Conference hips::uk_audioo

I'm not sure what sort of price British HiFi comes in at in Hong Kong, but I
imagine that Japanese stuff will probably be cheaper.

>> good speakers (around 80 per channel)

Either this means a lot of speakers! or they should be rated at 80 Watts per
channel. If I were you, I wouldn't make the power handling capacity your main
concern. It is, of course, important, but a good dealer should help, and if
the price is spread proportionately (?sp) amongst the parts then your speakers
will probably "match" the amplifier.

I wonder when you say good speakers, that the speakers should be good to the
detriment of the CD player or amp. Also, you give no idea of space constraints,
or budget.

Anyway, given that, here is what I'd be tempted to try, given that I am a bit
biased. I'm assuming that, as you are building your system up slowly, you don't
want to spend huge amounts of money.

CD-Player:	Very little experience with them. I've heard that Denon and
		Sony are very good makes. Maybe someone can help out here.

Amp:		If Japanese stuff is very cost effective, then try stuff from
		Denon. I'm a bit unsure about equipment from other Japanese
		Manufacturers.
		If, however, British stuff can be had for a reasonable price,
		then have a look at the A&R Arcam Alpha, Creek CAS 4040 (I
		may be out of date), NVA, Mission Cyrus 1 (apparently much
		improved). All of these amps are reviewed favourably, and of
		the ones I've heard (A&R, Creek, and Mission), very impressive,
		and will sound better than their equivalent priced Japanese
		counterparts (IMO).

Speakers:	I suspect that space is at a premium, so I do recommend
		Wharfedale Diamonds. I am, of course, totally biased, having
		owned a pair for 5 years, and seen them sound much better than
		the larger, more expensive Tannoy Mercury's that share my
		Living Room. As for other speakers, I enjoyed listening to
		Celestion Speakers.

I think other people can recommend some more.

Mark.

    .1 makes a lot of sense. At one time I would have suggested you buy the
    best CD player you can that still leaves room in your budget for
    reasonably competent amp and speakers; now I'm not so sure. CD
    developments are coming so fast these days that anything you buy now
    will likely be out of date within months if not weeks.
    
    Until the situation stabilises, personally I would go for good midrange
    amplifier that will accept the sources you want to use now or in the
    future, and some good low-end speakers. Any that Mark has listed will
    deliver in terms of sound quality, and there are some very good
    speakers around now at the low end. For the CD, go for the cheapest you
    can find that sounds right for you with your chosen amp and speakers,
    and spend any cash you have left on expanding your CD collection.
    
    If the CD player situation stabilises, and you want to upgrade, change
    your CD player first, then the amp. The speakers should be the last
    thing to upgrade.
    
    Whatever you do, listen before you buy. Your ears, and nobody else's,
    should decide.
    
    Dave

    
    Re: .0
    
    This is not only for you. I also need comment from British fellows.
    
    I know there is a tube-preamp-amp from Audio Innovation. In Hong Kong
    it is about $10000 (800 pounds). I think the tube design can soft some
    hard and cold sound from CDs. Right?
    
    Rosewood LS3/5A will work best with tube amps. Agree? British fellows?
    Of course you need a good speaker stand for the LS3/5A.
    
    For CD, try DENON, PHILIPS and SONY. If you can pay more, try REVOX.
    
    HK$20000 is a reasonable price to start with. Tell me your budget, may
    be I can give you some more info.
    
    Chak.
    Hong Kong EIS.

    Okay, I was looking more in the range of HK$15K to HK$20K (approx 1K
    pounds).
    
    Kaizad

    Try listening to a Technics SLP-277 CD, it costs #160, uses MASH
    decoding and sounds quite nice. I think Dave is right about the
    rapid changes in the CD market at the moment and I'm putting off
    replacing my Technics SLP-350 (2 yrs old, 16 x 4 bit oversampling)
    for at least another year.
    
    
    Stephen.

    
    IMHO.......
    Just go for QUAD and have done with it !
    (with the caviat re CD player...or will the technological developments
    always be leaping ahead anyway ?)
    
    Timbo
    

    If you decide to buy a cheap "throw-away" CD player then that's a good
    strategy, if you find the sound acceptable - especially over prolonged
    listening sessions.  If you go for a CD that is a little (or much) more
    expensive, be aware that improvements come not only from the
    electronics, but also from the quality of the CD transport.
    
    When going for a more expensive CD player you should ensure that the
    transport is a good one, that way you can keep the CD and use it as a
    transport with any new Digital to Analogue Convertor (DAC) that comes
    onto the market.
    
    An alternative is to buy a CD transport only, some new ones are just
    coming on the market.  The area where technology advances are being made
    is at the DAC end at the moment.
    
    I believe your decision on the CD comes down to what price level you
    will be happy with.  If you like the sound of what I call the
    "throw-away" CDs, then these are the most cost-effective solution for
    you.
                                         

    
    For amp and speakers, you can get the best (in terms of price/perf.)
    from the British. I suggest to you a reasonable combination of British
    amp-speaker.
    
    Amp - as described in .1, Creek, Arcam Alpha, Audiolab and Cryus. All
          of them are around HK$4000-6000.
    
    Speaker - Celestion 3 (HK$1800). Too cheap to criticize.
    
    CD - In the range of HK$3000-5000. Just take your preference.
    
    If I can start all over again, the above combination is enough to
    satisfy my requirement. However, in the past few years, I spent 5 times
    of the above and get only a few percent better than that. What else can
    you say?
    
    Chak.
    

    Well said Chak...
    There must be a point at which the difference in performance really doesn't
    warrant the extra price of the kit. (or is it like car badging for the
    living room ?)
    
    Timbo
    

>    There must be a point at which the difference in performance really doesn't
>    warrant the extra price of the kit. (or is it like car badging for the
>    living room ?)
    
    Absolutely correct, everyone must make their own decision on this.
     
    Different people value differing sound differently.  At one extreme, it
    would be hard to justify spending say, 5,000 pounds on a system for
    someone who only listens to music in the background.   
    
    Also some people are more "musically sensitive" than others.  Other
    people spend megabucks on cars, holidays, meals, booze etc.  It's
    really a matter of setting one's personal priorities (unless you are
    really rich!).                          

	Rod,

	I went through the same thing at Reading Hifi last year.

	I had a Cyrus I with a technics CD player and wanted a pair of
	Celestion 3 or 5's.  After hearing the DL 4 Mk II's at Reading
	Hifi I bought a pair.  They presented a more integrated sound !
	The 3's and 5's seemed to have a harshness to them that the DL 4's
	hadn't displayed.  

	I'm using them now with an Audiolab 8000P and Rotel CD player and
	they're still holding their own (just).

	Iain.

    Sounds like the DL4 are a better buy then.
    
    Re -1:  Why did you choose the Linn over the Rega? My impression was
    that there was very little in it, but I thought the Rega was better at
    high frequencies, plus sounded more "musical". However I feel very much
    a beginner at all this so you may want to disregard my opinion...
    
    
    Rod

I found the same when I was looking at amplifiers. At the Basingstoke
HiFi shop, I listened to the Arcam Delta 60 to my Diamonds using a Linn
Basik as the front end. At Reading, they were able to use a REGA II.

I know there were some hours in between, and that the rooms are different,
but I definitely preferred the sound of the REGA. Besides, first impressions
of the Basik are that it looks very cheaply made (unlike the Axis or LP12).

Mark.