John Laird wrote:
On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 17:02:33 +0000 (UTC), Stewart Pinkerton
wrote:


Better again, go to Richer Sounds and buy:

Cambridge Audio CD5 - £99.95

Cambridge Audio A300 - £139.95

Mordaunt-Short MS906 - 349.95 (black or maple)

I'm sure if you buy the whole system, they'll throw in all the cables
you need. Total outlay of less than 600 squids, all new gear, and
top-class sound by any reasonable standard.


A tad more than the OP's budget of £200, though ;-)

I don't think that's enough to start buying separates, to be honest. Each
component will likely be so cheap that the first upgrade will show up the
rest of the system. Something like a Denon DM-31 would be a much better use
of the money. Okay it's not upgradeable but it should give good sound for a
long time and will always find a good home somewhere in a house.


I reckon for £200, the OP would be able to put together a system that is
better than a similarly priced mini system (and let's face it, budget
hi-fi prices in UK are a bargain compared to Oz)

£100 for the CD player and amp (look around Ebay or 2nd hand) and the
speakers for £100 (or more, if the OP can stretch the budget).

The first system I actually paid for consisted of a 2nd hand amp and CD
player, and a discounted speaker model for £250. Admittedly, I paid too
much for the amp and CD player (I was going through a nostalgic trip
through early 90s What Hi-Fi mags and decided to get the components I
couldn't afford back then)

I actually wanted to get a Denon DM-31 at first, but the version they
exported to Oz didn't come with the Mission speakers (they had some
really poor Denon speakers), so I said, "stuff it, let's see what
separates system I can put together for the same amount of cash!"

I never looked back. My next upgrade would be improving the conditions
of my listening room.