Help with first Hi-Fi

Hi everyone,

I've been listening to music through the same audio system (some crap aiwa stereo) since I was about 12 (I'm 22 now). I love music, and I feel its time I started doing my collection justice with a decent system.

I'm completely new to the Hi-Fi game. My plan is to buy the components second hand from ebay/gumtree etc... My problem is I don't know where to start, I have a few quid to spend but can't afford to go crazy, £500-750 as a rough estimate. For that I would want to get: amp, CD player, speakers and a turntable.

It would really help me if people could reccomend a few good options for each component.

Thanks,

Chidge

 

You will get masses of help on this & all will be better than the aiwa system

Room size & Layout is important

Best is probably tell us what you are looking at & then get specific advice

Excellent Working Vintage amps/ receivers out there from £20 up
same with CD players £20 upwards
TT's cab be bought cheap enough allow £150 max to start possibly including a decent cartridge - but buy a new stylus
Personally I'd spend as much as you can on the speakers

 

Start by deciding source, are you retro and like records, do you have CD collection, are you computer literate. I am now in no doubt that computer audio, either by adapting something like a mac mini or a dedicated computer transport is the future for mainstream music with records being a fringe but growing market. CD is the medium that will die.

So having made a choice of source then buy anything you fancy and as cheaply as you fancy on ebay (some of the classic 70's Jap amps like Rotel or Sansui are very cheap and good enough to start). From that point get some second hand speakers and good quality cabling and stands. Again for cheapness 70's classics speakers are a good place to start, especially early 70's models by Acoustic Research and Goodmans, but they may need some DIY work. If you go with CD then a cheap but relatively unknown Richer Sounds special called an Eclipse CD101 will set you back 20 or 30 quid and be as good as virtually anything around. For a couple of hundred quid you will have a system that plays music, you may think all equipment plays music, but you would be sadly mistaken, most play sounds or hi-fi not music, as you get more experienced you will see what I mean.

From this you will gain knowledge and experience for when cash becomes available in your life to substitute other items in your system and progress it, but you will always look back on your first *real* system with affection.

Finally enjoy the hobby, avoid the bullshit, and *always* use your ears to make decisions, sell on what you don't want to keep, and you might find it cost you nothing or even makes you a small profit!!

 

hey!

I was in your position some years ago also, on the affordable side of things maybe get a s/h Arcam Alpha setup? Any Alpha (number) would do--streets ahead of your aiwa mini-compo and imo, the Arcam sound while not the last word in anything remotely high-end, is a very good introduction that would sit well with anyone(?) a safe bet, so to speak;


BR,
Kenny

 

Dave Rance, who posts on this board, reckons these may be worth a punt
http://theartofsound.net/forum/showpost.php?p=138235&postcount=27

See this thread, reading from post #27

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6891&highlight=sn10

Or you may want to consider Active Monitors (they have their own amplifiers) or digital active monitors (with amps and DAC)

http://www.studiospares.com/headphones+speakers/studio-monitors/icat/heastudiomonitors/

Plug in your computer as a source and off you go - high quality, new, and a very good price.

But that may be very far from what you have in mind.

 

Hi

Be very careful of Gumtree. It is full of some very dodgy characters. I have seen more than one ''bullshit'' advert - scammers basically.

There are scammers on Ebay too (of course!) but at least the scams are better known and easier to spot (in my opinion).


Perhaps by buying a very cheap ''student system'' that somebody is selling used - you have then the opportunity to look at it's weak points.

Check this out for £79
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/hi-fi-stack-s...265?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1c15fe85f9

An Arcam radio, Treo amp.. there are a couple of crap bits - e.g. a broken cd player - but not a bad haul for eighty quid!

You have plenty of scope then to attack the weak parts and buy better bits.

This (below) isnt bad.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Arcam-Alpha-8...257?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4cf24ecdc9

A phono stage, turntable and speakers for a couple of hundred quid is do-able but extremely tight.

 

Most of the vintage integrated amps will have a decent phono stage

amps from the mid 80's / early 90's onward need to be checked whether they have a phono stage, if not you will need to buy this as an extra

if you choose an amp with a couple of Aux connections you can link up a computer / dvd / cd without problems & you can also use the tape functions

Generally the old higher end amps have more connectivity & are better

 

For a complete newbie with £500 to spend, quite a good place to start would be an old hi-fi magazine buying guide such as the one I scanned here:

http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?t=84049&highlight=popular

Lots of items in these buying guides can be bought off ebay for peanuts now, such as A&R A60's for £30. They'll still do a good job if they're fully working.

Then as you get into hi-fi more you'll discover that there were lots of really good products that came before and after this buying guide - and even some great products that were around at the same time but never got onto the buying guides - for various reasons.

 

Yes indeed - most japanese items were glossed over in the UK consequently there are less available in the UK compared to USA & Europe. eg Onkyo is under the Radar here but a lot of their product is highly rated elsewhere.

A good buying source is the German EBay - you pay a bit more for post & exchange rates but thats it.

