Spec me a Sound System (Amp....)

PinkFloyd

PinkFloyd

PinkFloyd

Soldato
Joined
21 Sep 2005
Posts
14,911
Location
Bradley Stoke, Bristol
Hi all,

What I'm basically after here is a nice amp, to which I can connect numerous devices as inputs, and have it all pumping out through the same set of speakers.
Having a remote would be damn nice, and being able to connect a sub up to it in the future is also important.
Main priority is sound quality for listening to music.

If you start looking into amps that support surround do you start dramatically effecting overall sound quality? Because being able to have surround for games would be nice, but its not as important as high quality music. (As I could always just have a separate stereo etc. for some rear speakers for the odd times I feel like some surround gaming)

As to a budget, I'd like to keep it below £200 for now, but if I get big gains from going over that price that justify the cost then I'm game :)
 
Thanks for the replies everyone.
Got numerous amps I want to check out now, will pay a visit to a hifi shop and check out some systems. Think I've already decided on the speakers I'm going to go for :) - a set of Eltax Monitor 3's. (good choice?)
 
Oh that's a shame, they looked a nice set of speakers, not being able to go on speaker stands wouldn't have been a problem, as I imagine I would have put them exactly where my current speakers are, either side of my monitor :)
Disappointing that they rock though, those Kefs do look nice, and from the place I was planning on ordering this from (pretty sure its a competitor) they are a tenner cheaper than the Eltax's. Has anyone here tried the Kefs?

As to going 50/50 on the budget, when I start looking at around a £100 or less for the amp the output wattages start going down to around 50W, which isn't very usefull to me if I have a 100W speaker - or am I missing something here. Will that literally mean I can only go half as loud as the speaker is capable of?
 
What do you mean by the amp clipping?

Excellent news on the volumes, despite the fact I did physics I completely forgot about volume being logarithmic!
Gives me more options on what amp I might get :)

One thing I have seen quite a lot when going through the specs of amps is a feature called "Phono Stage" - which is essential for connecting a Turntable.
Hopefully I'm going to be getting my dads old turntable soon, am I not able to connect that up with normal phono plugs or will it completely depend on the turntable?

If I buy the whole thing second hand I'll probs buy the same spec as what I would have new, and put the money aside for spending on other things (ie a DAB tuner - those things are still so damn expensive :()
 
Looks like I'm going to have to do some testing!
*plans visits to hifi shops :D*
Can anyone recommended any places here that AREN'T competitors to ocuk?


Primary use will be sound from my pc, but bit by bit I'll be building a full system as and when I have the money.
 
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