beasty

Hi,

Im looking for a stereo set up to go with my asus xonar DX2 sound card. im a student so money is quite tight, not looking to spend more than £400.

This set up will be used mostly for music (classical and metal) and some light gaming (HD555's with LDM+ used 90% of the time).

Now untill 2 or 3 days ago i knew next to nothing about this kind of thing but have a tone of research and am thinking along the lines of the Wharedale Diamond 10.1 speakers and Onkyo A-9155 Integrated Amp.

http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/product.asp?id=8849
http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/product.asp?id=5771

Will these work together?
Are there any better combos?
Is the lack of a sub/ability to use a sub with that amp going to limit me?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

jarble

first off I want to say that the Wharfedale speakers I bought are fantastic and I highly recommend that brand . with that said are you dead set on the 10 series? if not try looking into the 9's as they are almost the same and should be a bit cheaper . the amp looks fine you will notice a some lack of low end with out a sub but you can always add on later .

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ace8uk

I've heard good things about the 10.1's, not so much about that receiver. Honestly, the best advice i can give you is to get yourself down to a Richer Sounds or Super Fi store and demo some things yourself.

Also, before I move on to suggesting some amplifiers and speakers to demo, you can still use a subwoofer on an amplifier that doesn't have a dedicated subwoofer output, you just use speaker cables instead.

Anyway, Richer Sounds have some amazing deals on some of the cambridge audio equipment at the moment, more specifically, this Cambridge Audio 640a for £150.

Pair that with a nice set of bookshelf or floorstanding speakers and you'll have an amazing sound setup.

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tUDJ

Do this.

The 640A is a stupendous bargain. Spending ~£150 on the 640A will leave you around £200 for speakers (+ ~£50 for speaker cables and interconnects).

As Dan said, the best bet for speakers is to take a few trips to local Hi-Fi dealers and ask to have a listen to any speakers they recommend at that price-point.

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beasty

thanks for the advice guys.

the only problem with that 640A is that its collect only and i dont drive yet, time to sweet talk my parents!

chinesekiwi

Yep, the Wharfdale 10.1 = a very smart choice indeed.

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Adandos

You're not going to gut much bass at all from a 5" speaker, in a sealed enclosure, driven by 100watts, and with a stated minimum frequency of 48hz.

I'm sure those speakers will be AMAZING for classical music reproduction, with ultra clear highs (44KHZ!) and nice liquid mids, and even some strong mid-bass ...

The difference will come when you use the system for gaming, movies and cinematics... that's when it will show you it's true lacking of bass and subsonic effects.

I think you should keep a good powered subwoofer in mind, since the amp you're looking at is only a 2 channel amplifier.

The 640A delivers 75W @ 8 ohms which at 6 ohms is around 100 watts which matches your speakers perfectly to drive them to max power (this will also affect how much bass you get out of them since they are low sensitivity).

The Onkyo only delivers 65W @ 4ohms, which at 6 ohms is around 43 watts which leaves your 10.1s severely underpowered.

I'd go with the 640A if it's an option, the 10.1s look great... but I think a small sub later on will make this a really nice system.

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beasty

1 train trip and 6 miles of walking later and i have my amp! got the 640A (after a few miles its bloody heavy!) and its sounding great with my 555's.

tomorow is speaker day, luckily i can demo the diamond 10 and 9 series in a local shop along with a few others and their prices are as good as net prices so i should have it all set up tomorow evening.

will get some pics once its all up.

thanks for the help guys!

tUDJ

Excellent, you really have grabbed a bargain there, that amp was £250+ not so long ago.

It should serve you great when you get the upgrade bug, it's got the power for more demanding speakers.

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Adandos

6 miles is a long walk !

I like to take my own music on demos because I already know what it sounds like (and then if i run into a superior system and here detail that I've never heard before then I really know because you already know the song)...

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