The perrenial "Recommend a decent but not overly expensive stereo" question

Single disc? Maybe they don't make them. I hate my current one because when if I ever do use the second tray, it keeps going back to it to look for a disc when I go back to using tray 1. Then it takes a while for it to get out of that habit. (What the actual rules are that it's following, I don't know. I just have an anthropomorphic pseudo-understanding of it.) And it makes an annoying racket when switching trays.

weird. i've been through several stereos too but my PolkAudios are still kicking, just fine. got them in like '92 or something.

Almost certainly.

both my denon and onkyo receivers have done me well.

If you go all the way to $1k, the 100/300/600 radio mentioned above looks right. Wish I had that to spend!

(I will keep in mind the display issues. I was wondering about track skipping and that sort of thing, but that should really be an issue I guess since a DVD player is already set up for that.)

http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/404infinity/

amplifier = in my opinion the best cheap amps are made by ONKYO. get a dedicated audio receiver as opposed to a surround A/V receiver. if you want to go secondhand you can usually get nice NAD components in the 40-W range for around $300 (that's what i have).

speakers = for about $500 you could get a pair of magnepan mmgs ... believe the hype, they're *awesome*.

i've heard you can also get nice harmon kardon speakers in that price range as well.

Also, a yamaha 6.1 receiver (which I'm really happy with) and some mid-priced jbl surround speakers. Recently, I've been plugging my ipod through the receiver and haven't looked back since. I'm very happy with my set up.

I can't quite remember the exact price of the reciever...maybe it was around $320. And the speakers were $140...again bought from costco.

i have boston acoustic bookshelf speakers that were also reasonably priced and i really dig the sounds they get out of small speakers(i would buy bigger ones, but the room they are in is small so there is no point right now). they have a range of sizes and prices. (i'm also really happy with the boston computer speaker system i bought. they sound really good and were very cheap.) their stuff will also last you forever.

unless you are an audiophile, most mid-range cd players are fine for home use. sony is fine. they are cheap too.

you could have a serviceable system for 500 or 600 bucks.

i have a studio apartment so they work out nicely but the issue of finding a place to put the damn things is definitely an issue.

For me the most important part of the set-up is the amp. I have a Cambridge Audio Azur 640A V2 which is absolutely phenomenal, and inproved the whole system massively when I upgraded to it from a £140 Denon that I'd had for years.

They key things are to pick a budget (and STICK to it), research brands and models, and then GO AND LISTEN and compare. Take your favourite CDs, book a slot at a hi-fi store, and test stuff. Buy what you like the sound of best.

Rack, speaker stands, headphone amp, limestone slabs etcetera optional.

Disagree. Improvements as you go up the price scale with digital sources and solid-state integrated amps are fairly subtle, improvements with speakers are huge. I've struggled to discern a difference between a £200 Pioneer and a £2,000 Teac/Theta combo through Wilson Benesch speakers; replace the WB speakers with (still very good) Sonus Fabers at a third of the price and the whole world collapses into grey mush (at least until you adjust to the SFs). Even entry-level electronics are fairly decent now; speaker technology has moved along at a much slower pace, however. Cheap boxes sound cheap, regardless of what you put through them.

Having said that, 100/300/600 is a little lob-sided.

£250 Squeezebox/£300 integrated amp/£450 speakers would be my favoured way of spending a grand thesedays (I'm guessing the price of the Squeezebox, they're $250 in the US). And don't go mad on cables - Maplin's low-end branded stuff is fine.

I can't remember if they are still open. I had a co-worker who seemed to be a bit of an audiophile (has a huge classical music collection--not that those two are necessarily synonymous) who thought that store was great.

Yes, there is a question of system synergy and component matching to consider but I think it's overstated a bit wrt modern separates; unless you go into the realm of electrostatics, there aren't many speakers around which are that difficult a load or too many solid-state amps too weedy to drive them.

Agree with Mark. The electronics inside a CD player or an SS amp - even the near-audiophile-grade stuff - have become ridiculously cheap and abundant inside the last 10-15 years; one could say that speaker crossovers have benefited from this too, but I doubt the magnets or drivers or enclosures are any cheaper to manufacture/test than they were a decade ago. Accurate electromechanical devices tend to be expensive (see also: cartridges, though economies of scale play a part there); laser transports, reconstruction filters, etc are not.

