Newbie in professional audio/ hi-fi systems and wanted some help

siddh

Active Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2010
Messages
123
Points
28
Location
pune
Dear All,

I am a newbie in professional audio/ hi-fi systems and wanted some help. Can somebody help me with the budget for a entry level, mid level system. I want a stereo setup. Do i require seperate cd player, dac? What will be an ideal setup? Meaning, cd player - dac - amp - speakers. Am i missing something? I also see on the net that cords with specific brands are also suggested. Do i need these. I intend to use flac and cd's as source. What do you people suggest? What budget i am looking at? What to look for in these systems? What brands to consider. I know these are generic questions but being a newbie can't really be more specific.

Cheers
Sid.
 
If you intend using CD's, then of course you would need a CD player :)
What are you looking for from your would be audio rig?
What sort of music do you listen to?
Floorstander or bookshelf speakers?
What is the size of your listening room?
And, how much are you willing to spend? :)
 
Hi,
First . Gratzies on taking the step into Professional Audiophile Setup world :clapping:. Now for the gurus from this site to help you better can you tell the beginning level/Mid level setup.. Can you give us more information of the following :rolleyes:

  • Your budget ?
  • What are the dimensions of the room you would be setting it up in ? Lenght x Breadth x Height?
  • What sort of music genres are your preferences ?

Depending on the amount of CDs and FLACs you play, the gurus can suggest whether you can go for a Media player with DAC or CD player & DAC or with DAC.. (Again we d have to take your budget into consideration.) Give us a rough %%


But in the end after any amount of suggestions anyone in this forum would say that the best judge of the sound that you would like are the pair of hearing organs on the either side of your noggin.. you ears..and nothing else.ie .. You will know what sound you would like .. and no one can decide that for you. :D

P.S: The cables and interconnects also are relative to your budget.. there is no Expensive cable that can get a beautiful sound from a low quality setup unless it lies in your ears :p
 
But in the end after any amount of suggestions anyone in this forum would say that the best judge of the sound that you would like are the pair of hearing organs on the either side of your noggin.. you ears..and nothing else.ie .. You will know what sound you would like .. and no one can decide that for you. :D p

+1 to that, well said!!

You can get your hands on a lot of stuff, new or pre-owned but what matters is what appeals to you the most. If you listen to something and like it, go for it. However when one starts out, everything one hears tends to sound good because one would not have the experience of being able to relate to the sound signatures of various equipment brands (while making comparisons). It is important to give yourself some time, listen listen and listen to as many rigs as you can and once you've seen atleast 10 or so different combos, make a shortlist and zero down on what you would ultimately go for.

Remember, the golden rule is there are lot of variables which impact what one hears and would deem as enjoyable. Here are a few:

1) Genre of music
2) Type of source (eg: vinyl, tape, cd, digital, etc)
3) Quality of source recording
4) Type of equipment used as the source
5) Amplification
6) Speakers (lot of acoustic dependencies like room size, room layout, room occupancy, speaker positioning, speaker quality, etc)

Not to forget Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF) if your are married or PAF (Parental Acceptancy Factor if you are not )

So be patient, read as much as you can, experience as much as you can, talk talk and talk to the very knowledgeable members of our forum and take an informed decision.

Welcome to the world of 2-channel audio and all the very best!!
 
Last edited:
Listen to any kind of music. Depends upon the mood. The room size is 18 (l) x 12 (b) x 10 (h). Budget maybe 50k.

Cheers
Sid.
 
@Reuben
"Not to forget Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF) if your are married or PAF (Parental Acceptancy Factor if you are not )"

:) :)
Stages in humans life.
PAF
WAF
CAF

CAF - Child Acceptance Factor - especially if you have toddlers. They love cables! if you know what I mean :) The last thing you want is a kid to pull the speaker cables while you are blissfully submerged in music. :)
 
Dos:
1. It is an expensive hobby so educate yourself as much before spending
2. Initially we don't understand our own taste in music on a HiFi. So we may like everything and all setups may sound good/similar! :)
3. Buy in steps. Don't buy everything at once. Like decide speakers then amplifier then other components. First decide on central component and match other components to it.
4. Network and learn
5. Don't be afraid to ask! No question is a dumb question. We all are here to help each other.
6. If possible get help from and benefit from DIY efforts happening on forum. Step 4 helps here. It will help you get great value for money and great sound. Agreed at first this sounds difficult but our forum has some great helpers who go out of their way to help.
7. Get in touch with local forum members and music lovers. Meet them and chat freely in person or on phone. All are there to help.
8. Have patience
9. There is no "best","perfect","ideal" music system. One mans gold may be trash for others so it is all relative.

Donts:
1. Don't get intimaidated by terminologies
2. Don't get biased by others opinions. They are right in THEIR place. Music is very relative.
3. Don't keep increasing your budget if this is first setup.
4. Keep away from mass market commercial audio stuff which have HiFi label on them. I mean the one we see in malls.
5. Don't compare your equipment with others :)
6. Your music taste is very different than others. It is decided on how we grow up listening to music :) so take others opinions with a pinch of salt. We want to help but we don't know what you really want :) Hell sometimes many of us are confused about what we like ourselves and what we want. Trust me on this :)

Action plan!
1. Get in touch with local members. There is going to be a meet in Pune soon. Attend it and know people.
2. Audition some systems. You can visit
a. Soundscape in aundh
b. Sound factor in camp/mg road
c. Aquarius audio in mg road
d. AV excellence in dhole patil road
e. Future living in camp/mg road
3. Post your feedback on forum and get feedback from members
4. Buy what you need

Hope this helps :)
Kind Regards!
 
Last edited:
Purchase the Audiolab 6000A Integrated Amplifier at a special offer price.
Back
Top