Seeking advice on possible new system

[t33ch]

I am relatively new to hi-fiery and have lived without a genuine hi-fi
for over 2 years. I have got a pay rise at work and I want to buy
something reasonably good within the budget range. I have up to
£650-700 to spend and want an Amp, CD player and Speakers.

I have looked in various on line shops and thought this looked
reasonably good for my money:

Amp - NAD 352CT
CD - NAD 521BEE
Speakers - Wharfdale Diamond 9.1 (£150) or for twice the price Quad
21L (selling at half price £349.50)
Silver Anniversary Cabling

I listen to rock, jazz, flamenco and some dance.

Is it worth spending the extra on the Quad speakers?
Will the amp and cd player get the best out of the speakers?
Will this set up suit my music, I know I should go and listen in shop
but before I go what do you think?

Thanks in advance for any help,

T33ch

[MiNe 109]

In article om>,
"t33ch" > wrote:

> I am relatively new to hi-fiery and have lived without a genuine hi-fi
> for over 2 years. I have got a pay rise at work and I want to buy
> something reasonably good within the budget range. I have up to
> £650-700 to spend and want an Amp, CD player and Speakers.
>
> I have looked in various on line shops and thought this looked
> reasonably good for my money:
>
> Amp - NAD 352CT
> CD - NAD 521BEE
> Speakers - Wharfdale Diamond 9.1 (£150) or for twice the price Quad
> 21L (selling at half price £349.50)
> Silver Anniversary Cabling
>
> I listen to rock, jazz, flamenco and some dance.
>
> Is it worth spending the extra on the Quad speakers?
> Will the amp and cd player get the best out of the speakers?
> Will this set up suit my music, I know I should go and listen in shop
> but before I go what do you think?

I'd guess the Quads would be louder and have more bass just to look at
the specs, but if you have a smallish room you might do okay. I have the
small Infinity speakers Robert Reina compares in his review of the
Wharfedales and am satisfied with the bass, such as it is, in casual
listening.

I've had good luck with NAD integrated amps, too.

Stephen

[MiNe 109]

In article . com>,
"Bret Ludwig" > wrote:

> MiNe 109 wrote:
> <<snip>>
> >
> > I'd guess the Quads would be louder and have more bass just to look at
> > the specs, but if you have a smallish room you might do okay. I have the
> > small Infinity speakers Robert Reina compares in his review of the
> > Wharfedales and am satisfied with the bass, such as it is, in casual
> > listening.
> >
>
> I'd look at a good pair of active _fullfield_ monitors and a CD with
> volume control (or buy a DACT or other stepped atten and put it in a
> small metal box) for the best bang for the buck.

Not convenient to buy. I think Wharfedale has powered versions of their
speakers. Maybe there's a Diamond series equivalent.

Stephen

[paul packer]

On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:56:43 GMT, MiNe 109
> wrote:

> and am satisfied with the bass, such as it is, in casual
>listening.


Do I sense doubt here?

[t33ch]

Thank you for all the advice but I see that for the hi-fi community any
small comment is like the proverbial red rag.

I live in a semi-detached edwardian house and so the room is more or
less 4m x 3m . Would the Quads be too much for this space? Would the
Wharfs be a better option?

Would the NAD Amp power the Quads to their best or would I be letting
them down with a budget Amp like this?

I'm not sure I can justify the extra cost, for the Quads, as it would
take me £200 over budget. Please try and convince me as I have read
the reviews am smitten and need to convince my other half.

Thanks for your help in advance,

T33ch

[MiNe 109]

In article . com>,
"Bret Ludwig" > wrote:

> MiNe 109 wrote:
> <<snip>>
> > > >
> > >
> > > I'd look at a good pair of active _fullfield_ monitors and a CD with
> > > volume control (or buy a DACT or other stepped atten and put it in a
> > > small metal box) for the best bang for the buck.
> >
> > Not convenient to buy. I think Wharfedale has powered versions of their
> > speakers. Maybe there's a Diamond series equivalent.
>
> "> Not convenient to buy."?
>
> They are sold widely, pick up the phone and call. If you mean that
> they are not sold in high end audio saloons, that may be true, but most
> of those are not convenient either. Broadcast, pro audio and MI stores
> have them.

There's something missing from your list: consumer electronics stores.

Stephen

[MiNe 109]

In article >,
(paul packer) wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:56:43 GMT, MiNe 109
> > wrote:
>
> > and am satisfied with the bass, such as it is, in casual
> >listening.
>
>
> Do I sense doubt here?

No, I know how much bass they have.

Stephen

[MiNe 109]

In article om>,
"t33ch" > wrote:

> Thank you for all the advice but I see that for the hi-fi community any
> small comment is like the proverbial red rag.
>
> I live in a semi-detached edwardian house and so the room is more or
> less 4m x 3m . Would the Quads be too much for this space? Would the
> Wharfs be a better option?
>
> Would the NAD Amp power the Quads to their best or would I be letting
> them down with a budget Amp like this?
>
> I'm not sure I can justify the extra cost, for the Quads, as it would
> take me £200 over budget. Please try and convince me as I have read
> the reviews am smitten and need to convince my other half.
>
> Thanks for your help in advance,

The Quads have more attractive cabinets that are available in four
different woods. And they won't be too much for your space.

I use an NAD C340 to run my Quad ESL 63s and have never had a problem
with the amp.

Stephen

[paul packer]

On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 12:14:42 GMT, MiNe 109
> wrote:

>In article >,
> (paul packer) wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:56:43 GMT, MiNe 109
>> > wrote:
>>
>> > and am satisfied with the bass, such as it is, in casual
>> >listening.
>>
>>
>> Do I sense doubt here?
>
>No, I know how much bass they have.