It was only with the advent of the Linn Sondek in the '70s that the GIGO concept really took hold in audiophile circles (Ivor T of Linn would play the LP12 through a transistor radio in order to show how much better than the competition it was and how relatively unimportant the speakers were!); prior to that people always concentrated on the speakers. As they should, in my opinion.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Headphones%20and%20hi-fi/IMG_6162.jpg

That CD player is my old Marantz with the dodgy analogue out, so I added a DAC (the top box on the left) so I could use the headphone amp with it. It's in another room for comfort reasons - I like to recline on a load of cushions on my bed when headphoning!

Ignoring iPod and Portapros (which get about 1.5 to 2 hours a day during my commute) I reckon between 30 and 50% of my listening is with headphones. I have four pairs - two for the iPod (Portapros and SAhures for isolation) and Grados and Sennheisers for "home listening".

God this is so geeky.

I'm looking at speakers now thanks to you guys, in the knowledge that I have a £275 bonus coming next week. It's not worth being castrated by my girlfriend though.

I also disagree with Sick Mouthy regarding electronics. It seems he is getting his information from audiophiles who deal with a different galaxy of price ranges. If they've got loudspeakers beyond the $2,000 to $3,000 range (not including center and rear surround), then audiophile types turn to electronics to squeeze out incrementally higher quality.

I'm happy with what I did. My 14 year-old Sony HT receiver died last winter, as did one of my Infinity speakers. I wanted to focus on getting nice speakers and worry about a big receiver upgrade later. So I got a Yamaha HTR 5730 used on eBay for a mere $65. I tell ya, I couldn't be happier with it. It's powerful, versatile, and sounds far better than I would have imagined. I've had my eye on the Harman/Kardon AVR 645, because I like the sound of H/K, and it has a USB input, and the remote can control the playlist on the computer via Musicmatch, iTunes and other software. Its release was delayed a good ten months, and they've had some QC issues with the 635. I'm waiting to see how this batch turns out. Sound quality gets more consistent good marks over Denon. With my trusty Yammy, I can sit it out 'til next year, wait for the price to drop to $700.

I have a Sony 5CD carousel that's worked fine for 13 years. I see no problem with carousel players. But it is best to get those new with warranty, since they do break more often than receivers.

For speakers I had space considerations. With my apt, I have to have the speakers close to the wall, so they had to be front driven, with a small footprint to fit in the spaces available. Had I had more space, I would have gotten the Wharfedale Evolution 40. I made a few excursions to area listening rooms to check out Paradigm, Monitor, Def Tech, Klipsch and Rega. Rega are famous for their turntables, but I saw some speakers featured in some audiophile magazine as a best buy -- Rega R3, for $800 for the pair. I love 'em! With their looks, they're gf/wife friendly too.

Another one I would have considered had I been able to listen to them was the Mordaunt-Short Avant 908i. Same design principle as the Rega, with the bass woofer on the side, sparkling reviews. I like what I've read about the center and surround speakers too. They're currently available for $700, definitely worth checking out.

$700 + $100 for used receiver, $100 for cd player, voila. Later you can upgrade the receiver and add surround speakers when you can afford it.

My source:amp:speaker ratio is actually 2:4:1; and that source and those amps could happily do justice to anything up to a 2:4:8 ratio, I reckon. But, unless I win the lottery or I sell my kids on eBay, it ain't gonna happen.

I still think that powered speakers could be a good way to go. This focuses the bulk of your money on the best amp/speaker combo you can buy. If your only input source is going to be a CD player there's really no reason to have a big old receiver with switchable inputs, a radio tuner and all of that crap. And in my opinion the need for tone controls goes away if you actually have some decent sounding speakers. And with with a little extra cash you can add a powered subwoofer which generally has it's own level control, so there's your bass control!

NAD 2600A amp for ~$250, B&K Pro10 Sonata preamp for ~$250, MSB Link I DACs for ~$150 each, and Vandersteen 2ci speakers for $450 ($1200 or so new [a decade ago]). most audiophiles take good care of their stuff. of course, it's best in the rare case that you can check them out first. i was fortunate in that respect with the speakers, but everything else i bought sight unseen and have been happy with.

