Need suggestion building a home system

[Guest rueyloon]

total nubee here,

 

I would like some help in setting up a home system for the living room, budget, entry level audiophile level will do

 

currently it is for listening to much and watching TV, which I don't do much of anyway.

 

Music would be from my ipod, or maybe the imac.

 

currently I have the govibe magnum, DAC with co axil and optical input and a set of

tivoli system two.

 

that's all

 

how should I go about it ?

[Rameish 0]

Okay since it's an iPod based home audiophile system this is what I would do. Get a Wadia iTransport first (S$650 retail from Absolute sound) you'll need a DAC and a good 75 ohm cable to get the digital source from you iPod to the DAC (the Lite Audio DAC-AH is not bad) or you could use your govibe (I've no idea how the govibe sounds) btw). You'll need an amp the CEC AMP3300 offers 64 watts per channel (available from music by design at adelphi) And Go for either the Vienna Acoustics Bach (floorstanders or the Vinenna Acoustics Hayden bookshelfs). That's what I would do for an iPod based system.

 

Your iPod would need to have music files stored in at least Apple Lossless or better - but as a fellow Mac user I think you already know that ;-).

[[J]-ohn 0]

Perhaps a comfortable budget would help as always. Depending on what DAC you choose, Rameish's suggestion might come close if not more than 4k.

[Rameish 0]

Well...that's the best way to get the most out of your iPod. I'll find out about the price if I am at Adelphi tomorrow. BTW I think speakers and amps should be listened together. Not individually. You could also try Monitor Audio speakers ( a tad bright for my taste) but I'll use a different amp then.

 

An fellow just PM me about what's better than lossless - well AIFF or WAV.

[peanutbutterjam 0]

Perhaps a comfortable budget would help as always. Depending on what DAC you choose, Rameish's suggestion might come close if not more than 4k.

Yeah it won't be cheap this way. But if you're really looking for budget, I won't recommend the iTransport + DAC, instead you might want to consider just using the line out (yeah sucks but this is real budget). Get a cheap used integerated amp, and grab some used bookshelves.

 

High end sound? Definitely not, but certainly listenable. Cheap? Darn cheap.

 

And yeah don't even bother with lossy stuff. You probably could hear the difference even with the above stuff.

Edited March 5, 2009 by peanutbutterjam

[Guest rueyloon]

budget wise I hope hoping to keep it within 1k, but from the looks of it... .

so maybe 2k ? what will I be able to get ?

 

nice pair of speakers

amp

then line in from my ipod of imac.

 

will the govibe be of any use ? as a preamp ?

BTW, why do we need a preamp ?

 

cheers

 

 

[heady 0]

The problem is the word audiophile in your post. Nothing that is audiophile will be cheap. For example, I have a Tivoli system as well and it is not audiophile. Even for background music it aggravates me. But my wife likes it and I will have to live with it.

 

Perhaps a low cost set up maybe a T-amp with some cheaper but still good speakers eg. Usher or Tannoy. I have a DIY T-Amp type amp with Tannoy speakers and it is quite listenable. It's possible to source factory made T-Amps in Singapore but I don't know the cost.

 

Good luck with your search.