley go down there and listen them all. I don't think I'll be able to get the speaker stands atm as I was planning on putting them ontop of a unit but maybe in the future I'll plan something with it.

So really I'm looking at spending £280 for what I want at the moment which is;
Amp: Cambridge Audio TOPAZ AM5,
Speakers: Tannoy MERCURY V1 or Cambridge Audio S30
Dock: CAMBRIDGE AUDIO iD10
and the speaker cable QED SILVER ANNIVERSARYxt

For that price can you see anything that can be improved? I also saw this CAMBRIDGE AUDIO SONATA DR30 Which would only be an extra £10 because it has an dock included, is there any difference apart from it having a tuner?

Thanks for the help!

lucid · 14 Dec 2010 at 22:08

Sonata has more power (40W vs 25W) and some convenience features: - IR remote that includes control of the iPod in dock.

The other thing (apart from the FM/DAB tuner, which you'll probably never use) is the dedicated subwoofer output. Stereo amps don't normally have this, but the Sonata is a receiver... so the question I'd be asking is have they compromised stereo performance compared to the Topaz AM5 to include a sub out and radio tuner and dock and IR remote control and fluorescent front display etc etc.

In the end though, the system will only ever sound as good as the source you have connected. If your iPod rips are done in a lossless format (Flac, Apple Lossless, etc) then you could have really great sound. But if you've gone for high compression lossy formats with low bit rates then the results might be a big old mess.

halliwelldj · 15 Dec 2010 at 12:55

Well I guess I can only test them both now to see if there is any substantial sound difference between them both with the speakers, apart from that it seems like the better one. Thanks for all the info on them!