Happy New Year folks,

I’ve got a very old Creek 4040 amplifier which I’m using with a reasonable Technics CD player. At the moment I don’t have any speakers, my old Mordaunt Shorts are way too big for my wee room now. My question is whether spending £150 on a cheap-ish pair of speakers would be a waste of money if I decide soon to upgrade the CD player and/or amp. Any input welcome!

Cheers
TS

I’m pretty sure there are quite a few decent speakers around that’ll do very nicely for that budget, B&W spring to mind. I’d keep the amp, Creek were always a quality product and look around for a good player. I use a Yamaha DVD-S1500 that I picked up as a demo unit for £170, because it plays SACD and DVD-A discs, and ordinary music cd’s sound fantastic through it. A Marantz or something like that would be good as well. Have a shufti through the mags in Smiths for their Recommended models.

It’s often possible to score a cracking set of speakers for minimal outlay. For instance, a couple of years ago Mission were bringing out a new range, I managed to bag a pair of the outgoing range (which were What Hifi 5* rated) for £99 down from £249.

Here’s a few suggestions:

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/3154
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/2197
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/2080
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/2237
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/2083

Bought my speakers from the Superfi shop in Coventry, and they were very helpful. Might be worth checking out Richer sounds too though.

Sevenoaks in Kingston, Surrey have a Marantz CD player down to £99 (demo).
I’d keep the speakers as nothing around £150 will sound big, I’ve had a listen to some JBL’s and they were ok for Scissor Sisters but struggled with ‘…And Justice for All’.
B&W for £150? Possibly 2nd hand…

Hifi is a waste of money, what’s the lyric, you get more mileage out of a cheap pair of sneakers? Just another whole I’ve thrown my money into over the years, i think there’s more BS in Hifi than biking! Much goodness in Richer Sounds for less than £100 or if you’re near Sheffield I’ve got a pair of B&W 601s taking up space.

I’m still using a 4040 with an old set of Mission speakers and a mimik cd player. Seems to work ok with me.