Please recommend an entertainment system

[S3K04]

Hi folks,

New around here and looking for a new audio set-up. Not sure where to start, I am looking for the best within my budget for reception area/lounge.

Amplifier
Pre-amp (is it necessary?)
Speakers (Mission, Tannoy, Bose etc)
CD/MP3 player
Tuner


Budget £2000


Thanks

[5pen]

Probably best if you could find a dealer with demo facilities who stocks a range of options that you could test and let your ears decide.

For that sort of budget, the most common brands would be Arcam, Marantz, Cambridge Audio (Richer Sounds only) and Rotel for the electronics, but there are loads of others and don't forget ex-demo and end of line stuff can sometimes get you more for your money.

There are loads of speaker manufacturers and only you'll be able to tell which ones you like with any given source - Monitor Audio and B&W are perhaps the most commonly stocked but you could try Quad, Dali, KEF, Tannoy, EPOS and plenty of other I've no doubt forgotten...

[Mr_Yogi]

5pen said:

Probably best if you could find a dealer with demo facilities who stocks a range of options that you could test and let your ears decide.

For that sort of budget, the most common brands would be Arcam, Marantz, Cambridge Audio (Richer Sounds only) and Rotel for the electronics, but there are loads of others and don't forget ex-demo and end of line stuff can sometimes get you more for your money.

There are loads of speaker manufacturers and only you'll be able to tell which ones you like with any given source - Monitor Audio and B&W are perhaps the most commonly stocked but you could try Quad, Dali, KEF, Tannoy, EPOS and plenty of other I've no doubt forgotten...

What he said.

Assuming you are looking for a stereo setup, rough budget breakdown might look something like this:

speakers £800
amp £400
cd player £400
tunner £100
cables £100

However, instead of a CD player you could also consider soemthing like the Squeezebox Touch which will stream music files from a PC, NAS or even a USB hard disk connected directly to it. These are supposed to sound pretty good and can be upgraded with an external DAC (digital to analogue converter).

But as 5pen recommends, it's best to speak to a few local dealers, they'll let you demo the equipment and suggest components which work well together. Book an audition and take your own music with you, and when you think you've found 'the system' the best deallers will let to home demo the kit to make sure it works in your home, as the room a hifi is used in can make the biggest difference to the sound.

Some brands for you:

Speakers: Dali/ Focal/ Kef/ Monitor Audio/ B&W

Amps: Nad/ Marantz/ Rotel/ Cambridge Audio/ Audiolab

CD Players: Nad/ Marantz/ Cambridge Audio/ Audiolab

If you fancy experimenting a bit further, the second hand market can be fun and if you don't like something you've bought you can just sell it on

[S3K04]

Thanks

How do the audio expert rate these?

KEF Speakers

http://www.richersounds.com/product/floorstanders/...

SUB

http://www.richersounds.com/product/subwoofers/kef...

AMP

http://www.richersounds.com/product/amplifiers-rec...

CD/USB

http://www.richersounds.com/product/cd-players-rec...

and maybe

http://www.richersounds.com/product/speaker-packag...

[GTRmad]

That set up will not disappoint.Id give the eggs a miss they are more movie than music..

[darreni]

I have the KEF kit 540 with the matching additional rear stands & its a great bit of kitmusic is great & movies the sound is better than my local cinema.

Pretty handy DVD picture /processing too.

[S3K04]

Excellent, I may leave the "egg" out

Still hunting about, any more ideas please?

[Atomic Gibbon]

My 2p: use ebay, get a 4k ish system for 2kish.

Monitor audio gold reference 20's (800 tops)
Musical fidelity 308 integrated (650)
MF 308 CD (650)
Pure (or similar) dab radio (50?)

The above is a wonderful, wonderful combo, and is what I'd spend 2k on if i was going strictly 2 channel.