Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 54 total)
  • Hi Fi question, should I get rid of old separates for modern compact thing
  • redstripe
    Free Member

    My eldest has his eye on my big old 90’s Technics separates system with 1210 turntable, cd, amp, graphic equaliser, Kef speakers etc – for his student house, and having most of my old vinyl I was going to put up in the roof anyway. I don’t mind as he loves it all and it is a bit big for our space now and wouldn’t mind something more compact anyway but worry it won’t sound as good as this old retro stuff. For say £500 ish (flexible) would I get a mini system that does the business? I want one with cd player, DAB radio, aux inputs for iphone/ipad (and/or bluetooth) possibly turntable input. I like the bluetooth facility we have on our telly soundbar. Will look at the What Hi fi guides but any recommendations to look at? Cheers

    jim25
    Full Member

    I don’t know the answer your looking for, but when my 26year old Technics amp blew up due to faulty earth. I took in it to get repaired and asked about replacing it. The man said I wouldn’t bother, it was £80 to fix and a new one to match it’s quality would of been £320.

    TurnerGuy
    Free Member

    Some of the Denon mini systems have very good little amps in and have done for 30 years – pair them with some decent speakers and it will probably sound better than your technics.

    There should be loads of advice coming as several people here have a setup like that.

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    johnners
    Free Member

    I’ve got a Marantz M-CR510, which does the job for me after moving from my old 80s separates. RJ45, WiFi and USB inputs but no CD or DAB (I just stream radio off the internet). The next model up (610) adds a CD player and DAB plus another pair of speaker terminals. There’s RCA inputs but they’re line level. Worth a look IMO.

    ericemel
    Free Member

    I would question your need for a CD player at all – there are heaps of streaming options which include internet radio (no need for Dab) – I personally think Sonos is a great solution.

    Will it sound as good, probably not – will you listen to more music? Likely.

    CountZero
    Full Member

    I wouldn’t argue with TurnerGuy, Denon have always made quality kit; my very first CD player was/is a Denon, because it sounded far better than any others at that time*, ie Pioneer, Technics, etc. it’s still upstairs, and still works, I just don’t use the system now.
    Don’t buy Denon speakers, get some B&W, KEF, Monitor Audio or Mission boxes, or any of a large number of small-ish quality boxes. Something around an LS3/5A size, or a bit smaller, so you can put them close to a wall.
    *c1984

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I spoke to a guy in a shop who reckoned that advances in both digital and analogue electronics meant that compact systems now are better than similarly priced separates of 20 years ago. The fancy all in one thing I looked at came with a microphone so you could run a setup utility and configure it for your room. Given that the room you listen in is a massive part of the quality experience, this seems a sound idea (no pun intended). No idea if it works but it’s very plausible.

    I fancy an Arcam Solo set-up myself.

    derek_starship
    Free Member

    Have a look at the Denon RCD39 M39DAB. It can be had for under £200 without speakers. I hung some bookcase Gales off mine and it is excellent. Ticks most of your boxes and has a tiny footprint too.

    ptrockymountain
    Free Member

    I’ve recently bought a b&w zeppelin air!
    In a nutshell what a fantastic piece of kit.
    No need for CD player or tuner, if you’ve got
    An iphone you can stream everything through
    Apple airplay. Sound is fantastic!

    TurnerGuy
    Free Member

    configure it for your room.

    only really for where you are sitting though.

    It is still best to arrange some soft furnishings to the sides of the speakers, thick carpet/rug in front, and try to keep the speakers away from the walls.

    Although, funnily enough, some of the sophisticated room ‘correction’ systems like the speakers to be in the corners, or at least the subwoofers, as it is easier for them to compensate the without having to deal with the reflections you would get if they were away from the walls.

    I have a Tact 2.2x pre-amp which does all that although I only use it in bypass mode…

    tron
    Free Member

    No. Keep the Hi fi, keep the cds and vinyl.

    prettygreenparrot
    Full Member

    OP, which KEF speakers?

    You’d possibly get a more accurate sound from cheaper, modern stuff.

    Would you be better off getting a turntable rather than a CD player?

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    Id be surpirsed if any £500 all in one had decent amp and speakers.

    Drac
    Full Member

    Just make sure you have directional power cables.

    redstripe
    Free Member

    The speakers aren’t KEF, they were my old ones, just looked they are Gales I got from Richer sounds years ago, good sound though. I still have a lot of cd’s inc. some really good compilations I get sent regularly from brother regularly who is really into his music. Still having second thoughts but that Marantz 610 seems tick a lot of the boxes, be good to go out and actually try one first

    TurnerGuy
    Free Member

    Id be surpirsed if any £500 all in one had decent amp and speakers.

    we’re talking about around 300 on the mini system without speakers, and then £200 on some speakers.

    Obviously speaker cable might be a bit more… Seriously though, as those systems tend to use bell wire type stuff.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    Still a non hi fi amp…

    CountZero
    Full Member

    cynic-al – Member
    Still a non hi fi amp…

    Some people just enjoy music without needing to spend thousands on the stuff to play it on. There are some producers who use transistor radios for playback to get music sounding good on cheap devices.
    I can enjoy a good song on a plastic £25 PURE DAB radio, it’s all about the music, after all.

    johnners
    Free Member

    Still a non hi fi amp…

    I’d be surprised if a decent modern £300 mini wasn’t at least a match for the kind of 90s Technics kit that included a graphics equaliser in the lineup.

    monkeyninja
    Free Member

    I bought an audio pro all room managed to get it with 30% off so it was a good deal. All you need is a phone, iPad or computer to stream music and the sound is amazing, what hifi gave it 5 stars.

    http://www.whathifi.com/review/audio-pro-allroom-air-one

    http://www.audiopro.com/products/allroom-air-one

    blob
    Free Member

    Dunno whether you should but my Denon M38DAB paired with a set of Wharfedale 10.1s sounds pretty good to me and cost less than £500 all in so I reckon the newer version that Derek mentioned above would work a treat

    FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    Do Denon systems not come with Mission speakers any more?

    howsyourdad1
    Free Member

    Don’t get rid of the 1210

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    CZ, the OP asked about quality, did he not?

    justinbieber
    Full Member

    Personally, I think if you’re concerned about hi-fi sound, then a proper hi-fi set up is called for.

    I’ve got a great sounding DAB/CD player in our bedroom that most people would be happy with for their main listening source, but it can’t touch what I’ve got in the lounge (MBP through a DAC into Denon 4400 monoblocks into some monster Dynaudio floorstanders). As Cynic-al says, it’s not a hi-fi amp, and you’re going to be hard pushed to get better sound for £500. Not impossible, but it won’t be easy.

    I guess it depends if your priorities have changed – are you after convenience and simplicity, as well as helping your son out, or do you want it to blow you away sonically?

    redstripe
    Free Member

    Yes I guess priorities have changed over time, happy for son to have it all as I know he’ll use and appreciate it more than I ever do these days plus he and mates seem to think old proper hi fi and vinyl is cool. I guess I want more convenience & simplicity, something that takes up less space but still an alright sound. That said I think my hearing is crap anyway from years of working in noisy work environments – a mate has some very poncey Linn system which he never admits how much it all costs but I suspect well in to 5 figures, it does sound good but not that good to me over my old technics stuff which cost peanuts compared to that.

    justinbieber
    Full Member

    Yeah – as with most things, the law of diminishing returns comes into play very quickly with hi-fi gear. A budget integrated amp, streamer and speakers could be found for not much more than £600, giving ample room for upgrades if you so desired and wouldn’t sound that much worse than your mates Linn system.

    br
    Free Member

    We’ve had a mini-Denon system for over 15 years now. It came with (debadged) Mission speakers.

    Up to now the sound has always been brill, and as loud/clear as needed – but we’ve moved and now have a lot larger open Mill-type house and it just doesn’t have the ‘volume’ to fill it.