Thing is, I don't read the hi-fi press any more so I don't know what's around. Ruark and Epos used to do very nice standmount speakers around the £300 mark, but the former certainly seem to have abandoned that part of the market. All you can do is try to do home trials of display versions of the above in your own room (in-store speaker demos are a bit useless); most good stores should let you borrow speakers for a full-RRP swipe of your card. Ah, but you're in the remote southwest, aren't you? Was this going to be an internet purchase?

Funnily enough, I'm helping the Pinefox buy a separates system at the moment, so maybe YOU could help ME!

I'm thinking something along the lines of:
Pro-Ject Debut III turntable
Denon DCD500 CD player (or NAD T514 DVD player or perhaps just a £100-150 Sony DVD player)
Pioneer A109 or Marantz PM4400 or Denon PMA355 amp (all have phono stage; Marantz/Denon have remote control too)
Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo One speakers

With cables and stands, should be under £700.

-- Sick Mouthy (njsouthal...), December 15th, 2006.

I've got an old Pro-Ject Debut turntable which is terrific, although massively underused (less than 100 LPs vs 1,500+ CDs to choose from), so I'd vouch for the III. You can get a version of the III with a built-in phono too, which seems like a smart idea to me.

My amp before the Cambridge was a Denon PMSA250SE which lasted me for years and was fine, and is still fine now with a mate of mine. It was only 30watts though but presumably the 355 is more?

I don't know the Pioneer or Marantz. The Cambridge Audio amps seem to be the most highly-praised entry-level and low-mid level stuff at the moment, and I'd certainly vouch for mine (hence thinking about getting new speakers).

Speakers is more interesting, cos Wharfedale have been winning awards left right and centre for budget ones lately, and Q Acoustics released a model called 1010 a few months ago which are meant to be small but absolutely great. This is going off reading about them though rather than hearing. I'm imagining Pinefox won be listening to banging techno and hiphop so some small, controlled units like that might be right up his street.

i got them in richer sounds almost exactly 10 (ten) years ago. obviously they are doing well, longevity-wise. i have nothing to compare them to. they were not cheap back then, but definitely a good deal.

That's my CD player with the matching amp. Couple of hundred for speakers, hundred and thirty for turntable, and stands and cables should bring it to around £700.

I did see that NAD combo on the Superfi site but then started to wonder about waiting in for the delivery vs going and buying it yourself; I think PF might prefer the latter. Also, NAD amp is without a phono stage, so that means the pricier (and rarer) Debut III Phono. Buying them separately might be a little too expensive.

Anyway, your mention of Kef set me thinking...thinking and walking, actually, to Tottenham Court Road, where I saw the very lovely Q-Compacts for £130. So they're a contender (as are the Q1s, if I can find them). Discovered that both models above the A109 in the Pioneer range (A209r, A307r) are remote-control and still within budget; chap in one store recommended the Wharfedales or B&Ws with the Pioneer amp, chap in another store recommended the Q Acoustics (which seem tiny!). Both warned me off the Missions, funnily enough. TCR has at least three potential one-stop shops, where PF could get everything he needs - but can you try before you buy?

Debut III is a no-brainer (extra £30 = variety of colours!). Couldn't find the AE Aegis speakers anywhere, so they become a little less attractive. Saw a sleek Marantz DVD for under £100 but it felt a bit cheap and the display was poor; the digital source remains the quandary.

It's not really my choice, any of this, so I'm rather getting ahead of myself...

(And, for you, Nick - I saw some very nice Epos speakers for around £350. Those Quads look the business though.)

Pro-Ject Debut III
NAD Phono PP2/C521BEE/C325BEE
Q Acoustics 1020
Atacama stands
Ixos, QED, Profigold cables

The PF was rather nonplussed at the manual speed-change on the Debut III but even less impressed that push-button 33/45 carried a £95 premium (coming as it did only on a model also sporting a built-in Pro-Ject Phono Box; at that stage we were leaning towards phono-equipped Pioneer and Marantz amps and this seemed superfluous).

Anyway, we eventually found ourselves after about three hours, half-a-dozen TCR audio salons and many different potential permutations listening to Sandy Denny's North Star Grassman and The Ravens through the NAD gear and the 1020s; we'd already seen the NAD stuff elsewhere, been very taken with it but, mindful of the line-level only 320/325 and the slightly high price, had kinda ruled it out. Salesguy offered a hefty discount on the CD/amp pairing and then, upon discovering the 320 was out of stock in PF's preferred finish, suggested the newer 325 at the same discounted price (these TCR fellas are terrified you'll just go next door). Too good to refuse, even if it meant going upstairs and buying a separate phono stage. Also achieved the aim of getting everything in one place.

