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Newbie requiring first system advice...

Hi all.
I'm a "newbie" who is in dire need of some advice.
I'm looking to build a hifi system on a very strict budget.

This would be for a bedroom system, replacing a 10 year old Aiwa mini system, so hey, anything will be an improvement.

My main source would be my PC, playing AAC and MP3 files [not the best source I know, CD player to come later].

Ideally, what I'm looking for is the best sound I can get on at a very limited budget.
NZD $2000. or USD $1,391.71

My music taste is far ranging from rock to very ambient work.

This is what I've come up with so far:
Nad C320BEEE
Acoustic Energy Evo One
Deftech Sub 80.

I would appreciate any advice on this setup, and be interested to hear from anyone running a system in a similar budget that could offer alternatives.

Thanks in advance,

Ben,
In little old NZ.
benlim4b80
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Hi Ben- the NAD is a good unit. I have heard the Acoustic Energy Aegis One and it is a good speaker with a surprising amount of bass. Have not heard the Evo 1. Would suggest that at this stage, you consider leaving a sub out, and putting the $ into a better source (CDP).
rsbeck
887 posts
 
Ben -- Nothing wrong with a hard drive player for your source. You can also rip your CD's to the hard drive uncompressed using AIFF or WAV.
CD's ripped to a hard drive uncompressed will sound better than a lot of CD players -- you'll have to spend quite a bit to outdo the quality. Try
ripping some CD's uncompressed and then A/B your hard drive player --
run through your system -- against any CD player you are considering -- you'll be surprised. You might not be in as big a hurry to buy a CD player.
benlim4b80 OP
1 posts
 
Thanks for the advice.
SwampWalker:
A surprising amount of bass, well thats good to hear.
Would I be better off getting good stands for the speaker rather than a sub?
I'm just worried the bass extention won't be low enough for some music.

RSBeck:
Rather than a CD player then, would a soundcard upgrade give a good increase in sound quality?
I'm currenty running an older SB Live Value card, which has a spdif connection.

If thats no good, what should I be looking for/best connector type.

Cheers again guys.
rsbeck
887 posts
 
ben -- a sound card upgrade will increase your sound quality -- and if you've got an spdif output, that's great -- that's the way to go. As for
sound card upgrades -- I'm out of my league there -- hopefully, someone who is more computer literate than I will jump in and provide some info.
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