Have your say & ask the experts

Hi

I'm looking to buy my first decent hifi system but a bit restricted on space and budget.

My total budget is about £2k for tuner, cd, amp, speakers & cables etc, So I roughly budgeted for £700 for amp and CD with £600 for speakers and cables.

I've listened to some NAD and arcam kit with B&W and Epos speakers and all sounded good. I'd be happy that I could make a good choice based on this.

However, I've been offered a good deal on a Linn Classik  (and theres a cheap Arcam Solo on Ebay). Buying one of these would leave me just over a grand for speakers and cable (I could possible stretch to another couple of hundred). How would the Linn paired with £1k speakers compare to entry level separates with £400 speakers ?

Thanks 

 

IMO i'd be going for the Arcam Solo.


I think its one of the best 'one box' systems out there and partnered with decent speakers it's superb.


What speakers have you been looking at and also; what kind of music do you listen to?

I would look at the following:

Rega Apollo CD (£598)
Naim Nait 5i Amp (£725)
Mordaunt-Short Mezzo 2 Speakers (£400)

Add cables and a decent tuner (either the Denon TU1500 or TU1800DAB depending on whether you want the DAB or not) with a pair of good quality speaker stands (Atacama Nexus or similar) and you'll have a cracking set-up which will easily show the door to the two all-ine-one systems and make future upgrades easier.

With your budget you might also want to look at the now end-of-line Roksan Kandy MkIII CD player and Amp, available for less than £1k now for the pair. Creek's Evolution series would also be worth a look - CD, Amp, and Tuner with a pair of Epos speakers would make a cracking system.

Willt, perhaps also consider auditioning AVI's ADM9.1.

Go on their website and you get all the technical info but in essence they are active compact monitors with built in pre-amplifier, amplification and a good quality DAC section. Remote control too. You'd still need a source but this can be pc/cdp or analogue based. The corresponding inputs are available.

Regards

drummerman:

Willt, perhaps also consider auditioning AVI's ADM9.1.

Go on their website and you get all the technical info but in essence they are active compact monitors with built in pre-amplifier, amplification and a good quality DAC section. Remote control too. You'd still need a source but this can be pc/cdp or analogue based. The corresponding inputs are available.

Regards

I really think you could benefit from taking this suggestion very seriously given your requirement for a compact set-up. I haven't heard the AVIs myself but I've read lots of good things about them and with a decent source I would have thought they could be better than the all-in-one units. Leaves you some flexibility regarding your source and future upgrades in the future as well.

The AVI's partnered with the Rega Apollo would be sublime i reckon!

Defoo worth a looking at :)

d_a_n1979:

The AVI's partnered with the Rega Apollo would be sublime i reckon!

Defoo worth a looking at :)

This is 'defoo' NOT how Ashley (MD of AVI) would want his kit to be used by a customer. He strenuously (vociferously) promotes the use of his ADM9.1's with Apple Mac/Apple TV/iTunes on every forum I have seen him contribute to on this subject. (Just my observation in case you research the ADM9.1's online. You may find some controversy regarding use of this active speaker/DAC set-up with anything but a Mac/Apple TV as a source.)

Anyway, back on topic. The Arcam Solo Music 2.1 is one of the best all-in-one options out there. (My budget did not quite stretch to it unfortunately.) I would have no reservations in using it with expensive speakers.

drummerman:

Willt, perhaps also consider auditioning AVI's ADM9.1.

Go on their website and you get all the technical info but in essence they are active compact monitors with built in pre-amplifier, amplification and a good quality DAC section. Remote control too. You'd still need a source but this can be pc/cdp or analogue based. The corresponding inputs are available.

Regards

 

Agree. Any active speaker with a laptop will save space.