Stereo suggestions?

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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 3:53 pm

After 15 years or so, my Akai Hifi system (seperates) is giving up the ghost. When I switch it on its OK, but it powers down after a few seconds. I reckon a failing amplifier power supply, though that's only a best guess. When I have tried to get stuff like this repaired in the past there was much sucking of teeth and muttering of the word 'obsolete'.

I dont even know where to look for a repairer these days.

If I replace it, I need to be able to put the TV and DVD sound through, get FM radio, play my CDs, and have 2 seperate pairs of speakers connected so I can still listen in the bathroom. I guess I can do without cassette and Vinyl dinosaur technology, I still own LP's but can never be arsed with them. At best they inspire me to get CD's to replace them.

A look in Costco yesterday revealed only strange small systems with a dock for an iPod, not at all what I want. Sad

If it weren't for wanting to get FM radio, I'd just go for a home cinema system, I think most can play CD's. I have a seperate DVd player though, so that bit's not essential.

Any suggestions? Budget is uncertain, depends what I'm getting for my money.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 3123

Well, for the radio part, you can always plug a tranny into the surround sound system - that is if you don't want DAB.

I looked at a 5.1 system for the computer room a while ago, and Argos had some good contenders. Failing that, Maplin are pretty good for sound.

I'll have a poke around and see if I can find a link.

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 4:05 pm

Bose.

It'll cost you a lot of money but they really are the best.

http://www.bose.co.uk/GB/en/home-entertainment/wave-systems/index.jsp

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 4:08 pm

Quote:

FM radio

Soooo 20th Century Very Happy

I just use the Freeview receiver for radio. Sound ok out of the telly, but I'll be looking at some kind of surround sound once the internal renovations are complete at the Chateau iMike.

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 4:32 pm

@ Slightly, we have a Bose system in the bedroom, but I want something with socking great speakers for the lounge, I can hardly see the Tv stereo sound going through it. I'm not even sure my Bose is stereo, but is very high quality audio for sure.

@ iMike, but how can you get Rock FM? Otherwise, yes, most radio channels are on my Skybox.

Elite Baiter Joined: 16 Jul 2008 Posts: 1407

Roy,

Check out this site for some quality help in the A/V dept:

http://forums.audioreview.com/index.php

Friendly folks, lots of great advise. And "Bose" is not the best. But they do have a damn good marketing department.

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 4:44 pm

Check out NAD for amps, cd players and tuners. Rega for vinyl. And Mission for speakers.

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 4:46 pm

I've got several digital audio channels coming over an optic line. Works great but I tend to leave the TV on while its going. I've been shopping for a HD decoder.

I would suggest home theater in a box, go with a minimum of 5.1 and if there is no HD radio decoder, pay for a component. Sony XDR-F1HD lists for under a hundred and no one pays full boat retail. Buy it and tell me how well it works. Laughing

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 4:53 pm

^^ Bose do speakers. Their systems are also stereo.

Problem is, their speakers cost an arm and a leg.

If home cinema is not a problem why not go that way? A lot of models now have inbuilt FM radio.

This Sony is a decent make and goes for about £350 (although it can probably be found cheaper).

http://www.sony.co.uk/product/hcs-cinema-surround-kit/ht-is100

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 4:53 pm

@Roy, I only really listen to Talksport & Radio 7

They don't appear to have a streaming service, but they do podcasts - stick it on your iPod & listen at your leisure?

A couple of months ago I gave a set of Technics separates away (amp, tape deck Shocked

& tuner. Mrs wanted to 'declutter' the loft.

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 4:58 pm

/\ I sorted out your treble post while I was at it. Smile

I dont have a bleedin iPod, which is why all the stuff at Costco was alien to me.

Closest I've found so far is this:
LINK

It does what I want, though LG is not my favourite brand.

ETA: This one's samsung, same as my telly: LINK

ETA Bollox, neither have a phono output, so I cant wire up to the bathroom. Twisted Evil

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 5:07 pm

If you're looking for all-in-one give Richer Sounds a look. Spend a little bit more than that if you want something that won't grate after a while.

Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 5:10 pm

Always makes me think back to this sketch when i see someone wanting to UPDATE their 'stereo' Very Happy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSINO6MKtco

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 26 Aug 2006 Posts: 577

Sony HT SS2300 w/ a PS3.

Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 11:31 pm

Quote:

Check out NAD for amps, cd players and tuners. Rega for vinyl. And Mission for speakers.

NAD are very good. I use a Cambridge AV amp through a pair of Mission 770's which is an awesome sound.

As a suggestion for your needs Roy, I would look on e-Bay for a Sony Theatre System.

Butt-long linkey

It will play just about any disc you put in there, has an excellent FM receiver and a really good sound. It will also bring your TV to life! As for your bathroom requirements, a small, seperate amp, fed from the phono output on the rear, will drive your speakers in the 'private place'.

I'm guessing R4 here.................I do.

Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 1:59 am

Whatever yo do, please don't buy one of those , everything in a box systems, There crap, and that's an over statement.
The guy across the road went out and bought such a system, they conned him into a Blue-ray system all plastic, The BR players hopeless, won't play half his CD's [like it's not a CD player in the first place]
The speakers are these black plastic tower things with three inch
crappy little drivers. more like headphones It cost him close to a grand..

There's a lot of good stuff out there, but take the trouble and go to a dedicated Hi Fi store first, and get the good oil, At least you won't be talking to someone who's going to be selling washing machines next week

I've got no idea where you are, or what your budget is, But as I told dumb nuts across the road, buy seperate components, then you can always upgrade as you can afford it. depending on your budget E-bay
has some nice stuff, or if your in the States AudiogoN.com has some really wonderful stuff, if you know what your looking for.
It has taken me years to build my system, and it's on going
at the moment it's a 60 inch plasma, Rotel power amps, with a Rotel CD player and a Harmon Kardon Dac, There's also a couple of very heavy
solid state amps for the Home Theater system

Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 4:11 am

Home theater in a box really are not as bad as people make them out to be. The receiver portions have very nice digital amps and signal processing. If there is a weakness, its in the speakers. Those can be upgraded for very little. I've professionally installed McIntosh and purchased them because I had a radical discount in a prior life. They are in the garage connected to some polypro 21 inch Yamaha drivers. I have home theater in the box in the family room. I had some very expensive JBL speakers for the front channels, but after listening to my son's cheap plastic Yamaha three ways, I immediately A-B'ed them and concluded that I would have to buy a set. The expensive JBL's went to the rear channels. Do the cheap speakers look bad? No, because they are now in the ceiling firing down though ventilation grills. I'm still using the powered subwoofer and satellites that came in the box. The house system is far superior to the garage system that cost 20 times more. The HTIAB is stacked in a ventilated wall unit behind a glass paneled door.

@weareborg- your system looks great and should sound even better. I would suggest moving the two small speakers to the rear and getting a shielded center channel if you use it for home theater.

Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 5:50 am

G'Day Connie
McIntosh in the garage, You philistine. Wink

The price of that stuff is unbelievably priced, and it's mostly import duty's and greedy retailers.
I did hear some once in Maranda Hi Fi in Canberra, I'm not really a Tube fan. Mind you while I was down here I looked up Patrick Turner,
Some of his creations are out of this world, and a more believable price
http://www.turneraudio.com.au/

As for my stuff, the smaller floor stand speakers do the Hi Fi driven by twin monoblocks, I'm not waisting top of the range Scan Speak drivers on Home Theatre. There is a pair of 2way floor standers at the back of the room, plus a pair of 12 inch peerless for the Sub.. Not that it requires a sub..

That's the problem with these little tinny set up's No base. And you can't get base under a 10 inch driver, despite the rubbish people like Frank Bose puts out.
Where did you acquire the 21 inch Yamaha drivers.. I think If I had anything that size they would be bolted into the floor Are they 8 or 4 ohm

The big rock bands seem to have the giant driver set-up's but the sound quality is not the best. It's simply a volume of noise.

Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 8:45 am

/\/\ from the looks of your system, burglars wouldn't be able to carry it very far! Smile

I looked at a few 'home theatre' systems this week, and nearly bought a Samsung one that seemed to do what I needed. However I decided to have another go with my Akai separates, which for now have miraculously made a full recovery. For now they will stay though (they do what I need and cost £0 extra, and they have proper speakers, I agree about the tall thin things) I've no doubt if there's a dry joint somewhere it'll be misbehaving again any day now.

