All in one sytems?

[TBL]

A friend has asked me to put together a system for them. They want it as simple and easy as possible. They like music, but not Hi-Fi nuts by any stretch.

So I though why not an all-in-one, so far 2 spring to mind

1. Arcam Solo
2. Rotel RCX 1500

Both get good reviews, but does anyone have any direct experience of either of these or suggestions of other kit that falls into a similar price range.

I've been given a budget of £1,200 and that includes speakers. I'm roughly allowing £600 for speakers and £600 for amp/cd.

The alternative to the above would be the 6004 range of Amp and separate CDP from Marantz or possibly older A3 combo from MF.

Speakers need to be floor standers and not to big so something like Spendor A3's if I can find some.

[DSJR]

I'm too out of date to offer any help I'm afraid, but Myryad used to do some elegant and simple-to-operate stuff.. For recent used, look at Rega. An Apollo and Mira3/Brio3 would be a reliable and service-assured combo to make a heart of a system. I have no idea how Rotel would be thought of these days, but their stuff used to be good and simple to operate.

Gotta be better than Bose FFS :D

[Bluedroog]

What about the Meridian M80? An awful lot of money but very, very good for it's size and does offer what some people want, people with fairly deep pockets mind. It's being replaced by a newer modle, the F80 so there are some relative bargains out there.

I personally wouldn't pay that but it hasn't been made to appeal to me. Having said that it would be quite a fancy bit of kit for the kitchen or something if I could ever through that sort of money at an all-in-one kitchen kind of system. But for some one interested a neat solution for moderate listening levels with clear sound in a well designed package this could be ideal.

[goraman]

both Music hall and Linn makes a fantastic all in one.http://infiniteelectronix.com/musichalltrio50-wattintegratedamplifiertunercdplayersystem.aspx
The music hall trio would be my first choice.
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0400/classickan.htm

[Effem]

Don't forget the Linn Classik

[stewartwen]

I saw a Linn Karik system in my local cash transformers tother day...................about £450 exc speakers.

[goraman]

Don't forget the Linn Classik

I posted a link above,nice but very expensive.
The Music Hall is a better deal.

[Jason P]

Dunno if you can get Music Hall stuff here. But the Classik is a good all rounder, and you can pick them up relatively cheaply now - especially the early ones. Not a lot comes close for the money. Alternatively something like one of the Denon or Teac mini systems can be pretty good; pair with some good speakers and enjoy. Lastly, don't discount a system from Richer Sounds. My F-I-L has a Cambridge Audio amp, CD and tuner with some Dali Lecktors - it cost him about a grand IIRC and sounds bloody wonderful. They're bound to have some in the Jan sales.

[hoopsontoast]

£1.2k is a lot of money for an all-in-one. You could build up a pretty decent second hand seperates system for that amount of dough!

Rega Brio3, Planet 2000/Apollo and R3's easily under £1k.

How big is their room? What music do they like, how loud etc etc...

[TBL]

Thanks Guys lots of options there. I've now got good set of stuff to keep my eyes open for.

[TBL]

£1.2k is a lot of money for an all-in-one. You could build up a pretty decent second hand seperates system for that amount of dough!

Rega Brio3, Planet 2000/Apollo and R3's easily under £1k.

How big is their room? What music do they like, how loud etc etc...

Rob you miss read the post and the values. it's not £1,200 for an all in one its £600, £1,200 is the total which allows £600 for the speakers.

[bobbasrah]

Rob you miss read the post and the values. it's not £1,200 for an all in one its £600, £1,200 is the total which allows £600 for the speakers.

:scratch:

[Effem]

I have just bought a Teac 300 system including Ruark Epilogue speakers for just over £100 off ebay :eyebrows: Not bad at all for a second system but comes nowhere close to a Linn Classik which gave a good run against some stiff opposition at a bakeoff a few years ago, so if I was looking for a compact unit in a main system I would certainly put it on my shortlist. Haven't heard any others to be truthful so cannot offer any first hand experience

[technobear]

Linn Classic: http://www.2ndhandhifi.co.uk/amplification/linn-classik-all-in-one-player/

[hoopsontoast]

I was implying that for £1.2k you could get something that was still pretty small but would probably sound a lot better.
Apollo £250
Brio3 £150
R3 £200

And looks cool too-

http://www.hifix.co.uk/graphics/pics/normal/110076_SWATCH.jpg

[Mark Grant]

They like music, but not Hi-Fi nuts by any stretch.



I would look at a device that can stream from Spotify etc.
Lots of music to listen to.

Sonos would do it and is very easy to use.
They would only need one zone player and a controller and a £10 a month spotify premium account.

controller:
http://www.sonos.com/shop/products/control

A normal CD player could also be used to spin the CD's , or just rip them and play trough the Sonos and whichever speakers and amplifier are decided on.

The amplified Connect amp zone player 120 is great with bookshelf or ceiling speakers, never tried it with floor standers.
http://www.sonos.com/shop/products/connectamp

I have installed a few for customers and streaming spotify certainly changes the amount of music played in any house.

[aquapiranha]

I always liked the look of the Aura Note..

aveaBinG848

[Rare Bird]

I always liked the look of the Aura Note..



Hi Steve:
I fancied that ever since i first saw it..

[DSJR]

I think Music Hall is known in Europe as "Pro-ject" unless I'm very much mistaken.

[goraman]

I think Music Hall is known in Europe as "Pro-ject" unless I'm very much mistaken.

Your very much mistaken, Music Hall is a Roy Hall creation but he uses Project, Shanling and other company's to do the actual production and incorporates his own desighns.