advertisement


Hifi idiot needs second hand buying advice

H

hifi mike

Member
It's been at least 20 years since I knew anything about hifi - when I ended up with a second hand Meridian 208 and M30 speakers - (some of you may say I didn't know anything then;-). I now have to put together a decent(ish) hifi for my sons 21st and having spent the last week glued to the web my head is spinning with reviews of old gear.

My idea is to spend around £500 (times are hard) on a CD, integrated amp and speaker, all second hand. I thought I would try and keep to nothing older than around 10 years but what would you folks in the know recommend?

All suggestions gratefully received.
 
It may cost a little more but Rega are marking down the Apollo cd player and Brio 3 and I am sure you can negotiate for some speakers for an excellent system let alone starter system.
 
I spent £10 on a super CD player, a bit of a bargain. I'd generally recommend as new as possible though - it is a mechanism after all.

I should think £100 ought to be more than enough for an amp, but you might double that if you really wanted to (no idea what you might get though). How much power do you need? A good amp will not need it's power supply fiddling with.

Speakers... now then... how BIG do you want. I think another £100 or less ought to do for a decent pair under 30 years old, no real need for more unless you want to chase boutique stuff. Avoid old foam surrounds. :)
 
Mike - I'd say 500 notes would get you something decent. Why not make an outright appeal on PFM for a decent CD / Amp / Speaker? I'm sure the gents would be happy to rummage around and move on some quality gear, in order to fund xmas pressies for offspring who do not want hi-fi for christmas :)
 
He won't thank you for a CDP - trust me on this!

assuming he already has a PC or laptop then what he needs is the MF Vdac on the classifieds or maybe a Cambridge DAC majic if its gone.

add that to a larger size old NAD of your choice (3150, c350 or any intermediate step will do) plus a pair of Mission speakers of suitable size (760i small 770F big or any intermediate size) and Robert is your father's brother!

Alternatively if you want real street cred same DAC and PC connected to a pair of Genelec 1029A active nearfield monitors.
 
Hi Mike. I have a theory, that you can get a decent system, a very decent system for a lot less than £500.

Spin your discs on one of these: Arcam Alpha CDP

Through one of these: Musical Fidelity A1

And out of some Monitor Audio R352 which can be had for sub-£50 in good condition.

PS: There are many other good s/h combinations that just play music and sound great!
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Was also going to say, are you sure that he wants a cdp? This is the iPod generation afterall, plus he might prefer vinyl (only joking).

Hmm. Have you considered a full on headphone setup? It would be no use if he wants speakers but a dac/streamer + headphone amp and decent headphones might be a good option for a young man about town...

Otherwise, Pioneer A400, Cyrus2 w/ Mission 780's all get mentioned regularly. Maybe some Linn Indexes, it would be pretty cool to own a premium brand at a young age.
 
There's loads of choice, to be honest you might have more fun halving the budget. £500 gives you too much choice if you see what I mean.

I'd stick with stuff from the last 15 years or so, much older than that and you get into maintenance/restoration issues which are a pain, unless the price reflects it and this is your thing.
 
At a recent bake-off there was a PC into an oldish DAC (£free) into a digital T-amp (£35) into a scruffy pair of EV Sentry III speakers (£415 plus £70 parts cost to repair them). Sounded good. Really good for £500ish.

I suspect an A&R A60 for £30 to £50 would have been a nice upgrade over the T-amp.


So one recipe for a good cheap system is: PC into free or cheapie DAC into nice inexpensive vintage amp into big old efficient high quality scruffy speakers.
 
I've got a nice set of Tannoy 613s in the classifieds...£150.

Do I get a prize as the first bloke on the thread to try to flog the guy something?:D
 
Denon UD M31 CD/Receiver and a pair of Kef Crestas and you will be amazed at how good this sounds. Audiophiles in the know all own a UD M31 as it is just such a special bit of kit that will drive almost any speaker only not to rave party levels. But there is plenty of volume for normal home listening. Try and get a listen somewhere and if you will do, you will buy it.
 
Pioneer A400 (not the X version) .... £120

Mission 753 speakers (not the freedom model).... £200

Marantz CD63 MKII K1 signature CDP ... £120

Silver High Breed Quintessence interconnect ... £70

LC-OFC speaker cable ... £30

total: approx £540 ....all components work very well together
 
I bought a old audiolab 1000a amp for £125 for a friend last year. He bought B+W 601's for £50 and he added a project TT

His set up was blinding esp for the that money.

My then lp12/32.5/140/mission 752 was edging it - just!

food for thought anyway

good luck

M
 
ps sounds like your not a hifi idiot at all but are someone prepared to compromise.

.... that makes you a bloke!

:D
 
21st birthday deserves collectable hifi that he can look on fondly in X many years time or something he can just enjoy now until obsolete/replaced? Are looks important - can it look retro or does it need to look modern? Helpful if you can say something about his musical tastes and whether he has loads of room etc or whether the speakers will need to fit on the shelf and desktop...
 
Firstly just wanted to say thanks for the quick and varied responses. Not sure its clarified much but its given me lots to think about.

Couple of things seem to be emerging…
- Probably best to buy the CDP new or second hand from a dealer with some sort of guarantee (its the most likely bit to fail)
- I brought the kid up right ;-) he appreciates the better quality of CD to MP3 (if only I could get him into vinyl but lets get real). Yes I know he'll probably use MP3s mostly but I insist on getting him a CDP as well
- I'm guessing that any amp that produces 40+ watts should keep him happy in his uni rooms and beyond for a while.
- Also speaker size wise its probably got to be big shelf size - not floor standers. (sorry "stevec67" but good try at flogging and I hope you shift them)
- I'm thinking nothing older than 10ish years (too leave him a bit of street cred with his mates and avoid any "dad its broken - what do I do?" phone calls)
- Music wise he's into indie and all yoof stuff (which seems to be like music from the 70's - or am i getting old?)
- I'm guessing if I aim for equipment that was around £400+ when new I should be able to hit my budget and get some higher end stuff

Hows my thinking so far?

OK - its back to hours trawling the second hand sites armed with all your ideas.

Once again you've all been brilliant and if anyone else wants to offer me their treasured hifi gear please feel free (sorry there's no prize for "stevec67", just kudos!)

-
 
I've a Denon DRA-455 Receiver in the classifieds at the moment. It's a fairly modern amp/tuner and makes a decent sound. I don't know how much it'd be worth, but I think I paid £70 for it, and I'd be happy to see it go for less.

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/164

These get good reviews online, for what they are -- they were under £200 new -- but a couple of people have pointed out a tiny bit of background hiss when you press you ear against the speaker [with no signal running through the amp], and I'd confirm that, it's very slightly noisier in that situation than my [more expensive] other amps. It is compact and versatile, though, with a decent tuner.
 
The posher Cambridge audio stuff from Richer Sounds is very good indeed. There is a CDP and amp on hififorsale that is in your price range. Both items together less than £300.

Nic P
 
Have sent a pm with some spare amplifiers. He doesn't have a DVD player he can use as a CD player? That would free up some budget...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top