Is there any point? [Archive] - The Art of Sound Forum

Benji

06-07-2013, 18:46

If this is in the wrong forum for this question my apologies but I am still trying to find my way around.

Wondering if you chaps could tell me whether I should even bother with listening to music just yet.

I have just remembered the number of my amp in the loft, it is a Yamaha rxv390rds surround sound receiver.

My question is, can I start building around this amp or wait until I can get a 'proper' amp?

I don't have any speakers yet, and I only have an old and cheap Technics cd player, the model number escapes me but it from circa 1996/98ish and was not remote control.

Not even sure if this is a valid question or whether I should go and hide under a rock for a while.

Many thanks,

Ben.

walpurgis

06-07-2013, 19:07

Do you know a good rock Ben?

Seriously, it doesn't matter what you use. We all start somewhere and hopefully move on. At the end of the day, we're in it to listen to music, the equipment just helps us. Use what you've got and look to upgrade when it suits you.

julesd68

06-07-2013, 19:17

I reckon there must be some really excellent rocks to hide under by the Atlantic coast ...

Seriously though, Geoff is absolutely spot on. Personally I would buy some speakers, get it all hooked up and start to enjoy some music - I suspect the Yamaha will be very competent. I bought some lovely old Mordaunt Short speakers for a friend for £30 on ebay recently and they are excellent. You don't need to spend much to get started and then you can upgrade when funds allow.

realysm42

06-07-2013, 19:42

I've got a Roksan Caspian m2 for sale if you're interested.

Benji

06-07-2013, 19:43

Hi guys thanks for that, I will try and get some speakers.

Yes, lots of rocks here, on the beach and in the garden only last month had about 50 5 ton rocks put in as a wall.....

Benji

06-07-2013, 19:44

What is one of those realys? :/

DSJR

06-07-2013, 19:58

Hi Ben,

Just start with some vintage Wharfedale Diamonds of whatever marque. Thousands sold and so they're very cheap, BUT they do sound good and should respond to eventual improvements elsewhere. Good cheap speaker cables from Fisual on fleabay too (the 2.5mm is recommended). I'm way out of date on AV amps, but manhy cheaper ones sounded smooth rather than harsh, so set it to 2 channel and enjoy. If the CD player has a digital output, you could try feeding this into the decoder the AV receiver has. Interconnects, analogue or digital, can be got on eBay for very little dosh (we can recommend) and these will do until you decide to try summat better/posher looking ')

Benji

06-07-2013, 20:08

julesd68

06-07-2013, 20:33

Diamonds are a great idea - I would go for some of the earlier ones. These mk III's look just the ticket - I had mine for years and they worked very well with my Albarry pre/power for some time!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wharfedale-Diamond-III-Diamond-3-Bookshelf-Speakers-Near-mint-condition-/370841607194?pt=UK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudio HiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item5657e1dc1a

I will let someone else tackle the interconnect subject!

DSJR

06-07-2013, 21:41

Interconnects? A thorny subject if ever there was one :rofl:

These are some of the best of the cheapy patch-cord types -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Belkin-PureAV-1M-RCA-Audio-Cable-Phono-White-Red-AD20300qn1m-New-/281130138850?pt=UK_Computing_Sound_Vision_Audio_Ca bles_Adapters&hash=item4174a97ce2

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280727389690?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_2367wt_1170

These should get you going, but if you want something better and posher looking, then the sky really is the limit and even at the £25 to £50 mark for a stereo RCA set, there are dozens of pretty good ones to choose from, a good few sold by sellers here. In an ideal world, all of these things shouldn't make any difference and there are many who closed their minds to this due to insufficient scientific reasons (in their view) as to why this should be. I don't go mad on this kind of thing now - I cannot afford to in all honesty - but my suggestion os to start low and good, get some experience of good basic music reproduction and then only change if you can definitely find an area in the music you'd like improved, if you see what I mean :)

Benji

07-07-2013, 07:24

Sovereign

07-07-2013, 07:53

Thanks everyone for all your great advice, I really do appreciate it, I had avoided even looking at my amp for many years fearing it was useless after someone told me it wasn't hifi.

I suppose it still isn't hifi as such but at least I don't feel so miserable about it.

Thanks again.

Ben.

In my view our hobby is about two things; music and the hifi hardware itself.
I love music, I always have, it is in my family's blood. Since the 90's I have loved hifi which to me is the art of getting that recorded music to sound better. There are seasons where I focus a lot on the hardware and get caught up with the chopping and changing and fiddling around, and there are seasons where I just get caught up in the music and forget about the hifi.
There are certainly certain hifi components that have enabled me to enjoy the music more, but it can be a bit of a vicious trap. If you focus more on the music than the hifi you will be fine.
There are some hifi components out there that give you massive sound value for your pound, and they are almost always second hand, my hifi actually cost me very little, relatively, and the sound is right up there. Best of luck with the journey!

Benji

07-07-2013, 07:56

Thanks sovereign.

walpurgis

07-07-2013, 10:42

Thanks dsjr for the advice, and thanks to everyone else.

Can I just get you to elaborate though on one point, what are interconnects and what improvements/part do they play?

I really am a beginner at this.

Ben.

Interconnects are the leads between bits of equipment, apart from speaker leads which are very different.

Benji

07-07-2013, 10:44

Thanks walpurgis that is a nice easy answer for simple old me :)

walpurgis

07-07-2013, 12:15

Typical interconnect lead

10152

Typical speaker lead

10153

Typical CD deck/player

10154

Typical Hi-Fi record turntable

10155

Typical Hi-Fi valve amplifier (integrated -- all one unit)

10156

Rare Bird

07-07-2013, 12:24

Is that Raphaelite tube amp yours Geoff?

walpurgis

07-07-2013, 12:28

Is that Raphaelite tube amp yours Geoff?

Yup. 6v6 model!

Benji

07-07-2013, 12:33

Thanks walpurgis I'll print those photos out and take them with me when I go shopping so I know what to look for ;)

Rare Bird

07-07-2013, 12:34

They look nice Geoff, ive seen them before in a few models, i think im right in saying they are kits! are they hard wired or PCB circuits?

Sorry for the drift Ben..

Roy S

07-07-2013, 12:40

Used a Sony AV amp for some years and it's still doing sterling work in the bedroom system. I've only recently upgraded to a Quad amp/CDP (got quite reasonably off e-bay) in the main system & whilst it's definitely a step up sonically I still recognise that the Sony made a decent enough noise. So watch out for a pair of Diamonds (or small Missions) on the bay, get some inexpensive cables to start with & go for it!

walpurgis

07-07-2013, 12:42

They look nice Geoff, ive seen them before in a few models, i think im right in saying they are kits! are they hard wired or PCB circuits?

Sorry for the drift Ben..

Not a Kit. Small PCB & hard wiring. Nicely made and lovely sounding little amp, 4 watts per channel, but sounds like a lot more.

Benji

07-07-2013, 12:43

No problem rarebird, I'm just happy to be here :)

Benji

07-07-2013, 12:45

Thanks Roy s will do.

I am overwhelmed by the advice you chaps are giving me.

MikeMusic

07-07-2013, 16:04

A good place to start could be a complete separates system on Ebay, collect only, close enough to you to make sense.

I picked up a nice little system a few years back for the other half
Record deck, Arcam CD player and Amp, Sony Cassette deck, TDL speakers and cable

for a crazy £60

When you have that in and running you can look at improving

Benji

07-07-2013, 16:34

Hi mike,

Good advice, my only problem is being in Ireland I don't think many bits come up very often and the few prices I have seen have been ridiculous.

Ben.

seoirse2002

07-07-2013, 16:49

Where in Ireland Ben?

Benji

07-07-2013, 17:18

Seoirse I am in county kerry.

MikeMusic

07-07-2013, 20:16

Hi mike,

Good advice, my only problem is being in Ireland I don't think many bits come up very often and the few prices I have seen have been ridiculous.

Ben.
Patience could nab you a bargain
Think positive like Dan Martin !
:)

Benji

07-07-2013, 21:13

I will keep looking and waiting, although not sure who dan Martin is though.......

Benji

07-07-2013, 21:14

Thanks mike by the way

Stratmangler

07-07-2013, 21:16

I will keep looking and waiting, although not sure who dan Martin is though.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Martin_%28cyclist%29

Benji

07-07-2013, 21:28

Thanks stratmangler, the fog clears.

walpurgis

07-07-2013, 21:31

What kind of sound system are you aiming to put together Ben?

CD based, records or internet file downloads?

Do you have a budget in mind?

Benji

07-07-2013, 21:58

Hi walpurgis, would love to get some vinyl back. (stupidly ditched all of mine some years ago)

But for now mainly CDs.

I really don't have a budget in mind at the moment, like a lot of people cash flow is tight right now however, I suppose in the hundreds for the immediate future I don't suppose I could ever stretch to thousands anyway!

The long and the short is if I have to wait then that is fine for now, I wanted to join aos to learn about my options without necessarily shelling out just yet I suppose, to be honest work is slow at the moment.

walpurgis

07-07-2013, 22:17

Sounds like you need to start with a basic reliable system that you can build upon. The good news is that you can do this on a budget and still have very presentable sounds. Shop wisely and you could get a used equipment, CD and vinyl system worth using for maybe £200.

Perhaps a Marantz CD63 or CD52 SE player, Pioneer PL-12D turntable (hopefully with a reasonable cartridge installed), a Denon PMA-250SE amplifier and as has been mentioned already, a pair of Wharfedale Diamond speakers of just about any vintage. Decent leads won't hurt either. In the past I've picked up these sorts of items at car boot sales very cheaply.

Just suggestions of course, there are many options. The above are all basic gear, but reliable and as a system it won't disgrace itself. It also forms the basis of a system you can upgrade in stages. I'm sure other AOS members will have alternatives to suggest and may have items to pass on cheaply.

Benji

08-07-2013, 06:34

Thanks walpurgis, very encouraging words indeed.

MikeMusic

08-07-2013, 06:54

I will keep looking and waiting, although not sure who dan Martin is though.......

Persistence pays with Ebay. If you don't find it right away something good will be along at a good price.
Dan Martin - also persisting, just had the biggest win of his career
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Martin_(cyclist)

Canetoad

08-07-2013, 10:05

Hi Ben,

I've just put http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?25829-FS-Marantz-CD63-MkII-KI on ebay. If you're interested I can cancel the sale and sell it here. PM me. :)

dave2010

08-07-2013, 10:18

I thought this thread might be going to be about something deep and philosophical.

One answer might be 42.

I agree with many of the responses so far, up to a point. What kind of music does our OP want to hear, or is that also part of the philosophical question? Where is it going to be played, and when?

There are many options. A CD or DVD player might not be necessary if computer based audio is adopted, and would save even the ~£100 car boot sale CD player.

Headphones can be good, and sometimes necessary, though not everyone likes them.

At present I spend maybe 50% of my listening time using CD, and 50% using computer based audio. The computer based material may also be from CDs which I own, but have ripped previously.

i listen 50/50 to loudspeakers/headphones.