I'm 'doing up' my office. Part of the deal with my wife is that I can
install a music system and therefore keep out of the living room even
more...
The last time I ventured into 'Hi-Fi' I bought an AVI CD/amp with Ruark
Talisman speakers. This has served us well for 10 or so years (and
continues to do so in the lounge).

I got all enthused about a pleasant, low key system to play mainly
accoustic folk and classical music. I read a few newsgroups and
magazines and they lead me, right or wrong, to buy a chinese valve amp
on Ebay. It's a single-ended 300B job, which I haven't received yet.

I'd like to build some horn-loaded speakers in the not too distant
future, but for now I'd like to buy a suitable, inexpensive pair of
used speakers (Ebay?). Can anyone suggest a suitable pair for a 9
watt/channel amp in my 17ft X 11ft room?

The other component I need is a CD player. I guess I could buy
something new like a Cambridge Azur job (or perhaps Arcam CD 73), but I
was wondering if used CD players of a slightly higher quality are a
sensible buy? Names like Cyrus, Naim, Marantz drift in from the mists
of time...

Any help with these would be appreciated.

Steve

"SteveAl" wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm 'doing up' my office. Part of the deal with my wife is that I can
install a music system and therefore keep out of the living room even
more...
The last time I ventured into 'Hi-Fi' I bought an AVI CD/amp with Ruark
Talisman speakers. This has served us well for 10 or so years (and
continues to do so in the lounge).

I got all enthused about a pleasant, low key system to play mainly
accoustic folk and classical music. I read a few newsgroups and
magazines and they lead me, right or wrong, to buy a chinese valve amp
on Ebay. It's a single-ended 300B job, which I haven't received yet.

I'd like to build some horn-loaded speakers in the not too distant
future, but for now I'd like to buy a suitable, inexpensive pair of
used speakers (Ebay?). Can anyone suggest a suitable pair for a 9
watt/channel amp in my 17ft X 11ft room?

The other component I need is a CD player. I guess I could buy
something new like a Cambridge Azur job (or perhaps Arcam CD 73), but I
was wondering if used CD players of a slightly higher quality are a
sensible buy? Names like Cyrus, Naim, Marantz drift in from the mists
of time...

Any help with these would be appreciated.


Hmm...

Chinese 300B SET and Horns? You'll be smoking, riding motorbikes and
drinking out of dirty glasses next....

OK, you missed the mint Marantz KI Sig CDP which went for a bargain price
recently, but I got a pair of very nice pair of *as new* Fostex FE206Es on
eBay right now with a Reserve set at about half Retail.....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...e=STRK:MESE:IT

.....and I've got a nice pair of Tannoy 609s (on their own stands) which I
wuz going to plunder for the drivers but decided against it! (Too nice to
vandalise, so I got a pair of Lowthers instead....!! :-) They will probably
be going on eBay soon, unless....??

They would do you very nicely until you got your horns built - so close to
Buschhorns it's hard to split them!! If they interest you email me direct
for a deep and meaningful!

Otherwise, go scrute my site:

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/

and heed the warnings therein contained...!! ;-)

"SteveAl" wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm 'doing up' my office. Part of the deal with my wife is that I can
install a music system and therefore keep out of the living room even
more...
The last time I ventured into 'Hi-Fi' I bought an AVI CD/amp with Ruark
Talisman speakers. This has served us well for 10 or so years (and
continues to do so in the lounge).

I got all enthused about a pleasant, low key system to play mainly
accoustic folk and classical music. I read a few newsgroups and
magazines and they lead me, right or wrong, to buy a chinese valve amp
on Ebay. It's a single-ended 300B job, which I haven't received yet.

I'd like to build some horn-loaded speakers in the not too distant
future, but for now I'd like to buy a suitable, inexpensive pair of
used speakers (Ebay?). Can anyone suggest a suitable pair for a 9
watt/channel amp in my 17ft X 11ft room?

The other component I need is a CD player. I guess I could buy
something new like a Cambridge Azur job (or perhaps Arcam CD 73), but I
was wondering if used CD players of a slightly higher quality are a
sensible buy? Names like Cyrus, Naim, Marantz drift in from the mists
of time...

Any help with these would be appreciated.

**Ok, first off: NEVER, EVER buy your amp, before choosing your speakers.
Never ever. Speaker exert, by a long margin, the greatest effect on sound
quality. As such, they tend to be a very personal choice. ALWAYS choose your
speakers first. AFTER you choose your speakers (preferably, by listening in
your own room), then you can select an amplifier which will correctly
interface with those speakers.

Over to you.....


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"SteveAl" wrote in message
ups.com...
OK, Trevor.
As I said in my first post, my speakers will be home made horns.
The advice I was seeking was for an interim pair of cheapo secondhand
jobs so that when my amp arrives it doesn't just sit there looking
pretty.
Unfortunately, I'm working in South America for the next 18 days, so
can't be at home knocking up those horns (as they say...).

Can you offer any suggestions re. speakers or CD player?

**Sure. Buy the pair of speakers you like the sound of. Ignore every opinion
you receive and choose for yourself. After you've chosen those speakers, you
can choose an appropriate amplifier to complement them. Simple. Your
suggestion of an Arcam CD player is a good one, IMO. There are other
choices. I would be FAR more concerned about speaker choices, however.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

**Sure. Buy the pair of speakers you like the sound of. Ignore every opinion
you receive and choose for yourself. After you've chosen those speakers, you
can choose an appropriate amplifier to complement them. Simple. Your
suggestion of an Arcam CD player is a good one, IMO. There are other
choices. I would be FAR more concerned about speaker choices, however.


Not easy to hear the speakers on Ebay, is it?
Your advice about choosing amps is, sadly, too late to save me from my
fate...

"SteveAl" wrote in message
oups.com...


**Sure. Buy the pair of speakers you like the sound of. Ignore every
opinion
you receive and choose for yourself. After you've chosen those speakers,
you
can choose an appropriate amplifier to complement them. Simple. Your
suggestion of an Arcam CD player is a good one, IMO. There are other
choices. I would be FAR more concerned about speaker choices, however.


Not easy to hear the speakers on Ebay, is it?

**Then don't buy them. Not ever. Would you buy a car without test driving
it? Would you marry a woman without first bedding her? Why on Earth would
anyone in their right mind, buy an audio product without first listening to
it?

Your advice about choosing amps is, sadly, too late to save me from my
fate...

**Common sense seems to be in short supply in many areas of life.

NB: I, too, have been guilty of making similar mistakes. I don't make them
anymore (I hope). I do try to warn others, however.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Not easy to hear the speakers on Ebay, is it?

**Then don't buy them. Not ever. Would you buy a car without test driving
it? Would you marry a woman without first bedding her? Why on Earth would
anyone in their right mind, buy an audio product without first listening to
it?


Thousands of us poor folks do. Strangely enough, I think I'm going to
enjoy my music despite your warnings...



Your advice about choosing amps is, sadly, too late to save me from my
fate...

**Common sense seems to be in short supply in many areas of life.



Isn't that the sad truth...

On the basis of my experience I'd put more money into a DAC and use a
cheapo CD player just as a transport. Can you build equipment at all?
There are some nice DAC kits about in Europe and USA.

I can't see much wrong with a 9 watt 300b amp in your size room. Sounds
like a good buy. I'm guessing you need sensitivity around 90db. If you
can make do with 88db then you can use full range aluminium cone units.
I like them for their clean sound, and two decent ones are the Jordan
JX92S http://www.ejjordan.co.uk/drivers/jx92.html, and the Monacor SPH-
130AL http://www.bmm-electronics.com/Produ...roduct_ID=2731
Cheap at 50 euros

I use the Monacor in a bass reflex cabinet and I'm pleased with the
results. It's pretty flat within its range as you can see from the
graph, and the 9k peak is less audible than you might imagine. You can
also get fairly decent bass out of it by tuning the port. Andy

SteveAl wrote

I'm 'doing up' my office. Part of the deal with my wife is that I can
install a music system and therefore keep out of the living room even
more...
The last time I ventured into 'Hi-Fi' I bought an AVI CD/amp with Ruark
Talisman speakers. This has served us well for 10 or so years (and
continues to do so in the lounge).

I got all enthused about a pleasant, low key system to play mainly
accoustic folk and classical music. I read a few newsgroups and
magazines and they lead me, right or wrong, to buy a chinese valve amp
on Ebay. It's a single-ended 300B job, which I haven't received yet.

I'd like to build some horn-loaded speakers in the not too distant
future, but for now I'd like to buy a suitable, inexpensive pair of
used speakers (Ebay?). Can anyone suggest a suitable pair for a 9
watt/channel amp in my 17ft X 11ft room?

The other component I need is a CD player. I guess I could buy
something new like a Cambridge Azur job (or perhaps Arcam CD 73), but I
was wondering if used CD players of a slightly higher quality are a
sensible buy? Names like Cyrus, Naim, Marantz drift in from the mists
of time...

Any help with these would be appreciated.

Chinese doesn't say much about it...could be anything from the best to the
worst. It's a big place.

The chances are that the output transformers will be of poor quality...true of
most SETs, unfortunately, which is why they have an unnecessary reputation for
being unable to drive much bass, and for distorting what bass there is.

I'm not a speaker expert, but I guess it is important to get speakers that
present as flat a load as possible, as the amp will probably tend to emphasise
variations as a result of a highish output impedance.

Kind, sensitive standmounts, ones that don't need bullying into submission, I
suppose.

Now, I bet Trevor has a list of well-behaved standmounts or bookshelves suitable
for driving with low-power SETs in his head, but he won't say.

Hi-fi is a journey, not a destination. The suggestion that you must pick
speakers first, and then choose an amp, carries within it a fundamental
presupposition about the nature and purpose of domestic audio that is
ill-conceived, especially if you want to try the SET route. How can you listen
to the speakers without an amp? And vice-versa, of course.

Trevor would not be wherever he is without making mistakes.

Almost any CD player from a reputable producer should be OK. You pay for what
you get, so avoid features you don't need.

cheers, Ian

"Ian Iveson" wrote in message
.uk...
SteveAl wrote

I'm 'doing up' my office. Part of the deal with my wife is that I can
install a music system and therefore keep out of the living room even
more...
The last time I ventured into 'Hi-Fi' I bought an AVI CD/amp with Ruark
Talisman speakers. This has served us well for 10 or so years (and
continues to do so in the lounge).

I got all enthused about a pleasant, low key system to play mainly
accoustic folk and classical music. I read a few newsgroups and
magazines and they lead me, right or wrong, to buy a chinese valve amp
on Ebay. It's a single-ended 300B job, which I haven't received yet.

I'd like to build some horn-loaded speakers in the not too distant
future, but for now I'd like to buy a suitable, inexpensive pair of
used speakers (Ebay?). Can anyone suggest a suitable pair for a 9
watt/channel amp in my 17ft X 11ft room?

The other component I need is a CD player. I guess I could buy
something new like a Cambridge Azur job (or perhaps Arcam CD 73), but I
was wondering if used CD players of a slightly higher quality are a
sensible buy? Names like Cyrus, Naim, Marantz drift in from the mists
of time...

Any help with these would be appreciated.

Chinese doesn't say much about it...could be anything from the best to the
worst. It's a big place.

The chances are that the output transformers will be of poor
quality...true of most SETs, unfortunately, which is why they have an
unnecessary reputation for being unable to drive much bass, and for
distorting what bass there is.

I'm not a speaker expert, but I guess it is important to get speakers that
present as flat a load as possible, as the amp will probably tend to
emphasise variations as a result of a highish output impedance.

Kind, sensitive standmounts, ones that don't need bullying into
submission, I suppose.

Now, I bet Trevor has a list of well-behaved standmounts or bookshelves
suitable for driving with low-power SETs in his head, but he won't say.

**You'd lose that bet. As I already stated: Buy the damned speaker FIRST,
not last. THEN choose the amp. I can only tell what speakers _I_ like.
Telling another person to buy the speakers I prefer, is a little like
telling a man which woman he should live with, or what car to buy. It is a
personal preference thing.


Hi-fi is a journey, not a destination. The suggestion that you must pick
speakers first, and then choose an amp, carries within it a fundamental
presupposition about the nature and purpose of domestic audio that is
ill-conceived, especially if you want to try the SET route.

**The bottom line is this: SOME amplifiers are fundamentally unsuited to
SOME speakers. The choice of a SET amplifier restricts one's choice of
suitable speakers considerably. Given that speakers overwhelmingly affect
the overall sound of a system more than any other component, it makes sense
to decide on speaker first. Buying the amplifier first, is a little like
buying some tyres, then finding a car to fit them.

How can you listen
to the speakers without an amp? And vice-versa, of course.

**Indeed. That is what dealers are for. You pop into the dealer's showroom
(or a friend's place) and listen to some speakers. Buy the ones you like.
Kinda like buying a car. Pop down to the dealership and thake the damned
thing for a test drive.


Trevor would not be wherever he is without making mistakes.

**Indeed. I've made plenty. I am trying to assist those who need help. I
will tell you something for nothing, though: I have NEVER, nor will I ever,
buy a piece of audio equipment, without first listening to it. That would be
a stupid, fatal mistake. BTW: I do not mean the ACTUAL piece of equipment,
but a representative sample.


Almost any CD player from a reputable producer should be OK. You pay for
what you get, so avoid features you don't need.

**Indeed. Whatever you do, buy the speakers FIRST. Not last.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com