The one where there is still no hifi
Well, the trip to the mega department store was not a success. I’m questioning whether home theatre systems are about to be made illegal, because the number of people shopping for them everywhere I go is akin to pending announcements of war and the stampedes of people running out to stock up on everything they can get! No wonder interest rates here are going up, because, although I may have lost my shopping mojo, it is clear that no-one else has.
Anyhow, back to the story.
I was so disappointed in the fact that I was once again hifi-less on Saturday, that I purchased a new groovy keyboard and USB key to compensate for my loss.
On Sunday, I ventured to yet ANOTHER hifi specialist and had a bit of an epiphany: I don’t NEED the speakers and amp I want to buy. I live in an apartment building, so don’t need 150w speakers. All I want is something that sounds good, really good at reasonable volume. I don’t NEED the Harman Kardon amp. I am paying probably $300 bucks for the name. I need to get past my aversion to Yamaha and listen to the experts everywhere telling me that Yamaha is indeed a good amp for a midrange price.
So, there you are. I’m now looking at a Yamaha receiver and a pair of kick-arse speakers and am tossing up between Klipsch, JBL and Wharfedale. I almost cry when I look at the prices in the US compared to here of some of this stuff. The amp I want to buy is worth $900 here and I’ve seen it retail for around $300 in the states. There is WAY more than the exchange rate going on there! It’s the same for speakers.
I’m biting the bullet. Next weekend I’m going to buy. It’s either that, or upgrade Wordpress installation, and I don’t think there is enough Valium in the world for me to face that at the moment!
harman kardon, hi fi, hifi, home theater, home theatre, JBL, klipsch, speakers, wharfedale, yamaha 
Zipper wrote,
You don’t want the Harman Kardon anyways. They have power issues on the lower end units. I bought a new amp and speakers about 3 years ago and went with a Yamaha. I love my Yamaha(RX-v630). The thing with Yamaha is that you need to buy one from a Hi-Fi dealer and not the major retail stores. Here in the states the one’s that you buy from the retail chains are inferior. The inferior grade equipment has model number like “HTR”. The good models from the authorized dealers start with the “RX” and have higher quality components inside and cost almost the same. The only thing that I recommend with the Yamaha or any other piece of higher end audio equipment is that you turn the amp way down before you power it off. This keeps the amp from clipping when you power it on.
When I shopped around for my speakers I went with Wharfedale. These are almost unheard of here in the states and real hard to find. I had to drive a 100 miles to get to the closest retailer. The funny thing is that it was in a small town and not the major city where I live. I went with The Diamond 8 series. The size is smaller but with very good sound. If you are going to be using a powered subwoofer you can get away with the small 8.1 for the mains as the only difference is a small amount of bass and a $100 dollars.
Link | August 15th, 2006 at 12:05 am
The Grumpy One wrote,
Hey Zipper
I’m guessing you’re reading me with a text only reader as I’ve linked to the receiver and speakers I’m thinking of going with. The receiver is a yamaha rx-559 so I passed the test there and the wharfedales I’m looking at are the Diamond 9.5’s (if I can ever find a pair to listen to), although I am leaning towards the JBLs at the moment.
Link | August 15th, 2006 at 6:18 am
Someone wrote,
You need to buy Bose Lifestyle 48 system.
Very nice.
Link | August 15th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
Zipper wrote,
No, I just read your posts early in the morning right before I leave for work.
I love that amp! I think I need to up-grade
To Someone: Bose have a great sound, until the cheap paper cones in the speakers tear.
Link | August 15th, 2006 at 4:28 pm
The Grumpy One wrote,
Someone: I was a HUGE Bose fan. My old system was Bose speaker-driven and they were fab-u-lous. However, all the audiophiles I’ve been reading tell me that Bose just aren’t what they used to be. They are now a whole lot of money for an inferior product. (plus, I just can’t afford them anyways).
Zipper: The Ipod hook-up isn’t the reason I went for that amp, but I’ve got 10+gb of mp3s sitting on my ipod that I’ll certainly give a run
Link | August 15th, 2006 at 5:10 pm
Tone Parsons wrote,
I don’t know much about the whole home stereo thing (though one would think I should).
I do, however, own that keyboard. It’s teh spiffy (I like the gell in the wrist wrest). It does take a bit of getting used to as the keys are concave instead of convex, but I love it. Combine that with the logitech MX 518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse and you’ve got a winner (yes… I used a corded mouse… wireless mice aren’t for gamers).
Link | August 16th, 2006 at 4:09 am