The old and now a bit ropey music playing system lives in the living room.
SWMBO wants something new to play CDs in another room. As the old system is ..well...old, I thought we'd take the opportunity of slowly upgrading. So the plan is to buy a CD player, an amp and a couple of speakers so that CDs only can be played (OK maybe mp3 & iPod too - you tell me!).
Then one day we might buy a tuner (for DAB as well as FM) and then connect up the turntable for all those LPs still not digitized. After this and maybe 5 years, then the old system gets dumped.
So, in summary I want a CD player, an amplifier and a pair of speakers to use in a room 2.5m high, 4m wide & 5.2m long. I want to be able to connect up other bits as time goes on and don't want to spend more that say £250 - £300 at this time.
The problem is that I only have ears, a bit of money and absolutely no idea where to start. I'd like to be able to walk into Richer Sounds or some such place and talk to them without sounding the fool that I am.
Any ideas, please?
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Walk into Richer Sounds and tell them what you've told us. They know their stuff but are really down to earth. Might be an idea to pick a time when they are not going to be run off their feet and you'll get more advice.
I have no connnection with them etc..
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D
Nsar is right. Their own brand Cambridge Audio range gets consistent rave reviews in the hi fi press. I'm sure they'll steer you right on speakers too. Just take your ears with you and a CD that you know well.
Happy Christmas,
JH
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Cambridge Audio might well be fine Audio, but its not a Richer Sounds "own" brand
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And I dream Im on vacation - cos I like the way that sounds -
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The iPod bit is easy and worth doing - you can buy the official Apple "component AV cable" kit for £35. There are phono plugs for the aux input on your amp, a dock plug for the iPod, and a USB plug that fits into the (supplied with this kit) mains charger. (there are also component video plugs so you could use the lead to play/view the iPod through yor TV if you wanted). The cheap way is just a mini jack plug to phono plugs lead that would cost less than a fiver in Maplins.
I've gone from MP3 sceptic to convert since I tried this - the quality through a decent hifi is for practical purposes as good as CD provided the files aren't overcompressed.
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A pair of Wharfedale speakers can make almost any system sound good, but you also need to "think" about 7.1 surround as well as stereo.
Billy
Edited by billy25 on 28/12/2007 at 18:35
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A pair of Wharfedale speakers can make almost any system sound good
garbage in, garbage out...
but you also need to "think" about 7.1 surround as well as stereo.
Why? (serious question).
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Seriously, why would you need 7.1? I have never had any 7.1 media to play on it.
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And I dream Im on vacation - cos I like the way that sounds -
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>>Why? (serious question). <<>
Well in my opinion, although still a very viable solution, 2-speaker stereo is dated technology, and, more channels you have, the finer tuning you can do wth your audio, you can virtually tune it to your ears. you must have noticed that home-cinema and even every-day telly's have moved on from built in stereo to 5.1 surround almost by default these days, 7.1 is even better, tis audio evolution! soon, we will be born with multiple ears, so that we can appreciate fine music in truly fine quality. ;-)
Billy
P.S
Wharfdale speakers are quality!
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>>Wharfdale speakers are quality!>>
True, but so are many from a range of other top brands...:-)
By the way, although I love music and have been a hi-fi enthusiast for more years than I care to remember, I've never really had the inclination to believe that I'm sitting in the middle of the orchestra.
Genuine surround sound yes (i.e. the rear speakers reproduce "reflected" sound).
The Cambridge amplifiers are excellent (my younger offspring has one), plus some similarly good, very tall speakers (can't remember the exact brand offhand) - both came from Richer Sounds.
For the bedroom he has just acquired a pair of small cube shaped, modest looking speakers branded AudioService2 to hook up to a 17in TFT - these speakers are, in fact, quite stunning and reproduce bass, midrange and treble with remarkable power and transparent clarity.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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>>garbage in, garbage out...>>
That's the original Linn turntables slogan - but actually rubbish in, rubbish out IIRC...:-)
But absolutely true.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What's for you won't pass you by
Edited by Stuartli on 28/12/2007 at 23:41
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Dulwich,
unless you play lots of vinyl I'd seriously consider listening to some of the latest micro systems. They used to be pretty poor audio-wise at one time but some of them are now very good indeed.
I have a mid-range component system in the living room (Rega deck, Rotel amps and tuner, Sony CD, Technics tape and Celestion Speakers) but it only really gets used for vinyl nowadays which is increasingly rare.
The Denon micro system we have in the dining room sounds just as good with CDs, cost about one fifth of the component system and takes up 1/10 of the space.
Kevin...
