Sound System advice

OkeeDon · Apr 14, 2005

I have some old stereo components that have been unused for years. It always seemed my wife and I were too busy to just sit back and listen, and there has been stiff competition from the television and computers. When we needed a radio, such as during the hurricanes, we used a cheap boom box. Recently I started messing with the old components, and none of them are working correctly. Besides, it was such a mish-mash that I never was happy with the way they were all connected.

I'll try to describe what I have now. I'm far from an audiophile, so I may get some of the terms wrong. I have a Panasonic DR40 tuner/amplifier, a Pioneer equalizer GR-740, a Sharp RT-W800 cassette deck, an RCA 5 disc changer (no model number on front and too much trouble to turn it around), and a pair of Bose bookshelf speakers that should still be in decent condition. I can't get the drawer to open on the CD player, the tuner buttons are sticking on the tuner amplifier, and the cassette tape player is something we would no longer use.

That's the background. I'd like to think about replacing it with something more up-to-date and working correctly, but I don't want to spend a fortune. I just want to have reasonably decent sound and the ability to modify the sound a little for different types of music. I liked doing that with the equalizer, but I'm not sure it's still working, and it was always more complicated than I liked, with too many monitor buttons to push, etc. If we got a nice, simple system running again, we would listen primarily to classical music and some super contemporary stuff from such as John Adams and Philip Glass.

Whatever I get should be easy to hook up, easy to control, have a decent sound but not earth-shattering or awe-inspiring, and be reasonably inexpensive. What recommendations do you have?

bczoom · Apr 14, 2005

( Whatever I get should be easy to hook up, easy to control, have a decent sound but not earth-shattering or awe-inspiring, and be reasonably inexpensive. What recommendations do you have?)

Don,

I was all set to build you a new system for about $12K until I saw the this statement.

Honestly, it sounds like one of those overgrown boom boxes may be the best setup for you needs. As for which manufacturer, I can't say but most have all the things you're looking for.

Brian

HomeBrew2 · Apr 14, 2005

You might consider a "dvd home entertainment" system or whatever whoever calls them. Seems like they go for $150 up to thousands. The dvd player will play cd's (just make sure it plays home-burned cd's, if you'll be doing that. The dvd player should play mp3 cd's but make sure if you want to do that. If you need the eq, make sure there's a rec in/out on the amp. I keep all my music and some video on a cheap Celeron 1.7 dedicated pc. If you do that, you can use a virtual eq that's part of an mp3 player. In closing, Crutchfield. com has good comparison info online as well as in their catalog.

KubotaSteve · Apr 14, 2005

My brother has one of those Bose DVD systems and it has awesome sound and quality and was only around $900 at Sears. One place to look at to get some ideas is Crutchfield's website but they seem to be a bit pricey. When actually buying you may try looking elsewhere. I want to get a new setup myself but can't justify the expense as I'm not inside that often.

getut · Apr 14, 2005

Keep an eye out at places like Circuit City and Best Buy for opened returns.

The last 2 systems I have bought were $700-$1200 rack mount systems that people had taken home and scratched or ruined the speakers and returned the system.

I got the rack systems for like $100-$150 bucks then just used speakers from other systems.

OkeeDon · Apr 14, 2005

Thanks for the ideas. I got it worked out temporarily. I got the tuner working, but the buttons are still sticky to change the frequency. It was hilarious -- I had turned it on, and up to full volume, then did some other things. I was on the phone about a half hour later when suddenly the tuner decided to turn itself on -- raucus noise at full volume, scared the heck out of me and the person on the other end of the phone line!

I never got the changer drawer open on the CD player -- took it apart, got my CD's out, and tossed it.

All of a sudden, I recalled that we are storing a bunch of stuff for my son. He's working in another city, and going through a phase of not owning ANYTHING -- company car, rented room, all work and no play, socking away a small fortune. I went out to the garage and opened an entertainment armoire, and there was his Onkyo tuner/amplifier and Magnavox 5 disk CD changer. I hooked it up to my Bose speakers, sounds great. I left the tape deck and equalizer off so my gadget-challended wife can turn it on and off with the remotes, which my other system didn't have. I'm in hog heaven with a sound that's far beyond my tin ears...

By the way, I spent a little time looking on EBay -- I saw great 5 disc changers for as little as $10 with $25 shipping. Did you know they have CD changers out there which hold 300-400 CD's? They have a keyboard port so you can type in names for each CD and search by that name. Incredible. I've never even SEEN 400 CD's in one place outside Wally World...you can get one for as little as $140 to $150 plus shipping.

By the time my son decides to set up housekeeping again, he'll no doubt get some fancy Bang & Olufsen system, forget he ever had the Onkyo, and I'll get to keep it.

GerardC · Apr 15, 2005

Did you know they have CD changers out there which hold 300-400 CD's? 

They've been around a good ten years now. They are also called "CD Jukebox". I have a (300 + 1) which means you can store 300 and change out 1 CD while the unit is playing. Pretty cool player but I use my Yamaha 5 disc carousel play Xchange as I like the unit better.

_RaT_ · Apr 15, 2005

Our local audio/video stores I visited recently for a customer mentioned they hardly sell CD players anymore, only DVD/CD players. Cassette have dried up and VHS is becoming increasingly less important in purchases. As with any sound sysytem, I still think the speakers amount to everything, after that for the most part it's all secondary with exceptions. For the price range I suspect Don is looking at, I think he will be looking at a stereo system with 2 speakers, no surround etc which makes something like the Bose come to mind. I personnaly am not a fan because I like the sound "big" but for Don, it could work well for what he describes.

OkeeDon · Apr 15, 2005

Precisely. I have a pair of Bose bookshelf speakers I bought at Sam's Club about 7 or 8 years ago, and they are perfect for my needs. Big sound? If I have the volume control above a "1" my wife will ask if I am playing for the neighbors -- and she even says that at our mounntain cabin where the nearest neighbor is across the valley. By the way, the "stereo" at the cabion still has an FM tuner. a cassette player, a turntable and an 8 track player all in one unit...it's got to be well over 30 years old, when we bought it at a drug store. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

gsganzer · Apr 15, 2005

When I put the addition on my house, I put in a new surround sound system. I replaced an old Kenwood reciever with a new Pioneer VSX-1014TX reciever that's THX certified off of e-bay ($369). I also replaced my old kenwood CD player with a new DVD/CD player (as someone else mentioned, CD players are getting replaced with DVD/CD players).

The one thing I noticed with the new components is the use of digital optical connections. This is a huge improvement over the old analog for clarity.

You talk about big sound. I lgot lucky on some Speakercraft MIT 8.3's and CRS 6.5's for $50.00 each (new) from a guy that used to install them and had some left over inventory. These are in-the-wall or in-the ceiling speakers that you then paint so you don't see them. The things ROCK!! I'd never even heard of that brand and would never have thought an in-the-wall speaker would sound any good. They're incredible.