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Thread ID: 135150	2013-10-01 02:07:00	DACs, Amps and media recievers	The Error Guy (14052)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1354710	2013-10-01 02:07:00	Hi all, long time no see for sure. Although it's great to see most of the folk are still happy and active. Somewhat pleasing to see we're all still pissing each other off (nice Motorists vs Cyclists thread, hope I haven't been missing out :D) Anyway, I'm finally moving out of various "borrowed" accommodation and into my own place, which means I can finally set up a decent set sound system and bring my record collection back to life. I've been looking at various amps and headunits etc but these days there's so much range and very little information on what's good or not. I had a look at Onkyo's site which listed some 40+ models and no way to tell which was high end vs what was within my budget and feature range etc etc. Stupid. Anyway, my budget isn't huge but it's flexible, I'm perfectly happy to buy 2nd hand and I'll probably try to do so since decent audio equipment tends to be pricey. Originally I was looking at a simple amp which would drive my speakers, phono in for the record player and some RCA's for other accessories. Then I started looking at some of the media receivers that were offering DACs, DLNA (as well as spotify connectivity) and other media related stuff and I began to confuse myself as to what I really wanted. Now I am wondering what is the better route to go? Just get a media receiver that "does it all", or buy a nice amp and get a decent DAC/DLNA/Spotify capable box to connect to said amp? I see merits in both categories since it will be easier to find a 2nd hand amp for <$300 but the cost of a decent DAC is pretty high, couple that with network access and it's looking expensive. I'm guessing I'd go with the Media Receiver route (as I said, I've been looking at the Onkyo units and they're looking pretty decent but it's impossible to compare models and price points easily) So do any of the more experienced Audiophiles among us have any comment on this? What sort of equipment recommendations would you give? I'm not looking for pure waveform top end sound, just a unit that will give nice, better than average sound quality at a decent price point. Kinda mid range equipment. I liked the look of this unit www.whathifi.com but there's only one place on Pricespy and they were asking $750 for it, a bit rough considering last year the thing was worth 250 pounds, a tad shy of $500 NZD. Nothing on trademe either. Cheers, TEG	The Error Guy (14052)
1354711	2013-10-01 03:31:00	Can't recommend anything, but have a look at WT audio in high street Lower Hutt. Very helpful man	plod (107)
1354712	2013-10-01 06:43:00	I have a Marantz amp, and a Rotel CD player coupled with a pair of awesome Mission M75 speakers. Bought together in 2002 for $2000 best investment I ever made. I also run the Veon TV through it as well as the Raspberry Pi streaming music from my server. I don't use MP3 though as it sounds what it is cheap and crap, I rip my own CD's to .flac	gary67 (56)
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