October 16, 2001
I am looking to renew my 15-year-old hi-fi. I
have a budget of £600. I have looked at some Denon equipment, but I am totally ignorant
of good-quality sound systems these days. I am interested in a tuner/amp.
Leon
Coming from the UK, you have some
wonderful options available to you. Denon is currently making several integrated
amplifiers strictly for the British market. The PMA-255UK is a 30W package with reportedly
better components than were available in the previous PMA-250SE, a unit well received by
the UK market. Although I cannot give an unqualified recommendation due to not having
heard these particular models, I do know Denon has been making the PMA-series integrateds
for many years, and they have always sounded quite good if used within their power
limitations. For even more power check the PMA-355UK. Both should be within your budget.
October 14, 2001
I'm interested in putting together a budget
stereo system for a really small room (11' x 9', with a low ceiling). My first idea was to
get a mini-system (from Teac, Yamaha, or Denon) plus a subwoofer, but people tell me it
wouldn't compare to the sound of separately purchased components. I listen to mostly rock
music, old and new, and some blues. I need a system that's not overly picky about
recording quality. It would be just an amp, CD player, little speakers, and maybe a modest
subwoofer. I probably won't get the chance to audition stuff. As far as speakers are
concerned, I've heard good things about the Polk R25i, Paradigm Atom, and PSB Alpha; the
Axiom M-Zero and M1Ti look interesting. The Cambridge A500 amp looks good, but would it be
too powerful for such a small room? Also, could you recommend some good cables and a small
subwoofer.
Barry
I'd say you're definitely on the right
track with the products you're considering. An integrated from Cambridge, or possibly
Rotel or Arcam, are good choices. One recommendation as far as the speakers are concerned,
and I agree with all the choices so far, is to buy the subwoofer from the same
manufacturer as the main speakers. This will give you a really good chance of integrating
the subwoofer with the mains, always a challenge. Regarding the amplifier's power, don't
worry about having too much. In fact, more clean power will simply keep the system in its
comfort zone. Less stress on the amp means less chance of clipping (driving the amplifier
into distortion), which can damage speakers very easily. Regarding cables, we have reviews
coming up from TARA Labs, Audio Magic and Analysis Plus. All offer cables with potentially
excellent performance for the money. As for a new CD player, I'd look at a DVD player from
Pioneer Panasonic, or maybe even a new SACD player from Sony, all of which can be had for
under $400.
October 13, 2001
I have recently bought a new turntable (Rega
Planar 3) and new amplifier (Rega Mira). I am looking for a good CD player and speakers to
match with it. I have thought of the Marantz CD6000, NAD C521 or Cambridge Audio D500se
(CD players) and Mission M73, Mordaunt-Short 904, Acoustic Energy Aegis Two (speakers).
Which one would be a good match, and can you recommend some others?
Brano
As you may know, we positively reviewed
the Cambridge D500se CD player, so I can recommend it. Also, don't overlook some of the
inexpensive DVD players on the market for use as a CD player, such as models from Pioneer
and Panasonic. Sony has also just introduced the SCD-XE670 SACD player, which may be
another option for you, and is within your price range. I don't have a lot of experience
with the British speakers you mention, but I have heard positive things about the Acoustic
Energy Aegis Two. If you have access to Paradigm, Axiom, NHT, PSB, or Energy, they would
be good considerations too.
October 11, 2001
Just found your site, and I'm quite impressed
with it. Hopefully you can help me with my problem.
I recently found a really good deal on a pair
of Tannoy Saturn S6 tower speakers -- a deal I couldn't pass up. However, as this was a
close-out sale (I think the store was clearing out all their Tannoy stock), the matching
center-channel speaker wasn't available, and I can't find it anywhere else. (I live in
Japan, by the way -- lots of Yamaha, Denon, and Onkyo speakers, and not much reasonably
priced variety.) A few stores, however, do carry the newer Tannoy Mx series, which
includes a center-channel speaker, the MxC. As nobody carries the Saturn line anymore, I
can't test the MxC with the S6es in any store, and taking a speaker home just to try it
out seems to be well-nigh impossible here.
Do you think it would be enough that the
speakers are from the same company, if not the same line? If not, is there any way to
determine, by the numbers, so to speak, whether speakers are reasonably timbre matched?
Thanks very much in advance, and sorry if this is one of those "you have to listen
for yourself" type questions.
Jim
First, just for your reference, our sister
publication, Home Theater
& Sound, published a review of the Tannoy Saturn series. You can see that
review here.
Although staying within a series within a
brand virtually assures you of timbre-matched speakers, you may or may not be OK in this
case. The Saturn speakers use the Dual Concentric technology, whereas the Mx series does
not. I would expect there to be differences based on that fact alone. Having said that,
you stand a better-than-average chance of getting reasonably good performance due to other
similarities within the brand, which surely exist. Although you are correct that a listen
for yourself is the best way to determine exactly how important the differences may be
between the two lines, I'd take a chance if it meant having the Mx from Tannoy to match
your Saturns, versus anything else from another manufacturer.
October 10, 2001
Hey, great site. I am in the process of
helping design a church building that will be in need of a sound system. How do I go about
figuring out what is the best set up for me? And do you have any information on types of
systems that have been used and work well in a variety of situations? The auditorium will
seat about 500 and be mainly used for speaking, but there will be some a capella singing
as well.
Bob
This type of project is called sound
reinforcement and very different from home-audio applications. It requires very different
speakers and in-depth know-how of large-scale sound coverage. Frankly, that's well outside
my experience and the domain of a professional sound reinforcement contractor. I would
consult my yellow pages. If that search came up empty-handed, I'd visit local auditoriums
(schools, performance halls, churches) and ask for the names of the contractors. A friend
in the Bay Area used to be involved with such work. From him I know that you don't want to
touch such projects unless you really know what you're doing. In other words, just to get
even sound distribution to make the preacher's words intelligible in every single seat is
a major challenge. The other is to do it with speaker clusters that are as non-obtrusive
and "invisible" as possible. In short, it requires an expert.
October 9, 2001
I have a question about the Bryston 3B ST and
its weight: 120Wpc from 22 pounds? Seems to get a lot of good reviews in the media though,
so that's been one of my upgrade dreams for some time. Any reflections on this?
Roman
While it is true that good amps generally
weigh a lot due to the size of the hefty power supply, and I do recommend that people pay
attention to this specification for a hint as to the overall build quality, there are
other factors at work too. Bryston simply wastes no internal chassis space. Their
amplifiers are literally packed with parts, and this translates into a smaller overall
chassis. They use exactly the dimensions they need and no more. I've seen my share of
amplifiers that once opened up, look like a deserted town. The Bryston might be small and
relatively light, but it has the beef where it counts, and will easily meet the needs of
most speakers.
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