New Hi-FI advice please.

[Spud21]

*long Post*

Hi, i am at some point in the near future going to be getting myself a nice stereo, as i'm tired of listening to my rather large music collection on cack systems.

As it stands i've got about 800-900 quid to spend, now for the moment i want to spend the vast majority of this on the main components, and will upgrade to higher quality cables and the like, in the future.

The way i have tried looking at it is to allocate a equal budget for the main components, so as it stands i'm prepaired to spend up to £250 on each bit (Cd player, Amp, Speakers) Then the leftover will go on some stands for the speakers and some cables that are adequate, which will be upgraded.

I have 3 ideas for systems that i want to go out and demo over the next couple of weeks, and i was wondering before i get to the shops if there are any other ideas that you can offer within the budget of 750 for the 3 main components.

My ideas are,


Cambridge Audio Azur 640a (amp), Cambridge audio Azur 640c v2 (cd) - £ 500
Marantz Pm 4001 (amp), Marantz Cd 5001 (cd) - £ 350
Nad C320BEE (amp), Nad C521BEE (cd) -£ 420

Speakers,

B+W DM601 - £ 250
Monitor Audio Bronze B2 - £ 200
Mourdaunt Short Avant 902 -£ 150
Warfedale Diamond 9.1 -£ 180.

Any alternatives would be most welcomed, and any general advice would also be most welcomed as i'm a bit of a Noob at this, which is why i'm not happy about the idea of going second hand, as i don't know jack, and don't really know anyone who does.

Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long rambling post

 

[Spud21]

Music wise i mainly listen to metal, from more gentle stuff like A Perfect Circle to very heavy stuff like Fear Factory, Slayer, pantera, and the some death metal on top of that. I also listen to a lot of Drum and Bass, from Aphex Twin to Pendulum. Also listen to hip-hop, Dj Shadow, UNKLE and their ilk. Also have a couple of classical albums as well.

So i need a system that will play Metal and Rock very, very well, but it also needs to be able to handle hard Drum and Bass fairly well as well as hip-hop.

I'm not hell bent on getting new kit, it's just i know dick all about Hi-Fi's except what sounds good to me. I personally wouldn't adivse someone who knows sod all about Pc's to go and throw the best part of a grand at a second hand Pc, unless they had someone who knew what they were doing with them, so i'm a tad aprehensive going second hand as if i get sold a lemon then well thats 1000 quid down the drain that i will never see again, and when you are a student at uni 1000 quid is one hell of a lot of money.

If i'm buying new i get the security that if it does blow up then i can get it replaced or repaired under warranty, if i buy second hand and it all goes tit's up then well i've just got a few bits of very expensie junk, and no comeback.

Forgot to add, any advice about where to go for second hand stuff would be appreciated as well i haven't got a clue.

 

[Spud21]

CD Player is a bit of a minefield - second hand can be great, but lasers are prone to fail. Used dacs are a safe choice, but now there are also N.O.S dacs available. Personally, I'd head for either a N.O.S Dac (£100-150) or a Meridian 203 dac (£100) and use a cheapish DVD player as a "transport".

Umm i have absolutely no idea what any of that means sorry.

thanks for the other advice though, all taken in and noted, Speakers will almost definately have to be standmounts, as until around sept the system is going to be in my bedroom, which is about 2.5 meteres square give or take. In spet i will hopefully be renting a place with 2 mates but as i will still be at uni it is not going to be a big place so a big enough living room for floorstanders to be happy is not likely at all.

What sort of places should i be looking at for second hand equipment ?

Oh right about the second hand stuff not blowing up, but surely i know that i'm not going to mistreat any of the equipment, but i don't know what the person before has done with it, but it does sound like second hand is the way to go.

 

[Spud21]

I'll try and explain it better.
Every "normal" CD player has an internal "transport" stage (basically the bit that takes the 1's & 0's from the disc) and an internal "DAC" - digtal to analogue converter (converts it to a signal that the amplifier can amplify!). As long as a CD player/DVD player has a co-axial digital output, you can use it with any DAC. Some DACs also offer optical in.

N.O.S dac means "non-oversampling" Dac. It basically gives a more "analogue" sound in my opinion, and the detail is tremendous. It may not suit your metal down to the ground, but it works well with rock etc that I listen to. Mr_S will be able to share his experience with you. I know of people who claim its the best dac they've heard in their life, whilst others claim it can easily keep up with dacs costing 20 times the price - it all depends on whether or not you like the sound (and you cant buy them in the shops, so the only possibility of a demo is if someone lives nearby).
The Meridian 203 dac is quite old, but is a very highly regarded DAC. I have no personal experience with it though. Wouldn't be a bad choice.

Re previous mistreatment, it will be obvious (after you have a bit of experience easily obtainable from a hifi store demo of new equipment) whether or not used stuff is wrecked.

Ah right, that makes more sense now, cheers

My plan for the next couple of weeks is to first go to richer sounds and get a demo of the Cambridge and Nad stuff i can get hold of there as a reference point. Then hopefully head off to sevenoaks which is just up the road and tell them my budget and let them spec me some systems, and then demo them, as well as asking if i can demo something a fair way out of my budget again as a reference, and then go from there.

Cheers for the advice, after i've had a butchers myself i shall update the thread with any more thoughts that i have had.

 

[Spud21]

Please, go to Richer Sounds and listen to the CA Azur 640a with the MS902is

Then head up the road to Sevenoaks (or a Practical Hifi if there is one!!) and ask them to put on a Linn setup or a Cyrus setup on for you. Sevenoaks ought to have the Linn in afaik and Practical carry a lot of cyrus so chances are you are going to be in luck there. Get them to pair an Arcam A-series amp with some Dynaudio Focus 140s. Dont be put off by the pricetag just yet.

Listen.

Dont go back to Richer Sounds! I dont think you would anyway after hearing that!

Go online and look for cheaper versions of what you have heard and buy there.

Ok shall do that then, and see what happens.

As a nub should i decide to go second hand should i give that well known auction site a wide berth once i know what i want ? Or is that a ok place to get these sort of things from ?

 

[Spud21]

Hi, just wanted to say thanks for all the advice it has been really useful.

I also want to add that i hate you lot, this is going to turn out to be a somewhat expensive hobby, and it's all your fault

After sleeping on it and mulling over what to do while i was at work today, i have revised my plan, and it now goes something like this.

Possibly tomorow or Wednesday i'm gonna pop into Audio Excelence and sort myself out a demo appointment at some point over the next 2-3 weeks, as they stock a large variety of brands, all the ones i'm interested in. Then i'm gonna demo lots of naim, Arcam, Cyrsu stuff, and some B+W, dynaudio and other speakers. Find what i want and then go looking second hand.

God help me if i really like the naim sound, as my god if it sounds as good as it looks then oh dear, the Cd5i looks stunning, and the nait 5i looks lovely as well

As this has now turned into a slightly more long term and probably more expensive project, another little bit of advice is needed. As it is unlikely that all the components i want are going to appear second hand at the same time, will it do any of the components any harm if some are sat not being used for a while until i have all the bits ? I guess not but you never know.