HI FI Advice

SamyBoy13

SamyBoy13

SamyBoy13

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Joined
22 Mar 2014
Posts
1,560
Location
Plymouth
Hi guys I have been to richersounds and they recommended me
Denon AVRX2300 400 pounds
YAMAHA NSF51 speakers 150
CAMBRIDGE AUDIO
SX120 150pounds
Total 700

What do you think about this ? I made an appointment to see how they sound. Any advice would be appreciated
 
Is this for stereo music, or looking to add surrounds at a later stage for 5.1.

I have some Yamaha NS-F160's, they will be very similar to those NSF51's. I find the NS-F160's good honest speakers, they reproduce sound very clear, so good for vocals, piano etc, the NS-F160's does go to 20Hz, the NSF51 only 26Hz. I actually run 4 Yamaha NS-F160's, with 2 Pioneer surrounds, I don't have a sub but with 4 NS-F160's can get plenty of bass in room.

If your only looking for stereo sound I would be temped with better main speakers? How big an area are the speakers having to cover?
 
At the moment i want to buy a relatively good base as I probably going to do surround 5.1 later on. Plus I dont have more money to spend unless I dont buy sub and put that money towards better speaker and buy sub later?

The living room is quiet small 10m by 12m appox
 
While i'm talking about Yamaha speakers i'll mention something else...

Those NS-F160's I mention I actually own 6, basically I got them cheap new old discontinued stock. 4 of them are in my front room, other 2 will be used upstairs as part of cinema setup.

The bit i'm trying to get to... Those 6 NS-F160's speakers all sound different! Some have better more rounded base, others more focus on top end, others better overall. Of course the average consumer would never know this unless they were able to try all 6, this is also after I've run them in for a week as none of them sounded correct at first. Anyway I put the 4 best ones in my front room, and the two worse reserved for the cinema room.

Anyway what i'm trying to get to, those NSF51 if anything like the NS-F160's will be a lottery how they sound, but short of listening to pre-run in speakers and being able to switch you won't be able to compare anyway.
 
SamyBoy13 said:
At the moment i want to buy a relatively good base as I probably going to do surround 5.1 later on. Plus I dont have more money to spend unless I dont buy sub and put that money towards better speaker and buy sub later?

The living room is quiet small 10m by 12m appox
Click to expand...

I would be temped to buy better main speakers, and leave the sub until a later date.

If your in richer sounds I would listen to those Yamaha speakers on the amp your mention by themselves, then listen to more expensive speakers on the same amp. You can always add a sub, but changing speakers your stuck with the first ones you buy. That said I think the package Richer Sounds has put you together will be quite good.
 
I'm completely new to HIFI so are there any difference between floor standing speakers vs smaller ones that you can put on the stand. No idea what they are called.

When I was at richer sound I was also recommended DALI ZENSOR 3 if I want to step up in my budget. Any ideas?
 
Floorstanding speakers are better for front room or a cinema setup as they don't require a stand, they also have a larger cabinet so will produce more bass then a smaller speaker. Also with floor-standing speakers your really buying a piece of furniture as they will stand out in your room.
 
If you're looking into stereo, then home cinema later then you want a stereo integrated amplifier with main inputs that bypass the amps internal pre-amp.

For £700 I'd be looking into stereo amp & speakers. You could also consider second hand, I bought a £3500 pair of speakers for £650.
 
700 isnt going to buy a new 5.1 setup worth having.

I personally agree with hornetstinger. Start with a 2.0 setup and add when you can afford to.

200 on a stereo amp
500 on some floor standing speakers. New Id look at the monitor audio bronze 5. Second hand you could get some monitor audio silver 5 maybe 6.

Ideally you'd want an stereo amp with 3 channnels that way the amp would power the fronts and center and your avr would power the rears and do the processing.

If you go for te bronze 5 the matching center cost 200 as do the rear surrounds. Another 400 on a sub and 300-400 on an avr.
 
SamyBoy13 said:
At the moment i want to buy a relatively good base as I probably going to do surround 5.1 later on. Plus I dont have more money to spend unless I dont buy sub and put that money towards better speaker and buy sub later?

The living room is quiet small 10m by 12m appox
Click to expand...

is that room feet or meters as i wouldn't class 10m by 12m as small :o

I've got a denon avr-x2200w matched with q acoustic 2020i front and rear and a mission 700c centre, with no sub and am very happy with the sound produced. Room is about 15ft by 18ft and I'm mainly a movie watcher.

More than welcome to come listen if local to tunbridge wells, although at the moment there's a stupid tree in the way of front left ;)
 
Mr.Cookie said:
is that room feet or meters as i wouldn't class 10m by 12m as small :o

I've got a denon avr-x2200w matched with q acoustic 2020i front and rear and a mission 700c centre, with no sub and am very happy with the sound produced. Room is about 15ft by 18ft and I'm mainly a movie watcher.

More than welcome to come listen if local to tunbridge wells, although at the moment there's a stupid tree in the way of front left ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer but unfortunately I'm quite far away from you (Plymouth). The room dimensions are in meters.