    Not changing it though.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    My 1987 Technics Amp finally died a couple of years back and I replaced it with a Marantz PM5004, which was noticeably better!

    CaptJon
    Free Member

    derek_starship – Member
    Have a look at the Denon RCD39 M39DAB. It can be had for under £200 without speakers. I hung some bookcase Gales off mine and it is excellent. Ticks most of your boxes and has a tiny footprint too.

    +1

    I bought one for my lounge, and went back to get another a month later to play my computer through. Excellent little box, and whathifi agree.

    winston
    Free Member

    Dab is rubbish – we already have an outdated standard and internet radio is far better anyway

    Itunes will sound rubbish played through anything decent as it is compressed to buggery

    so it doesn’t really matter what equipment you use for these type of sources

    But CD’s and vinyl plus FM will sound better through your old Technics than a lot of the new cheap all in one systems

    The reason people (and many non-audiophile shop assistants) think new cheap hi fi equipment is better is because they have grown up listening to clipped sanitised flat sounding electronically compressed music files and confuse the fact that it is clean sounding with good audio.

    muppetWrangler
    Free Member

    Itunes will sound rubbish played through anything decent as it is compressed to buggery

    iTunes will only sound rubbish if the source files are rubbish, all iTunes is doing is providing an interface for managing and playing the files. All my files are stored as wav files and they sound great played back through iTunes. Likewise the stuff I’ve tried compressed as flac and apple lossless both sounded fine.

    winston
    Free Member

    Sorry , I meant the bought stuff at 128

    Yes, properly ripped CD’s sound great through a good set up. I use a squeezebox to stream in various codecs to a fairly cheap Arcam and Richer sounds speakers – sounds good to me

    justinbieber
    Full Member

    I thought even bought stuff is 320 these days?

    simons_nicolai-uk
    Free Member

    Dab is rubbish

    really convenient. I’ve just started using a new Yamaha Receiver. One button press wakes it up on the DAB input at the right volume. I’ve yet to see an internet radio set up that doesn’t involve a lot of faffing around.

    To counter the arguments others have made I reckon you’ll stuggle to find something that sounds as good. Amp and speaker technology hasn’t really changed as far as I can see and if it had a 1210 turntable it was probably a reasonably high end set up.

    househusband
    Free Member

    We’ve had a mini-Denon system for over 15 years now. It came with (debadged) Mission speakers.

    Up to now the sound has always been brill, and as loud/clear as needed – but we’ve moved and now have a lot larger open Mill-type house and it just doesn’t have the ‘volume’ to fill it.

    Have you tried bigger speakers..? My Denon DM38 happily drives a pair of MS Avant 914i floorstanding speakers.

    dragon
    Free Member

    In response to the OP do you even need a system of any kind? If you have a TV in the room then a soundbar and sub, could offer a compact solution (use your DVD player for CDs). Sure it ain’t pure hi-fi, but they are way better than tinny speakers, and offer a range of connection options such as Bluetooth, phono aux, radio through TV etc.

    RustySpanner
    Full Member

    Another happy Denon owner here.

    It’s not just good for it’s size, it’s good full stop.

    Ours is about 10 years old but sounds excellent with both Mission 700s and the smaller Mission made speakers it came with.

    It just sits under the TV, makes films and games sound better as well as being a cracking little hifi.

    Not sure if it’d sound better than your separates though, Technics made some good stuff. 🙂

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    Have you tried bigger speakers..? My Denon DM38 happily drives a pair of MS Avant 914i floorstanding speakers.

    Exactly! The bigger the speakers, the less power it takes to ‘drive’ them.

    Counterintuitive but it’s the same reason that the bigger the sail, the less wind it takes to make the boat move.

    alanf
    Free Member

    Denon RCD-N8 CEOL can be had with or without a CD player, has DAB, i-phone dock and is wifi enabled so you can play any stored music.
    Great bit of kit.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 54 total)

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