Looking for some audio system advice please
 

My dad is thinking of a new audio system but isn't very sure what to go for. He is looking to play mostly CD's but also wants to play his old records now and then.

He was looking at a USB turntable but I was saying that because it was converting the sound to digital, it will take away the sound quality that you get with normal record players.

He was also looking at an all-in-one unit from argos like this, but I thought the systems with separate units were better quality. Is that right?

He is saying he wants a nice compact system that doesn't take up much space http://carnoustiebikers.co.uk/images...n_rolleyes.gif so maybe if it was a set of separate systems that came with a stand.

But basically we don't really know what is good quality or not. Can anyone help?

Re: Looking for some audio system advice please
 

All depends on how much money you want to spend i guess?
And what kind of quality the listener will actually recognise. The Goodmans system wouldn't have great sound quality as the speakers and drivers would be fairly cheap, as with the turntable hardware like the needles, but for the price and the features it's not so bad.
Sony do pretty good compact CD and radio systems, but alot wont come with turntables...USB turntables are good if you want to transfer your music to a computer, the quality would be alright too, it would just roll off some higher frequencies and destroy that all around warm record sound!
If you start looking into seperate units prices will be higher, but you can get some very good quality amps and speakers...
How much are looking at spending?
Keith

Re: Looking for some audio system advice please
 

I've asked him and he says £150 or maybe £200. The reason he wants a compact one rather than a few separate units is because he would also have to buy a stand for the separate units to go on.

Re: Looking for some audio system advice please
 

Something like this would be pretty decent, would also leave a bit of cash for a turntable...
http://www.digitaldirect.co.uk/produ...oduct_id=14215

Denon do really decent systems, but you'd be looking at paying 200+
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/p...roduct_ID/2336

Re: Looking for some audio system advice please
 

I bought a jukebox, plays all my 45's just fine.

Re: Looking for some audio system advice please
 

Sony? Bluuuurgh.Denon - now you are talking.

Re: Looking for some audio system advice please
 

Got this old denon cd player...:smt026
...things tend to get passed down in our family...
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...2032008630.jpg

Re: Looking for some audio system advice please
 

I use this for my vinyl

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...aw/seeburg.jpg

Re: Looking for some audio system advice please
 

i want one!:bounce:

Re: Looking for some audio system advice please
 

I personally think that all in one systems are rubbish but i have spent a long time and a lot of money building my hifi. I would say go for separates and dont even think about a turntable yet.

If i was limited to 200 i would go second hand but im guessing he doesnt really want that so its a matter of getting a decentish amp and speakers and a cheep as chips cd player

I would go with the Marantz PM4001 as an amp for £100 - http://www.richersounds.com/showprod...id=MARA-PM4001

Solid build quality and it has 2 sets of speaker outputs which is always nice to have and much more importantly it has a proper in built phono amp which is really important if you want a turntable.

Eltax SYMPHONY 6.4 Oak as speakers for £80 - http://www.richersounds.com/showprod...-SYMPH-6.4-OAK

I use an eltax sumphony series center speaker in my surround sound system and think its a great speaker for the price. I got my brother a set of the eltax liberties which are an old model which is the range lower than this one and they are well built solid and heavy which is what you want from a speaker. I would say to stay away from the eltax concept series as they are just too cheep.

As for a cd player I would simply hook a dvd player up to it and use that to play cds back and pick up a cheep record deck off ebay. Any separate record deck, even a £10 one from the 80s, will sound as good as the one on that argos system and you can pick one up for next to nothing off ebay.

Using a dvd player for cds means when he watches dvds in his front room the sound will come out of the hifi and sound so much better than his tv. You will not believe how rubbish the speakers in tvs are.

Remeber that you will need to buy speaker wire on top of that which is cheepest from maplins and their basic stereo speaker wire will be fine, you dont need £10/m cabling - Maplins product number XS47B at a cost of 69p per meter and will also probably need an rca phono lead (one with a red and a white plug on either end)

I will guaranty that the set up ive suggested will sound a lot bet than that big plastic monstrosity from argos and it will last a good 20 years rather than the 2 that the all in one will. There may be some stuff out there that is slightly better value but the one thing i would really suggest is to take a trip to your nearest richer sounds when its nice and quiet and have a chat with the boss and have a listen to what is availiable.

I know its a lot to read but hopefully it makes some sort of sence and helps you out

Re: Looking for some audio system advice please
 

Whats the quality like on that? ive been thinking about getting one but all the ones ive heard sound rubbish comparied to my normal deck and the other problem is that they only seem to be able to hold about 100 records which is no where even close to enough for me.

Re: Looking for some audio system advice please
 

The quality is rubbish, but 1960's and 70's vinyl was designed to be played on such machines, they tried to match the response and dynamic range, (Phil Spector etc), and as such sound right. (subjective description!)
I've put a modern Marantz amp inside, stiffened up the bass area with mdf and put quality mids and tweeters in at the top (there are a further 6 speakers in the top grill) - so it also does a reasonable job when fed from an ipod. Most of all though, it just looks pretty.

Re: Looking for some audio system advice please
 

Good advice there. Thanks:)

Re: Looking for some audio system advice please
 

fat_brstd, he likes the idea of using the dvd player as a cd player. He wants to get a good turntable. I noticed on the sites that most don't have pitch control anymore (he hasn't bought a deck for over 20 years :lol: ) is that not used much anymore? He'd rather get a new deck, any suggestions?

Re: Looking for some audio system advice please
 

Pitch control is now only used on djing turntables like the excellent technics 1210. I have a pair of these for djing with but they really pretty expensive and if you only going to listen to records individually at home you can get a good enough sound for a lot less.

One of the major reasons it used to be on all decks was because the speed they span at was directly related to the amount of power being recieved which wasnt as well regulated as now days and that electric motors used to be a lot less consistant than they are now. Now transformers are a lot better so the power supply to a turntable is a hell of a lot cleaner.

Most good home turntables are very minamilistic now, anything decent wont even have a button to change speed from 45 to 33, you will need to physically move the belt from one "sprocket" on the electric motor to another. The best 2 budget turntables are without a doubt the pro-ject debut (now on mark3) and the rega planar both are fairly expensive new (160 odd for the project) when you take 200 as a total budget. At that sort of price id be tempted by an entry level dj deck as they tend to be rugged as hell, are easy to change speeds on and sound fairly good. The general consensus on budget djing are the numark tt1610 at about 75 quid for 1 deck. Alternativly one of the cheep 50 quid usb jobs would probably do the job fine.

A lot of it boils down to what will he actually hear when he listens to it? Is he aiming for a system that sounds like he remembers his old record did? Based on that argos system i would guess hes not massivly into his hifi and just picked the first thing that looked like it did the job. If I close then i would say any budget deck from a decent dj manifacturer (technics, numark, stanton) and dont spend too much on it but make sure he invests in a decent cleaning brush as that is going to make the most difference to records that have been stored for a long time.

hope it helps but personally i would really really really try and get project debut off ebay for about £70.

Re: Looking for some audio system advice please
 

Thanks again for taking the time to help :)