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I would like advice for a beginner.

I'm a "newbie" who needs veteran advice. I'm an ex-music teacher, ex-folk singer who is facing retirement and I didn't have a stereo. I have told my friends I'm going to buy a used system for not much money and incorporate the "dink" system. No, that's not "D-ual, I-come, N-o, K-ids"!! It means I want to "dink around" with my new hobby. I know nothing, but my motto will be "Learn First, Upgrade Later."

Presently I have purschased a factory reconditioned Yamaha RX-596 receiver($179) and a Yamaha CDC-845 demo CD changer($129). I purchased Yamaha, for the time being, because my local stereo shop guy told me they would be adequate and were "work horses." I have them hooked up to old JVC 50 watt speakers from an old bookshelf stereo system with a broken cartridge CD changer(free). Now, I can, at least, listen to music while I shop for speakers.

This is fun!!

I would like advice for speakers. I have liked the sound of stand mounted speakers better than floor speakers. The heavier bass sound seems to get in the way of what I want to hear. I listen mostly to classical, especially choral, Celtic and folk music, with an occasional slip into classic rock and bluegrass. The speakers I have most appreciated have been the B&W 601's and 602's followed closely by the Paradigm Studio 20's and 40's. Any opinions offered on those speakers or any other similar speakers would be greatly appriciated. Oh, by the way, I plan to spend $200 to $400 for used speakers.

After I get the speakers, I will have $500-$700 invested and will be listening to a good solid system. Let the DINKING" begin.

Thanks in advance for the advice.
baileyje
glen's avatar
glen
714 posts
 
You know I remember when I first got into this hobby a few years ago. My "dink" system was a Sony TAE-9000 pre, Sony DVD player, Adcom 5 channel amp,Infinity speakers and a Velodyne 100 watt sub-woofer.

Everything was sale or demo items, I think I had around two grand invested in that system. Boy those were the days.

Now my investment in High end equipment is up to around 50K.

HAPPY DINKING!
sean
6,231 posts
 
My favourite "baby" speaker that is in current production and is reasonably priced is probably the Castle Acoustics "Richmond". It is a small two way that is ported ( yes, those that know i don't really like ported boxes can go into shock now ). It sounds quite smooth and musical and quite a bit fuller than most other speakers that are of similar size without sounding bloated. I was very impressed with what i heard coming out of these "pint sized" English speakers.

Here are a couple of reviews on the Richmond:

http://www.castle.uk.com/media/reviews_media/RICHMOND_EHC_ISSUE10_orig.pdf

http://www.castle.uk.com/media/reviews_media/RICHMOND_EHC_ISSUE10_orig.pdf

If you can't find a local shop that has these ( and that will probably be the case since Castle is not a big name in the USA ), drop Andy an email at Saturday Audio Exchange here in Chicago and tell him that i sent you. He's got these listed on his website in the "new gear" section for just under $300 brand new with full factory warranty. If you are worried about buyng speakers mail-order, they ship stuff all the time and are great to deal with. On top of this, they also offer a 90 day exchange, which is quite nice. Hope this helps and good luck with your search. Sean
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danvetc
527 posts
 
Your musical experience and listening tastes, which I happen to share, would be best served by a monitor of the BBC heritage as they really do voice right. My suggestions, which are just out of your budget, typically, are Harbeth or Spendor. Many sound engineers have to spend hour upon hour with their speakers, and both of these have proven themselves to be accurate reproducers. I highly recommend that you squeeze everything you can out of your budget to get this kind of speaker. If not possible, the PSB line is a very good cost performer. When you turn back to electronics, buy NAD, and never look back. Ignore advice on cables and interconnects.

Best of luck,

Charlie
kchahoc
85 posts
 
My suggestion is to pick up a pair of the Infinity Intermezzo 2.6p powered speakers. 250 watts per woofer per side. They are a small, stand mounted monitor, that can probably be picked up for a song if you stretch your budget. Plus, the only thing you'll have to power is the tweeter section and so you can pick up very low power and much cheeper, and some would say better sounding tubes or solid state amps like the audio note amp 1, and focus on your source like a CD player (the REGA planet would be great match) or tuntable (check out Music Hall or Rega)something warm and liquid sounding. Add either AlphaCore or Analis Pluss budget cables and stir. You can see a review at the link provided. Audio Advisor has them on sale or you can get them used for even less.
Best of luck and to happy ears,

http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?364
clueless
763 posts
 
Spendors and PSBs are nice in your price range. Get some very low prices on used PSB stuff at Agon. Used NAD and Rotel hard to beat too. I've never heard the Castle but Sean has burned through a lot of speakers so he should know.

I agree with above about cables. Of course it is a logical puzzle to give advice on cables telling someone to ignore advice on cables but I think I get the drift. And actually it is helpful to understand a little about resistance, inductance and capacitance when dealing with them so don't ignore everything.(not that RLC tells the while story) Maybe diy a pair. Don't spend much there at your price point.

Finally, if you like celtic and folk music and are a guitar player try listening to Martin Simpson if you haven't already.

You can have great fun dinking in your price range and it is surprising how good the sound can be with a little effort.

Sincerely
I remain,
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