Stereos & Speakers

yooperdave · Mar 29, 2004

My last good stereo & speakers were purchased over 25 years ago /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif!

Has technology improved much over 25 years for stereos & speakers?

Who & what do you recommend for a nice but not excessive system? What should I be looking for as an informed consumer?

Thanks

Yooper Dave

RanchMan · Mar 29, 2004

Yopperdave -

( Has technology improved much over 25 years for stereos & speakers? )

In a word, yes, but it is quite case specific as some "old" stuff still will out perform current production equipment. Just depends on the particular piece of equipment we're talking about.

( Who & what do you recommend for a nice but not excessive system? )

Are you just wanting to do stereo? What about movies/video? (i.e. surround sound) What type of source material do you want to play? (CD's, tapes, records, AM/FM, etc...?) Is this for your living room, bedroom, or someplace else? What do you want to spend total? Is there any piece of your existing system you want to keep or integrate? Do you want multi-room/outside capabilities? Do you want to build any part of it yourself? (i.e. speakers or even electronics kits)

I guess my point is that it's a lot like asking "what tractor should I buy?" without knowing anything about your intended uses, land characteristics, and price range.

Let us know a little more about your needs/uses/price points so we can give good opinions. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Unfortunately without a little more info, this thread will wind up being like so many others where folks are more interested in bragging about their possessions than giving good feedback. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Hambone · Mar 29, 2004

Has technology improved much over 25 years for stereos & speakers 

As much as everything else!!!

First thing is set your budget. You can get carried away just as fast with this stuff.

I have bought a Yamaha System recently (last summer) and am very pleased. Has all the surround sound ect. ect.

A lot of the lower end models are boxed up(made together) together with cd player and all,

I am happy with mine, but the possiblities are endless.

Yamaha

yooperdave · Mar 29, 2004

Hi RanchMan,

Just looking for a rec room.

Would like to play cds, mp3's and a tuner.

I used to have seperate components multiple amps, preamp, tuner, turntable, and then added a cd when they first came out.

Are receivers providing better quality now? I think I just want some simplicity with everything built in.

Budget would be between $500 and $1,000.

Not looking for a tv-stereo-film movie setup just yet.

Thanks

Yooper Dave

RanchMan · Mar 29, 2004

Welp, a couple of things kindof jump out at me from what you said. Let me run them down a little and see if I understand what you are saying...

( 1) rec room ) - higher ambient noise, other concurrent activities 
( 2)...play cds, mp3's and a tuner ) - basic functionality
( 3)...everything built in) - simplicity 
( 4)Budget...$500 and $1,000) - self explanatory

If I'm understanding you correctly, the type of setup that comes to mind has 3 components - a receiver, a cd player, and 2 speakers. Now, yes, there are "all in one" packages that have this functionality, but even though I have owned stuff like this in the past, I have never been a big fan of it. Too many reasons to go in to, but it boils down to you'd be better off selecting 3 higher quality separate components than an "all in one" package.

Before I say much more, if you could confirm/invalidate my assumptions/understanding it would help me from going down the wrong rabbit hole. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Oh, to answer your question about "better quality receivers now?" - yes, substantially in certain brands. While most all of them have improved sonically and in features, not all have improved in the other areas that matter (i.e. reliability). And unfortunately, some brands have slipped in quality quite a bit over years past - not uncommon in the audio industry, just kindof sad to see it happen.

fivestring · Mar 29, 2004

For just music, no, nothing has changed that makes music sound any better.
Stereo is still stereo - 2 channel sound... right and left speakers.
You can get a dedicated subwoofer (which is not stereo) but the mids and highs are still stereo.
You can get digital equipment (cd, md, mp3), but it's still stereo.

Now sound for home theaters and movies.... a whole new ballgame in the last 25 years!!!

Golfgar4 · Mar 29, 2004

( Not looking for a tv-stereo-film movie setup just yet.
)

Dave,

I've never gotten in to the whole "sound system" thing. I guess I always figured if I could hear music coming from something, I was happy!

But I happened to be talking with a buddy this morning who mentioned that just this past weekend, he got a whole surround sound system, including the receiver, cd player, and tuner for about $200.00 at Sam's club. He said it was a Toshiba system. He also commented that he'd never seen a system offered at such a low price.

Again, I don't know what kind of difference that would make as compared to some other system, but he seemed to think that the quality was very good. He was very impressed with the surround sound aspect of the system.

Just a possibilty for you to consider. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

BTW - did you get my private message?

jpr62902 · Mar 29, 2004

I highly recommend eBay for your purchases. Its pretty easy to get a great deal on closeout models with full warranties -- just be careful about the seller. I also would add to Gary's comments about a subwoofer -- get one. I have two small satellites (5" woofers) and a sub with an 8" woofer and the sound surpasses that of my old 15" woofer dinosaurs.

I would also recommend a progressive scan carrousel DVD player that can also play DVD-R's as well as CD's, CD-R's, CD-RW's and anything with MP3's. I have one and its great -- it'll play movies or music, and with a digital TOSlink fiberoptic hookup, I avoided the rat's nest of wires you typically get with today's surround sound systems.

Oh yeah -- make sure you get fiber optic compatible hookups -- much better sound than the old RCA coaxial hookups

Finally, if you want to use a turntable, some modern receivers don't have a preamped input for them any more, so you'll need a preamp for spinnin' da vinyl.

yooperdave · Mar 29, 2004

Hi Garry,

I did get your email, and thanks for the information.

I was at the golf course yesterday, and we still have over a foot of snow all over the place /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif.

We might open a bit latter than normal this year. Most gravel roads are very soft, and it is very easy to get stuck right in the middle of the road /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif.

Does Funbuggy have a stereo to take your mind off the golf game /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif?

I said earlier today that my last stereo is a DeWalt battery charger with built in radio.

Regards,

Dave

frank_f15 · Mar 29, 2004

i am not an expert on this subject, but i know what sounds good to me , we bought seperate components, receiver, cd player, vcr, now a dvd player, and for the speakers, i decided to go with the small Bose speakers, with subwoffer, really gives great sound when viewing movies in surround sound, although they are not inexpensive, but compared to what some audiophiles spend on speakers these were not a bad price.