 

As mentioned an arcam alpha maybe 8 series amp and cd for under £200, thorens TD160 turntable with a cart and arm for £120-£150 and then speakers would be down to taste and size of room.

 

Wow, what a great response. Thanks.

In terms of room size, its going to vary. I'm in rented accomodation and I don't think I'll be staying in this place for long. I listen to all sorts of music so I guess a set of versatile speakers would work best. Any reccomendations?

Also, as I said, I'm completely new to all of this. Will I need anything more than the things I listed in my first post (other than cables)?

 

Should be enough with a rack to house it all!

Speaker wise I wouldnt get anything too laid back, standmounts would be better than floor standers I would say cos big floors could be a bit too boomy for u and standmounts are a little easier to place if ur moving anytime a bit more versatile and generally cleaner sounding.

Possibly some Dali's or Acoustic Energys may be ok and some Kudos stands.
This with my previous suggestions would take u up around the £500 mark if u get all secondhand, leave u a bit of money for a pretty rack and some cables, many people have many different views on cables, especially on this forum but a couple meters of chord silver screen speaker cable and interconnects and a Hydra plug which accepts 4 mains cables into one plug, instead of using an extension lead would be good place to settle in my opinion.

 

Hi Chidge

What people are saying is massively true - and one of the hardest things to actually believe when you are new to the hobby.

It is absolutely comprehensively TRUE that the shiny beautiful modern looking bit of hifi with it's £500 price tag in your local hifi shop sounds no better than something on Ebay that's nearly 30 years old and costs thirty quid.

It is (not a small matter) just important to make sure you buy the RIGHT £30 item from ebay, not the clunker that looks pretty similar.

You are very right to pay special attention to the loudspeakers.. choice on this is INCREDIBLY subjective.. you won't find 2 people agreeing.

I love the diddy Tannoy 609, with it's dual concentric drive unit. For seventy odd quid, it's an absolute gem.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tannoy-609-SP...omeAudioHiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item4aa55d90c2

Thorens TT, AR60 amp, Tannoy 609's... it's starting to sound like a cracking system IMO...

 

Iwouldnt grumble at the system and the Tannoys will give u a nice wide sweetspot, which means u dont always have to sit dead centre to enjoy them.

 

As many have said, auctions such as eBay and the classified ads are where to start.
You can buy good kit for little money and experiment at little or no financial risk.

I would second the recommendation for the old Acoustic Research bookshelf speakers.
Nearly all will require the woofer foams to be replaced but that can be seen as a positive because it depresses the prices. A foam kit costs £20 and you can do it yourself with a little patience. Use the experience of forum members to help you - make real use of the forums and people on them.

 

For the true hi-fi aficionados, it's the components that slipped in under the radar, or were from a completely different planet that represent the best value for money used bargains now. A bit or a lot of google research can help to find some real gems. Almost reverse engineering like. Browse ebay. See something that looks interesting, google it and then make a decision on buying it.

Things like well-engineered Japanese DD's. Big old American speakers. Amps from 1 man band companies etc etc.


Not being fussy over cosmetic condition and being prepared to do some simple repair work will also help to get best value for money.


I like German and US ebay more than UK ebay.

 

You could also consider some active studio monitors. That's what I'd do with your budget. Put £400 down on some second hand active monitors from the classifieds in Sound On Sound magazine (website). Then spend the remaining on a pre-amp from eBay and a CD player. Or if you want to use a computer as a source, you only need to get a soundcard with a volume control on it like an Edirol.

Some vintage speakers do sound very good for the money, but I think modern actives sound even better since they have a dedicated amp for every driver.

 

Here's an example of the kind of bargain you might be interested from e-bay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Trio-..._HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item35ad1bdce6
I had the bigger brother of this (KA3300) for many years and it was an absolutely cracking sounding amp with a very good phono stage. I think the KA1500 was basically the same but with a bit less power. If all's well this could be a start, with some relatively efficient speakers and a Thorens T/T.

Oh and by the way, if you really must have a CD player (personally I'd rip 'em all to PC and get a decent USB dac) I have a somewhat modded Pioneer PD-s703 that I could be persuaded to part with.

 

All of these are active speakers, so have their amps built in.

Aesis Prolinear 820 - £250

Mackie MR 5 - £200


KRK V88 - £480


KRK VXT4 - £300


Mackie HR624 MK1 - £300



In your position I'd get the Mackies HR624.

On eBay I see a few pre-amps:

Linn Kolektor - Currently £102 with 1 day to go.


Quad 34 - Currently £31 with 2 days to go.

A&R C200 - Currently £19 with 2 days to go.

Cyrus Quattro CD Pre-Amp / FM Tuner - £100 with 3 days.


I'd definitely go for the Cyrus since it is probably the best sounding and has a CD player and Tuner built in. I'd guess it will go for about £300.

 

The KRK vtx's are awesome in the price range for active speakers they are the most musical by far and have a lovely energetic bouncy sound, a no brainer if u choose to do it that way! I have the KRK RP5 G2's in white on my desk for pc and they are excellent, I also use active Focals CMS 65's.

As said a seperate preamp for volume duties would be a good thing, else u would need to turn up each speaker individually.