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Before anyone splashes out on expensive music machines, check whether your hearing is up to standard. Take this online test:
www.audiorelief.co.uk/en/tinnitus_test.html
or download this one
www.audiometer.co.uk/
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I, and many of my friends, bought our first proper hi-fis from Richer Sounds 10 - 15 years ago.
Looking at their website you can easily get a decent system for under £300 :
Amp - £80 (Cambridge Audio)
CD - £80 (Marantz)
bookshelf speakers - approx £50-£70 (various brands)
Plus you will need speaker cable, interconnects and banana plugs - the cheapest variety of these DO make a difference.
As has been suggested, go in at a quiet time and take a favourite CD along and get to listen to different setups
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Marc,
Looks (sounds??) about right then. £250 + cables.
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Fill yer boots. Don't go nuts on fancy dan cables though, there's a whole world of cobblers spoken about zero carbon, defibrulised, 100% gnat's wee cables. As long as you don't buy doorbell wire then you won't go far wrong. The flat stuff is handy though if you want to keep it neat along skirtings etc..
Good luck!
Edited by Nsar on 29/12/2007 at 14:39
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The denon system always got rave reviews, but buy your own speakers.
We have a £100 sony in the "library " bought it for the wife as a xmas present and ive got to say against all my better judgements it does indeed sound very good (very annoying that its memory goes when you pull the plug out though).
Ive never bought posh wiring in my life for hi-fi.
If you go in to richer sounds as a virgin then im sorry but the sales assistant will sell you what he gets most commission on,thats how it used to work in my day anyway,get rid of the tat for the company and get better rewarded for it (unlkess Mr richer would like to quell my theory thats all mine?)
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Speakers are everything at this level.
I bought a Teac Reference system a few years ago, linked to my Mission 700 series floor speakers its superbly powerful bit of kit.
The standard Teac speakers that came with the system and are now connected to a bog standard sub £200.00 Sony system, the resulting change was an amazing difference. Not all speakers are the same !
These have now been wired through to the PC's 5.1 set and driven by this makes a sweet mellow sound......which sounds very expensive.
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>>bookshelf speakers>>
There is no substitute for size if you want powerful though controlled bass, Richer Sounds always have a good deal on some floorstanders or good sized cabinates.
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Don't you think floorstanders will look a bit OTT given the size of his room?
"Bookshelf" means up to around 30cm high with the option of putting them on stands
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The TEACs are literally "bookshelf" speakers here. They really do work a treat, even when driven by t'internet wireless they provide a wholesome sound
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Cambridge Audio might well be fine Audio, but its not a Richer Sounds "own" brand
Alteaego:
www.audiopartnership.com/company.html
Address: Unit 3/4 Richer House Gallery Court Hankey Place London SE1 4BB
Audio Partnership owns and manages some of the world's most important hi-fi separates and loudspeaker brands. These include Cambridge Audio, which produces hi-fi separates and premium loudspeaker manufacturer Mordaunt-Short. Audio Partnership also owns a number of region-specific brands including Gale and TDL. Through these and other lesser-known names, ..
www.richersounds.com/information.php?cda=static&cs...t
Registered Office: Richer House, Hankey Place, London, SE1 4BB
Edited by jbif on 29/12/2007 at 18:07
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tinyurl.com/2k9t8p
These are identical to mine.
Now that's a bargain. I may bid myself.
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Not quite JBIF you have the address for Audio partnership wrong
companies house reveals
Audio Partnership
Gallery Court
Hankey Place
London
SE1 4BB
RICHER SOUNDS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
RICHER HOUSE
HANKEY PLACE
LONDON
SE1 4BB
As they share the same postcode, its safe to assume they are pretty close!
Richer sounds is the UK distributer of Cambridge Audio. Cambridge audio is available throughout the world. If it was a "richer sounds" own brand it would only be sold through Richer sounds. Calling it an "own brand" make it sounds like matsui (a dixons group own brand)
Would be interested to see if anyone can find a link between Julian Richer and Audio partnership.
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>>"Bookshelf" means up to around 30cm high with the option of putting them on stands >>
"Bookshelf" should mean speakers that can work on a bookshelf and do not need to be situated away from a wall to get the best from them as is the case with many larger speakers. However Richer sounds amongst others use the term to describe any speaker that is not a floor stander however big the cabinet.
Floor standers may be OTT is a small room that can be less obtrusive than a smaller speaker on a stand.
I have, amongst others, a pair of 15 year old Mordaunt Short speakers that are about 55cm high x 30w x 35d and sound superb sitting on the floor if about 15cm away from the wall, better still if on a spiked base.
