High fidelity????????????????

[ballymenaman]

I'm new to the whole audiophile thing. Obviously individuals' ears are different and sound is a subjective thing - but I read so much about sonic signatures. Arcam, for instance, is supposed to have a particular sound. Same for Naim. Can anybody tell me what these are? Does Arcam/Naim equipment reproduce music faithfully - to me this would mean it sounding like it did in the studio or wherever it was recorded - or does it lend something different to the sound and change it?

I would love to hear these different 'signatures' for myself but unfortunately I live in a place where I have no access to a good HIfi dealer where I could hear the different brands in action. The standard cheapo Japanese/Korean budget gear is the only stuff stocked locally. I am looking for a new amp and find myself relying on advice from forums such as this and from Hifi reviews (which I often suspect might be a bit biased?!).

Here's the million dollar question - what brand produces music the most faithfully and with the least distortion at a sensible cost?

[jandl100]

Well, all brands have their fans and their detractors.

As a general rule, nothing is perfect, you just have to choose the ones that suit your own priorities and preferences.
--- or become a box-swapper like me (and others here) who just enjoy trying different things.
--- buy something on the used market - use it for a while and then change it for something else. Great fun!

I guess it's a bit more expensive (courier fees) to do that from NI, but only a few tens of Euros extra really.

[AlfaGTV]

Here's the million dollar question - what brand produces music the most faithfully and with the least distortion at a sensible cost?

Here's a million dollar answer for you
Depends.... on what you like, what you listen to, how your listening room affects audio, your budget, how you define "faithfully" etc etc etc


Jerry is right, box swapping is an option in getting to know your prefs!
If thats not an option, then i'd say you need to climb really (imo) high on the admittance fee ladder before meeting the two criteria: faithful reproduction of all audible frequencies on most speakers and doing so without adding audible distorsion

The one biggest influence on your audio at home will always be the interaction between the room and your choice of speakers though, so dont worry too much bout te electronics!

Atb Mike

[Jimbo]

I would suggest that you try and listen too as much equipment as possible and decide what sounds good to you. It all comes down to what your own ears tell you. All products, as you have correctly mentioned, have their own 'sound' and add their own colouration to the music. If you can articulate what sort of sound you are looking for I am sure the AOS members will point you in the right direction as to what equipment to listen too

[Reffc]

I'm new to the whole audiophile thing. Obviously individuals' ears are different and sound is a subjective thing - but I read so much about sonic signatures. Arcam, for instance, is supposed to have a particular sound. Same for Naim. Can anybody tell me what these are? Does Arcam/Naim equipment reproduce music faithfully - to me this would mean it sounding like it did in the studio or wherever it was recorded - or does it lend something different to the sound and change it?

I would love to hear these different 'signatures' for myself but unfortunately I live in a place where I have no access to a good HIfi dealer where I could hear the different brands in action. The standard cheapo Japanese/Korean budget gear is the only stuff stocked locally. I am looking for a new amp and find myself relying on advice from forums such as this and from Hifi reviews (which I often suspect might be a bit biased?!).

Here's the million dollar question - what brand produces music the most faithfully and with the least distortion at a sensible cost?

Hi Andy

Well, you live just up the road from where my roots are at ;-) (Magherafelt)...lovely place to live.

The others have highlighted a few considerations.

First thig to stress is that you need to get out of your mind the issue of an all-one-brand set up as that is partly a marketing tool, partly a throwback to considerations with midi system comparisons etc and partly because few all-one-brand systems are needed or designed to work that way plus not an indication of best sound quality (ie not everything needs to come from one manufacturer for best SQ).

In general, no hifi will ever satisfy 100% as there are flaws (some deliberate some not) in things such as how recordings are mastered, the match of speakers to room space and the designs used for source components. Of everything, the amps are usually in my experience) less difficult to get right but the best place to start is with speakers.

Rule of thumb #1: Small room, small speakers (small floor standers or up to mid sized stand mounters....6 to 8 inch drivers); Large room, larger speakers (large and more powerful stand mounts or larger floor standers).

Do some research on speakers. Not all is as it seems. Avoid flavour of the month products which are popular one month and never heard of the next, often because of meaningless 5 star magazine reviews (unfair, not all are meaningless, but motivations and comparisons which are considered for the gradings need to be understood. just because something has a 5 star review doesn't mean it will work for you).

Rule of thumb #2: Never assemble a hifi set up from a list of components chosen from 5 star reviews. It simply doesn't work that way;

Rule of thumb # 3: Stick with solid state amps to begin with and always buy they best you can afford (new or used but if used, buy something which is say no more than 10 years old to avoid service needs or worries) and buy something with more than ample power (ie higher rated) than the speakers might need to allow for enough headroom to prevent amp overload (this is sometimes referred to as clipping) at low impedance loads (high current demand) from speakers;

Rule of Thumb #4: stick with source components that best match your current music collection unless you want the convenience of streaming etc which has it's own pitfalls and worries. CDs are cheap and plentiful and good CD players very cheap now on the used market, so pick one which has extra digital inputs (ie can be used as a stand alone DAC for streaming or playing music from laptops etc).

Most important...have fun in the process!

The hardest thing to get right is the speakers, so this is where most effort is needed since they are the least likely things to change in your system once matched correctly to your room and music tastes. Some great used bargains about.

