How do I begin?

[panda2rom]

I will insist -No need to spend too much on: almost equally shitty, entry level, full of ICs, class A/B, transistors, amps :P

On the "entry level" price bracket, well, let's say from 100 to 700 euros (brand new) amps.
You are mostly paying for outpout power. watts. not quality nor musicality.
-I owned a 640a V2 and a 540a, both amps from cambridge audio. Both sounded pretty much the same.
Ironically, the 540a... a very little bit better.
I do own a Marantz PM 6010 Ki signature. In theory, one of the best, 50W transistor amps.
And i would be lying if i said i'm happy to have bought it, for alot more than the cambridges !

[tipdrinker]

Hi Guys,

I ended up going down to hifi hut yesterday. There was a great guy down there, owen I think his name was who demoed some speakers for me and my gf. With some discussion we decided to look more at bookshelf speakers as we felt we could get more bang for our buck in terms of quality components and seeing as we listen to a lot of classical and 'dad rock' we felt we wouldn't be missing out so much on the lower end. Anyway we both fell in love with the elac bs 403 speakers. Waay above our budget lol. When he played Mozarts requiem in d minor my jaw literally dropped, then he played wish you were here and when I heard the 'soundstage' I think it's called i was sold. Needless to say our budget has significantly increased lol! Damnit!

He also recommended a hegel h80 amp with a built in dac to go along with it. Does that sound right to you? Would you guys recommend this or perhaps a used option that would drive these speakers sufficiently and make sure I can hook up my htpc properly?

[Ivor]

I have to say those are superb recommendations if you can stretch to it. Few second-hand amps will match the Hagel for digital playback so if anything look at S/H speakers.

[tipdrinker]

brilliant that's great to know. Yeah speakers, He showed us some cheaper ones. We listened to Elac bs 243 which is the model lower (they have some ex demo btw for a significant discount if anyone's interested) they had the clarity but lacked the 'soundscape' from the 403's. He also played us some Kef ls50 which had a kind of warmer more 'vintage' sound but lacked the definition of the 403s. Actually the pink floyd song sounded better to my ears on the kefs but both elacs won out when it came to classical and some massive attack & aphex twin.

Anyhoo I think our decision is made now. Just gotta cough up the dosh over the next few months to pay for it. I doubt I'll be feeling the itch to upgrade for some time with this set up which was the original aim.

[Ivor]

Well you do seem to appreciate the difference between the speakers you've heard so going for "compromise" speakers just won't cut it now!
I think you're right to spend the but extra (but don't go hungry!) because otherwise every time you sit down a listen to music you'll be thinking you should have gone that bit more.
A select group of tir na hifi analysts will arrange to call around to drink coffee, eat cake and reassure herself you'll never need to buy hifi again. ( we'll be lying).

[tipdrinker]

Yeah I'm already thinking how I can make my htpc 100% silent lol. When I'm set up I might take you gyus up on the offer! I'm sure there's plenty of sound advice you could impart on positioning, maintenance etc. I make some half decent coffee too ;-)

[Ivor]

The visit thing works both ways. Most of us are open to visitors and the greatest strength of this forum is being able to hear so many different systems and learning what we might like in ours.

[Diapason]

Sounds like you're already half way down the rabbit hole! Also sounds like you're doing exactly the right thing, listening, trusting your ears, reporting honest findings. The creeping budget is an occupational hazard!!

[Seán]

Sounds like you're already half way down the rabbit hole! Also sounds like you're doing exactly the right thing, listening, trusting your ears, reporting honest findings. The creeping budget is an occupational hazard!!

Spot on

[tipdrinker]

Well that was one of the most intense rugby matches I've ever watched. Not only because Italy really gave us a run for our money but the e-bay auction for a pair of used elac 403s was scheduled to end on the 78th minute. I Won!!!