Advice on home speakers

i know fuck all about speakers/hi fi stuff, but would like to get a new setup for listening to music/watching dvds. nothing super special, but with good tonal range, what have you.
seriously i know nothing about this stuff.
went into my local electronics shop, they were jackasses. just kinda sneered and talked over my head, then when i told them i didn't want anything super fancy, they just left me alone.
so, anyone got any suggestions on what to get/look for, or perhaps someone's got something they might want to sell? just something to plug my ipod/dvd player into. i don't even know what my budget should be, but not expensive.
stupid post.
sorry to be so vague, but i'd really appreciate any advice. cheers all.

I got some cheap used speakers from Oxfam. I had a monstrous setup in oz but there's not enough room in this country and the neighbors here are too close so anything actually loud is pointless. How does this help you? It doesn't. I'm just passing the time typing. :)

richer sounds have always been helpful to me.
their website is helpful even:
http://www.richersounds.com/

+1 for richer sounds. It depends what you want to do:

1. amp & speakers. good for ipod & any other separates you have. also good for plugging in your PC (internet radio :-)). Cheap and good sound quality. more robust if you're moving home a lot.
   
2. all in one. Good for radio (DAB is excelllent, some cool stations that are not available on analogue. same price or thereabouts as amp & speakers, you get more but trade off sound quality. make sure you get one that has an "external-in" port
   
3. all-in-one plus dvd player. benefits include dolby surround (5 speakers!). can plug in your TV and watch movies too. Ditto
   
   
   

depends what you...

a sensible budget for something decent could be <£150 for 1, <£200 for 2, <£300 for 3.

thanks guys, i'll give richer sounds a try. looks like i'm looking for #1. we'll see how i get on. cheers for the advice!

Although I'm rocking seperates, I have heard that there are some good DVD microsystems around at the moment - the Teac one is meant to be particularly excellent. A bit pricey and may not do multi-region, but meant to be very good.

Alternatively, if you are going the seperates route, Richer Sounds' own brand (Cambridge Audio) are meant to blow everything away (at a given price point). Would be fitting for an MIT boy too!

wicked. i like cambridge! you gonna stop by on saturday?

Mackie hr824>

i'm a music production student, so i know all about that stuff.
i've probably got a good hi fi in newcastle you can have cheap. you would just have to pay the postage, or wait a while and i can get it brought down.
otherwise, feel free to gimme a shout if you want some advice before buying.

seperetes the best easyer to fix if u have a problem u can always put a dvd player into a amp

wicked. i like cambridge! you gonna stop by on saturday?

Nah, my missus is a "bridesmaid" at a "wedding" in "the midlands" and then it's her "birthday". Bitch. Means it's another weekend out of London for me :(

A "money no object" +1 for the amazingly sweet but silly priced active nearfield monitors. Might be worth considering though, you can get some good active nearfields for £200-ish, but it all depends on how many sources you want to play through them, etc.

Mackie hr824>

nice for a £1000

thanks guys, i'll give richer sounds a try. looks like i'm looking for #1. we'll see how i get on. cheers for the advice!

No No No. Consumer hifi sucks ass. Think about it. The guys that master your favorite tunes use studio monitors to mix down the tracks prior to sending off to be pressed. what they hear is what you hear.

I have a pair of active Mackie hr824's right here in my studio/ hit me up to listen to that shit !!!!!

Active studio monitors all the way.

Nah, my missus is a "bridesmaid" at a "wedding" in "the midlands" and then it's her "birthday". Bitch. Means it's another weekend out of London for me :(

A "money no object" +1 for the amazingly sweet but silly priced active nearfield monitors. Might be worth considering though, you can get some good active nearfields for £200-ish, but it all depends on how many sources you want to play through them, etc.

HAH!, well have fun, and don't listen to too many screamy man bands.

nice for a £1000
And ??? you would ride £200 pound bike? and expect next level?

No No No. Consumer hifi sucks ass. Think about it. The guys that master your favorite tunes use studio monitors to mix down the tracks prior to sending off to be pressed. what they hear is what you hear.

I have a pair of active Mackie hr824's right here in my studio/ hit me up to listen to that shit !!!!!

Active studio monitors all the way.

yeah? but at £1000 i'd rather buy bikes :) i know what you're getting at, and i guess i would agree if i actually had an ear for that, but i just want something better than my shitty, tinny, £20 sony speakers.

active monitors are nice but im quite happy with my arcam amp and yamaha studio speakers want tannoys though

Epic sound frequencies. 37hz to 22khz. Sound first, bike second. Standard ;]

shit. now i want. they look loud.

for decent amps at entry-level prices, look at Rotel or NAD rather than your Pioneer or Sony rubbish.

In Aus i have a Rotel RA-02 powering a pair of ageing Sony APM-22es speakers, and it fairly canes (for a budget system).

In Londres I have the cheapest amp NAD sell (320BEE), and a pair of B&W CM2 speakers. it sounds good for the (minimal) money, but the amp definitely lacks proper balls. fine for in my flat though - pretty clean sound.

Hifi, like bikes, is all about diminishing returns on your cash. you can spend retarded amounts, or you can spend a decent amount and get a decent product, but there is a lot of cheap shit out there.

studio monitors are great, if you have a clean source (ie a decent external DAC or soundcard from your PC source). With such an accurate sound, dirty source = dirty sound and you will hear every flaw in the recording/rip/compression. Actuall, the more you spend the fussier you get about decent quality source and recording/mastering.

shit. now i want. they look loud.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep07/articles/mackie_hr824mk2.htm

i have a 3500watt mackie pa system so there

i have the speakers on my laptop so there :P

i have a 3500watt mackie pa system so there

i hope you've got a field to put it in, too ;)

just a big!!! hall why have speakers on your laptop when you can blow your windows out with the subwofer connected to my laptop ;-]