Hi,

Firstly, I am absolutely not a troll!

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.

thanks,

Jim

"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.....

"jimmy" wrote in message
...

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.
thanks,
Jim

Superfi (with whom I have no connection) sell separates, have a website, and
from memory, don't charge for delivery in the UK mainland.

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm

In article , jimmy
wrote:
Hi,

Firstly, I am absolutely not a troll!

OK. :-)

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

This kind of response is a sign that the people in the shop are more
concerned with grabbing your cash than in actually having any real
understanding of audio and giving you decent advice.

( I really don't want to spend £80 on a mains cable).

Nor should you have to.

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!

It would be useful if you could say a bit more about;

1) The kind of music you tend to prefer. (And how loud! :-) )

2) Do you use CD, LP, radio, etc regularly

3) Size and general furnishings of room.

4) Any particular facilities you require

These would help people to give more specific advice.

However in general I'd say that if you are willing to spend around 1000UKP
then you could get a pretty good audio system with carefully chosen
seperate units. My personal suggestion would also be to spend a fair
fraction on the speakers as my experience is this is the area which pays
the most dividend once the other items are of reasonable quality.

NAD do tend to be reasonably regarded. However so do Rotel. I also think
that Creek tend to go unjustly overlooked. So there are various
possibilities, but more info would help us make more specific suggestions.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

"Jim Lesurf" wrote in message
...
In article , jimmy
wrote:
Hi,

Firstly, I am absolutely not a troll!

OK. :-)

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

This kind of response is a sign that the people in the shop are more
concerned with grabbing your cash than in actually having any real
understanding of audio and giving you decent advice.

( I really don't want to spend £80 on a mains cable).

Nor should you have to.

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!

It would be useful if you could say a bit more about;

1) The kind of music you tend to prefer. (And how loud! :-) )

2) Do you use CD, LP, radio, etc regularly

3) Size and general furnishings of room.

4) Any particular facilities you require

These would help people to give more specific advice.

However in general I'd say that if you are willing to spend around 1000UKP
then you could get a pretty good audio system with carefully chosen
seperate units. My personal suggestion would also be to spend a fair
fraction on the speakers as my experience is this is the area which pays
the most dividend once the other items are of reasonable quality.

NAD do tend to be reasonably regarded. However so do Rotel. I also think
that Creek tend to go unjustly overlooked. So there are various
possibilities, but more info would help us make more specific suggestions.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics
http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

Thanks to all for the advice - I have spoken to a shop on the phone who
sound quite helpful and we are going in tomorrow to hear the Rotel gear. The
room the system will be used in is pretty large and is carpeted and has a
fairly large suite. The music we play is really a broad range since we have
quite differing tastes in the family. I do like the facility to go quite
loud occasionally though. We won't need a tuner or record deck - only CDs
will be used.

J.

jimmy wrote:
Hi,

Firstly, I am absolutely not a troll!
or so -
remember, it must look pretty as well as sound good!

I am in the Glasgow area.

thanks,

Jim

ROTEL RA02 AMPLIFIER £350

ROTEL RCD02 CD PLAYER £370



Speakers MISSION M34 SPEAKERS £230

two CABLE TALK IMPROVED 3 INTERCONNECT (1/2 METRE) £16 each

CABLE TALK FLAT 2 BIWIRE SPEAKER CABLE £5 meter

if you wanted radio tuner ROTEL RT02 TUNER £270

all above http://www.superfi.co.uk


Project Debut Phono SB Turntable £140 From sevenoaks






If amp has no phono stage or £140 if it has



--
Dave xxxx
www.davewhitter.myby.co.uk

Music is Art - Audio is Engineering
Steam is Fun

In article , Dave xxxxx
writes
jimmy wrote:
Hi,

Firstly, I am absolutely not a troll!
or so -
remember, it must look pretty as well as sound good!

I am in the Glasgow area.

thanks,

Jim

ROTEL RA02 AMPLIFIER £350

ROTEL RCD02 CD PLAYER £370



Speakers MISSION M34 SPEAKERS £230

two CABLE TALK IMPROVED 3 INTERCONNECT (1/2 METRE) £16 each

CABLE TALK FLAT 2 BIWIRE SPEAKER CABLE £5 meter

if you wanted radio tuner ROTEL RT02 TUNER £270

Save yourself some dosh. Denon TU260 Mk2 for around 89 odd quid from
Richersounds. Excellent AM and FM tuner. Some people use these for
rebroadcast applications and monitoring. Excellent value for money.
Spend some of the saved money on a good aerial and cable. Not the crap
sold in the DIY sheds, a Triax or Unix from CPC or similar...

