suggestions for a $5,000 - $7500 setup?

Re: suggestions for a $5,000 - $7500 setup?

El Bastardo

From:	me
Subject:	suggestions for a $5,000 - $7500 setup?
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 12:38:07 +0000 (UTC)

hello,

here's the thing - I know absolutely nothing about hi-fi, but I do
listen to a lot of music.
- jazz
- classical
- electronica
- (some) pop

I'd really like sth good to listen on. At the moment i have an OLD
mission amp and some Wharfedale "Coleridge" speakers. As a source I use
either my mac powerbook or a cheap DVD player.

Obviously the sound isn't great

If I budget $5,000 what should I get? Is it worth saving even harder and
increasing the budget?

- The room it will be in is carpeted and about 25 m2 with quite a high
ceiling
- I only have CD's - all my vinyl is stored in a garage somewhere and I
wasn't really planning to get it out.
- I like the idea of tall floor-standing speakers, but they're not
essential
- I like the idea of a remote control but it's not essential
- I'm hoping for a system that will LAST!
- the only absolute constraint is that I want seriously good sound
quality.
- I'm presuming I need cd player, amp, speakers, cables and headphones.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

m

From:	TT
Subject:	Re: suggestions for a $5,000 - $7500 setup?
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 07:04:59 +0800

"me" wrote in message
news:bbbounce-709F13.12380623012005@newstrial.btopenworld.com...
> hello,
>
> here's the thing - I know absolutely nothing about hi-fi, but I do
> listen to a lot of music.
> - jazz
> - classical
> - electronica
> - (some) pop
>
>
> I'd really like sth good to listen on. At the moment i have an OLD
> mission amp and some Wharfedale "Coleridge" speakers. As a source I use
> either my mac powerbook or a cheap DVD player.
>
> Obviously the sound isn't great
>
> If I budget $5,000 what should I get? Is it worth saving even harder and
> increasing the budget?
>
> - The room it will be in is carpeted and about 25 m2 with quite a high
> ceiling
> - I only have CD's - all my vinyl is stored in a garage somewhere and I
> wasn't really planning to get it out.
> - I like the idea of tall floor-standing speakers, but they're not
> essential
> - I like the idea of a remote control but it's not essential
> - I'm hoping for a system that will LAST!
> - the only absolute constraint is that I want seriously good sound
> quality.
> - I'm presuming I need cd player, amp, speakers, cables and headphones.
>
> Any suggestions gratefully received.
>
> m

Too broad a question I'm afraid. What I would suggest is that you wander
around a few *reputable* hi-fi stores and ask them to demo some gear to you.
You need to get a feel for what is out there and then come back here and ask
opinions on the stuff you have found. BTW buying Aussie speakers are better
bang for buck than imports (usually)

Tip: Take *your* favourite CDs to demo - don't use theirs.

Regards TT

From:	El Bastardo
Subject:	Re: suggestions for a $5,000 - $7500 setup?
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 21:00:38 GMT

G'day,

me wrote:

> - I'm presuming I need cd player, amp, speakers, cables and headphones.

In your budget, I'd probably spend:

$2000 amp
$ 500 cd player
$ 100 cables
$ 500 headphones
$4000 speakers

That's a simple breakdown. You may want to spend more on the amp and
less on the speakers, for example.

I prefer separate pre-amp and power amp, and for about $2000 to $3000,
there's a number of options.

I currently use Rotel gear, and you can pick up an RC-1070 pre-amp (I
think this has a headphone jack) and an RB-1080 2x200w amp for about
$2000 if you haggle.

www.rotel.com

Also check out NAD, if a nice warm sound is yer thang.

That's only two suggestions, but lots of others that are more audiophile
will be recommended (such as Redgum, ME, Arcam, etc), and you should try
to check them all out if you can.

For a CD player: I have a Rotel RCD-1072, which was about $700. I'm not
sure if it's really worth spending that much on a CD player (in my case,
the DAC in the pre-amp is just about the equal of the DAC in the CD
player, so I could have probably got away with using the digital out on
my DVD player instead of a dedicated CD player). But some people think
so, however. I can't really recommend anything at the moment.

For headphones, I have Sennheiser HD-580s, but I don't think you can get
them anymore. Maybe HD-590 or HD-600 are still available.

I haven't spent much on cabling. I use 2-core 3.5mm electrical cable for
speaker wiring, and $15 interconnects from Jaycar. I haven't noticed any
difference using more expensive wire or interconnects, but you may want
to verify this for yourself.

I would suggest Aussie-made speakers, as they are generally better value
for money. Give a listen to:

Equinox Audio: Aphelions (about $2800), or Perigee (about $4000)
www.equinoxaudio.com.au

VAF: I-66 (abut $4000 in kit form),
www.vaf.com.au

Legend Acoustics: Kama 4 (about $2000), Kurre 4 (about $3500)
www.legendspeakers.com.au

Orpheus Audio: Aurora 3 (about $2000, but surprisingly good)
www.orpheusaudio.com.au

For overseas brands, I like:

B&W: Nautilus 805 (bookshelf, about $4500)
Sonus Faber: Grand Piano Home (about $4000)
Dynaudio: Audience 72 (about $2900)

That's just a limited list of stuff to check out. Listen to what you
can, and hopefully you'll come up with a winnig combination.

-- Geoff