Stereo Systems Question

big apple said:
what about those bose noise-cancelling headphones?
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Do you really need noise cancelling? Bose is another brand that spends too much on marketing not enough on sound quality. Most noise cancelling units are a bit of a compromise of sound quality to achieve the noise cancelling.
If you are ok with noise spilling out of the headphones you could give these open back cans a try to see if headphones are your thing, half price while they last:
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/prod...ophile-headphones-hd-558-hd-558/10169245.aspx.. Hook them up for a day to let them burn in a bit before using them.
 
Powershot said:
Grrrr a bit off topic but as it was brought up.. Please don't buy Monster brand headphones (Dr. Dre, Bieber etc)... It's all marketing and looks vs real, balanced sound quality.
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It is a matter of opinion, Take a listen at Future shop or Best Buy on the Dr. Dre headphones. You will hear things that you go not hear on cheaper headphones. Sometimes when you hear a song that you listen to a million times you may not appreciate the changes that you have not heard before on the recording.
 
Go to Bay Bloor Radio in the Manulife center. you will get very good service and advice along with average to exceptional systems available. they will take care of you for many years to come
they have been there for a very very long time.
 
Ceiling Cat said:
It is a matter of opinion, Take a listen at Future shop or Best Buy on the Dr. Dre headphones. You will hear things that you go not hear on cheaper headphones. Sometimes when you hear a song that you listen to a million times you may not appreciate the changes that you have not heard before on the recording.
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Listen to Senheiser or AKG(audiophiles have used them for years) to avoid the hype of Monster, Dr Dre etc.
again Bay Bloor Radio is a much superior place to shop for headphones than Future Shop or it's owner Best Buy

although i do agree Dr Dre's can be pretty good but way overpriced
 
That Krell stuff looks really good but alas, just like Esoteric,Arcam and other high ends,one component could easily run you $10k.

If you know your stuff I guess you can establish what are good deals off used sites like canuckaudiomart.

I've heard of guys picking up "Barn finds" like tube amps at Value Village but a rarity.
 
Some of you guys are saying to stay away from Bose. Any reason why? I have a 3-2-1 GSX home theatre system for my bed room and a wave music system for my kitchen. they both sounds great, very compact and very happy with them. Their service was excellent as well when I had issue with playing pirate movies. They gave me a new one even after the warranty had expired. I bought them both pretty cheap in the US and A. Paid only around $400 and $500 for each. The prices here are ridiculous.
 
If I just want to listen to music (stereo) in my bedroom and had $5K to play around with right now. Here is what I would get:

1) Set of Axiom M22's in real wood: www.axiomaudio.com/m22.html
2) Marantz PM5004 - on sale @ Kromer for $349 http://www.kromerradio.com/promo.htm
3) Marantz CD5004 - on sale @ Kromer for $299
4) IPOD deck

Comes to less than $1500.

Rest I would just spend on CD's and maybe get a 55 inch LCD to go along with it LOL

Reason is this is for the bedroom - can't justify spending any more

If you want one of those single units, go to Bay Bloor Radio and check out their FAT MAN line... all in one. Plus it's a tube amp.

http://www.fat-man.co.uk/docs/product_07/iTube_ValveDock_with_Speakers.shtml

They go for under $1K and has a built in ipod dock.
 
Garrett said:
Bose is not doing anything new. They use cheap drivers, and charge you a premium for the brand name. Here is a very good summary:
http://www.intellexual.net/bose.html

If you like it, be happy. They will be around for a long time . However, there is no doubt you could have gotten better sound for less money. I think their noise cancelling headphones are their best product, but even there I think there are better choices. To show I am not a total hater of Bose, I do have a set of 901s for my garage system that I rescued/rebuilt/refoamed . For the 200 bucks I put into them, they are good for washing the car :-) For in the house, so many better choices.
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Does anyone know the little ditty that goes;

IF it ain't got highs and it ain't got lows, it must be BOSE.
 
Garrett said:
Bose is not doing anything new. They use cheap drivers, and charge you a premium for the brand name. Here is a very good summary:
http://www.intellexual.net/bose.html

If you like it, be happy. They will be around for a long time . However, there is no doubt you could have gotten better sound for less money. I think their noise cancelling headphones are their best product, but even there I think there are better choices. To show I am not a total hater of Bose, I do have a set of 901s for my garage system that I rescued/rebuilt/refoamed . For the 200 bucks I put into them, they are good for washing the car :-) For in the house, so many better choices.
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Thanks for the info Garrett. The one thing I like about Bose is they are so small and yet give me a great home theatre effects in my bed room. My ladies love them ..hehe. lol
 
NorthPole said:
I never understood this generality. If you feed great speakers low quality power they will sound bad, so imho the only way is to listen, you can get some outstanding speakers out there for far less than 1/2 the reciever or prepro+amp combo. Paradigm is one example, cambridge soundworks another, boston acoustics.
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What do you mean by "low quality power" besides being marketing speak for cable and power conditioning companies. The reason high end audio sells is for on reason only-expectation bias! It's more expensive so it must sound better. Besides, so called high end audio is lost on us over 25 who may not hear above 14k.
 
