Recommendation For A Decent Sound System.

[Marc9 0]

How is the cinema pro 600 paired with denon 1911 or onkyo?went down to adelphi and was recc the setup.WIth about 2k is there any better choices?

[farkingnuts 0]

Why would you expect it to be any different to just about any industry selling stuff

I am aware that WhatHiFi is no longer considered reliable due to accusations that they were giving in to advertisers with ratings. If you are basing your anti-British HiFi sentiment on this then it would seem that in your mind, no British HiFi could ever get a good score as you would believe the score is falsely boosted. Clearly that is wrong and the reason that someone who is looking to buy needs to check forums for user comments and not just magazine reviews. Dismissing all British HiFi out of hand is just plain silly.

Sorry but I have to disagree. It is like asking a F1 driver what car to drive to work. Peoples needs vary as do their environments and available finances. Sure a F1 car would be great but not obtainable for most with a other concerns. Balanced suggestions would be welcomed but it is up to the driver to go and find what fits them best and not have a F1 drive pick the car and then have to fit yourself to it.

Are you for real ?. Are you suggesting Mars should spend S$300/mtr on speaker cable or even S$150/mtr ? Where has this S$300 come from ??. Kimber is certainly well regarded, Nordst I have not dealt with so cannot comment. Taking an interconnect cable costing 1/3 the price of the amp you are connecting it too is really a waste of money, better to get a better amp. I am soal surprised that as you apparently speak for audiophiles, you have not made the point that a decent stereo amp for less money than the AV will produce much better music.

Well I guess that also depends on the partnered equipment, set-up of the amp, speaker placement and acoustics of the listening area. It is also interesting to note that originally you stated the 685s are 'the BOOMING bass will be so OVER-BLOATED i doubt you'll hear any details at all !' and now you seem only to be talking about the 6 series floor standers.

Something we both agree on although I think we have different views on at which level good sits in the scale of things.

RB

### a top US brand like Nordost will be able to outperform those 5-star British cables at 1/3 the price !

### B&W 6-series are for AV - all their floorstanders boom ! Only the top 2 series in the brand is even worth listening and many brands are better at lower prices since B&W is most probably the biggest speaker advertisers.

[farkingnuts 0]

I'm more into pop, jazz, instrumentals. Less into rock. I popped by in the afternoon today to listen to the KEF KHT3005 (not bad), and Q300 (very nice). I think its a close one between Q300 and the B&W685. Probably need to go down to audition the 2 again together.

Think I should bring my avatar and dark knight bluray down to test.

someone suggested Q-Audio ????!!!!

i don't see this company can remain in business in even 3 years time !

and if they go bust, no one will buy the company too !

for jazz and classical music, B&W 6-series are definitely a NO-NO !!!!!

[farkingnuts 0]

@ the original poster

It makes me smile to see that whenever people get to talking about hifi, things can rapidly get very heated.

Here's my take having done my bit of research a few years back, listened to alot of different kit in Hong Kong where I lived at the time and ended up buying NHTs driven by Cambridge Audio hardware:

Never get into a discussion about cables; those that take the hobby very seriously are either cable zealots who swear they can hear differences and those that say this is rubbish. My answer is, try it yourself at an audio shop; try crappy electrical lamp type wire vs a several hundred bucks version. Don't let the salesman touch anything other than the wires and listen for yourself, if you can hear a difference, you've found another avenue to spend money happily. Thankfully I couldn't tell the difference so could spend my money on other parts of my kit.

With regard to speakers, again listen to stuff in your price bracket; ignore the salesman and let your ears decide. If you can't find anything suitable in your price bracket I would be surprised because you are unlikely to be used to listening to anything "better" unless your family/friends have great systems which you frequently listen to, in which case bad luck, sell your car/house etc. in pursuit of sound perfection. Do bring your own stuff to listen to and watch as you rarely find any system great for all uses. My NHT floor standers have, to my ear, lovely clear sound for the music I like and give reasonable bass effects for movies with no need for a sub. My home theatre is in my basement in an area about 12ft wide by 40 ft long. (btw Velodyne does do a great sub but if living in an apartment maybe that isn't too great an idea if you want to be a reasonable neighbour.)

My very unsexy suggestion is start cheap and have fun. Audiophiles are notoriously fickle and always chasing the next great thing. Profit from this and buy 2 - 3 year old kit from these guys at stupidly discounted prices. You can audition it in their homes which could be a similar size to yours and if you hear something you like, buy it and take it away. Get fed up with it or fancy a change, sell it on and get another set second hand. It's a great way to have fun, learn, meet some people with the same hobby too.