Cabling: simply not a major consideration to begin with. Use anything of any quality until you are happy with your set up, then you can concentrate on squeezing the last drops of refinement and transparency from the system by looking at reasonably priced quality cables (they needn't cost the earth). Just ensure that interconnects are screened and that speaker cable is reasonable cross section. Van Damme, Talk Electronics, and Black Rhodium all produce some stunningly good speaker cable for under a fiver a metre (excluding terminations).

[Macca]

I think if you are just getting into audio worrying about the 'voicing' of different brands of amplifiers is the last thing you need to do.

As Paul says best place to start is loudspeakers. They will need to be suitable to the room and suitable for the sort of presentation that you want. Do you want warm lush and romantic, something you can relax to whilst you read, or do you want a loudspeaker that grabs your attention and doesn't let go? Or something in between? If the room is small it can limit your choice a little but some big loudspeakers do work in small rooms (Tannoy DC for example). Get speaker/room right it is easier to make everything else fall into place.

One you have decided on speakers then you can think about what will be the best amp to drive them within your budget.

[ballymenaman]

One you have decided on speakers then you can think about what will be the best amp to drive them within your budget.

The speakers are already in place - Focal Chorus 726V floorstanders. I'm not in a position to change them. Anyway, I'm happy with them and they suit the room they are in.

The issue is the amp. I'm currently using a Denon PMA350II which I've had for years. I also have a Marantz PM7200, which is with the repairer at present. It may not be economic to repair - I'm waiting to hear. In any event, I wasn't happy with the sound. I had a Primare i21 for a very short time and it was the mutt's nuts. Lovely clear sound and not too much bass (which I like). The Primare isn't a permanent option as it developed a serious fault and went back to the previous owner. I don't really want to spend much more than £500. All suggestions welcome.

[Tim]

First thig to stress is that you need to get out of your mind the issue of an all-one-brand set up as that is partly a marketing tool, partly a throwback to considerations with midi system comparisons etc and partly because few all-one-brand systems are needed or designed to work that way plus not an indication of best sound quality (ie not everything needs to come from one manufacturer for best SQ).

In general, no hifi will ever satisfy 100% as there are flaws (some deliberate some not) in things such as how recordings are mastered, the match of speakers to room space and the designs used for source components. Of everything, the amps are usually in my experience) less difficult to get right but the best place to start is with speakers.

Rule of thumb #1: Small room, small speakers (small floor standers or up to mid sized stand mounters....6 to 8 inch drivers); Large room, larger speakers (large and more powerful stand mounts or larger floor standers).

Do some research on speakers. Not all is as it seems. Avoid flavour of the month products which are popular one month and never heard of the next, often because of meaningless 5 star magazine reviews (unfair, not all are meaningless, but motivations and comparisons which are considered for the gradings need to be understood. just because something has a 5 star review doesn't mean it will work for you).

Rule of thumb #2: Never assemble a hifi set up from a list of components chosen from 5 star reviews. It simply doesn't work that way;

Rule of thumb # 3: Stick with solid state amps to begin with and always buy they best you can afford (new or used but if used, buy something which is say no more than 10 years old to avoid service needs or worries) and buy something with more than ample power (ie higher rated) than the speakers might need to allow for enough headroom to prevent amp overload (this is sometimes referred to as clipping) at low impedance loads (high current demand) from speakers;

Rule of Thumb #4: stick with source components that best match your current music collection unless you want the convenience of streaming etc which has it's own pitfalls and worries. CDs are cheap and plentiful and good CD players very cheap now on the used market, so pick one which has extra digital inputs (ie can be used as a stand alone DAC for streaming or playing music from laptops etc).

Most important...have fun in the process!

The hardest thing to get right is the speakers, so this is where most effort is needed since they are the least likely things to change in your system once matched correctly to your room and music tastes. Some great used bargains about.

Cabling: simply not a major consideration to begin with. Use anything of any quality until you are happy with your set up, then you can concentrate on squeezing the last drops of refinement and transparency from the system by looking at reasonably priced quality cables (they needn't cost the earth). Just ensure that interconnects are screened and that speaker cable is reasonable cross section. Van Damme, Talk Electronics, and Black Rhodium all produce some stunningly good speaker cable for under a fiver a metre (excluding terminations).

This is one of the most coherent and well reasoned pieces of advice I think I have ever read for someone contemplating dipping their toe into the treacherous waters of Hi-Fidelity - nice one Paul

The only thing I would add Andy is don't rush into anything, listen to whatever you can, wherever you can and most importantly from my point of view, never forget about the music (oh, and have fun too).

[agk]

From my recollection (and its a while since I owned product from either) Denon and Marantz have quite different sound characteristics with the 'rantz being more forward in presentation.
Which of these did you prefer I wonder?

If the Primare had a sound you like then finding another would seem the best option. Not a brand I'm familiar with to listen to but your budget should suffice and if not you could live with what you have a while longer and increase it.

Those thoughts aside and despite Pauls very good post I would have to suggest getting stuck in.
When I started out on this long road I just grabbed stuff I could afford that I liked the look of. Now, some years on, I have a fairly good idea of what works well for me.

[roob]

If this review of the Focals is anything to go by I would look for a smooth warm sounding amp
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/aud...-632392/review