New Hi-fi system, Amp, speakers and something to handle streaming / usb

[peige]

I'm looking to buy a system for my lounge, its a reasonable room (about 24m2) I have a Marantz based 5.1 surround sound setup paired with a Samsung QE55Q90R TV which I'm happy with, this system will just be for listening to music. I don't care for Vinyl, I want this system specifically to play music well. I don't have any physical media really apart from old CD's in the loft, I have Apple music and spotify but could also go for one of the others for quality, I have a media server which could steam music files. If I can perceve the benifit of a certain album on another media source I would be tempted.
Music wise i'm all over the place, from Metalica to Taylor Swift and Billy Eilish to Stormzy or the Eagles, some classical too.

So I've been reading for a while and I have the room for floor standing so I think that's the way to go, the speakers will be near to a wall but not right against it (maybe 12" away) ether side of the main media unit. I have been looking at bundles around £2500 but reading here the advice seems to be to keep away from Richer Sounds, I'm in Sussex so there are a few others I could try, Sevenoaks sound and vision, Audio T, Six Audio.. Has anyone any suggestions of ether bundles or dealers that I should visit?

In an ideal world I will buy a bundle that is matched and picked by people who know what they are doing, I'm all for trusting experts but don't want to be paying more than I should. I'd pay more for something I thought was better but equally less for something that did the job I want.

Any help appreciated.

 

[lucid]

You plan to house two systems in the same room - the Marantz with unspecified speakers plus a standalone streamer +amp +floor stander speaker combo?

Also, packages. They're often better for the dealer's bottom line than for your ears. Listen to gear and choose the products that work well for you. Don't buy anything without auditioning first. Trust your gut instincts. Buying someone else's recommendations (even ours here) is the wrong path. Use the advice to draw up a shortlist, but you make the final selection yourself.

 

[wonko]

Have you thought about streaming active speaker options? If you like the KEF 'house sound' then the LS50W2 is around that price mark and would be worth adding to your audition list.
I'd echo lucid's advice about taking your time and using your own ears. (I've made a few upgradeitis mistakes over the years and ended up with systems that were fatiguing to listen to for long periods and/or with some recordings).

 

[hornetstinger]

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Or you could listen to the other two posters and have a demo of a few systems. You'll need at least

Stereo integrated amplifier
Speakers


But you may want to split it up further but your budget probably won't allow it


DAC
Stereo analogue pre amplifier
Stereo power amplifier

Kef lsx e quite bright and they need to be bass managemed and a sub also.

 

[wonko]

Kef lsx e quite bright and they need to be bass managemed and a sub also.

Which just demonstrates how different ears and brains can perceive things differently - I wouldn't call the LSXs (or the LS50WIIs that I originally suggested) as being bright, and it's obviously a preference thing but a sub isn't essential.

There are pros and cons to active speakers, but having well-matched amps, DSP, fewer boxes/wires and overall value for money outweighs the negatives for me.

 

[lucid]

Well, @peige posted this thread on Tues morning and, according to their profile page at least, has been back to the OC forum on Thursday evening around 10pm, but not bothered to make any further comment on their own thread.

Although the advice offered is what they need to hear (how could one's Hi-Fi life not be complete without a £2,500 mains fuse?), I guess it's not what they want to hear. There's a difference. Perhaps we need a nodding dog emoji? That way at least we'd know how to respond appropriately.

There is definitely something to be said for active speakers. The problem here though is the requirement for floorstanders. Is anyone making something that's good, and a floorstander, and that fits the budget? I know ATC does some big actives, but the price....

There's a lot more ground to explore around the OP's requirements, but without their participation it's all a bit of a waste of time and effort. Isn't it?

 

[wonko]

The problem here though is the requirement for floorstanders. Is anyone making something that's good, and a floorstander, and that fits the budget? I know ATC does some big actives, but the price....

There's a lot more ground to explore around the OP's requirements, but without their participation it's all a bit of a waste of time and effort. Isn't it?

Depends whether floorstanders are a firm requirement, I suppose, and we may never know...

 

[hornetstinger]

Which just demonstrates how different ears and brains can perceive things differently - I wouldn't call the LSXs (or the LS50WIIs that I originally suggested) as being bright, and it's obviously a preference thing but a sub isn't essential.

There are pros and cons to active speakers, but having well-matched amps, DSP, fewer boxes/wires and overall value for money outweighs the negatives for me.

