Zach
I am looking to get a speaker system purely to listen to music to in my room. What all do i need, how much might it cost, and any favorite companies/manufacturers?
Answer
Its always a good idea to give us budget so we can make the best recommendation based on that.
Stay away from the chain stores as 98% of the speakers and equipment they carry is pretty low end and offer mediocre sound. There are much better choices in speakers and equipment brands that are not sold in the chain stores, but only sold through the independent high end audio video stores. Certainly these high end stores carry some very high end and expensive speakers and gear but also carry some exceptional sounding budget gear. You probably have not heard of many of the higher quality brands so go to a few of your local independent high end dealers and discover the better brands.
The salesmen at these stores also have years of experience, so they will be able to help you design a system that sounds good to your ears and in the room it will be played in.
Once a good pair of music speakers has been chosen then you need to buy a amplifier that powers them properly electrically, and compliments the speakers sonically. Everything has a sonic character or sound, so its combining speakers and equipment that compliment one another so it creates a natural sound. Integrated amplifiers are a very good choice in a music system as they use better parts then receivers, as they have simpler circuit designs, and use much better parts to provide better sound. The more in the signal path the more the sound is degraded.
The choice in source equipment would depend on what format you want to invest in software. Cd's, high definition music downloads, or Vinyl records provide the best sound, so it all depends on what software you feel like investing in. Records sound great, and you can buy allot of used records for the cost of one Cd, "but" a decent turntable is not cheap. There are allot of cheap turntables on the market and honestly most are just not very good. So although the initial cost of a turntable is more than a cd or digital system, you can save on software. It also depends on tavailability of records in your area. I would suggest going and checking out your local record shops and see the prices on records, and see if that is something you want to consider.
So not knowing the budget, I will make my recommendations starting on the least expensive option to a better system.
Least expensive option I would recommend is a pair of powered monitors, at $350 for the pair, and then your source equipment. (Tannoy 501a )
Least expensive turntable system is going to run you around $550 which is the REGA RP-1 $450 with cartridge, a Esoteric reko-kurt phono preamplifier. complete $550
Phono preamplfiers is mandatory for any turntable system as it both amplifies the signal from the cartridge and re-equalizes the signal back to a flat frequency responce. All records are cut with low frequency's reduced and high frequency's boosted, both to get more music onto a record, and to assure the phonocartridge can track it properly.
If your not doing turntable system then a good DAC with your music burned onto the harddrive on a computer is a really good option, as all that is needed to get high quality sound from your computer is a good quality Digital to analog converter, (DAC) and the right music software. This is the way digital music systems are going, and "cd players" are becoming a thing of the past. Good quality DAC's are not cheap though and can range about the same price range as a decent turntable on up.
Next upgrade from the powered speakers, is a pair of passive speakers, and a integrated amplifier.
Speakers like Vandersteen 1c, Magnepan MMG, Offer exceptional performance for the money, and they also make more expensive models as they go up in the line.
Its endless what you can spend on a good system, so go and discover the better brands and find a salesmen that will take the time to play you different systems and learn about the better systems.
Proper setup and calibration are essential to get good sound which your high end dealer will probably even include it in the purchase of the system.
And lastly if your really wanting to learn more about high end audio systems, there is a excellent book that you can learn as much or as little as you want. It is very well written and very informative. Its THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO HIGH END AUDIO by Robert Harley. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to learn how to achieve high quality sound.
Best of luck
Kevin
40 years high end audio video specialist
Its always a good idea to give us budget so we can make the best recommendation based on that.
Stay away from the chain stores as 98% of the speakers and equipment they carry is pretty low end and offer mediocre sound. There are much better choices in speakers and equipment brands that are not sold in the chain stores, but only sold through the independent high end audio video stores. Certainly these high end stores carry some very high end and expensive speakers and gear but also carry some exceptional sounding budget gear. You probably have not heard of many of the higher quality brands so go to a few of your local independent high end dealers and discover the better brands.
The salesmen at these stores also have years of experience, so they will be able to help you design a system that sounds good to your ears and in the room it will be played in.
