Complete simple system around £3000 recommendations please

[zekezebra]

A colleague of mine is after a complete and simple to use system so no streaming or sub to worry about. She is a bit of a bass freak, into dub reggae etc. I know a sub would help here but to start she wants to keep it simple.

Her room is not massive so smaller speakers would be ideal. With her budget something like an Audiolab 8200CDQ (she has a fair few CD's) with actives (Event Opals?) spring to mind. Any other set up recommendations would be appreciated.

Also any recommendations for stands and cables (probably XLR if it's to be the Audiolab to Opals)

Thanks

 

[vacdac]

Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6 would give the same pre-amp/Dac functionality, with additional options for internet radio/streaming + simpler none networked options for local file based music playback from directly attached hard drives or USB sticks/cards.

This could giver her instant upgrade potential with an eye on future/changing needs, with v little additional outlay being required. For ceedee playback this could be paired with a cd player to be used as a transport as the 24bit/384khz upsampling Dac onboard the SM6 is really rather good. C.A.'s more budget players spring to mind, but Yamaha's CDS700 is fairly classy with an all metal loading tray & bespoke drive & its cheaper sibling t' CDS300 is pretty good + also has a front mounted i-pod compatible USB port. This could be used to take digital out from an i-pod/phone & into one of the SM6's SP/dif inputs. Doing this would get you close to the best its possible to achieve in terms of max SQ possible from an i-pod & is great for allowing visitors to play their music on a decent setup.

There's no reason not to use a more budget cd player in a setup like this if used as a transport. So cost savings could be made here & put towards active speakers or passives + amps. My suggestion would seem to leave at least around £2000 for doing that which gives lots of v good options in terms of SQ:stereo:

I've recently upgraded from using SBT's for streaming & my SM6 has also replaced my previous Musical Fidelity M1 Dac & the SM6 is a good deal better than this combination & the MF M1 Dac is a fairly well regarded sub £1K Dac.

What happened to Keiths Post (Purite).....seems to have been deleted, yet he didn't seem to be pushing any particular brand of actives??

 

[russ abbott - royds broth]

IMF's for the speakers.

 

[Cable Monkey]

A love of bass heavy music demands quality in addition to quantity of bass. The Opals should be able to give you that with the room correction facility and the ability to tweak in some personal lift at the lower end. The CDQ will be the simplest solution, everything else in a single box with remote and a mix of analogue and digital inputs for any future expansion. My presumption is an item that is current and of modern design and implementation will be supported for a while to come. The beauty of balanced connections is you shouldn't have to spend huge amounts to get good results. Decent quality Van Damme with Neutriks should be all you need.

If you can't live with the Opals I would consider using a speaker that meets your requirements mated to Ncore power amplification. The configuration can be essentially the same as the Opals, a balanced lead to each monoblock perhaps mounted on the rear of your chosen speakers.

 

[Beobloke]

A colleague of mine is after a complete and simple to use system so no streaming or sub to worry about. She is a bit of a bass freak, into dub reggae etc. I know a sub would help here but to start she wants to keep it simple.Her room is not massive so smaller speakers would be ideal. With her budget something like an Audiolab 8200CDQ (she has a fair few CD's) with actives (Event Opals?) spring to mind. Any other set up recommendations would be appreciated.

Also any recommendations for stands and cables (probably XLR if it's to be the Audiolab to Opals)

Thanks

What's the source material? You mention "no streaming" but is she playing vinyl, CD, MP3, cassette, open reel or 8 track?

 

[zekezebra]

Hi all, thanks for the replys so far. The source would be CD, BlueRay DVD, possibly iPod and computer via USB.

She would like to keep the box count down hence the thought of active speakers and is not the sort of person who is looking for "upgrades" in the near or even distant future!

 

[hearingisbelieving]

Ok in that case get in touch with Paul or Sam at Purite North(of these parts) - they sell some cracking actives (Unik 08s) for not much money - around £500. They can also sort you out with a disc spinner a DAC (ESI Dr DAC prime would be ideal), stands and all the cables you may need. There bloody good folk too:^

http://www.puritenorth.co.uk/

http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?78381-Introducing-Purité-North&highlight=ESI+Dr+DAC

 

[vacdac]

Hi all, thanks for the replys so far. The source would be CD, BlueRay DVD, possibly iPod and computer via USB. She would like to keep the box count down hence the thought of active speakers and is not the sort of person who is looking for "upgrades" in the near or even distant future!

Well my suggestion does seem to cover hi-SQ i-pod playback from the off + USB from a 'pooter' as well as ceedee too & is good to go for internet radio soon as you log it on to a wi-fi/wired LAN network, so very high quality radio functionality with no need fer additional boxes. If she can ever be 'arsed' to rip her ceedee collection there is always the option to stream from her pooter with no need to buy new stuff.

To be clear I meant upgrade potential that wouldn't involve an endless 'merry go round' of additional eqpmt./boxes & a continual upgrade path. :nup: I guess I'd tend to think of not considering these things from t' 'get go' as possibly being a missed opportunity in terms of getting it right from the off. Particularly as we're talking pretty much the heart of a ground up new system here.

You can also get a superb 5yr warranty for C.A.'s products when bought from Richer sounds this offers comprehensive cover for the product & if unused Richer sounds will reimburse you for this at t' end of the warranty & this costs 10% of purchase price. Seems daft not to go fer this & I don't see many mfrs of similar products offering much beyond a 2yr warranty as standard......it really does seem to offer excellent peace of mind.