Hi-Fi

PeteReDevil

iPete
Joined
Dec 31, 2007
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Didn't know whether to post this in the general or here but here goes.

Over the past week I've realised how much I miss listening to music through a good hi-fi setup. It just is something else isn't it? At the moment I listen through either my iPod or my micro-system. Clearly I miss out on that "umph" that comes when you're listening to a proper stereo system.

But is it worth it when pretty much all my music is in mp3? Haven't seen or listened to my cd's for about a year - they're stowed away in some boxes somewhere.

Came by a store yesterday to have them recommend me a good set of speakers and an amplifier. He was quick to lead me to Dali speakers and an amp I don't remember the name of
 
rip your music to itunes in a lossless format

the bower and wilkins sound dock is very very good, I have it and it fills the room completely with warm sound

could do with a touch more bass but i'll survive

the whole bower and wilkikns product range is pretty awesome
 
iPete said:
Over the past week I've realised how much I miss listening to music through a good hi-fi setup.
Click to expand...

Very few people actually have a real Hi-fi set up. I have only ever used separates, you just can't get a good sound from an out of the box system.

Richer Sounds used to be OK for good deals: Richer Sounds - The UK's Hi-Fi, Home Cinema & Flat Panel TV Specialists!

There used to be a good Hi-Fi shop in Bolton on the road down the side of the Market Hall. The last time I put a system together in the UK I spent several weeks making trips to their listening room matching my components up.
 
I've always had a real Hi-Fi Pete, and I've commented on this before, that this is the first time in the digital age where convenience has become a priority over quality. Even the vinyl nuts that always said that it had a better dynamic range over CD can't say anything about SACD, yet it fell on its arse. My fear is that the same will happen to video as well, in that people are willing to take a cut in quality for the total convenience of not having to go to a shop to buy it and can easily carry it around on very lightweight solid state devices. It's got so bad that they actually master audio tracks now (even then pressed onto CD) such that it sounds as good as it possibly can on an iPod with poor quality headphones.
 
real Hi-Fi is brilliant, I have Technics separates but unfortunately I don't make as much use of them any more.
 
I've still got an old Goldring GL-75 Turntable - weighs a ton but sounds sweet when I can be bothered getting an LP out.

Technics CD and Tape Decks.

100W Kenwood Amp through 2 huge Whalfedale speakers - those big things you get on pub walls.

Hardly ever crank it up but the difference is night and day once you get it up a notch or two.
 
There is extremely little difference between 320kbit mp3 and CD quality PCM at 44.1kHz w/ 16bit depth.

192kbit is a different matter, but the maximum mp3 bitrate is practically CD quality. Unless you're going to need to burn your audio to CD (if it might be re-encoded later one), in which case FLAC is the sensible choice.
 
I still use seperates,

Kenwood KA 3020. 60W RMS amp
Technics SL-PG590 CD player
Technics RS-TR474M2 Twin Tape Deck
Sony MXD D3 CD Player/Mini Disc Recorder
Technics ST-8011 AM/FM Tuner
Bang & Olufsen Beogram 1900 vintage Turntable
Ion USB Turntable

Pair of Leak 2000 vintage speakers

I also run my Technics 1210s, Numark CD mix 2 and KORG D1600 Digital Recording Studio through that Kenwood amp.


You can get some great deals on second hand seperates nowadays. That Kenwood KA 3020 is a superb amp and has been for 15 years, cost me about £500 brand new. You can now pick one up for £40.
 
Addis said:
There is extremely little difference between 320kbit mp3 and CD quality PCM at 44.1kHz w/ 16bit depth.

192kbit is a different matter, but the maximum mp3 bitrate is practically CD quality. Unless you're going to need to burn your audio to CD (if it might be re-encoded later one), in which case FLAC is the sensible choice.
Click to expand...

There's quite a bit of difference to be fair. You'd notice it a lot more when out DJing a club or a bar, lack of warmth in the bass and a lack of punch at the top end.

 
Just came across another factor to have in my considerations. The size of the speakers. At the shop I was offered floor standing DALI speakers but after reading on various sites I've started to believe that they may be to big to my living room. It's only about 4-5meters by 6-7 meters.
Have instead searched for bookshelf speakers and noticed the B&W 685's. Clearly they must be enough. The local retailers usually only sell floor standing models so I don't have the luxury to test smaller speakers myself
 
Have ordered the speakers: B&W 685's. Floorstanders are out of the question due to the size of living room. Next month I'll order an amp - haven't made up my mind between Marantz PM6003 and NAD C326BEE, plus I still don't know whether I'll be getting a cd player or go wireless with Logitech Squeezebox and a DAC to go with it. Either way the whole set up will cost me around £1000.

That said I'm gonna have to re-buy albums I've gotten through iTunes store over the past 2-3 years. Made a to-buy list and found 81 cd's so far.

Hope this doesn't turn out to be another never ending upgrading cirlcle
 
Have a look at places like CD-Wow or Play Pete, you could find the CD's cheaper & you'll get a much better quality of track from the CD as opposed to a download. You'd notice it more on the set up you've bought!
 
F-Red said:
Have a look at places like CD-Wow or Play Pete, you could find the CD's cheaper & you'll get a much better quality of track from the CD as opposed to a download. You'd notice it more on the set up you've bought!
Click to expand...
as said I'm re-buying the albums as cd's ;) buying them off dansih cdskiven.dk - which is about 30% cheaper as opposed to buying them at a physical store up here
 
Got an email this monday that the stands I had ordered were out of stock. Went to a store in town to see what they had in store of floorstanding speakers.
Of those I heard I really liked the "small" Dali Lektor 6's. Loved them so much that I had to buy them - even though my bank account would be left with a deficit of £600.

Now I'm waiting for the cd player I ordered. A Marantz CD6003. Next up will be the amp - which I think also will be a Marantz to match the cd player. PM7003/PM8003
 
Finally complete!
Marantz CD6003 --> Marantz PM8003 --> Dali Lektor 6 speakers.
Enjoying music a lot more now. It's as if I'm listening to better musicians
 
iPete said:
Finally complete!
Marantz CD6003 --> Marantz PM8003 --> Dali Lektor 6 speakers.
Enjoying music a lot more now. It's as if I'm listening to better musicians
Click to expand...

The music is far more enjoyable on good quality HiFi equipment.
 
A year into having my hi-fi and still in love with it. But...

I recently moved to another apartment where the living room is longer but much narrower than my previous one. This has led to my hifi sounding bassy, due to the size of my speakers and the size of the living room. On the lookout for some standmount speakers - although I don't I'd be able to buy before 2-3 months again :(
 
Time to bump this thread. Got my new speakers today. Dynaudio DM2/6. Much more suited to my living room. They are small and didn't expect them to have that much bass.
 
tbh i've gone back to cds... i listen to full albums... it makes more sense... and sounds better without the artifacts given by mp3... playing random mp3 also makes no sense...
 
adexkola said:
Audio CDs are lossless by definition, no?
Click to expand...

Of course not, it's lossy... but let's say it's the closest thing you can get cheaply to the actual studio recording...

Actually even the studio recording is lossy, it's limited to the media it's being recorded on to, you can say it's lossless if the actual person singing or instruments being played is being listened by your ears. Nothing will replace a natural sound.

:cool:
 
I am probably a dinosaur, but I still buy cd's the majority of the time. Better sound quality if you rip it in a lossless format, and it's a backup disk.

I've been getting by with ripping my cd's to my computer on apple lossless and using Harmon Kardon soundsticks 2 as my speakers. My living room is quite small and this set up sounds pretty good and is plenty loud enough. Coupled with Apple's front row software and a remote control, it's like having a juke box in the corner.
 
Sounds like a nice set-up Bill.

I've got my old laptop going through a Technics amp in the living room, sounds great but some kind of remote control would be handy.

I'd never sell my HiFi gear though, that's set up in my studio. Can't beat a record or CD played through a proper HiFi set-up.
 
Im not using my system at all these days, such a waste. I even gave away a lovely technics amp that was just gathering dust.

Ive a mixture of Technics and Marantz separates and a couple of sets of wharfedale speakers...separates are the only way to go...
 
Tumbling-Dice said:
Sounds like a nice set-up Bill.

I've got my old laptop going through a Technics amp in the living room, sounds great but some kind of remote control would be handy.

I'd never sell my HiFi gear though, that's set up in my studio. Can't beat a record or CD played through a proper HiFi set-up.
Click to expand...

I agree, the problem is that I got to the point where my Hi-Fi gear was getting old and breaking down. Mp3's were getting more and more popular and I had to choose between replacing my Hi-Fi which may/may not become obsolete/unsused or purchasing a decent computer that could become my computer and stereo.
I think I made the right decision, but I do sometimes miss having the better quality of a proper Hi-Fi with some awesome speakers.

Perhaps something like this could work as a remote.

Griffin AirClick Remote Control for Mac and PC – LaptopStuff.co.uk - Laptop Products

Decotron said:
Im not using my system at all these days, such a waste. I even gave away a lovely technics amp that was just gathering dust.

Ive a mixture of Technics and Marantz separates and a couple of sets of wharfedale speakers...separates are the only way to go...
Click to expand...

That was my reasoning behind switching to a computer. I didn't want to fork out for equipment I wouldn't use. Hopefully this thread will inspire you to give your stereo a blast over the weekend.
 
bill.s.preston said:
I agree, the problem is that I got to the point where my Hi-Fi gear was getting old and breaking down. Mp3's were getting more and more popular and I had to choose between replacing my Hi-Fi which may/may not become obsolete/unsused or purchasing a decent computer that could become my computer and stereo.
I think I made the right decision, but I do sometimes miss having the better quality of a proper Hi-Fi with some awesome speakers.

Perhaps something like this could work as a remote.

Griffin AirClick Remote Control for Mac and PC – LaptopStuff.co.uk - Laptop Products
Click to expand...

Handy bit of kit that mate which has inspired me to hunt down and dig out my cordless mouse later. I should have done this a while ago.
 
James Parkin said:
rip your music to itunes in a lossless format

the bower and wilkins sound dock is very very good, I have it and it fills the room completely with warm sound

could do with a touch more bass but i'll survive

the whole bower and wilkikns product range is pretty awesome
Click to expand...

Hi Guys,

I just bought the B&W CM1 system and a Rotel amplifier. I was trying to listen to some house music through my computer (winamp). The computer is connected to the amplifier through a simple phono to laptop audio cable.

Honestly, the music sounds horrible at mid to high volumes. I am not sure what the problem is . Also the amplifier seems to overload and shut down frequently. All the connections seem correct.

Any advice?
 
Kaush949 said:
Hi Guys,

I just bought the B&W CM1 system and a Rotel amplifier. I was trying to listen to some house music through my computer (winamp). The computer is connected to the amplifier through a simple phono to laptop audio cable.

Honestly, the music sounds horrible at mid to high volumes. I am not sure what the problem is . Also the amplifier seems to overload and shut down frequently. All the connections seem correct.

Any advice?
Click to expand...

What's the format of the files you're listening to? Make sure they're lossless (e.g. FLAC).
If you insist on listening from your laptop, buy yourself a DAC with an USB input. - That way you're guaranteed that the signal coming into your amp is at least on par with a decent budget cd player
 
PeteReDevil said:
What's the format of the files you're listening to? Make sure they're lossless (e.g. FLAC).
If you insist on listening from your laptop, buy yourself a DAC with an USB input. - That way you're guaranteed that the signal coming into your amp is at least on par with a decent budget cd player
Click to expand...

Thanks, I kind of fixed the problem, I switched the phono cable from the phono input to the auxiliary input of the amplifier and it is working well now. I will still convert all my music to the lossless format using i-tunes. If I'm not satisfied, I will consider buying a DAC.
 
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