Once a good pair of music speakers has been chosen then you need to buy a amplifier that powers them properly electrically, and compliments the speakers sonically. Everything has a sonic character or sound, so its combining speakers and equipment that compliment one another so it creates a natural sound. Integrated amplifiers are a very good choice in a music system as they use better parts then receivers, as they have simpler circuit designs, and use much better parts to provide better sound. The more in the signal path the more the sound is degraded.
The choice in source equipment would depend on what format you want to invest in software. Cd's, high definition music downloads, or Vinyl records provide the best sound, so it all depends on what software you feel like investing in. Records sound great, and you can buy allot of used records for the cost of one Cd, "but" a decent turntable is not cheap. There are allot of cheap turntables on the market and honestly most are just not very good. So although the initial cost of a turntable is more than a cd or digital system, you can save on software. It also depends on tavailability of records in your area. I would suggest going and checking out your local record shops and see the prices on records, and see if that is something you want to consider.
So not knowing the budget, I will make my recommendations starting on the least expensive option to a better system.
Least expensive option I would recommend is a pair of powered monitors, at $350 for the pair, and then your source equipment. (Tannoy 501a )
Least expensive turntable system is going to run you around $550 which is the REGA RP-1 $450 with cartridge, a Esoteric reko-kurt phono preamplifier. complete $550
Phono preamplfiers is mandatory for any turntable system as it both amplifies the signal from the cartridge and re-equalizes the signal back to a flat frequency responce. All records are cut with low frequency's reduced and high frequency's boosted, both to get more music onto a record, and to assure the phonocartridge can track it properly.
If your not doing turntable system then a good DAC with your music burned onto the harddrive on a computer is a really good option, as all that is needed to get high quality sound from your computer is a good quality Digital to analog converter, (DAC) and the right music software. This is the way digital music systems are going, and "cd players" are becoming a thing of the past. Good quality DAC's are not cheap though and can range about the same price range as a decent turntable on up.
Next upgrade from the powered speakers, is a pair of passive speakers, and a integrated amplifier.
Speakers like Vandersteen 1c, Magnepan MMG, Offer exceptional performance for the money, and they also make more expensive models as they go up in the line.
Its endless what you can spend on a good system, so go and discover the better brands and find a salesmen that will take the time to play you different systems and learn about the better systems.
Proper setup and calibration are essential to get good sound which your high end dealer will probably even include it in the purchase of the system.
And lastly if your really wanting to learn more about high end audio systems, there is a excellent book that you can learn as much or as little as you want. It is very well written and very informative. Its THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO HIGH END AUDIO by Robert Harley. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to learn how to achieve high quality sound.
Best of luck
Kevin
40 years high end audio video specialist
best Iphone 4 speaker system?
dancingbug
whats a good speaker for the iphone 4 that i can put in my room thanks! :)
Answer
I own two speaker systems for my phone and my I really like the ihome speaker and alarm clock.
It's a really good quality speaker, especially since it's quite inexpensive for it's good quality.
a link to it bellow:
http://www.ihomeaudio.com/iP9BR/
but if your willing to spend afew big bucks for a speaker system, I would recommend checking out the Bose SoundDock. You can never go wrong with Bose. Alot of their stuff is a bit pricey but if your up to spending the money, I would DEFFINITLEY recommend it. The quality on a scale of 1-10 would be 11.
link bellow:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/bose-sounddock-portable-digital-music-speaker-system-for-ipod/241869000001000?src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=201015515
but like I said both of these speakers are very good quality speakers, and I really enjoy them.
I own two speaker systems for my phone and my I really like the ihome speaker and alarm clock.
It's a really good quality speaker, especially since it's quite inexpensive for it's good quality.
a link to it bellow:
http://www.ihomeaudio.com/iP9BR/
but if your willing to spend afew big bucks for a speaker system, I would recommend checking out the Bose SoundDock. You can never go wrong with Bose. Alot of their stuff is a bit pricey but if your up to spending the money, I would DEFFINITLEY recommend it. The quality on a scale of 1-10 would be 11.
link bellow:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/bose-sounddock-portable-digital-music-speaker-system-for-ipod/241869000001000?src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=201015515
but like I said both of these speakers are very good quality speakers, and I really enjoy them.
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