picketfence said:
What do you mean by "low quality power" besides being marketing speak for cable and power conditioning companies. The reason high end audio sells is for on reason only-expectation bias! It's more expensive so it must sound better. Besides, so called high end audio is lost on us over 25 who may not hear above 14k.
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I had a visit from condo security because my neighbors thought that a $200 computer stereo (sub and speakers) was too loud.
What's the point of investing in it if you cannot enjoy it.
 
afterhours said:
I had a visit from condo security because my neighbors thought that a $200 computer stereo (sub and speakers) was too loud.
What's the point of investing in it if you cannot enjoy it.
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Actually, a higher quality system your likely to get less complaints from.The reason you got the complaint is because the sub was designed to produce a large 80hz peak and very little below-it travels very well trough walls. If the bass was balance trough the 40-120hz range it would be a lot less annoying to the neighbors.
 
big apple said:
I'm not a audiophile. I just want a simple system for listening to CDs iPod etc
Perhaps one of those single unit systems ?
I want to spend < 5k.
Thanks for the input.
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As someone has already said, there's no need to spend $5000 for quality home equipment, especially if you are not an audiophile. I would recommend going to Executive Stereo, which was on Yonge St. near Davisville for a decade, and is about to reopen on Avenue Road near Wilson. I did some serious listening with two of their staff, and it was a delight: they know their stuff, and were the opposite of pushy. You could also try Hi-Fi-Fo-Fum, a high-end little shop on Mt. Pleasant north of Eglinton. Or go to Bay Bloor Radio on a weekday morning when it's quiet there.

A mini-system by Onkyo, Denon, TEAC, Yamaha, etc., perhaps with upgraded bookshelf speakers, might be a delightful way to go if you want something small and simple to operate, for under $1000. The Bose Wave Radio/CD Player is even smaller, looks lovely, and throws out fine sound for its size. I've owned two of them: they are costly to repair and overpriced to begin with, but still nice. Buy a used one for $300 and you might be very happy for a few months while you shop for an expensive system. Or your search may prove over.

Frugal Einar

Einar
 
NorthPole said:
You are thinking of the wrong power, while the AC power can affect somethings - its not by any means a large contributor. However you should be using a high quality surge suppressor to protect your stuff. That cheap shit radioshack/walmart one is hardly good enough. Try Panamax or Furman.

As for the power I was talking about, that would be amplifier power. The sound quality varies extremely between different amps. You can feed a fantastic speaker crappy power and it will sound horrid. The power is crappy because of a number of factors ranging from current deliverd, to S/N ratio to distortion amplifier slew rate, damping factor etc.

And most separate amps are tremendously better sounding than the ones in a receiver.

a) You can get very good speakers for about 600, and for 600 you'll get a remarkably shitty receiver. (total 1200)
b) Lets try it at 1k, great speakers, very good amp (total 2k)
c) And at 2.5k high end speakers, and a top quality 2ch AMP (total 5k)

in b and c you spent the same on the speakers as the amp and both will sound far better than a.
you still need to buy a processor so tack on another 1 to 1.5k
So that 50% rule of thumb is obsolete, maybe 20 years ago that rule would be useful, but today its not, spend maybe 1/3 of your budget on speakers, and get an active sub, it will take a big load off your amps and speakers and give you a much better overall sound. Better yet forget these nonsense guidelines and go sit and listen to stuff. I recommend Kromer and Whitby Audio they have good listening rooms and a lot of content, you'll be amazed at what you hear if you come from the typical consumer grade electronics (sony, panasonic, denon etc)

also Check out Bryston (Canadian) and Sunfire Amps while you are out and about.
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Yes ! my response was to the idea that I thought your were going down the snake oil road that modern high end audio is full of. I personally would still content that if extra money is spend, it's better to spend on speakers or even more important but almost always ignored, room acoustics.I guarantee you that a 1000.00 amp with 500.00 in room acoustic treatment will sound better than a 5000.00 amp with none.
I've been out and about and been to high end audio shops the world over. Been in it for 25 years.There's a lot of bs in high end audio-seen people spend 5k on cables to get better highs from their 5.5" ml tqwt's..lol

I'm a member of canuckaudiomart only for selling, not knowledge.For real knowledge diyaudio.com is much better. That place is ripe with engineers, developers and designers who actually know their shit.

By different amps, do you mean same type or different type? I.E, comparing tube to tube, solid state to solid state, op amp to op amp, etc. or tube to solid, solid to op or just different brands and price points???? If your comparing say a 800.00 Nad solid state amp to a 5000.00 Lexicon solid state amp, Siegfried Linkwitz may disagree with you. If your comparing the garbage receivers to properly designed amps(btw, a properly designed amp does not need to cost 1000's) I agree with you. But, the difference between a properly designed 800.00 amp and a 10,000.00 amp is mainly "expectation Bias" and high end marketing.
 
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