Entertainment For Lively Minds
Something for Everything: Hifi Help
Posted by freddieofarrell on 11 April 2011 - 12:23am.
So I've been looking into buying a new system for my music, but I need to be able to play CDs, vinyl, and an iPod, and this is proving harder than I had expected, so I thought I would seek the advice of the Massive.
I've got a budget of £300, so nothing fancy, but it should be enough for one unit and a pair of speakers.
Is there anything out there that plays CDs, has a USB port for an iPod, and an aux input for vinyl?
Help is greatly appreciated!
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I don't mean to be pedantic but...
... you don't want an "aux" input for your turntable. You need a "phono" input.
If you can't find a unit with a "phono" input you can always buy a separate phono pre-amp. This can plug into an "aux" input.
Sounds like a job for Richer Sounds
They have lots of decent end-of-line offers for very little cash. Branches everywhere. No, I do not work there ;-)
Yes indeed.
Richer Sounds it is. I'm guessing they'll have a nice Cambridge Audio something to fit your budget.
Starting with one of these
http://www.richersounds.com/product/mini-hifi-systems/denon/dm38dab/deno...
Pretty sensible for the CD and amp. It handles iPods as well without buying a dock. Speakers and turntable might be a little bit of a stretch - you may be able to buy a turntable with a built in phono stage which could get you in under £300.
...
If your budget allows, I would look at a seperates system. A good quality amplifier will last you for at least 10 years. A mini hifi might have an integrated iPod dock but the quality may not be as good and it will have a built-in shelf life (who's to say how long Apple will keep using that particular connector?)
A small, quality iPod dock which connects to the amp via the aux input will set you back about £30. A good quality cable to connect it might be a tenner.
I have a Cambridge Audio amp (again, a recommendation for Richer Sounds) which I've had for 13 years and is still going strong. Mine doesn't have the phono preamp, but I believe they do a model which does, or you can get a preamp for under £50.
I would say that one of these :
http://www.richersounds.com/product/amplifiers-receivers/cambridge-audio...
With a pair of these :
http://www.richersounds.com/product/bookshelf-speakers/tannoy/mercury-v1...
And one of these :
http://www.richersounds.com/product/ipods-docks-accessories/cambridge-au...
Would be a great little system. About £320 by my reckoning. Add on another £30 for speaker cable and ipod dock cable, and that'd sound great.
(I've made the assumption you have a turntable? If not, I picked up a Project Debut II for £60 on eBay. Great bit of kit, very simple so little to go wrong with it.)
Hope this helps.
Rich
Is there any difference at all
(in terms of sound quality) between connecting your iPod with the dock and connecting to your amplifier using these (which cost about £2)? Which is what I do.
...
In my (humble) opinion, no. In theory, yes.
If you accept there has to be a cable connection somewhere, then the quality of that cable matters. If that cable plugs into a dock then the dock is an extra link in the analogue signal chain, therefore (theoretically) degrading the sound quality.
Whether you hear that difference depends on the quality of your ears! Personally, I can't tell any difference.
I posted before making my point...
...my point being that the quality of the cable does (to my ears) make a big difference. Same as the interconnect between CD player and amp. A £10 quality phono cable makes a huge difference in sound quality, compared to the cheap supplied cables with CD players etc. Same goes for iPod connections. Instead of spending £2, I'd spend £10 on one of these :
http://www.richersounds.com/product/hifi-interconnects/cambridge-audio/a...
Note : when it comes to digital signals, such as HDMI, there is no point in paying for better cables - the signal either gets there or it doesn't. Because it's digital, it's zeroes and ones. Audio connections are analogue, and are therefore subject to interference and degradation along the signal path.
But as discussed as nauseum on the board
Buying expensive cables makes no difference at all to sound quality (unless they're too thin).
I would agree...
...given that I don't consider £10 to be an expensive cable (I have bought 2 in 20 years of hifi ownership), and the cables supplied with CD players and docks etc are (in my opinion) too thin.
It's a diminishing return as far as I can see - I think £10 buys great quality over the free cables. However, I think paying more than that is pointless unless you have very expensive hifi and faultless hearing. I have neither.
It's less a diminishing return
than an outright scam.
I like Richer Sounds, but their bullshit promotion of expensive cable really annoys me.
Yes.
The iPod supplies a line-out signal via the dock connector, which will be impedance matched to your amplifier's input.
Fair point...
...the line out on the dock is independent of the iPod volume control, whereas connecting directly with a cable would allow you to change the volume of the output.
I stand corrected.
One best of both worlds solution
is in fact the cheapo Cambridge Audio iD10 dock (20 quid) that you mentioned above. This outputs via the dock connector, but u if pay another tenner you can add a remote with volume control-presumably talks to something in the dock that controls the iPod. Also offers a few useful functions like start, stop, shuffle etc. We have just bought one for the FPO's place and it's handy for casual listening, and certainly doesn't embarrass itself into a good Arcam amp and B&W speakers, with lossless or 320 kbps music.
Richer are currently doing a package with this, Cambridge Audio amp and Gale speakers for 150 quid [in the shop leaflet I picked up last week]. Add a CD player (e.g. Cambridge Audio Topaz at about 120), and the phono preamp that they sell for 20 quid and I think the OP's brief is met. I think the Topaz controller will control the dock. Don't know if it's too many boxes but I think it's decent value for 300 quid ...
If I understand
You want a CD receiver and some speakers, with USB for 300 quid.
As discussed above you probably could use the dedicated iPod input on some products, but for 300 it sounds like you do indeed need to talk to Richer.
Maybe one of these:
http://www.richersounds.com/product/mini-hifi-systems/yamaha/crx550/yama...
plus speakers and a phono box of some sort ?
And by a phono box
I mean a suitably cheap version of something like this:
http://www.project-audio.com/main.php?prod=phonoboxmm&cat=boxes&lang=en
which plugs into an aux input on an amp or a one piece system.
Will be interested to know what you get
as I always want to hear what happens with these requests.
The other budget hifi philosophy which I like the look of (but haven't really used except for computers/iPods so far), is this sort of thing:
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/4072
Really worth hearing. Nearest equivalent that I have actually used though is a US product from Cambridge Soundworks
http://static.gooshing.co.uk/pix/400/17/172209.jpg
that we brought back after an extended trip there--still in occasional use in the conservatory. From a quick demo I'd say the Epoz is better, imo.
Rotel RA-04 amp
and whatever you can afford on speakers