New Stereo setup

[cooltoad]

Hi folks,

I am a confused newbie. My only taste of hifi has been through PC-xfi sound card/Bose companion 3(?) and grado SR60 headphones. I want a dedicated stereo setup around 15-20k ( and the option of upgrading my Bose companion 3 thro' amp),

I listen to soft rock, power ballads, western classical, carnatic (esp. live concert recordings) a bit of Hinsdatani , smooth jazz, R&B, etc.

Any suggestions for uppgrading my bose setup and also a dedicated stereo setup would be greatly appreciated.Dont know much about the second hand durability issues also.

 

[spirovious]

Many of us will suggest Audioengine5 connected to PC.
If needed CDp+AMP+SPK then Budget is very small.

If PC is your source ,then Norge1000 + Norge BS(nano) for 15k
Norge1000+ Wharf9.2 for 20k

 

[vinod_david]

Hi folks,

I am a confused newbie. My only taste of hifi has been through PC-xfi sound card/Bose companion 3(?) and grado SR60 headphones. I want a dedicated stereo setup around 15-20k ( and the option of upgrading my Bose companion 3 thro' amp),

I listen to soft rock, power ballads, western classical, carnatic (esp. live concert recordings) a bit of Hinsdatani , smooth jazz, R&B, etc.

Any suggestions for uppgrading my bose setup and also a dedicated stereo setup would be greatly appreciated.Dont know much about the second hand durability issues also.

Hi:

For a 35-40k budget you can have a setup like this:

Integrated Amplifiers -> CA/NAD/MARANTZ -> 340A/320bee/4001

CD Players -> CA/NAD/MARANTZ -> 340C/315bee/5001

Speakers -> Wharfedale/MS -> Diamond 9.1/MS 902i

Apologies for spiking your budget.

 

[srikarkav]

Hi,

At your present budget the only option is,

wharfedale 9.1+used Marantz amp+used Marantz CDP.

If you can increase your budeget by 10k(here we go again) the option is,

Mission M34i+Norge Concerto Gold 1000+present Bose CDP

Later you can go in for a CDP.

Well this is only me and my two cents. You may get better advice here too.

cheers,
sri

 

[Yogesh]

Many of us will suggest Audioengine5 connected to PC.
If needed CDp+AMP+SPK then Budget is very small.

If PC is your source ,then Norge1000 + Norge BS(nano) for 15k
Norge1000+ Wharf9.2 for 20k

+1 to that.

My 2 cents, one more option Norge+m34i

Norge1000+ Wharf9.2 for 20k

Spiro, 20K? I think it wud be 25(10+15)K.

 

[psychotropic]

As a very direct replacement for your Bose Companion 3 (powered speakers) and costing 19k, you have the Audioengine 5. I have its little brother the Audioengine 2 and for its size and price the performance is excellent, I'd definitely suggest you give the Audioengine 5 a try.

Hi folks,

I am a confused newbie. My only taste of hifi has been through PC-xfi sound card/Bose companion 3(?) and grado SR60 headphones. I want a dedicated stereo setup around 15-20k ( and the option of upgrading my Bose companion 3 thro' amp),

I listen to soft rock, power ballads, western classical, carnatic (esp. live concert recordings) a bit of Hinsdatani , smooth jazz, R&B, etc.

Any suggestions for uppgrading my bose setup and also a dedicated stereo setup would be greatly appreciated.Dont know much about the second hand durability issues also.

 

[cooltoad]

Thanks for all your suggestions, folks. Besides PC connectivity, would also like to have the option of a dedicated stereo setup. May hike the budget with the consent of Home Ministry!! I'll start off with Marantz second hand.

Wherein chennai A5 is available. Besides, I have a philips dvdp. Does a separate CD player make a huge diff to warrant a separate purchase? (may be this is already answered in some other thread)

Also, anyone has any idea how much Nad 315b costs in dubai.Not available thro' their website.