Such as it is. :-)

[t33ch]

> The Quads have more attractive cabinets that are available in four
> different woods. And they won't be too much for your space.
>
> I use an NAD C340 to run my Quad ESL 63s and have never had a problem
> with the amp.

Thanks for the advice the Quads are pretty beautiful things and I'd
like to get them in black, as it is the new black, rather than beech
which is the common lie being pedalled by the Swedish furniture
vanguard.

I think that this will mean less upgradeitis in the future as they are
a cut above the Wharfies.

Anymore advice out there?

T33ch

P.S. Is Silver Anniversarry Cable the best to get? It seems so
expensive.

[Bill Riel]

In article om>,
says...

> P.S. Is Silver Anniversarry Cable the best to get? It seems so
> expensive.

I think it's safe to say that you can go a cheaper route with your
cable. If you've got money to spare and you like the looks of some
boutique cable then go for it, but given your stated budget I'd go for
some low cost decent guage wire instead. 16 AWG copper will be fine for
short runs, but you could get some 14 for longer runs if you like.

In your position, I'd be putting as much budget as I could into the
speakers rather than fancy wire.

--
Bill

[t33ch]

> I have another question, sorry.

The Quad 21L are not magnetically shielded. DOes this mean that I can't
place them near any other electronic item? Will I ruin them if they are
close to a TV?

Is there any difference between those that are shielded and those that
are not?

This could be an expensive mistake.

Ta

T33ch

[Arny Krueger]

"t33ch" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>> I have another question, sorry.
>
> The Quad 21L are not magnetically shielded. DOes this mean that I can't
> place them near any other electronic item?

No.

> Will I ruin them if they are close to a TV?

No.

But they may affect the TV's picture if they are too close to it. The change
is usually temporary.

> Is there any difference between those that are shielded and those that
> are not?

Yes, the shielded ones won't upset the TV's pictures, even if they are
placed near to the TV set.


> This could be an expensive mistake.

More like an inconvenience.

[t33ch]

Stuart Krivis wrote:

>
>
> Do you plan to place your speakers close to the TV?

Due to the size of the room one of the speakers will be near the TV.
Unavoidable if I am to get the correct positioning for the systema nd
speakers and TV and seating etc

Will that cause a problem?

[Bill Riel]

In article om>,
says...
>
> Stuart Krivis wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Do you plan to place your speakers close to the TV?
>
> Due to the size of the room one of the speakers will be near the TV.
> Unavoidable if I am to get the correct positioning for the systema nd
> speakers and TV and seating etc
>
> Will that cause a problem?

One thing I missed - do you have a CRT TV? If it's LCD or Plasma
speakers won't interfere.

In any case, it's very hard to say if the speakers will intefere or not.
I've got some non-shielded Paradigm floorstanders that are very close to
my CRT TV and there is no interference. That says nothing about your
situation, of course, but it's possible you can get away with it.

--
Bill

[paul packer]

On Fri, 27 Oct 2006 03:16:00 +0100, Signal > wrote:


>I have a speaker with powerful magnets within a few inches of the TV.
>It has no impact in it's current orientation but shifted slightly it
>produces the expected effects on the picture. Basically it's a gamble
>if your speakers will be within a couple of feet of the tube. If you
>cannot try before you buy I suggest shielded speakers. Acoustic
>Energy, Kef, Wharfedale, JM Lab, Naim are brands to look at. I think
>the Diamond 9.1s you mentioned before are shielded.

Generally colour hues will not be a bother until the speakers or TV
are moved. Then you just need to unplug the TV a couple of times to
activate the de-gaussing circuit. in the bad old days you used to have
to get a technician in, and often the impurities would return as soon
as he drove off. These days it's really not an issue.

[t33ch]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I think that I'm going to go for the Quads shielding or no shielding.
After all the advice I think it's better to invest the money in these
rather than an expensive amp. I am going to get the NAD 320BEE and the
NAD cd player with the Quads and some bog standard cable.

Cheers for all the help and I'llpost soon as regarding the system.

T33ch

PS what is bi-wiring and what are banana plugs?

[Bill Riel]

In article om>,
says...

> PS what is bi-wiring and what are banana plugs?

Many speakers have 2 sets of binding posts allowing you to "bi-wire".
Bi-wiring is something I wouldn't worry about - the actual impact on
sound quality is almost certainly non-existant, but it may look cool if
you are into that. It won't hurt anything though, so you can go ahead
and do that if you like.

Active bi-amping is a different thing and will make a difference, but
doing that properly isn't a simple thing.

Banana plugs can be soldered on the end of your speaker wire and allow a
convenient connection to the speaker binding posts & amp. They are
especially handy if you sometimes disconnect your speakers to move them
or whatever. I use banana plugs for most of my speaker wires and find
them quite convenient.

But there's nothing at all wrong with just connecting via bare wire.

--
Bill

[MiNe 109]

In article >,
Here in Ohio > wrote:

> On 27 Oct 2006 08:23:44 -0700, "t33ch" > wrote:
>
> >
> >PS what is bi-wiring and what are banana plugs?
>
> Bi-wiring is a way of getting you to spend twice as much on speaker
> cables. :-)
>
> Banana plugs are:
>
> http://www.tequipment.net/PomonaBananaPlugs_Banana.asp

Deltron connectors work kinda the same way. Bare wire is fine, but I've
grown frustrated trying to "thread the needle" at the back of a crowded
home theater receiver. Deltrons are a snap in comparison.

Stephen