I think im going to hold for the minute in buying it and see if there is going to be any deal on boxing day. Although I doubt it would be.

I was thinking about buying second hand however I never heard a good HIFI system in my life. (Im only 24) The only speakers I was listening for the last 8 years are Bose companion 3 so I dont know what to look for while buying used. I don't want to buy a broken speaker. I arrangerd with richer sounds to view the YAMAHA NSF51 and CAMBRIDGE AUDIO SX80 speakers with the Denon 2300w av receiver.

Anyway guys thanks for your help. I highly appreciate it!
 
SamyBoy, I think you have to choose if you want stereo or 5.1 system.

If 5.1 Yamaha do some components that are in price range. Google a Yamaha RXV481, then also Yamaha NS-P51 surround speakers. You could add this to the Yamaha NSF51 speakers you already mention for a good surround system, then you could add a Yamaha sub afterwards.

I do sympathise with you when you say you have never heard a good HiFi system. Most of the budget HiFi gear today is not that great, and people don't really spend the money on good stuff, everything has gone cheap Chinese products with small speakers. The focus has been on convenience features such as WiFi and internet streaming over proper quality.

The most important thing to any system is the speakers, then it's how they are placed in the room and the rooms environment, then it's the amp, and finally it's the source. There are no rules to choosing good equipment, it's whatever you have to do for something to sound good.

If it's 2.0 stereo you could get some good stereo speakers, then pick up a second hand Pioneer amp for under £70. Amplifiers have not changed for 30 years at least on the analogue side, so a high end secondhand amplifier from the 90's/2000's will still match high end gear today, it just won't have all the bells and whistles such as WiFi etc. You don't mention your source, are you streaming stuff from the net such as youtube, do you have a HTPC?

One of the best ways of learning about HiFi is to have access to lots of equipment, when I was a kid I had access to second hand amps, old speakers etc. I would connect them up and discover what sounded best, it's all just experimenting really.

Going back again. You need to decide if you want 5.1, or regular stereo. My advice is to listen to lots of speakers, and I would go floor standing as it's just the modern way at the moment.

Hope above helps anyway.
 
Sammy, speaker-wise I personally would check out the second-hand section of AV-Forums, you will get so much more for your money vs new. The majority of people on there look after their stuff and quality speakers generally last a long time. I bought an entire B&W surround set (floorstanders, rears, and centre) for less than £400.

With regards to an amp, I would personally get a stereo amp initially and then further down the line get a surround amp with pre-outs that could output to the stereo amp when listening in surround mode. This way you get the best of both worlds.
 
What are you planning to use the setup for mostly? This is an absolutely fundamental question in my mind. If you're doing any serious music listening get the idea of a surround sound out of your head right away. You'll get so much more for your money with a stereo setup. Do you absolutely need video processing and switching capabilities? Can your TV do this for you? What are your main video and music sources going to be?

A well setup pair of stereo speakers (i.e. placement) will negate the need for a centre in the majority of situations. The effect of rears is up to you, but I can't say that I've wanted for them during any movie watching of late. If you have a decent amp and speakers the surround effects will be decent enough anyway. Without a dedicated listening/viewing room I don't think I could ever justify more than 2 surround speakers, and would struggle to justify having a surround setup at all.

Don't by duped into buying an AV amp with lots of flashing lights and functionality that you don't require as these features will be taking up money within the RRP that could be spent on better amplification components. If you need the features, go right ahead!

Don't be to afraid of second hand hi-fi equipment too. Well known high end brands suddenly come into budget and they're usually very well looked after by enthusiasts. It's pretty difficult to break the kit, and if it doesn't work it's easy to spot.
 
tom_nieto said:
Without a dedicated listening/viewing room I don't think I could ever justify more than 2 surround speakers, and would struggle to justify having a surround setup at all.
Click to expand...

I tend to agree with this, I think in most peoples living area you can't get the room central anyway, for example my TV is off to one side due to fireplace.

For a dedicated cinema area where you can place your sitting position directly central than modern surround sound is a must.

I do run surround sound but it's a old school Pioneer surround sound system where 95% of music is from stereo main speakers and about 5% from smaller speakers in the corners. It's an old fashioned system and it works more like the tweeters in a car dashboard, but for music and films it sounds great.
 
Hi guys I found this 2nd hand any ideas how good it will be and what to look out for when buying? When I contacted the seller he replied it's 4yrs old

I cant post links so I will copy it
$_86.JPG
Here we have a great opportunity to grab a fantastic bargain.
This set up cost me well over £1800 new!!
Tannoy oak speakers,
onkyo txnr515 monitor audio rear speakers,
tannoy subwoofer ts2.10,
expensive professional cables,
full setup originally over £1800
Fantastic condition, awesome sound, Hardly used, if your into your hi fi stuff for his us the stuff to have.
I have reduced this from £500 to £375 as I'm desperate for the space it's sitting at n the hall way getting in the way.
Merry Christmas.
 
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