New speakers with old mini hifi? Opinions please...
 

I'd like to know if you think there is any point to my following idea. I
want to improve the quality of the system that I have right now in my living
room but money is extremely limited. I've read on a couple of places that
the weakest link with all-in-one systems is often the speakers.
I've been thinking of getting a pair of Tdl STUDIO 10 floorstander speakers
(£199) or something similar and quality speaker cable from Richer Sounds and
pairing it up to the Aiwa system I have until I get funds to buy cd, amp
seperates etc.
Is there any point though? Would the Aiwa completely fail to do the
speakers justice? In which case I guess I'll just have to wait and buy the
whole shebang in one go.

The Aiwa basic specs a
Aiwa NSX-320 mini hifi
16bit Dual DAC CD player
40 watts output
3 way bass reflex speakers with basic cable
It's a good 10 years old but still in good condition.

New speakers with old mini hifi? Opinions please...
 

Maelstrom wrote:
I'd like to know if you think there is any point to my following idea. I
want to improve the quality of the system that I have right now in my living
room but money is extremely limited. I've read on a couple of places that
the weakest link with all-in-one systems is often the speakers.
I've been thinking of getting a pair of Tdl STUDIO 10 floorstander speakers
(£199) or something similar and quality speaker cable from Richer Sounds and
pairing it up to the Aiwa system I have until I get funds to buy cd, amp
seperates etc.
Is there any point though? Would the Aiwa completely fail to do the
speakers justice? In which case I guess I'll just have to wait and buy the
whole shebang in one go.

The Aiwa basic specs a
Aiwa NSX-320 mini hifi
16bit Dual DAC CD player
40 watts output
3 way bass reflex speakers with basic cable
It's a good 10 years old but still in good condition.


This'll probably start a war but here goes!!!

Yes, improving the speakers will probably give you the single biggest
increase in quality achievable. I don't know the model to which you
refer. Go and listen to a variety of types and choose some you like,
not necessarily those that look good on paper (or physically for that
matter). What they sound like is what's important.

Oh & BTW don't be conned by RS sales crap about "High Quality" speaker
cable. Ordinary .75mm mains flex will be just fine.

Runs, ducking for cover...

New speakers with old mini hifi? Opinions please...
 

In article ,
"Maelstrom" wrote:

Is there any point though? Would the Aiwa completely fail to do the
speakers justice? In which case I guess I'll just have to wait and buy the
whole shebang in one go.

I think it would be a huge improvement, though if it were me I wouldn't
rush out and spend £200 on a pair of floorstanders from the likes of
Richers.

Incidentally, is there a reason for wanting floorstanders?

I think you'll have problems getting to listen to new speakers at the
likes or Richers, they're box shifters and are fine if you know what you
want, but not much good beyond that IMHO.

Try a few local proper hi-fi dealers and see what they suggest, maybe do
a few demos - they'll also be able to offer some advice on where you
want to go when you replace the Aiwa.

Also I'd look at the secondhand market. There are some bargains to be
had IMHO.

Finally, replace the bell wire the Aiwa probably came with, don't get
anything special just some mains flex or something like the £1.20 a
metre Van Damme stuff at Maplins.

cheers,
Paul
--
paul at spamcop dot net

New speakers with old mini hifi? Opinions please...
 

Paul Hutchings wrote:
In article ,
"Maelstrom" wrote:

Is there any point though? Would the Aiwa completely fail to do the
speakers justice? In which case I guess I'll just have to wait and
buy the whole shebang in one go.

I think it would be a huge improvement, though if it were me I
wouldn't rush out and spend £200 on a pair of floorstanders from the
likes of Richers.

Incidentally, is there a reason for wanting floorstanders?

Only in that I've read speakers should be placed close to head height while
listening and I figured why spend money on stands _and_speakers when I could
by floorstanders to begin with.

I think you'll have problems getting to listen to new speakers at the
likes or Richers, they're box shifters and are fine if you know what
you want, but not much good beyond that IMHO.

Try a few local proper hi-fi dealers and see what they suggest, maybe
do a few demos - they'll also be able to offer some advice on where
you want to go when you replace the Aiwa.

Also I'd look at the secondhand market. There are some bargains to be
had IMHO.

Finally, replace the bell wire the Aiwa probably came with, don't get
anything special just some mains flex or something like the £1.20 a
metre Van Damme stuff at Maplins.

Ok. Thanks for all the above advice.

New speakers with old mini hifi? Opinions please...
 

