Sorry about the typing errors in that review, I wrote it in my word processor, hurried a bit and forgot to turn the spell checker on, I've since corrected the problems but its probably not worth posting all over again.
On 01/08/2013, at 5:44 AM, André van Deventer <andred...@webafrica.org.za> wrote: > The right way to go if you want to listen to music. > > Stay away from home theatre stuff with all the bells and whistles. > > You cannot go wrong with rotel anyway. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of Dane > Trethowan > Sent: 31 July 2013 08:46 PM > To: PC Audio Discussion List > Subject: My Hi-Fi - A Review > > The following is a review of my new sound system, it was delivered yesterday > and I’ve just spent an enjoyable time both setting it things up and > listening to the result. > I decided to review my system not through sheer vanity but in the hope that > my review may help some people, I know that the list often gets asked about > accessible sound systems, computer speakers, amplifiers and associated > equipment so perhaps I can deal with all these topics in the 1 review. > The system I set up is cheap by professional audiophile standars but > nevertheless its certainly not the worst system out there and the system > does your ears justice without a doubt. > The system isn’t complete yet by a long shot but the basics are in place and > that’s what I’ll be focusing on. > My interest in building a new-hi-fi system was rekindled due to 2 factors, > the first being the very poor quality of computer speaker systems around, > there’s no doubt that if you’re prepared to pay you can get some wonderful! > computer speaker systems but by the time you’ve paid? Well you may as well > have gone 1 better in a complete Hi-Fi system and take advantage of all the > extra benefits that brings, - excellent sound, your choice of custom > components and the thrill of letting your imagination do the talking when it > comes to building and trying it out. - The second factor was a well known > quality Hi-fi shop several miles out from Melbourne’s City Centre, they’ve > been in business now for 60 years and should know there stuff, they > certainly have many of the big well knownw high end brands on sale such as > Denon, Rotel, Audio Research, B & W etc, it so happened that the store - > Encel Stereo - were having a big sale, I just happened to be following Encel > Stereo on Twitter thus could see the many items on offer. > So when going through my Tweets one morning I noticed that Encel Stereo had > a 40 watt per channel continuous power entigrated Rotel amplifier for sale > for under $400.00, I jokingly replied “So what speakers could you sell me > for this amp” and I got the suggestion back of some Polk Audio bookshelf > speakers for around the same price. > At the same time I was becoming more and more annoyed at computer speakers, > I had purchased the Harman Karden Sound Sticks and was extremely > disappointed at the cheap construction, - non replaceable cable between > speakers etc - so I began thinking about Amp, Speakers and associated > topics. > The usual arguments filted through my head, “I already have a good > surround-soud setup in the lounge, what do I really need another Hi-Fi > system before? Its a good amount of money I’ll be spending, will it all be > worth the while? Don’t want to waste money on Hi-fi like I’ve done with > computer speakers” and on it went. > So time to use my friend “Google” and do some research into Rotel amplifiers > and Polk Audio speakrs and all reviews and associated articles spoke of Polk > Audio and Rotel in a positive light. > The fact of customisation and all replaceable components drew my attention > even more so a fortnight ago I went to the Encel Stereo web site and made my > purchase, I also bought some screened speaker cable with the thought that, > “If a job’s worth doing then its worth doing well’, after the purchase > including shipping I had change from $1,00.00 Australian so bare in mind if > you’re living in the U.S. that prices are bound to be cheaper than here. > Now for the juicy bits and I’ll start with the Amplifier which actually > resembles a slim line tuner more than an amp given its thickness which is > more thin than thick. > When Rotel said they’d gone “Back To Basics” with the design then they > weren’t kidding in the slightest, this amp is indeed a very basic amp with > most of the features you’ll ever need. > All the controls on the front of the unit are rotary controls accept the > “Loudness” and “Power” buttons. > The amp has the usual volume, balance, Bass and Treble pots along with a > couple of surprises. > There are 2 3.5MM jacks to the right of the power button, at first I thought > these were both headphone jacks but no, 1 is a “Music Port” so you can plug > your music player directly into this and the other is the headphones jack, > first time I’ve seen a 3.5MM headphones jack on an amp but I guess it makes > all the sense in the world. > The amp has 4 sets of line in sockets, tape in and out, a set of fono > sockets for a turntable and preamp out sockets, quite a good collection of > connections by anyone’s standardards. > The speaker output connectors are your usual A/B configuration of binding > posts. > The Polk Audio bookshelf speakers are smaller than what I expected, actually > they’re not all that much bigger than some of the computer speakers I’ve > seen but when connected? Well there’s no doubt about it, the sound produced > from those puts most computer speakers to absolute shame, a little of the > bottom is missing but its hardly worth worrying about and we are talking > about bookshelf speakers and not floor standing models. > The speaker cable was the cheapist Encel Stereio offered at $12.00 per metre > and I can assure you that proper speaker cable makes all the difference to > the output sound however I do think that the more expensive ccable I was > recommened at $375.00 per metre is overkill <smile>. > The system isn’t complete and I’ll be adding to it in the next few months, I > intend to purchase the Rotel DAC - Digital To Analogue Converter - which > will provide me with both digital inputs and a direct digital bridge between > the system and the computer. > > I’m also looking at “Stand-Alone” CD players and there are some real rippers > around now from such brands as Rotel, Cambridge Audio, Onkyo etc. > I have the Yamaha TD500 tuner I’ve spoken about in previous eMail connected > and it too sounds utterly brilliant. > > > ********** > > Dane Trethowan > Skype: grtdane12 > Phone US (213) 438-9741 > Phone U.K. 01245 79 0598 > Phone Australia (03) 9005 8589 > Mobile: +61400494862 > Fax +61397437954 > > > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org > > > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org ********** Dane Trethowan Skype: grtdane12 Phone US (213) 438-9741 Phone U.K. 01245 79 0598 Phone Australia (03) 9005 8589 Mobile: +61400494862 Fax +61397437954 To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org
