"jimmy" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Firstly, I am absolutely not a troll!


Waste of time posting here then! ;-)


My wife and I have had a relatively top of the range Sony 'music centre'
mini system for about 10 years ( cost about 500 ukp at that time ). It has
now given up the ghost and I want to indulge myself in a half decent
separates system.

After doing a bit of research I though NAD looked a good buy with the
chosen
system coming in at around 800 ukp. However, as soon as my wife saw it she
decided it was far too ugly to grace our living room - so that was that.

She has decided she quite likes the look of Rotel kit and may allow me to
get that. However, when I phoned a hi-fi shop in the area to see if they
have Rotel in stock they sounded rather pretentious and fitted the
sterotype hi-fi nutter profile which puts me off going in ( I really don't
want to spend £80 on a mains cable). Budget is not really a big
consideration within reason - but I am finding this a load of hassle and
am
close to caving in and going to Comet and spending another £500 on a music
centre again - are separates really worth all this work - and I would
really
appreciate suggestions as to where to buy and what to buy in the region of
1000 ukp or so - remember, it must look pretty as well as sound good!

I am in the Glasgow area.


It's really quite simple - if you don't want the hassle of putting together
a system yourself (and I can quite understand how daunted you might be by
that prospect) just go into a couple of 'HiFi' shops that you feel you can
trust (ignore any 'pretentiousness' - it comes with the territory), give
them your requirements, get their recommendations and get a demo (very
important). Better yet, ask them if you can audition the 'recommended' gear
in your own home - any 'decent' hifi shop will be more than willing to do
this, although they might want to swipe your card for the value of the kit
on a 'returnable' basis. (Mention Rotel to start the proceedings off - I
personally doubt you would be disappointed with any Rotel gear...??) Gently
play each shop off against the other until you are comfortable with the
'sound' and the price of any kit you decide on.

Even better yet, go to Comet, like you say, and simply buy the setup that
takes your fancy - if it's ss/digital gear you're after, there really isn't
much difference between the various names (Technics, Sony, Denon etc.)
provided you get enough power to do the job. Use your own judgement to avoid
trashy 'unknown' makes - an abundance of flashing lights is usually a good
clue.....