In article ,
Maelstrom wrote:
I've been thinking of getting a pair of Tdl STUDIO 10 floorstander
speakers (£199) or something similar and quality speaker cable

Don't waste your money on expensive speaker cable. Maplin do a decent
enough one off the reel by the metre. XR72 which costs 0.69p per metre
inclusive of VAT.

--
*No sentence fragments *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

New speakers with old mini hifi? Opinions please...
 

"Paul Hutchings" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Maelstrom" wrote:

Is there any point though? Would the Aiwa completely fail to do the
speakers justice? In which case I guess I'll just have to wait and buy
the
whole shebang in one go.

I think it would be a huge improvement, though if it were me I wouldn't
rush out and spend £200 on a pair of floorstanders from the likes of
Richers.

snipped

That is a sound idea Maelstrom. Not only will it improve the sound of your
mini hi-fi straight away, but it's also the first step to upgrading the
rest. I disagree with Paul Hutchings, RS are box shifters, but they will
also let you audition different speakers. They are usually so busy that the
assistant is likely to set you up in the audition room and leave you while
he deals with others. RS sell some decent stuff at the budget level, and you
did say that money was limited. The Tannoy R2s I bought from them are still
sounding great (with a little help from a REL).

Dave W.

New speakers with old mini hifi? Opinions please...
 

Andrew Chesters wrote:

Maelstrom wrote:
I'd like to know if you think there is any point to my following idea. I
want to improve the quality of the system that I have right now in my
living
room but money is extremely limited. I've read on a couple of places
that the weakest link with all-in-one systems is often the speakers.
I've been thinking of getting a pair of Tdl STUDIO 10 floorstander
speakers (£199) or something similar and quality speaker cable from
Richer Sounds and pairing it up to the Aiwa system I have until I get
funds to buy cd, amp seperates etc.
Is there any point though? Would the Aiwa completely fail to do the
speakers justice? In which case I guess I'll just have to wait and buy
the whole shebang in one go.

The Aiwa basic specs a
Aiwa NSX-320 mini hifi
16bit Dual DAC CD player
40 watts output
3 way bass reflex speakers with basic cable
It's a good 10 years old but still in good condition.


This'll probably start a war but here goes!!!

Yes, improving the speakers will probably give you the single biggest
increase in quality achievable. I don't know the model to which you
refer. Go and listen to a variety of types and choose some you like,
not necessarily those that look good on paper (or physically for that
matter). What they sound like is what's important.

Oh & BTW don't be conned by RS sales crap about "High Quality" speaker
cable. Ordinary .75mm mains flex will be just fine.

Runs, ducking for cover...

I'm ducking too because I think you are basically right. The only other
thing that might significantly improve the sound is the room acoustics.

Ian
--
Ian Bell

New speakers with old mini hifi? Opinions please...
 

"Paul Hutchings" wrote in message
...
..

Also I'd look at the secondhand market. There are some bargains to be
had IMHO.

Definitely. Try eBay. To find out about the things on offer try the reviews
on http://www.audioreview.com/. Most common kit is on here, or if not then
other products by the same maker. You will normally be able to pick 'as new'
kit for about half to two-thirds the discounted new price.

Peter Scott

New speakers with old mini hifi? Opinions please...
 

Yes, it would potentially make a GREAT improvement.

When I was 16 I worked at a hi-fi shop, and bought some Spendor SP1
speakers (retailing at 680 pounds at the time, in 1988, IIRC). These
I connected to a cheapo Sanyo (!!!) stack system from 1984, owned by
my parents, but basically hijacked and mainly used by me by that time.

The difference was really great, and it sounded much better. The only
problem was that being a cheapy stack system, it had no CD player,
and the turntable (the main source) was worse than crap.


Martin
--
M.A.Poyser Tel.: 07967 110890
Manchester, U.K. http://www.fleetie.demon.co.uk

New speakers with old mini hifi? Opinions please...
 

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message ...
In article ,
Maelstrom wrote:
I've been thinking of getting a pair of Tdl STUDIO 10 floorstander
speakers (£199) or something similar and quality speaker cable

Don't waste your money on expensive speaker cable. Maplin do a decent
enough one off the reel by the metre. XR72 which costs 0.69p per metre
inclusive of VAT.

0.69 p a metre? ****, that's cheap.


Martin
--
M.A.Poyser Tel.: 07967 110890
Manchester, U.K. http://www.fleetie.demon.co.uk