Did consider Kefs, B&Ws and Wharfedales but Sandy D sounded glorious through the Q Acoustics.

Now, I'd love to say that we set it all up and all was right with the world but...PF's lighting circuit fuse blew in his flat an hour or so after we got back, meaning I was working from the light of a single table lamp and, furthermore, I couldn't unsheath the bare wire from the QED speaker cables to save my life. Back at mine later that night, armed with a Stanley knife and a different approach, I stripped the cables back but it was too late then (PF lives a 30min bus journey away). We had listened to the rest of the gear through headphones, so we knew it all worked (what a pleasure it is to set up that Pro-Ject deck - a doddle).

I hope the PF calls me today and tells me how good Lloyd Cole is sounding...

(Should get to hear PF's system in all its glory Thursday night...)

Anyway, I decided I need something NOW as a stop-gap measure, so I went out and bought a $50 boom-box type thing, since I alreayd had in mind that I'd like to get something portable to take with me if I ever decide to resume practicing dance at my gym. (I never practiced at this one, just a previous one, and the space is not as inviting in the new one, for various reasons.) Anyway, I got it home and it would not play. At first I thought it might just be the CD I put in (which might have been made in Lebanon) so I tried something more mainstream, but no, just no response.

So tomorrow I think I am going to take it back and go stereo shopping, following some of the suggestions made above.

Sounds tinny. Can you believe it? $50 CD player that sounds tinny? I think I am still going to try to pull together a system (I like how I say it as though what I am looking for is going to be so complicated) and pretend I will use this one to take with me for practicing salsa at the gym or wherever.

Wow, it really sounds tinny when there's a big cymbal strike.

anyone have a recc for a combo cd player/ipod dock?

I believe these all have iPod docks, but you'll want to double check.

Yamaha CRX-330 CD receiver, $300 MSRP ($250)
Yamaha DRX-730 CD/DVD receiver, $450 MSRP ($330)
Denon RCD N7 Network CD receiver, $600 MSRP ($444)
Marantz M-CR603 Network CD Receiver, $700 MSRP ($562)
Peachtree Audio Decco, $800 MSRP

Prices in parens are what I found via Google/Amazon/eBay at the time I wrote this in July: http://www.fastnbulbous.com/computer-audio.htm

hmm, thanks -- the first one is generally within my price range.
is there a way to hook up a turntable to it? sorry, i am clueless about a lot of this stuff.

i mean, basically what I'm looking for is this:
a stereo system for my office (which is fairly small), that includes decent speakers, a CD player, a turntable and a way to hook up an ipod... whaddaya think, is it possible for under $500?
for some reason whenever i start looking this stuff up, i get overwhelmed/depressed. help me.

Turn that frown upside down, shopping for gear is fun, plus you have a job where you can play records in your office, you bastard ;)

Audio Technica AT-LP60USB Fully Automatic Belt Driven Turntable with USB Port - $98

Yamaha NS-6490, 70 watts, $150 MSRP ($106)
or
Polk Audio Monitor 30, 100 watts, $200 MSRP ($70)

That should keep it under $500 total.

Normally I'd recommend better speakers, but unless you can lock your office securely, I would hate to keep too nice of speakers at work. You can always upgrade 'em. In the past I've spent as much as I can afford on the speakers, then upgraded the rest gradually.

:D
thanks. i'll check it out. it's actually for my home office (which I'll be spending much more time in in 2012).

Get a bottom of the range Bose Wave music system. It will go a bit over your budget and there aint no i-pod dock, you use the audio jack. At least you will love it. I got one a few years ago for my kitchen. It cost me £450 but is worth every penny. The sound quality is remarkable for such a small system.

I know you are asking for something cheap. I believe you end up spending more on cheap shit. You go into an endless cycle of replacing cheap shit, whereas with a low end quality product you get value for money. Something that is more reliable, lasts longer and makes you happier.

and it sucks you off.

hmmm...
i was looking at some of those bose things. the all in one aspect is appealing, but I'm pretty interested in finally getting something decent to play vinyl on...i've got a ton of it, just haven't had a good system in years.