Need help shopping for a stereo component

Need some advice on getting a sound system.

My Yamaha stereo component has served its function over the last 10 years and is ready to be put out to pasture. As I went browsing in the local electronics store, I was overwhelmed by the number of options available these days. While I don’t have any desire to get a home theater system, the ones that play DVDs do look interesting. (I’m ready to retire my DVD player as well.) My question is, if I went for a component that plays DVDs, would the sound quality/high fidelity be compromised? Also, how many auxiliaries do I need on my system? I can think of two; one for the TV set and another for a cassette player (since tape decks are now a thing of the past). Also, the speakers, is bigger the better a myth? Can any audiophile shed light on this?

As a general rule of thumb, spend more on the front-end components or balance the cost of components. For example spending NT$10,000 each on a CD/DVD, amplifier and speakers makes sense. Remember “good speakers” can only sound good if you give them a good signal. There are good big speakers and good small speakers. A consideration of your listening room size, speaker placement, favorite music types, and even neighbours, etc. could shape your choice of speakers.

What’s your budget?

It depends on what range you’re buying in. Since I’m guessing that you’re buying in the average consumer range, you probably won’t be able to tell the difference in sound quality between a high-end CD player and a regular DVD player. This especially depends on what speakers that you get…and no…bigger is not better. I recommend buying speakers after you listen to them. If you don’t get a chance to listen to them, buy something from a known brand.

Vacuum tubes and solid gold cables are for the true purist.

Don’t forget to get a good pair of sunglass and a black leather seat.

Get a small fan to put in front of the speakers. So even if they are not top of the line. You’ll look good listening to them.

I would suggest you start reading a lot of audiophile magazines and websites. Every element of your system will make a change in how your stereo sounds. I haven’t purchased an audio system myself yet but did go through an experience of a friend who spent more than $100k US. You can get very detailed, technical, and specific about what type of sound you’re looking for.

While I’m far from being able to afford it, and you may think why would such a thing be necessary, just think about how live music would sound–imagine drums, guitars, and someone’s voice; what would it be like if you’re really there. You won’t get anything close until you spend a ton of money.

As an example, I would suggest reading a review of what so many people believe to be the best amplifier ever made, the Halcro dm58 (the dm68 is really the best). I’m sure none of us will be getting it but it’ll give you an idea of what is possible.

halcro.com/

Then back to the real world, I know there’s a budget audiophile review website, goodsound.com I’d read that a lot. There are probably many other sources too.

Myself, I just use my iPod and a pair of Shure E3 earphones (about $200). Now that I’ve started to really pay attention to music accuracy, I can tell the sound is really not that great. There’s noise, distortion, lack of detail, and lack of reality. There are colorations that wouldn’t be there if I had better equipment.

Big deal or not? At the very minimum, bad sound will fatigue and irritate you. Imagine listening to static on TV or a radio. It would really irritate you if you had to listen to it for a long time. Imagine a very minimal amount, small enough that very few will detect. That will still bother you even if you’re unaware.

So I would pick everything very very carefully whenever I get around to building a system. If you ever look in a store for any component, everything else that’s connected to it will affect how it sounds. So it’s really really difficult to test an individual component in isolation without control over everything else.

Most combo boxes will usually result in some form of compromise. Keeping units seperate will give you more bang for the buck and more flexibility to upgrade or change components. As well you don’t need to give the whole system away if one of the components breaks down.
Personally I don’t like the all-in-one can-do-it-all systems, in particular the speakers supplied with them are mostly crap.

I don’t understand that part - do you mean how many inputs your require?

Bigger is not necessarily better, even bookshelf speakers (which belong on a solid stand, not on the bookshelf) can provide an excellent sound. Or choose floorstanders, the cost for the same performance will roughly be the same.

For “really big” speakers you also need a big (read: powerful) amplifier. In particular for producing a great amount of bass you need to move a lot of air, hence you need a big cone and hence the speaker will have to be big. But then again you might actually want to opt for an active subwoofer (which is also a “must” for a home theater system). Depends probably on the music you listen to, the “true audiophile” would avoid a subwoofer at all cost and get speakers the size of a fridge.

