[Jon Read]

I have a mixer and 2 technics, so in other words I like to DJ at home. I currently have a old sony seperates amp. It has started to go, so I need to get a new one. I don't have the music really loud or anything, just loud enough to be good, but not so loud that you have to shout over it.

I was interested in some Richer Sounds deals, like the mini-hifis. Would these be suitable ? I am on a real limited budget of £150 and under. The Teac CRH240 is only £120, but I heard Teacs at this price are not good with dance music, is this true ? I am talking house, drum and bass, techno, etc.

I need 2 inputs. A clear and pronounced as possible sound quality at this price so I can hear the beats to mix. I know I may be asking a lot, but my Sony did a good enough job when it was working and that was cheap, true that it is only a amp though and not a CD or radio too.

At Richer Sounds for the same price as the Teac they have a Yamaha mini system too. Or if I were to go for a seperate amp instead, I notice Richer have a nice Pioneer for £116. Any advice ? Doesn't have to be Richer, but on the web would be helpful.

Thanks for any advice.

[BlueWizard]

OK, what is it you have, and what is it you need?

Do you need speakers? Or just an Amp? And when you say amp, do you mean amp or receiver? Do you really need a CD player or do you already have something to full that need?

A compact all-in-one system is going to be weak. You'll be luck to get 25 watts, and the speakers are going to be small. This might work if you are just home alone fooling around, but it is not going to be adequate for any serious listening.

Again, what is it you actually need? If all you need is an amp, I can make a suggestion? If you need amp and speakers, that is going to be difficult on your budget.

Off the top of my head, I would say you need to spend closer to £220 to £350, and that is just for a basic stereo amp with basic speakers, but a system that could really sound good.

Give us some more details.

Steve/bluewizard

[nonumb]

From what I can gather you have an decks/mixer which was going through your sony amp and if this has been working well then I assume you have decent enough speakers.

You could go for say £119 cambridge audio A5 and then if you did need speakers you could quite easily pick up some Eltax monitor 3 for £30 on the bay. For quite a while I had an A1 paired with the eltax and although wasnt amazing quality was pretty decent as a start. I have now upgraded the speakers to B&W but you may struggle to get similar on your budget. Having said that you could pick up a second hand A5 on ebay (£50 or so) and you might get lucky with some B&W 601/602s.

I listen to a lot of dance music as well and I like my system for it the b&w speakers have quite good bass. I would shy away from spending under £150 on an all in one system as I think you could get a lot more for your money if you buy seperates and a lot more again if you can buy second hand.

[Jon Read]

Thanks for the advice both of you.

I have a pair of Tannoy speakers which although 10 years old are still fine for the job. So there is no need to include that on price.

So the general verdict is don't go for a mini and try and invest on a seperates amplifier but at a slightly higher price then what I am wanting, unless I buy second hand ?

[BlueWizard]

For the record, the Cambridge Audio Classic A5 with 60watts per channel at £119 from Richer Sounds was going to be my suggestion. I don't think there is anything that can beat that amp for that price.

I cringe at the idea of recommending a all-in-one mini-system.

Again, the previous poster is making his suggestions based on assumptions, assumptions that you have speaker, the assumption that you have something to play CD's. But, it would be so much easier for us, if you would just tell us what you have so we don't have to assume. (I did notice you have Tannoy speakers.)

If you have speakers, and you have a DVD player, a game system, or a CD player, then all you really need is an amp, and the one recommend above is the best deal around.

Steve/bluewizad

[deaf cat]

Another vote for the A5

However, I'm sure it came with the option of a phono stage when I bought one, but not sure if this still applies.......

Oh, if you demo (good idea to) the Pioneer and A5, ask to try the Atlantic vs the Pacific IC's