Home Hifi Set Up

[Rachelle Productions]

I just starting to build my dream house and need hifi recommendations

Just wondering, given that we work in the area of accuracy, and I might be wrong but studio monitors just arent enjoyable to listen too.

So I'm asking does anyone have any recommendations for awesome home hifi speakers and an amp that just sound beautiful. They can colour and distort or be accurate whatever but most important just sound great and make you want to listen to music, i dont want to be negative and i sound like a grandfather but great albums today are RARE
SO I want sound that makes you fall in love with songs and bands.

Sit back have a few drinks and just get lost in the classics records.
Make you forget who you are and your problems of the day and simply be with the recordings

Isnt that what the experience of listening to music meant to be like?

[ether]

What I did was take my reference / favourite CDs to a couple of high-end local HiFi dealers and audition a bunch of things.

In my case I walked away with some Elac speakers which I love, and some Vincent components which are great as well (German design, made in China, suitably black and serious looking).

There's so many options though. The world's your oyster, and I found it fun to research and learn about all this, but watch out for snake oil salesmen peddling $3,000 audiophile cables.

[Chris H]

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend B&W 602 S2 speakers, these ones with the round dome not the later pointy ones as the crossover was not as good in them.

4102-bw_DM602.jpg

.....How do I explain?.........what comes to mind is they are an accurate but pleasant sounding speaker and the thing i really like is their transient response. They are fairly easily driven and you hear the punch of a snare hit and the attack of a bass note if it's there to hear. The amp I use is one of the older Sansui AU555 amps that are highly regarded by nostalgic hi fi buffs but a fair way off the modern cutting edge audiophile standard i suppose. So some of what i like in the speakers might be the amp but i have used several amps... a crown DC 300, one of Paul Kirks amps built for broadcast and the speakers still sounded great....as a general rule I stay away from mosfet amps and go for the older transistor amps. This combo just sounds really nice to me. I also like the fact that the port is in the front not the rear of the speaker. For extended bottom end a B&W sub could be added. See if you can get a pair to audition.

[Doc Benway]

Hi Mark.
My father in law just shelled out for a smallish set up from these guys. http://www.sgraudio.com.au
Floor standing MT mains with a CX3 centre.
Based in Melbourne and for the most part, made by a small team of local hands. They may be worth having a chat with.
Stuart was helpful, didn't peddle snake oil and gave a shit about his gear after the sale had been made.
They're active though (which made sense to my father in law) and they sound pretty nice too.

[jkhuri44]

buy a pair of speakers which use Mark Audio Alpair 10.3 metal cone full range drivers....or if you're a handy man, make a pair yourself and make them beautiful with wood veneers, etc. these can be made as transmission line, or ported designs...pair them up with a large sub if you desire more low end than they give (which is great btw) and cross them high at around 100hz...

the stereo field is seriously something, no point writing about it as you need to hear it...they're full range so this is one of their forte...the pitch definition in the low end is amazing too, you can clearly hear bass notes in a guitar...any vibratos, so on and so forth, in a busy mix, i find so many speakers fail at this.

as for amps...im using a 15 year old nakamichi hi fi receiver which is awesome, but plan to upgrade to a Class A 50w solid state DIY design called the SKA Amp...it will need to be DIY'd but this amp has a lot of good spoken about it.

i wont get into the phono stage, as thats another can of worms...

This is obviously just my recommendation based on my listening history, but i've heard lots of speakers, as we all have....and for $300 and my own time and effort, im pretty sure you cannot beat what i have from a price/performance point of view...more ppl need to hear these wonders imo. they've shattered my view on what a full range speaker can and cant do, because they do EVERYTHING everyone says they cant...

[Alastair Reynolds]

As Chris Hallam said, B&W is very high on the list for Hi-Fi listening. I currently run a pair of B&W 802 Matrix speakers on a Talk Electronics amps and for my main listening system. The amps are discrete component ( no ICs) and bipolar transistor output stage,no mosfets. I'm also a fan of Bryston amps for HiFi, a close friend runs a full Bryston 4Bsst2 system with Bryston DAC,Pre and CD player into B&W 803D and the sound is unfatigueing and enjoyable and can reach breathtaking levels without distortion. ( I was actually over at his place listening to Mercury Living Presence discs and Yello on Thursday).
I also quite like Quad valve amps through Rodgers LS3/5A .They match well together for a modest sized room and give a warmth to recordings that is very "comfortable" for extended listening. They don't give ground shaking bass or ear shattering levels,but for realistic, immersive listening they are superb.

So I'd steer clear of Mosfet amps or anything that uses an IC block type output chip, or anything with a nonlinear power supply. Whilst I'm a fan of B&W, there are many other good speakers for HiFi and plenty of good ones on the second hand market Tannoy, JBL,Canton,Rodgers,Wharfdale,Celestion etc.The same with amps, Quads,Sansui (I have an old AU222 of the same vintage as Chris' 555)Accuphase,Pioneer,Phase Linear,Hafler,the list goes on.
Get a reference CD or 2 and listen carefully. The time spent before will pay you back with years of listening pleasure.

Oh and steer clear of the snake oil cables.For speaker cables it's all about maximum power transfer and minimum loss .There was an article in a mag a few years back by a professor of material science examining all sorts of exotic cables and accurately measuring there true performance. He concluded that the best performing cable for speakers was 10 amp mains flex. As for cable from oxygen free copper etc ,all copper cable is oxygen free,if it isn't it will be green.My father and Grandfather were both metallurgists,specialising in copper and it's refinement and both had never heard of the exotic copper that the HiFi snake oil brigade sell.
Anyway, enough of my opinion.
Find something YOU like the sound of and tell us what you got.

[rick]

I have tried most 60-400,00O flagship audio system
Setup in australia for sale

I came to the conclusion that the focal utopias
Would what i would buy if i ever could

And i also found out that end if the market is
Just marketing nonsense

Most of the flagships where so far out of whack
And the salesman so far out of whack
I choose to have mega speakers made for me

I will be the first to admit that didnt work !

Great great speakers are seriously fucked up hard to make

The focal grand Utopias hit the mark spot on .

[Drumstruck]

Don't listen to those guys - they're world class Audio Engineers - what would they know about how a record should sound

So humour aside (ha) I highly recommend Gennari Valve Amps - an Australian company, though their products are made o/s. I have the RV-100 model and (after my monitors) it is the best thing I've ever purchased for my hifi system.
http://www.valveamps.com.au/

The RV-100 weighs a tonne, takes a few minutes to warm up and is very quiet.

[ether]

That Gennari gear looks nice.

If I was buying right now I'd be interested in this:

http://benchmarkmedia.com/products/benchmark-ahb2-power-amplifier

and these:

http://benchmarkmedia.com/collections/h ... oudspeaker

The Focal Unobtainium Unicorn Tears look great, but I think I'd rather buy a holiday house in Bali with that amount of money.

[Barney Loveland]

If there's no hurry look 2nd hand. I found a Krell KSA50 mkii for $800. It needed some upkeep but is almost as loud as a Bryston 4BST.... Also picked up a VTL tube pre from the bay. Used with PMC TB2's. Not huge bass extension but for lounge/house listening is ok and nice enough to sit down and listen for appreciation or 2nd opinion mix check.

[gigpiglet]

if you just STARTED to build your dream house…
just make sure you put some wiring in
you won't actually be up to choosing speakers for years!
;-)

[wez]

+1 for PMC, any model really, they all sound great. even better matched with a Bryston.

Regarding 'Hi-Fi' vs "Professional/Studio'... just be aware that you're often paying more for exactly the same thing dressed up in a different cabinet/marketing etc... but I'm sure you know this already!

[jkhuri44]

The focal grand Utopias hit the mark spot on .

$100,000 worth of speaker better be spot on! haha.
i cant really see from the site, but i take it these are tri/quad ampable right?
260kg weight....will need a forklift to place!!! damn. sounds like theyre using concrete composites inside for damping.
wood alone cant be that heavy!

[reddirt]

The real fall in love with music situation occurs for me when i use a properly set up turntable which can produce an almost holographic representation i.e. front to back depth, width and height. It becomes easy to be immersed in the experience.
I haven't heard the very best in digital players lately but that's my 10 cents FWIW.
Cheers, Ross

Ross Muir
Reddirt Recordings
Alice Springs

[Chris H]

AHere are some B&W 802's on eBay.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Bowers-Wilki ... 3f3651cf37
Buy now $1799


Or for Focal Diva Utopia
Buy now AU $7,500.00

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Focal-Diva-U ... 4865a2d6c8

[Sammas]

There have also been a bunch of larger Duntech's on ebay of the last few weeks. If you aren't in a rush you could keep your eyes peeled!

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_saca ... te=1&rt=nc

[Rachelle Productions]

Thanks for all of the great advice, I heard a pair of Martin Logan Electrostatics/Hybrids which blew my mind , sounded like i could touch the singer, I'll have to listen to quite a few of the tips posted.

Re the build the builder promised we'd be in by xmas. Maybe he should be selling oxygen free copper cables

[Senad]

if you just STARTED to build your dream house…
just make sure you put some wiring in
you won't actually be up to choosing speakers for years!
;-)

LOL! How true!
I moved into my newly built house 2 and a 1/2 years ago, and still haven't got my sound system set up.
The wiring is all ready to go, though, in the walls/ceilings.
One day....