Looking at your requirements you will probably most happy with a standard stereo amplifier, a pair of good speakers and CD player. Alternatively you may choose a DVD player instead of the CDP, but be prepared to spend a bit more if you want good audio performance.
Hifi/AV elektronics, in particular imported stuff, is unfortunately not cheap here; actually it has a tendency to be on the expensive side.

Thanks for all the responses. I’d like to keep the expense within $30,000. Nothing state-of-the-art, I realize that. My music collection includes rock, jazz and classical, with jazz the most often played. My living room is on the small side, so 20 watts output is probably enough, and small speakers are preferrable. With the advent of DVDs, I anticipate my use of the component to shift from listening to music to watching movies. So the hifi system will be more utilitarian and accommodating. And yes, by auxiliaries I meant input. How about some brand suggestions?

Maybe after getting too much exposure to really good sound, I have become too fanatical.

But I would really say you might want to look into a lot of this and get very detailed. Maybe it doesn’t matter. But again I would say the biggest complaint I have about besides accuracy is just the noise and distortion.

For instance, people in the music industry do this all day. They use equipment that they can listen to all day. And these people notice if they listen to cheap equipment, even for just a few minutes, it’ll irritate them, make them tired, and can affect your mood. The static and noise is there no matter what, you just don’t notice it; it does affect your body and is not good for your health.

Audio is now something I really really investigate when I wish to make a purchase.

I paid less than NT$30,000 for a JVC compact stereo that is pretty damn good and sounds like exactly what you need. It plays radio, tape, CDs, VCDs, DVDs, Mp3s, minidiscs. Only does region 3-encoded DVDs though, but since its got two aux., I can run one to the TV and the other to my other DVD player that can play region-1 but doesn’t have a stereo, so I can bypass the TV speakers. Looks good, too. Face it. You most probably, like the rest of us, live in a concrete box, so all this talk of super hi-end stuff is pretty pointless, especially since the industry standard for studio monitors – a Mackie model, I believe – cost less than US$500 each, or around NT$34,000 per pair. THAT is what most sound engineers listen to all day.

Yes, it’s horses for courses. If YOU like the sound of an all-in-one system, get it. And if you’re mainly an MP3 listener, a separates system is a waste of money.

But if audio quality is your most important factor, dollar for dollar, a good separates system will trounce an all-in-one.

Let’s stop the dialectics huh? :slight_smile:

Sorry if I was suggesting he get such equipment. I meant to suggest that reviews of audiophile equipment are usually more detailed so one can start to amass technical knowledge and detailed observations how to assess stereo equipment.

These days, I like to learn a lot about whatever I’m getting into. After reading about a amp that’s 99.9996% distortion free and allows you to hear every single detail that’s recorded on the CD, it sure does make me envious.

My headphones are mid-range in-ear personal monitors though my source isn’t so great. Still, they’re so much more detailed than my previous B&O A8’s. Now that I listen to so much music and have started to really pay attention to details, it just makes me want more and more.

I probably won’t get a stereo anytime soon since I’m now used to hearing as much detail as I can with what I have. And to get a stereo that good would probably be fairly expensive. Maybe it’s crazy, but the next thing I want to try are $950 US Ultimate Ears earphones. They supposedly have 3/4’s of the musicians market for in-ear monitors; after reading people’s experience of them hearing texture and detail they’ve never heard before, even with their most familar recordings, it’s a must get for me.

Even though I’ve been listening to music for so long, it’s only within the past year that I’ve started to really pay close attention to it. It can get quite addictive to want better and better quality. Music just becomes so much more pleasurable.

