Re: My Hi-Fi - A Review
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 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,
RE: My Hi-Fi - A Review
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 Ive 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 isnt complete yet by a long shot but the basics are in place and thats what Ill 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, theres no doubt that if youre prepared to pay you can get some wonderful! computer speaker systems but by the time youve 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 Melbournes City Centre, theyve 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 Ill be spending, will it all be worth the while? Dont want to waste money on Hi-fi like Ive 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 jobs 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 youre living in the U.S. that prices are bound to be cheaper than here. Now for the juicy bits and Ill 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 theyd gone Back To Basics with the design then they werent kidding in the slightest, this amp is indeed a very basic amp with most of the features youll 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 Ive 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 anyones 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 theyre not all that much bigger than some of
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 s