Last week there was bad electrical karma around me - within hours of each other, my stereo packed up, the laptop started to crash all the time, I dropped the remote for the Bose in the bedroom into a cup of tea, and that started to act up, and when I got in my car the stereo didn't work Rolling Eyes

It was as if the processor had crashed - I pulled over, switched the ignition off and on, and all was Ok again.

These things are sent to try us.

Baiting Guru Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 3193

+1 for Richer Sounds.

Whatever you do, do not go to Costco, Best Buy, Argos, Maplin, Comet or any of the other mass-market names mentioned. If you absolutely need to, then Sony is the only name I'd endorse, and then only while my fingernails were being pulled out. Bose sells style, not high fidelity.

Go to a specialised Hi-Fi shop that has a listening room.

If your amplifier power-supply is failing, then you only need to buy an amplifier, right? If it is a true separates system, the whole point is that you can swap individual parts of it.

Go to Richer Sounds. If you don't have one nearby, go to some other HiFi shop. Make sure it has a listening room and it sells more than one make of kit. Tell them what you've got, tell them what you want, and they will suggest stuff. It will cost too much, but then you will know the names to look for and the corners you are cutting when you buy last years model off the web. On the other hand, Richer Sounds are cheap, friendly and knowledgeable. Their web price is a little cheaper, but I think they'll match it in store, and if you find you could have bought it cheaper elsewhere, they'll do better than match it.

Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 10:51 am

I'm going to Tottenham Court road tomorrow. I'll have a look and listen to what they have on offer if you like Roy.

It's time to think DAB as far as tuners go. So if I get it right you want a basic setup of: CD player, amp, tuner and speakers that has inputs for your TV and DVD.

Are you thinking of a home cinema system or is stereo ok? Budget?

Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 11:16 am

Stereo is fine rather than home cinema, I already have a dvd player, and I reckon a hifi can be more use to me, as long as I can put the tv audio through it. On reflection, what has been said about the pissy tall speakers has put me off home cinema. On the other hand, the weareborg hifi approach is a bit over the top for my small living room. Maybe if I actually had a cinema... Smile

@ Thud, while my current system has true seperates, i reckon the ribbon connectors and plugs (a bit like the IDE plugs in my old PC) between the units are non standard, so connecting it to a new amp could be near impossible. Sad

Budget, not a lot, but I don't want crap. Unhelpful know, but I'll know it when I see it. All bets are off until the amp fails again though.

Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 5:07 pm

@weareborg- I bought my 21.5 inch driver equipped speakers from an electronics parts store when I was 13 or 14 years old. I washed cars and cut lawns in the neighborhood for the money and carried each one home three miles without the box. They are the "Guitar" model and have polypropylene cones and large voice coils. Amazingly enough, after years of abuse, other than the cigarette burns from college they are still going strong. Their magnets are not half as heavy as a friend's 16 inch Voice of the Theater speakers but they only cost me $69 USD each at the time. They are rated at 8 ohms and get very loud at 1 watt RMS. My Mc amp is not tube driven, but class G transistors in push pull. If I did not keep them in my garage, someone I live with would make me dump the stereo. My HTIAB got a great review when a blind man with basically infinite resources declared it the best he had ever heard. He has a B+O rig in his Grosse Pointe mansion.

Baiting Guru Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 3193

My Hi Fi is a little more compact than weareborg's :

Phono Deck: Dual 505
Amplifier: Cambridge Audio A3i, get the A5 for £120
CD: Cambridge Audio CD4SE, get the CD5 for £120
Tuner: Goodmans GST 435, bought s/h from a mate for 30 quid. Unless you're into Radio 3 in a big way, anything will do.
Cassette Deck: AIWA, can't see a model number

The speakers (you can just see an edge on the left) are ages old Mission 762 floorstanders, so old they've reused that model number since.

Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 9:46 am

^ 762's were pretty good speakers. I've looked at moving up to Cambridge Audio but my old system still holding up.

I'm still using a pair of 700's bought in 1979:

I fitted new mid/bass drivers last year and they're as good as ever. I can't get on with these modern small boxes trying to sound big.

Have a NAD 3020 amp and Rega Planar 3 deck bought at the same time. All still going strong.