Oh, last bit of unasked for wisdom, buy the best amp you can afford as the heart of your system, I use one to drive my floor standers and another for the surround and the center...this is certainly where second hand can pick you up incredibly expensive/exotic stuff for stupidly low money because the guys who can buy this stuff often buy it for bragging rights and when the next cool thing comes along, they have to sell to keep up appearances...be smart and enjoy. Hope my not too serious approach doesn't offend but in all honesty, it's not a religion, it's just entertainment. Have fun mate!

you got the newer NHTs or the legendary SuperTwo or the higher models ?

unbeatable midrange and treble at their price!

if they still make the SuperZero , it'll be the absolute killer 5.1 system!

[rmgthatsme 0]

you got the newer NHTs or the legendary SuperTwo or the higher models ?

unbeatable midrange and treble at their price!

if they still make the SuperZero , it'll be the absolute killer 5.1 system!

Hi I bought my simple kit about 4~5 years ago in HK. I use a pair of NHT 4 for music and the fronts, a 3C for the centre of a 5.1 system which uses a pair of 3 for the rears. I use a Cambridge Audio Azur 840A amp for the fronts paired with a 640R av receiver for films. Use a 640 C player for my CDs and a BBK (you may know this as OPPO) 989 for DVDs. For projection I use a Panasonic PI AE 1000E projector on a Grandview Flat Screen 10 foot width screen (can't remember the diagonal dimension) which is fun for films. It's a nice workhorse system, fun for the family to watch films, can belt out rock when my sons' friends are over and destroying my basement and soothing for me when I am chillin to Linda Ronstadt or getting my pulse up to the Clash. I really do use very simple (almost like lamp) wire cos I can't tell the diff with the branded stuff which can be 1000s more.

You know the Chinese do make some lovely stuff nowadays because they compete with the very high end imports for a large and extremely wealthy local client base. I keep threatening to buy one of the beautiful open valve amps they make, really a sweet soft sound for classical or female vocals. Don't have too much free time so not sure if it makes sense

[rmgthatsme 0]

If there's a "like" button for your post (like in Facebook or wat), I would have "like" it.

Thanks mate, just my POV. It's great there are so many differing views of this hobby but my opinion is it's safer to buy simple or second hand to get a "financially harmless" intro to the hobby.

Cheers

[Drexter 0]

Nice thread. I would need some advice from the gurus here soon. Just bought confirmed a 4room resale flat. I'm an enthusiastic with a budget who spend 80% of my time watching movies than music.

[farkingnuts 0]

Hi I bought my simple kit about 4~5 years ago in HK. I use a pair of NHT 4 for music and the fronts, a 3C for the centre of a 5.1 system which uses a pair of 3 for the rears. I use a Cambridge Audio Azur 840A amp for the fronts paired with a 640R av receiver for films. Use a 640 C player for my CDs and a BBK (you may know this as OPPO) 989 for DVDs. For projection I use a Panasonic PI AE 1000E projector on a Grandview Flat Screen 10 foot width screen (can't remember the diagonal dimension) which is fun for films. It's a nice workhorse system, fun for the family to watch films, can belt out rock when my sons' friends are over and destroying my basement and soothing for me when I am chillin to Linda Ronstadt or getting my pulse up to the Clash. I really do use very simple (almost like lamp) wire cos I can't tell the diff with the branded stuff which can be 1000s more.

You know the Chinese do make some lovely stuff nowadays because they compete with the very high end imports for a large and extremely wealthy local client base. I keep threatening to buy one of the beautiful open valve amps they make, really a sweet soft sound for classical or female vocals. Don't have too much free time so not sure if it makes sense

those China tube amps if buy for below 1,000 still okay but if spend more than 1,000 i think there are some British or Japanese brands available.

China tube amps sound far too mushy and lack definition, os buy cheap cheap still okay.

[farkingnuts 0]

Nice thread. I would need some advice from the gurus here soon. Just bought confirmed a 4room resale flat. I'm an enthusiastic with a budget who spend 80% of my time watching movies than music.

so you're more into movies, 1st thing 1st - never believe in all those British hifi magazines, they give good reviews base on how much they get in advertising money !

### i know for a fact that some of the reviews were not even written by the reviewers but by the manufacturers themselves !

the editors merely edit these reviews.

[Drexter 0]

so you're more into movies, 1st thing 1st - never believe in all those British hifi magazines, they give good reviews base on how much they get in advertising money !

### i know for a fact that some of the reviews were not even written by the reviewers but by the manufacturers themselves !

the editors merely edit these reviews.

Yup, I'm into movies. Just finished watching Let Me In. My source is watching BR on PS3. Would need a HTS to go along once I got my house. So when do I start sourcing for HTS? I'm currently looking around for my renovation.