Trust me I'm a radio transmission engineer

--
Tony Sayer

On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 20:27:21 +0100, tony sayer
wrote:

In article , Dave xxxxx
writes
jimmy wrote:
Hi,

Firstly, I am absolutely not a troll!
or so -
remember, it must look pretty as well as sound good!

I am in the Glasgow area.

thanks,

Jim

ROTEL RA02 AMPLIFIER £350

ROTEL RCD02 CD PLAYER £370



Speakers MISSION M34 SPEAKERS £230

two CABLE TALK IMPROVED 3 INTERCONNECT (1/2 METRE) £16 each

CABLE TALK FLAT 2 BIWIRE SPEAKER CABLE £5 meter

if you wanted radio tuner ROTEL RT02 TUNER £270

Save yourself some dosh. Denon TU260 Mk2 for around 89 odd quid from
Richersounds. Excellent AM and FM tuner. Some people use these for
rebroadcast applications and monitoring. Excellent value for money.
Spend some of the saved money on a good aerial and cable. Not the crap
sold in the DIY sheds, a Triax or Unix from CPC or similar...

Trust me I'm a radio transmission engineer

Save yourself even more dosh by avoiding the latest models in
electronics - and don't spend *anything* on cables. Buy a system from
one dealer, and you'll get cables thrown in for free - they'll be all
you'll ever need.

Trust me I'm a precision analogue electronics engineer :-)


Richer Sounds (it's in Jamaica Street if you don't already know)

Cambridge Audio CD5 £99.95

Cambridge Audio A300 £139.95

Mordaunt-Short MS908 £499.95


Good alternative speakers from other stores a

B&W DM603S3 or KEF Q5 - £650 but you can get them for £600 from any
decent store.


Note the heavy spending bias towards the speakers in these
recommendations - this is not an accident. Modern electronics are
extremely good, so once you've got past the most basic trash, and used
a 'box shifter' like Richer Sounds to secure good stuff at bargain
basement prices, you have a lot more budget for what *really* makes a
difference to sound quality - the speakers. Mission and Wharfedale
seem to have very variable ranges these days, some good but some dogs,
so I'd tend to stick with solid 'strength in depth' makes like
Mordaunt-Short, KEF and B&W. If you're not fussed about really deep
bass, you should also look at the superb Dynaudio Audience 52, which
also comes in at about £600, but is a stand mounter, so allow an extra
£100 or so for decent stands from Target or similar. Regarding 'she
who must be obeyed', slim floorstanders like the others mentioned
above are often preferred visually, but sometimes lack the midrange
clarity of a top standmount like the Dynaudio.

In combination with the Cambridge Audio gear mentioned above (or spend
an extra £150 or so for the Cambridge Audio Azur 540 pair if you
really must have the latest 'prettiest' gear - available in black or
silver - let SWMBO choose and she can't complain later!), this will
give you genuine 'high end' sound for a *very* reasonable outlay.

BTW, the advice on the Denon TU260 (and aerial) was spot on - it's
still the best budget tuner around. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

BTW, the advice on the Denon TU260 (and aerial) was spot on - it's
still the best budget tuner around. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Awww! Fankx!.

Course you could seek out some decent speakers from yesteryear such as
the Spendor BC1's, could live with those quite easily if SWMBO ever
objected to the 63's on their stands.

Fortunately she's one of those rare wimmen who likes consumer audio
having her own QUAD 11's and 33/303/FM2 much updated, with 24/96 M audio
soundcard and LAN server with some few thousand tracks to draw from in
her playroom)

Simple really change yer SWMBO before yer speakers!....
--
Tony Sayer

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 11:54:01 +0100, tony sayer
wrote:

BTW, the advice on the Denon TU260 (and aerial) was spot on - it's
still the best budget tuner around. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Awww! Fankx!.

Course you could seek out some decent speakers from yesteryear such as
the Spendor BC1's, could live with those quite easily if SWMBO ever
objected to the 63's on their stands.

I was unfortunate enough to hear a pair of those recently. I say
'unfortunate', because they have always been one of my fondly
remembered classic speakers, but I have to say that by modern
standards, they sound distinctly overwarm, almost muddy, in the bass,
with very average mid and treble definition. Still, on the bright
side, we have clearly made progress! The '63s remain a great speaker
however, with the 988 only building on those strengths and providing
as standard a number of well-known 'tweaks' to that classic design.

Fortunately she's one of those rare wimmen who likes consumer audio
having her own QUAD 11's and 33/303/FM2 much updated, with 24/96 M audio
soundcard and LAN server with some few thousand tracks to draw from in
her playroom)

Simple really change yer SWMBO before yer speakers!....

I hadn't planned on spending *that* much on new speakers! :-)
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering