Setting up a speaker system

[smegballs]

Hi guys, I'm looking to set up a speaker system in my room. I want to be able to play trance and ambient loud like its meant to be.

I want like a modular system if possible, like my pc get plugged into a base unit that I can add speakers to as time and money allows but I can still buy something for the time being.

Cheers, Rich

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

Budget?
These are the best of the cheapest. When i say best i mean very good as well.
Marantz do some cracking CD or SACD players ditto for NAD
Cambridge Audio make great amps.
Wharefdale 10.1 speakers
Mordant Avant speakers
Or maybe you want some active speakers? (built in amps).

Pat
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

How big is your room and its shape? Upstairs?
This will have a bearing on size of amp and speakers and even whether you'll be able to use a subwoofer.
Placement of speakers is important aswell. What you put them on and where you put them. In a corner they will sound boomy. On a wooden desk they'll vibrate.
My mission is to get people to listen to their music properly.

Pat
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[smegballs]

Well from what little I know about audio, I understand that you have a central "amp" that takes a range of inputs, boosts the signal and feeds it to subs speakers etc etc...?

Regarding active speakers, how well can you "chain" them up together? Say I bought two of them for my room, could I then but another four say and have them positioned around the room and driven from some kind of "junction box"?


EDIT, my room is squarish, about 12 foot each way and a high ceiling about 8/9 foot high.

[stinkwheel]

Concentrate on the amp. You can plug almost anything into a good amp.

I'd also suggest just getting a stereo one, your music is stereo.

Couple of biggish, standard speakers that match the amp to start with and see how it goes. Take a simple stereo amp with a single volume knob and a 5.1 surround amp with flashy lights, sliders and twiddly bits for the same price and I know which will give you the best sound quality. A good amp will let you turn it up LOUD without distorting the sound

To be honest, my entry level 200W cambridge audio amp with triple cone, bi-wired floor standing speakers has a high enough output that you really wouldn't want to be in the same room at anything over 3/4 volume.

If you want more bass, you could add in a sub woofer.

I got the CA amp because it has plenty of inputs and an analogue channel for my record player. It's connected to the record player, radio tuner, playstation, DVD player and computer. I also connected the monitor output back into the computer so I can record whatever is playing on the stereo.

Playing guitar hero is fucking awesome on that setup .

EDIT: Picture. This was not an expensive setup.
https://www.bikechatforums.com/download.php?id=68981

[Pernig]

If you have a decent PC it is a great starting point for your system as it can handle all your mutlimedia 'sources' in one package. Do bear in mind that many PC's sound cards are prone to some really nasty noise, so consider using a digital output (S/PDIF or HDMI) or buying an amp with some sort of noise reduction.

Also, I have found the sound card drivers are often at fault for noise, so perhaps consider learning how to set up ASIO on your PC.

Modular and separate systems are hard to come by from mainstream stores nowadays. The way I do it is build my own boxes or buy cheap speakers with boxes that are in good condition and put my own speakers and crossovers inside so I have a bit more cash left to spend on a nice amp.

I bought a pair of ancient Aiwa speakers with a stereo system from an old lady at a car boot for £15. The boxes were in really good condition so I took the old components out and bought some 16 and a half inch JBL component car speakers (equivalent to a Control 1, another very good speaker for cheap and especially good for wall mounting as it is compact), then bought some sexy old-fashioned JBL badges from eBay to tart them up.

I definitely agree with Terror in that if you want to spend a lot of money on your speakers to get active ones. Saves a lot of faffing around!
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[smegballs]

Is this the sort of amp I want to base a system around?

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mitsubishi-Stereo-Integrated-Amplifier-Model-DA-U640_W0QQitemZ300364737148QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers?hash=item45ef222a7c

Theres plenty of "200W USB amplifiers" on ebay it seems. Now I'm not expert but I cant see little USB connectors sinking 200 watts at all!

[stinkwheel]

Keep an eye on richer sounds for some bargain hi-fi equipment.

They often have some real bargain end of range/clearance stuff.
https://www.richersounds.com/

[stinkwheel]

[smegballs]

Yeah I think I'll go for a cambridge one like people have suggested. I'm watching a few on ebay so should pick on up in a few days with a bit of luck. Quite a lot of A1's with a few A5's, is one preferable to the other?

Thanks for the advice so far!

[Ariel Badger]

I thought you were going to live in a tent?
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[smegballs]

Nothing wrong with having bangin tunez in a tent! Well for the meantime I'm living in my uni house. Then tent is for a summer to begin with.....

Interestingly I've been roped into help making a iron age roundhouse that one of my ex's sisters is making in her folks garden to live in.

[Raffles]

I'm just glad that you don't live next door to me!
____________________
A good loser will always be a loser.

[smegballs]

[oldpink]

speaker placement is important as well
you need to set up your listening point then angle the speakers accordingly
sub bass placement is not important but the main speakers are

this may help
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Theory & hazard 24-may 2016, CBT 8th June 2016, MOD 1 2nd Aug 2016 Mod 2 2nd-Nov 2016 - Current bike CBR 600 RR

[stinkwheel]

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

I found the 5.1 system impractical for my room. And unless its set up as per piccy above you won't enjoy it.
As mentioned you can't beat a 2 spoeaker system run by a discreet and powerful amp with thick cable to speakers that match. Bi-wire if possible as it improves clarity (marginal)
https://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/howlingterror_2006/how-to-bi-wire-speakers-2.gif

If you're using speaker stands (Argos are cheap) Fill them with sand(use sealant on the bottom) and use the spikes.
Use blobs of blu-tac to 'de-couple' them from whatever they're sat on. I use mo-pads..but i'm a tart.

Speakers and yourself should form a equilateral triangle. With the tweeters at ear level.
No need to splash out on expensive cable. QED Silver is ideal as it looks good, thick electric copper cable is ugly but works just the same. Just don't use that weedy wire everyone has knocking about.

You'll get a clearer sound if your speakers are kept away from walls and especially corners. If you have to put them close to a wall, choose speakers with fwd facing ports.


Pat
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[Matthie]

In my 'garage' (2 rooms, double glazed ect) I have 2 mission floor standing speakers, 2 normal hifi speakers for treble, and 2 10" 600W JBL car subs in a box in the middle. The subs are running off a 1500W car amp and are pretty beefy!

Got all of those running off my decks and apparently you can hear the bass a few houses down on the street when I have it at my normal volume.
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[WishayKillie]

[divuk83]

Don't waste money on bi-wiring speakers, just make a little pair of jumpers cables between the two sets of terminals on the back of the speakers.

https://www.divuk83.net/images/F_-_Connection.jpg

If you main source is your PC then don't use the crap onboard sound, and M-Audio 2496 is a good budget card for stereo music. Can be had for less than 50 squid, sounds much better than any onboard sound and has RCA outputs which makes it easier to connect up to an amp.

Don't use any crap car "hi fi" stuff as it's just designed to make a boomy noise and not be in any way musical.

What is your budget?

Dave

[trevoriv]

Should be able to get something like a Rotel RA931 for next to nowt these days, cheapo sony or marantz etc cd-player and some decent sized bookshelf speakers for very little as well.

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rotel-RA-931-Stereo-Integrated-Amplifier_W0QQitemZ110455843869QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers?hash=item19b7ae6c1d

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MISSION-M71-SPEAKERS-BOXED-MINT-CONDITION_W0QQitemZ120489746240QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_HiFiSpeakers?hash=item1c0dbf9f40

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/marantz-cd-player_W0QQitemZ160375975719QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_CDPlayerSeparates?hash=item2557272f27

or
https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sony-CD-Player-CDP-XE270-Home-Hi-Fi-Cinema-Audio-Unit_W0QQitemZ140358603136QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_CDPlayerSeparates?hash=item20ae065180

Should get you started at least for £100 or so (ish!)
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[stinkwheel]

[divuk83]

It makes no difference if you use both sets of outputs on the amp or not, main (slight) improvement is from bypassing the crap metal links on the the binding posts on the back of the speakers. This also means you only need half as much speaker cable saving you money.

https://img687.imageshack.us/img687/4149/howtobiwirespeakers2a.gif

Many "good" amps do not have two sets of speaker outputs as it's unnecessary.

Dave

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

^^^You are not using the speakers full potential in that diagram. And the Linking Brackets are quite often gold plated even on sub £100 speakers.
So if your speaker has 2 pairs of connectors why not use them. Especially if you're young and got good hearing...(wasted on my battered flaps)
Again, if you're being thrifty get some of this.



Pat
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[Pernig]