"Cuzman" wrote in message
...
Keith G wrote:

" Grab this lot from Argos for about 230 quid:
http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/argos.JPG You'll get 3 identical
remotes and a pair of ****e silver superslim floorstanders no good to man
nor beast... "


The offending articles:
http://www.argos.co.uk/wcsstore/argo...5UC256801X.jpg

I was originally thinking more along the lines of a £700 system and
speakers like the Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo 3:
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/p...roduct_ID/1278

So you really think it would be best all round with cheap separates and
£600 speakers like the B&W DM603?
http://www.hifix.co.uk/shop.lasso?shop=B-W

If I spend £600 on speakers, maybe £360 on some Cambridge Audio is a
viable option:

Cambridge Audio Classic A5 Integrated Amplifier (£120)
http://www.richersounds.com/showprod...id=CAMB-A5-SIL
Cambridge Audio Classic D100 CD Player (£120)
http://www.richersounds.com/showprod...=CAMB-D100-SIL
Cambridge Audio Classic DAB300 Tuner (£120)
http://www.richersounds.com/showprod...=CAMB-DAB300-S


OK, difficult for me - my table lamp's blown (strange bulbs - no spare) so
I'm in the dark, excuse any spelling mistakes.

Contrary to the old days when speakers were (apparently) much of a muchness
and amplifiers &c, varied wildly, nowadays the 'electronics' are pretty much
a done deal at the various price levels and speakers are where the main
differences lie. The most important thing is room/speaker matching, closely
followed by speaker/amp matching. Put simply, poor speakers or a bad
speaker/room match will knacker any 'electronics' line-up.

The reason I say grab the Argos cheap stuff is that it is plenty good enough
to steer you toward speakers you could live with and which would survive
future electronics upgrades. You say you wanted 'matching' stuff (I can
relate to that), the Argos stuff matches perfectly, is all controllable from
the same remote (including tone controls) and it has nice buttons. Best of
all it is as cheap as chips and you can shove it into a bedroom for a second
system when you can afford a *proper* upgrade, I've no experience of the
modern Cambridge stuff, but I believe it is perfectly OK - 50% more money
though, which will eat into you speaker budget.

Speakers? One here (or not, I suspect, these days) had the Evo 3s and said
they were 'crap' (???), a friend of mine has them but when I sent him a pair
of Needles (the thin blck ones):

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/speakers1.JPG

....he put them out of commission and tells me they have not been used since.
I have no reason to disbelieve him and if (possible) proof were needed,
here's a shot of the Needles now getting elbowed out by a bigger pair of
'firewood horns' he has just had built!!

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/speakers2.JPG

(Note where the AEs are!! ;-)

B&W 603s? My son has the S2 model of the 602s and wouldn't swap them, check
you need the floorstander version, I'm not sure they're always a better
thing!

See my reply to Wally for further info about the Argos stuff, but my answer
stays the same - grab your matching stack (Argos or Cambridge, whatever) and
then partner it with the best speakers you can find. Good secondhand will
double your budget - any half decent hifi shop will allow you to audition a
600 quid pair of secondhand speakers at home. Walk away if they won't!!