im new to this sound business and dont know too much but anyways i was planning to buy a good speaker setup and had been very tempted to buy the complete sub/amp and speakers package; the Logitech Z680 from the review it got on Bit-Tech but i thought it best to ask, i read its better to buy seperately all the parts you need, so simply what is the best setup and final sound quality i can get from about £500 worth of speakers/amps/wires/whatever/etc that i need any help or links are appreciated, my needs are for a PC audophile :S ironic i dont know much but ................... and maybe a hifi connection in the future if possible?
If your looking for a good setup, do not go with a cube or all in one system. For £500 you should look at the Wharfedale Pacific surround pack (Speakers), probably a mid range Denon decoder, and some new 13A mains cable (best trick, wire the ground and earth together for neutral, best cable solution for speakers I've found yet, offers less resistance than most proper audio cables)! Get a decent gold plated Digital cable for PC to Decoder but don't go overboard
ok i was looking through some wharfedale speakers and i found a list, the best ones i founded suited for my needs so far and my price range would be a lot more than £500 for the kind of total package i want, i did have more as a backup saved incase so i think the total has to go up to about a £1000, the speakers are a lot more than i expected but i want quality at the end of the day, are wharfedale still the best to get then? ps had to bring a bit of brucelee fever back penksi! edit: these speakers interested me, are these any good would you say? CLICK and the room i want to put all this is isnt exactly a concert hall so i thought this amp would do since i didnt want to go ott, or should i think otherwise? heres the amp i was thinking of CLICK
I have that amp and I'm very happy with it. Can't comment on those speakers since I don't know about those.
Presumably from the suggestions you've come up with so far you want a surround sound system (which pound for pound will sound appalling for music compared to a dedicated 2-channel setup - evaluate what you will want more, surround sound for games that support it and/or DVDs, or stereo sound for music). If its surround sound you're after, I'd take a look at the Kef Egg KHT2005, I've demo'd these before and for the size of speakers they are pretty awesome IMHO.. http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/700 There is an upgraded version of the Kef Eggs, the KHT2005.2 but they're £800 which is a bit steep even though they're better. The JMLabs may be good too but I haven't heard them myself so see if you can track down a review. As for amplifiers, the Pioneer one suggested is pretty good but I'd go for something a bit more powerful (if you come to upgrade the speakers you may appreciate the extra grunt - 40wpc is stated, which is most likely the max output power, and so if you give it more demanding speakers it may struggle compared to more powerful amps, which sadly, if space is a concern, tend to be much bigger than the little Pioneer). Pioneer do the VSXC301 which is a similar (small) size and is more powerful - costs about £190 from superfi - see here. Still think if I had the money I'd go for a Denon receiver though
heres one http://www.whatvideotv.com/testbenc...h/SpeakerPackages/JMLab/JMLABSibCubSystem.php the only critiscm i read so far really was that it has narrow dispersion! can someone translate that for me please? i like the design of these really as they go with the room intended, and the suggested amp/reciever does look more attractive for features and use etc but does amp and reciever do 2 different things? or are they just 2 different names for the same thing?
A receiver and amplifier are pretty much the same thing yes. 'Narrow dispersion' is a term used to describe the way the sound spreads out from the speakers, with wide dispersion the sound is spread out very easily so its harder to pinpoint the location of the speaker exactly by ear alone. Narrow dispersion is the opposite, you find the sound doesn't spread out very much so when the speaker is pointing right at your ear its fine, but if its pointed away from you just a bit it'll sound a bit odd, sort of muffled. Hope this explanation makes sense its somewhat hard to explain using text. From the review (your link was broken for me but I found the review anyway) they seem pretty decent speakers
nope, i fully understand that cos ive experienced it, i never knew it had a name though lol im finally finalising on what i want now from the selections ive seen and after reading hifichoice reviews, i found these to be within my price limit and very good performance wise heres a link to the amp im now very interested in, just looking for the best prices now really CLICK heres the speakers i decided id be better off with in the room i wanted them in, i was really going ott with the JLab's, didnt need the power and these will do me fine for the prices available, but still need a few recommendations or warnings etc... so far its either the INFINITY ALPHA HCS series, or the MORDAUNT-SHORT PREMIERE CLICK, anything i should know about these?
That Kenwood amp is only a stereo unit, it will *not* power 5 speakers and decode Dolby Digital and DTS. You need a 5.1/6.1 Dolby Digtial AV Receiver to power the Mordaunt Short or Infinity Speakers.
If you're going to be dropping that kind of scratch on a set of speakers, why not get a set of active monitors that are used in recording studios?
I know people who do this, it can provide very very good results, often better than standard hi-fi speakers. The problem is 5 x decent active monitors cost a lot of money, add a decent subwoofer and the cost is then in the £1500 - £2000 range. You also still need to think about the processing side, a mid level reciever (or cheap processor) would need to be purchaced to handle surround formats, bass management and channel levels etc.
My neighbor does just this, but not in a surround format. I was under the impression that BruceLee333 wanted a standard stereo format when he says "audiophile".
BruceLee333 : Do you want a stereo setup (2 channels) or a full 5.1 system for DVD movies? If you do not watch much movies then stereo is probebly ok. If you watch DVD movies (or will watch more) then the full 5.1 surround well worth the outlay. What are your wants?
well i want the full speaker works, ive tried using some old good 2speaker setups but i was never satisfied with them, i watch a lot of movies and play a lot of music as well so id have to say the 5.1 surround setup im not exactly the pro in all this as you can tell so what would you recommend? i had an idea of getting a speakers (5.1 setup), and an amp/reciever, and a either a minidisc deck or a cd recording deck with the money left if any from about £1000, or am i missing something obvious and critical? btw thanks for all your info and support so far
Are you going to use a DVD player for movies/music or are you going to hook it up to a computer? If you go the DVD route you will need a proper Digital optical or Digital Coaxial Cable (75 ohm). If you use a computer it will depend of what digital sound hardware you own. If it was my money for the setup it would be this. NAD T-742 AV Reciver. http://www.hifi4less.com/NAD_T_742_AV_Receiver.htm Here is the main website for extra info. http://www.nadelectronics.com/av_receivers/T742_framset.htm This should be by far the best the best for Music and Movies in its price range. For speakers: The Mordaunt-Short Premiere Package is £299. (£100 cheaper than other places) http://www.hifistore.co.uk/product.php?qsProd=PREMIER http://www.hifi4less.com/Mordaunt_Short_Premiere.htm
hey thanks a lot thats a lot cheaper than i found in places, i think im all done now and should be buying some of the stuff soon, and thanks for all the help everyone i appreciate it