I'd go for the R standmounts over the lsx//ls50

The ls need a sub they're pretty bass light. Hard to drive also low sensitivity and low impedance so I'd be looking at dedicated quality amp not a AVR

 

[peige]

Well Lucid, you are correct, I have been on here reading this and other threads. This is quite a slow moving subset of Ocuk, i wanted to see what advice came along and mostly its had more comments in the last 24hrs
Yes, two systems.. I have a 5.1 system that took plenty to get working and with a family who all know how to use it I want to leave that alone, it handles multiple hdmi inputs and pitches 5.1 from TV, Ps5 and Zidoo media streamer. This will be entirely separate for music only.
I'm going to listen to some setups this weekend, the advice above is steering my research

 

[NickK]

You could DIY it.. but it's not going to fit your budget (although you would get an awesome setup) - for the record I tinker/design/build my audio stuff for a hobby (that includes analogue and digital).

So you're after:
* floorstanders
* amp
* streamer + dac
* Budget £2500 all in

Some thoughts - Floorstanders don't always mean great sound. I've had bad floor standers (Mission) and good (Castle Harlechs @ 1.2K). I paired the harlechs with an A220 amp (50W/ch) (£800) and a Myrad MC100 CDP (£800) 26 years ago. When I look now (knowing a lot more - I could design & build my own), you do see you don't get much for the cash. Let's ignore the last statement - so you're looking about the same split in terms of options. The Harlechs are a 1/4 wave transmission design, they get low but controlled. However most music doesn't actually get *that* low.. electronica does for example but a rock band doesn't.

The second point, and more modern, is that you could also use a DSP in the setup to correct the room aberrations. Things like CamillaDSP are free, and to be honest if I was to recommend a streamer I would ensure that it has a DSP for room correction (this would require an additional microphone etc).

In terms of streaming itself - having a SPDIF input is useful, having PCM and DSD streaming capabilities - both from internal storage but also internet (internet radio is very good). I'd look for the high quality streaming compatibility - 24bit 192kHz and DSD512 capable for example. The internal DAC is a personal preference.. BurrBrown (Texas Instruments) make good sounding DACs, AKM make DACs that are similar and ESP make the lowest noise floor DAC but this has some noise humps and can sound cold/sterile.

For amplification - you could go Class D, they're getting reasonably close to Class AB and B amps. (The class is not a scale, it's just the way they amplify. A Class A burns energy but gives the best sound, Class AB/B burns less and has some sound degradation, Class D uses high speed switching and not analogue amplification - so you may get some hashing noise making the trebles harsher but less noise and almost no heat wasting electricity).
Ignoring tube amps - most solid state speakers are 4-8ohm. Unless you're going for large speakers cabinets, if you're banging electronic music with computer generated low frequencies then you'll need some heavy amplification and power reserves (big caps, big wattage etc). Having the amp separate from the streamer means you can upgrade this as you see fit. The same with the DAC, however if your streamer has a digital out SPDIF note that SPDIF was originally built to support CD 16bit/44.1kHz quality sound although it can support 24bit/192kHz if the components support it BUT it will only handle PCM format (or DSD over PCM which limits to the lowest DSD rate).

If you were to go down the route of using a PC connected DAC to stream, I've used Volumio, and currently use Moode but others DIYers use HQPlayer at DSD512 (you'll need a pokey CPU for DSD512).

For me the lock-in to specific players (that require subscriptions for certain features such as playing CDs - Volumio for example) is what annoys me with streaming (Apple is a good example). I want my music to be able to follow me across different upgrades.

Questions from me I'd be asking:
* what music do you listen to? -> impacts the sound needed (speaker + amplification)
* how big is the music collection - does the streamer have local storage?
* can the Audio streamer export your purchased music to other manufactures of boxes?


I've probably put too many details but I'd be interested to hear what you thought about the streamers.

 

[andybird123]

I've recently been building a new hifi system myself, the resources I found most useful were cheapaudioman on YouTube and audiosciencereview who have both a YT and a website where he publishes details

I've ended up with an aiyima a08 pro amp and a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 100 (these are bookshelf but they do floor stand versions)
I'm going to start off using my mobo for outpost as it allegedly has 113snr but a jeshelli j2 might also be on the cards

With your budget you could probably get the Silver 7G floor standers.