[tangerinez 0]

need some comments from all of you pls

went to Adelphi today and spent a good 4 hrs in just 2 different shops auditioning the HTS.

to be frank, we don't know what we want from our HTS. in our current lifestyle, the boyfriend and i do not watch movies at home and do not listen to music at home. not because we don't enjoy them, but because we don't stay together so don't have the time to incorporate these activities into our lifestyle.

the HTS will be in the entertainment room which is approx 4m x 4m and we need 2m x 1.6m to place a drumset, and another small area to place a digital piano. hence the sofa will prob be placed about 2.5 to 3m away from the TV.

our budget is 3k for a AVR, speakers and sub-woofer.

after 4 hours in 2 different shops, we are recommended the 2 set-ups below:

1) Denon AVR 1911 + Pro Cinema 800

2) Marantz NR-1601 AVR + Morel Soundspot SP-1 satellite speakers + Morel Soundsub PSW8 Subwoofer + Heco Victa 300 speakers

The 2nd set is more expensive than the 1st set by $540.

While auditioning the 1st set, we mixed and matched with Onkyo 508 and Wharfedale speakers.

Pardon my noob language here. We tried Onkyo + Pro Cinema 600 and felt the bass was not strong enough. So we switched to Onkyo + Pro Cinema 800 and of course it was slightly better. Then we tried Denon + Pro Cinema 800 and preferred this to Onkyo. Then we tried music instead of movie and loved the crisp sound from Denon. When we switched back to Onkyo, the music sounded very muffled. Therefore we shortlisted Denon over Onkyo.

As for the 2nd set, it seemed that for movies, it has less bass than Denon. But the surround sound seems clearer. Music from just the Heco speakers is really nice.

Now we are really confused:

1) everyone in RT seems to favour Onkyo but we didn't like it compared to Denon. something wrong with our ears?

2) love the sounds from Heco but it doesn't seem to be popular here?

3) saw some comments here that suggests morel is overpriced? (note i didn't really care that it looked better but it was the only speakers that this shop recommended)

any comments are greatly appreciated! thanks!

[farkingnuts 0]

Yup, I'm into movies. Just finished watching Let Me In. My source is watching BR on PS3. Would need a HTS to go along once I got my house. So when do I start sourcing for HTS? I'm currently looking around for my renovation.

think about your surround cables now and mountings for the rear speakers.

get high-purity copper cables (get 9N copper) for the rear speakers - don't stinge on them since once they're in the false ceiling, they're staying put and it's a nightmare to change them!

[farkingnuts 0]

need some comments from all of you pls

went to Adelphi today and spent a good 4 hrs in just 2 different shops auditioning the HTS.

to be frank, we don't know what we want from our HTS. in our current lifestyle, the boyfriend and i do not watch movies at home and do not listen to music at home. not because we don't enjoy them, but because we don't stay together so don't have the time to incorporate these activities into our lifestyle.

the HTS will be in the entertainment room which is approx 4m x 4m and we need 2m x 1.6m to place a drumset, and another small area to place a digital piano. hence the sofa will prob be placed about 2.5 to 3m away from the TV.

our budget is 3k for a AVR, speakers and sub-woofer.

after 4 hours in 2 different shops, we are recommended the 2 set-ups below:

1) Denon AVR 1911 + Pro Cinema 800

2) Marantz NR-1601 AVR + Morel Soundspot SP-1 satellite speakers + Morel Soundsub PSW8 Subwoofer + Heco Victa 300 speakers

The 2nd set is more expensive than the 1st set by $540.

While auditioning the 1st set, we mixed and matched with Onkyo 508 and Wharfedale speakers.

Pardon my noob language here. We tried Onkyo + Pro Cinema 600 and felt the bass was not strong enough. So we switched to Onkyo + Pro Cinema 800 and of course it was slightly better. Then we tried Denon + Pro Cinema 800 and preferred this to Onkyo. Then we tried music instead of movie and loved the crisp sound from Denon. When we switched back to Onkyo, the music sounded very muffled. Therefore we shortlisted Denon over Onkyo.

As for the 2nd set, it seemed that for movies, it has less bass than Denon. But the surround sound seems clearer. Music from just the Heco speakers is really nice.

Now we are really confused:

1) everyone in RT seems to favour Onkyo but we didn't like it compared to Denon. something wrong with our ears?

2) love the sounds from Heco but it doesn't seem to be popular here?

3) saw some comments here that suggests morel is overpriced? (note i didn't really care that it looked better but it was the only speakers that this shop recommended)

any comments are greatly appreciated! thanks!

get speakers that are better for music unless you're a movie freak.

for satellites, get Cabasse - you'll find no better brand!

[Drexter 0]

think about your surround cables now and mountings for the rear speakers.

get high-purity copper cables (get 9N copper) for the rear speakers - don't stinge on them since once they're in the false ceiling, they're staying put and it's a nightmare to change them!

I may not have false ceiling in my HTS room. Does that means that I can think of the surround cables later?

PS: Renovation is whole lot of money....

[farkingnuts 0]

I may not have false ceiling in my HTS room. Does that means that I can think of the surround cables later?

PS: Renovation is whole lot of money....

you can wait a bit, just plan on the conduits for the rear cables.

if you want totally worry-free cables that won't oxidize and turn black after many many years - buy Nordost but quite expensive though compared to those cheapo ones.