New User Asking For Advice

[HUMMUH]

Hello

I am willing to have a better sound equipment at home. I want to buy a new amplifier (mine is an old SONY), and new speakers (mine are old AIWA 3 way speakers).

I have been thinking of a NAD C320 BEE (seen recently on e bay at 269 euros), or a Advance acoustic MAP 103 (at 325 euros), or an equivalent Rotel.

Regarding speakers, I do not really now. At home we listen to electronic soft music (Mum, Bjork, Postal service....), french music, classical also, sometimes rock. I have seen the small Eltax Monitor, cheap and very well rated. I also like JMLAB Focal (more expensive). I really need help !!!! I have not decided if I want small one to put on a shelf, or bigger ones to put on the floor.

Our living room is not big (around 15-20 sq meters), but the room is not squared...
Thank you in advance for all your comments !!!!!

Fred

[bobsticks]

Hey Fred,

First and foremost welcome to the forum. I too listen to some electronic and a fair bit of classical music. I can't imagine that you would truly get the most out of either without something that could adequately perform lower octaves. You need the bass, man.

Focals are great speakers, but like anything else I would caution to do some auditioning first if possible. Take some of your favorite cds out and listen to some speakers with your music. I can totally understand budget constraints, I've been there, but sometimes it's worth it to save a bit and get something you will be happy with on the first purchase. If it is not possible to audition pieces and your choice ultimately comes down to these two, I'll side with the JMLabs.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

[JoeE SP9]

Welcome aboard. I haven't posted lately so HI everybody. Music without adaquate bass is like a house with no foundation. No Bass to stand on!

[musicman1999]

Yes welcome.

As for speakers i have been a Jm Labs fan for some time and currently have a Cobalt surround set up with 816 in the front and 806 in the back plus sub and center.I am very happy with both music and movie sound.One word though,if you go this way make sure to mate them with good electronics to make them sing.

bill

[Rock789]

if you have already auditioned, and like the focal jm labs... save up for them and get them... but make sure you audition lots of speakers...
the chorus s speakers I purchases were the 3 brand I auditioned out of about 20...
and I did go back and comparred my top 3 speakers several times (I think 3 times total each) before I decided...

15-20 square meters... (161-215 square feet)...
could you be more specific...
and is it rectangular or some odd shape?
my living room where my ht is set up is ~20.9 square meters (225 square feet) and I have used just my Chorus S 706 and they sound very nice!
fyi... for movies, you definately require a sub with floor standers or bookshielfs

I don't have any experience with that NAD... I don't suppose you can audition the speakers with the NAD?

[aevans]

I like the NAD C320 BEE, looked at it and it seems to be a sold deal, I had an older NAD unit a long time ago and it sounded very sharp for the price, although a bit harsh for my taste, it could rock the house down.

you only really need to get down to 40hz, so I'd say go for what ever gets you there. the amp can make up for a lot for the speaker.

I'm all for floorstanding full range speakers, if you have the space it's hard to match the sound with sub/sat setups.

also I like the diy speakers, if interested madisound.com has just about any high end driver you would want.