The following is not addressed at any person here but more of a general nature and represents my opinion / recommendation only - you do not have to agree or listen to me:

Please do not buy into those myths that cables affect the sound, that illuminating your CD player’s inside with green light improves the listening experience or that an expensive mains cord, thick as an arm, can compensate for any restrictions by the feed from the mains distribution and improve your entire system etc.
I am all for investing in a decent and lasting setup but I won’t pay silly money for it and do not buy into those voodoo things, it’s all about making money by means of clever marketing, technical “facts” made up and psychology (‘wow, I spent amount xxx on that interconnect cable so it must sound better’).
The best example is Bose who asks lot’s of money for their cube systems that are said to rival the sound of big speakers. Strangely though that for moving a lot of air you need a big membrane - but Bose can defy the laws of physics. And preferrably you do not want your speakers directed at a wall so that the sound to bounces around, unless we are talking rear speakers in an AV setup (where it’s still a matter of personal taste actually).

Of course there is a general rule that the more you spend you get better sound. But once you have a reached a certain level spending more will only gain you smaller benefits.
Sure, invest in such if you are able and willing to afford it, but most people do not need this, in fact lot’s of people are happy with their kitchen radio and that’s entirely fine with me.

If you are looking at a proper system I would recommend that you audition it, using music you are familiar with. A good dealer would even allow you to do this in your home, say over the weekend.
Try to have an idea what you are looking for, make a pre-selection based on information you can obtain from the net or other people and then use that shortlist to find and listen to the stuff. And buy what you like - not what others tell you. :slight_smile:

Although you’d be wise to – this man knows what he’s talking about.

duplicate post

I would beg to differ that cables do not affect sound. While that may be true in mid-range systems where there is enough distortion and lack of clarity that you cannot tell, if you get the best of each component ever made, or something close to it, switching around cables will make a difference.

I’m sure there are physical explinations although I haven’t read any of the technical literature. Though I can imagine that as electrons travel through copper wire, it is very difficult to preserve the electron waveforms from one end of the wire to the other.

Then again, one does need very developed ears to hear such differences.

Sound is one thing where people tend to be less able to perceive accuracy. Anyone can probably learn it through practice and effort but it’s not something like picture quality which is so easily visible.

I haven’t heard the Halcro yet but I can imagine a truely silent amp, where you can turn the volume all the way up, while not playing anything, and hear no digital noise, would be amazing. That noise remains present at any volume level in most amps and is masking microscopic details that are part of the recording.

Imagine real life, where you are now, and practice listening and identifying every sound around you, even the most minimal and near-silent. You can achieve such detail wtih a stereo, but it’s a recent accomplishment.

Yeah all this talk about high-end may seem pointless, but it’s merely an attempt to learn more about the science of sound reproduction.

It was already said but I think it deserves to be restated. I think you might want to be as concerned with your listening environment as you are with the equipment you want to buy. A concrete room with those omnipresent white tiles is a terrible listening environment. Furniture and floor coverings with help shape the sound of the room but you might consider large pieces of ‘material’ on the walls as well. Maybe something like large art on canvas with a wooden frame. You could take it further of course.

Creating and investing in your listening environment might go a long way to making your system sound the way it was designed to.

Against my better judgement, we bought an inexpensive (~30k) Yamaha home theatre system about 3-4 years ago. It was an all-in-one model which has consequently crapped out. Taking it to service was useless. It wont play dvds or cds anymore. I had hoped that it would last long enough to get us through our time in Taiwan. In the future I would try to separate my components as much as possible.

Years ago I bought some NAD equipment and was quite pleased. Small Mirage speakers seemed to worked well.

Agree with kelake, the room / listening environement makes a big difference, too.
It’s an important but often neglected factor though of course you need to balance any investment in that with the setup you are using.

Given the short distances used in a standard hifi or AV setup I rekon this is entirely neglectable.
Of course there is an issue of resistance/impedance and capacity but it has not been proven that it makes an audible difference and independent double-blind tests usually end with the result that people are not able to tell what cable they are listening to.
Mostly people who know what cable is under test, the manufacturers and so-called high-end magazines tell you otherwise, but that shouldn’t be a surprise really.

It becomes really silly though when a cable manufacturer claims his cable is directional and prints an arrow on the insulation and asks you to install it the correct way (pointing from the source to the amplifier) to get a better sound. No joke btw, such cables do exist … :loco: