Best Buy for £600..??

Andrewc39

Standard Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2011
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Age
52
Hi All,

I’m in the market for a budget Hi-Fi, I have £600 to spend and would like to ask your advice on what separates go together best for this budget. I just need an Amp, CD Player and Speakers.



I live in a smallish flat, so the system wouldn’t be in a big room and I listen to various genres of music, although mostly Rock.



I have done some research, looking at the What Hi-Fi reviews, etc and am currently thinking about the following combo; although it’s a bit more than I have to spend.



Speakers - DALI Zensor 1

Amplifier - Denon PMA-710

CD Player - Marantz CD5003



Thanks in advance for any advice given.

 
I really like my Dali speakers, and I use a Rega amp. Fine for a wide range of music including rock.

You can get the Rega Brio 3 (old model) for 240 quid. Add 180 quid for your chosen speakers and you still have 180 for a CDP - should get something decent if it's on sale.

Or, the Marantz 6003 series should begin to be discounted owing to the 6004 coming in and you may well get a PM6003 and CD6003 for a good price and be able to afford your speakers. I felt my Marantz amp was great with my Dali speakers but I like the Rega better. But the Rega could be hard to find and there's no remote option.

Also consider NAD (maybe check out Richer Sounds), seem to be good vfm

I recently listened to some Quad L-ite 2 speakers, which are tiny and easily mounted on the wall. They went down surprisingly low but probably not enough without a sub. But you might want to look at the Quad range in case a local dealer has a bargain

Have you considered where you're going to put your speakers - do you need stands etc
 
If you're after maximising quality, you might be better off going second hand.
You can get a pair of monitor Audio RS1 for less than £200. That's a really well made speaker, with high quality components, fantastic finish and pretty decent sound.
Alos, the Rega Brio sells for around £150 on the second hand market.
In terms of sources, I'd recommend the squeezebox touch, which can be had new for £199 on Amazon I believe.
You may want to save some of your budget for good quality speaker stands like soundstyle Z2. They affect the sound more than cables IMHO.
 
Thanks for the advice chaps! I'm not going to buy 2nd hand, solely because it's more of a risk. I'm no expert and have had stereos in this price range before (Cambridge Audio & Technics) and it was perfect for my needs.

What do you think is the better Amp the Yamaha AS500 or the Rega Brio 3?
 
The only thing I would say about the Denon is that they tend to fudge the power specs a bit. The Denon PMA710 is really 55 watt per channel to 8 ohms. Nothing wrong with that, that's plenty of power. But it takes some digging to actually find it.

At £600, I would divide the budget like this, to establish a starting point -

£200 = CD
£200 = Amp
£200 = Speakers

Though there is a great deal of flexibility on that.

At the top of the list, would be the Yamaha AS300 Amp (60w/ch) and the matching Yamaha CDS300 -

£207 = Yamaha AS300 amp (rated best amp under £500)
£199 = Yamaha CDS300 CD
£220/pr = Wharfedale Diamond 10.2
---------------
£626 = TOTAL

£225/pr = Monitor Audio BX2 (Alternate)

The Diamond 10.1 were the "What HiFi?" Product of the Year in 2009, and the Monitor Audio BX2 were Product of the Year in 2010.

If you want to scale back a bit on the speakers, then the Diamond 10.1 are £170/pr and the Monitor Audio BX1 is £180/pr.

A new speaker on the market and worth considering, the Dali Zensor 1 for about £180/pr.

If you can go a little higher on the amp, then the Yamaha AS500 is currently £250 for SuperFi.co.uk.

The Marantz PM6003 (45w/ch) is about £220 from RicherSounds.com and SuperFi.co.uk. The matching Marantz CD6003 are in the range of £200 to £250. Both models have been replaced by 6004 models. (CD6003 = £199 at RicherSounds.com)

You may like the Onkyo RX-8255 AM/FM Receiver (55w/ch) for about £220. The Onkyo C7030 CD Player is £179.

AVBristol has an excellent deal on the Denon PMA510 (45w/ch) + DCD510 for a modest £370 -

AV Bristol - Denon PMA-510AE & DCD-510AE

PeterTyson.co.uk has the Denon PMA510 for £149 and £159 for the matching CD Player. PeterTyson also have the Marantz 6003 series, but you have to call to get a price on the CD, either the price or stock levels are very low. The Yamaha AS300 is £199 from PeterTyson and £179 for the Yamaha CDS300.

Staying near £600 should be easy, trying to stay at or just under £600 is going to be more difficult.

Staying as close to £600 as possible, I think these might be your best choices.

And to some extent, it depends on how determined you are to buy everything from the same source -

£249 = Yamaha AS500 (80w/ch) @ SuperFi
£179 = Yamaha CDS300 @ PeterTyson
£169/pr = Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 @ SuperFi and others.
--------------
£597 = TOTAL

Though I would rather see this system with the Diamond 10.2 or Monitor Audio BX2. That would mean a new total of £648 to £653.

Or

£199 = Yamaha AS300 (60w/ch) @ AudioAffair.co.uk or PeterTyson
£179 = Yamaha CDS300 @ PeterTyson
£220 = Diamond 10.2 many sources at this price
-----------------
£598 = TOTAL or £5 for the Monitor Audio BX2

I think those are about the best systems you can come up with in your price range.

But then ... that's just my opinion.

Steve/bluewizard
 
Last edited:
Thanks, really appreciate your post. I think i'm going to go for:

£249 = Yamaha AS500 (80w/ch) @ SuperFi
£179 = Yamaha CDS300 @ PeterTyson
£220 = Wharfedale Diamond 10.2

I have no issue with getting it from different sources as I will be buying the Amp first and then the speakers and cd at xmas.

Thanks again!!!!
 
Richer sounds is doing the Yamaha A-S500 for £245
Yamaha CDS300 going for £160 @ eBay
Wharfedale Diamond 10.2 £185 @ eBay

Not sure whether the last two will be under warranty, but I reckon they will be.

Check them out and save some bucks mate!!
 
Last edited:
£249 = Yamaha AS500 (80w/ch) @ SuperFi
£179 = Yamaha CDS300 @ PeterTyson
£220 = Wharfedale Diamond 10.2


TOTAL = £648

I would expect that to be one very impressive system. Tons of power, larger than average speakers, good bass response, ....

Keep in mind there is a break-in period on the speakers. They will be impressive right out of the box, but in time the bass will improve and the highs will mellow slightly.

Once you have the system up and running, post back and give us your impressions. Though I can't imagine they will be anything other than WOW!.

Steve/bluewizard
 
£249 = Yamaha AS500 (80w/ch) @ SuperFi
£179 = Yamaha CDS300 @ PeterTyson
£220 = Wharfedale Diamond 10.2

TOTAL = £648

I would expect that to be one very impressive system. Tons of power, larger than average speakers, good bass response, ....

Keep in mind there is a break-in period on the speakers. They will be impressive right out of the box, but in time the bass will improve and the highs will mellow slightly.

Once you have the system up and running, post back and give us your impressions. Though I can't imagine they will be anything other than WOW!.

Steve/bluewizard

I will most definitely do that. Like I mentioned I will be buying the amp in a couple of weeks time and the speakers and CD player at Xmas, so it will be a few months yet.

Thanks for your advice, really appreciate it!
 
2 years later and I finally bought it (life expenses got in the way). I went for

Yamaha AS500 amp
Yamaha CDS300 cd player
Q Acoustics 2020i speakers

It arrived today, I can't wait to get it set up. I just need to buy some speaker cables and speaker stands.

Also what would you suggest is a good docking station to plug my ipod into the stereo for under £100? I know next to nothing about tech so all advice is welcome on setting up, etc.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom