If you're open to combining these, try this thread on active monitors at home.Originally Posted by Viz
[See other posts for less expensive takes.]
http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread...tudio-Monitors
The OP has been through many expensive passive speakers, and been a mine of useful info for fellow enthusiasts
Room size/interaction is the key to speaker satisfaction - don't buy new without hearing them at home.
Amp choice follows after.
Best bang for intended buck, along with room size/available space, are the starting point for questions.
Plenty of folk interested in getting rid of the hi-fi rack, but keeping the fidelity.
Lightly regulated forum, with public bar, car park for banter, and a female member.
Probably older average age group than this one
Last edited by barry2tone; 20th January 2013 at 03:23 AM.
One thing you would need to decide is whether to buy a separate, dedicated Analog Hi-Fi Stereo Amplifier which has RCA phono IN/OUT only, OR a dedicated Digital 5.1 / 7.2 channel Home Cinema Receiver which has Optical/Coaxial IN/OUT and HDMI IN/OUT/, OR an Amplifier/Receiver which can handle both analog and digital inputs - like the Onkyo TX8050.
I would select a dedicated Hi-Fi Analog Stereo Amplifier for music audio, and an independent Home Cinema System.
I do not think that Home Cinema Receivers produce a great stereo sound for media which was recorded on 2-channels. At least, not the old ones.
Last edited by rocktron; 20th January 2013 at 09:09 AM.
I don't know what your budget is, but I bought new hifi 2 years ago.
I wanted to upgrade from a Sony 'seperates but can't buy seperately set' hifi to something a step up.
Don't get me wrong, my Sony is amazing but it's out of date and doesn't have modern inputs or docking so it's relegated to upstairs now.
I was looking for a mini system that would give me everything I wanted for a few hundred quid and trawled every forum and review site.
It came down to a straight fight between a Denon and an Onkyo. The Onkyo won on paper but further review searches brought up faults and returns so I went with the Denon.
Fucking amazing.
I bought mine from HiFix and tweaked the 'package' deal and opted for more expensive Tannoy speakers and speaker cable. I absolutely love it and it's one of those purchases where every time I use it I smile. No regrets whatsoever.
I've got my TV hooked up to it, it has an iPod input on the front as well as a USB for flexible connections, DAB radio and the speakers are spectacular.
Go and spend money! HiFix were great when I spoke to them and then ordered, but try Greater Sounds if you have one near to you. I'm so far away from everything I have to go on gut and mail order.
Wow I had a feeling there would be lots of good advice and opinions on this! Ok so I'm going to have to be more specific:
I only listen to rock from 1970 to 1994 and Russian piano music from 1891 to 1943. Occasionally I listen to Duran Duran.
I have a fantastic modified Rega turntable (double-plinthed, 400 quid cartridge, upgraded motor, arm, bearings, platen etc etc etc) and a Rega Planet CD player which is OK-ish. 90% of listening is with the turntable. These 2 sources are sufficient for the time being.
We have stupidly expensive interconnects and speaker cable. The speaker cable is worth more than the house and does not need to be upgraded.
The music is going through a customised Cambridge Audio Azur 640 (ex R&D model, at 851 spec) and floor standing Kef Q65 speakers. I feel that this part of the system struggles at high volumes throughout the frequency range.
We do not use a television and don't need a home cinema thingy.
The room is long and thin (10 ft by 33 ft)
I don't listen to MP3s and things like that because I don't know what they are or how to get them and I have fixed preconceptions about music and don't like new music that i don't already know.
What I want: to continue listening to the stuff I like on my turntable but through a better amp and speakers that deliver a huger, more natural and organic, warmer, but still attention-grabbing, not refined sound especially at high volumes. Budget: 1-2 grand
I want to support the British economy. *
* or ebay
Those event opals look nice
I'm not a hifi snob at all. But I can definitely tell the difference between the rubbish sub-320K files sold by Amazon and the better quality 320K files sold by stores like 7Digital and Google Play. I suppose everyone has a dividing line.
A couple of years ago I did spend some time doing blind listening tests with a good reason. I wanted to know where the point came where audio artefacts disappeared for me so I could work out what bitrate to use to fill my Cowon media player. I didn't want too large a file when it didn't matter, or so low I would notice and find it distracting.
I found that Amazon files on the whole sound rubbish. Meanwhile my FLAC CD-rips converted to Q6 OGG sounded great, as did 320K files from the digital stores I mentioned previously.
So some folks can tell the difference. Without being a hifi snob. I don't even own any proper hifi gear. But I do listen carefully to music for enjoyment, rather than just use it for background.
I've never understood the high-end HiFi thing. However, I've never listened to one, so I have nothing to go on. From my ignorant perspective here, it's always appeared as the domain of snobs and suckers who'll believe anything. Does it really make an order of magnitude difference to your listening pleasure if you believe that what you are hearing is technically perfect from a sonic standpoint ? To me, that's like claiming North by Northwest is such a better film now that you've wiped that bit of dust from the corner of the screen. That the delivery medium is more important than the content. I don't get it.
I'm not a hifi snob, I have some very modest (i.e. Richer Sounds type) seperates and always have had. To your argument above, where do you draw the line? I personally hate it when I go to someones house and they go "have you heard this" and proceed to play an ipod through their TV speakers. It sounds fvcking shit and nowhere near what the artist intended I'm sure - you make out the bones of the track sure, and you can here a guitar, bass, drums, vocals but it's like a facsimile - worse, those who play tracks on their phone speakers - if all you want to here is the lovely melody then you may as well play it on a Bontempi keyboard!
I'm not talking high end hi fi here, but don't get why so many music enthusiasts except poor quality
I would browse the HiFi mags classifieds, and eBay, and would absolutely recommend qualtity secondhand gear. I bought stuff that I would never have been able to afford otherwise, all British, and all high-end.
I would also recommend listening to as much as you can, but of course that may not be possible. The reviews from decent HiFi mags are the next best thing in my view.
Viz, you will already know this, but it's subjective listening. What suits you may not suit someone else.
Hi if is a fantastic example of diminishing returns. There can't really be any argument that the sound quality you get improves noticeable and significantly by spending say a few hundred quid on amp and speakers rather than £20. Similarly, if you spend a couple of thousand, I expect you could hear an improvement from the few hundred quid set (but not proportional to the cost increase).
Then it starts getting tricky - spend 20,000 and I doubt most people would hear a difference from the set costing 2,000. Certainly to hear any difference you would need to do an A/B test in very controlled conditions. Many people might validly prefer the cheaper equipment. Even people who could hear a difference probably don't need the expensive gear as they wouldn't listen to music in isolation from everything else anyway.
What really starts to get into the snake oil territory is when people start going on about hi end power cables (bollox) and directional copper interconnects (bollox) and the like.
I am currently listening to Oxygene ripped at (probably) 192kbps streamed wirelessly to a Logitech squeezebox and played over some fairly cheap powered 2.1 speakers (£40ish). It sounds absolutely fine.
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