I also have some JPW bookshelf speakers, about 30cm high x 20w x 20d speakers that offer superb detail though simply cannot replicate the bass of the larger speakers.
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I used to own some JPW bookshelf speakers ("Mini Monitors" IIRC). They couldn't be situated directly against a wall because they had rear firing bass ports - as do a lot of speakers these days - bookshelf or not.
It seems you are agreeing with me that the defintion of "bookshelf" is misleading.
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Not quite JBIF you have the address for Audio partnership wrong
The address I posted was from Dun & Bradsheet
www.do-business.net/CompanySelect/select.aspx?key=...e
anyone can find a link between Julian Richer and Audio partnership
Circumstantial links here
www.stereophile.com/news/10343/
www.localbrit.co.uk/business/audio-partnership-plc
Contacts:
Mr James Johnson-Flint (Managing Director)
M. Matthew Forbes Bramble (Director)
M. Julian Richer (Director)
See also
www.linkedin.com/pub/1/739/742
Fabio Venturotti Export Sales Manager
Audio Partnership (Part of Richer Sounds Group Plc)
1995 ? October 2002 (7 years)
www.londononline.co.uk/profiles/14855/
Audio Partnership PLC Units 3 4 Richer House, Hankey Place
London SE1 4BB telephone: 020 79402200
www.londononline.co.uk/profiles/137627/
Richer Sounds PLC Unit 4 Richer House, Hankey Place
London SE1 4BB telephone: 020 79402222
Edited by jbif on 29/12/2007 at 20:26
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Would be interested to see if anyone can find a link between Julian Richer and Audio partnership.
Audio Partnership PLC
Information:
Employees: 26-50
Age of Business: 3-9
Turnover: n/a
Contacts:
Mr James Johnson-Flint (Managing Director)
M. Matthew Forbes Bramble (Director)
M. Julian Richer (Director)
He is also a director in
Audio Innovations Limited
Audio Partnership plc
Ariston Audio Limited
Aural Envelope Limited
Big Screen Entertainment Limited
Cambridge Audio Limited
Canhelpnow Limited
Definitely Marketing Limited
Duchy Originals Limited
Ever 1423 Limited
Excel Tape Limited
Gale Limited
Gallery Court Limited
Grey Frog plc
Julians Limited
Keep Your Pants On Limited
L3 Limited
League Against Cruel Sports Limited
Lomo Limited
Makeasite.com Limited
Mordaunt-short Limited
O Technologies Limited
Poptones Investors Limited
Rapid-Domains.com Limited
Retail Recruitment Limited
Richer Brands Limited
Richer Conferences Limited
Richer Consulting Limited
Richer Jet Limited
Richer Publishing Limited
Richer Sounds plc
Richer Sounds International Limited
TDL Electronics UK Limited
The Blue-Eyed Maid Inn Limited
The Management and Enterprise
National Training Organisation
The Persula Foundation
The Richer Partnership Limited
X Music Limited
Easierjet Limited
E Electronics (UK) Limited
Just Recruitment Limited
N.E. Marks Limited
Nocktwice Limited
Plush Bars Limited
Spy UK Limited
Techno Holdings Limited
Techno Retail Limited
The Wow Awards Limited
Your Property Limited
--
pmh (was peter)
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well it looks like Audio Partneships and Richer Sounds were jointly owned at one point. Richer looks to have been seperated out as a wholly owned not publicy listed PLC.
I suppose in that case cambridge audio is an "own brand" in the legal sense!
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Late entry for the 2007 BR "shall we dance on a pin-head" discussion!
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I'm so glad you cleared that up!
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To show my hi-fi knowledge I bored the staff in the shop with all the ins and outs of Mr Richer's directorships and after around 4 hours - when they wanted to lock up and go home - they begged me to choose something and promised a huge discount to get me out of the door!
Got a Cambridge CD 5, Cambridge amp 5 and Mordaunt-Short bookshelf speakers for indicated sale and net prices totalling £330 and I paid £300 with basic leads thrown in.
All is now set up and I am truly satisfied with wot i got! Thanks all.
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make sure you get the speaker leads positive to positive for both channels or you will hear a very poor sound
anybody remember using the haffler system for a quasi 4 way rear speaker surround system?
a neil diamond track with the thunder was particularly effective for knocking out the old sansui amplifiers in the 70"s
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Nice one! Be interested to hear how you get on with the CD5 - sound, build etc. For a few years I've been considering getting a new CD player to replace my ageing Sony. The CD5 would probably go nicely with my Cambridge amp.
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