 

[srikarkav]

Hi,

I have a philips DVDP too. Day before yesterday i pciked up a used Marantz CDP.
Yes it does make a difference. The music is more clean,less noisy, and you will be hearing instrument you have not heard so far from your DVDP. A Ricky Martin CD i couldnt hear for even 2 minutes from DVDP, sounds very pleasant when played thro my CDP.

Cheers
sri

 

[cooltoad]

sorry double post!!!

 

[cooltoad]

Sri, is the difference audible even for mp3s? and BTW do such players come with usb ?

Hi,

I have a philips DVDP too. Day before yesterday i pciked up a used Marantz CDP.
Yes it does make a difference. The music is more clean,less noisy, and you will be hearing instrument you have not heard so far from your DVDP. A Ricky Martin CD i couldnt hear for even 2 minutes from DVDP, sounds very pleasant when played thro my CDP.

Cheers
sri

 

[cooltoad]

How about HD media players,(WD HD TV) independent of PCs as an option to play bit perfect music as an alternative to CD players? I read somewhere playing music off the hard disk gives better quality than Cd players? will it be the thing of the future and replace CD players?

 

[anm]

yes, that's true. Even better would be solid state hard disks.
However, I read somewhere that wdtv resamples at 48khz so wav files at 44.1khz would be resampled. This sounds like the same issue people attribute with windoze kmixer and hence call the sound non audiophile grade unless you disable kmixer and use asio etc.
Other people like cranky, moserw,venkat, supra, spiro, gobble, reju etc can comment with more authority on this.

regards

 

[moserw]

At this budget and with content like MP3 and from a PC everything else is just redundant. Audioengine A5 are the best and come with their own inbuilt amplifier too.

 

[spirovious]

+1 to that.

Spiro, 20K? I think it wud be 25(10+15)K.

Yes,20k for 9.1 & 25k for 9.2...

 

[murali_n]

Hai cooltoad,

For Audiophiles MP3 is a strict no no. The SQ is similar to comparing a 70mm Movie theatre to a 14" TV Set.

Thanks,

N Murali.

 

[srikarkav]

Sri, is the difference audible even for mp3s? and BTW do such players come with usb ?

Hi cool,

Dedicated CDP's wont play MP3.

cheers,
sri

 

[sonosphere]

Hi Cooldad,
You can get Norge-2060 @ 7k + Norge Bookshelves @ 7.5k (cant remember model name). That's well within your budget.

You can substitute Norge BS with Wharfedale 9.1 @ 12k and still be within 20k. add another 3.5 k and substitute 9.1 with 9.2. (Now that wharfe 10 series is here, you may get 15% cheaper quote from dealers trying to clear 9 series stock) If laid-back sound is your preference, you wont get a better deal in any new system purchase.

If you don't plan a subwoofer purchase later on, then definitely consider 9.2 in this budget. I have not found any other Bookshelf speaker even twice 9.2's price to match bass extension of 9.2. In all probability you will not miss subwoofer very much when 9.2's play.

regards,

 

[cooltoad]

Thanks sonosphere, any idea where i can find norge in chennai?

 

[murali_n]

Thanks sonosphere, any idea where i can find norge in chennai?

Hai Cooltoad,

You are most welcome to Audition it at my place.

Thanks,

N.Murali

 

[cooltoad]

Thanks for the offer Murali, went for an audition at pro musicals for 9.1, (they didnt have 9.2)took a few of my rock pop cds. Prior to this my reference to good audio was through my pc/cplay/sound card/grado headphone. As soon as i started playing Dreamer deceiver by Judas Priest, i felt something was wrong. The demo guy (he was nice and polite) agreed that the amp was a local one and hence underpowered the speakers, I continued to play some more nos with less interest ,as the quality was below par and disappointing and low-fi. Whenever i play comortably numb thro my headphone, i've been fooled many a times into believing instinctively that someone was knocking at my door. But Airsupply sounded somewhat better.

Wharfdale 9.1 didnt offer the details.punch and that engulfing feeling i've been used to through my grados. May be will try another audition with a better amp. Maybe 9.1 is not the right one for me(like listening to soft rock/rock among other things. but dont prefer that headache causing bassiness) . will also try 9.2 later with a better amp.

Looking forward to more suggestions.