home stereo audio system, advice

[avhelpindeed]

Hey guys,

I'm in the market for a new sound system, and we're talking something separate from the tv and video components, that will simply be used for music on a different floor. We need to be able to play CDs and connect the ipod in a user friendly fashion.
I've looked at mini-shelf systems but have no been able to find one I can feel confident about in terms of sound and built quality.

Originally we wanted to go wireless to avoid the hassle of wires and have the freedom to place the speakers whereever we wanted, but we ran into several problems.

#1 we have not been able to find a wireless mini portable system with seperate speakers such as the http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...52921665518556 that has a cd player

#2 the griffin evolve http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/evolve looks great but the batteries in the speakers are not replaceable and like all batteries must die after some time and it also doesn't have a cd player

it seems then that we need to go full system with a receiver, a cd player, and an ipod dock, and get some good speakers. So i need some advice for those components

#1 can you recommend a good stereo receiver
#2 a good cd or dvd player (we wouldn't be using it for dvds but it seems that cd players are being phased out since dvd players play cds)
#3 a good set of speakers for 2.0 system that are not large and don't take up much space, wireless would be great but we kind of dropped that option now because we didn't anything worth that's wireless

All advice from the audio brains out there is greatly appreciated.

[avhelpindeed]

The budget is 300-400, apologies for not posting that previously. Any other info that you may need let me know.

[jairus]

I would suggest an NAD C-175 (wich is an upgrade to their classic L40 which was very popular - I owned one and loved it).
Keep checking audioadvisor.com for open box, demo units ($300-$350:
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NAC715
And I would also recomend a pair of Athena LS 100 speakers:
http://www.amazon.com/Athena-LS-100B.../dp/B000JE556G
audio advisor was selling them at $100 a pair and nopw they are out. There are good chances that you will find a pair of these in mint condition for $100 shipped.
I own both an NAD receiver and Athena speakers and I can vouch for the quality of the combination of both brands and that they seem to work well together.
Hope this helps.

P.S. I'm in no way associated with Audio Advisor, I just happen to live 45 mins away from their warehouse and I've been happy with my purchases from them.

[avhelpindeed]

Thanks for your response man, i felt pretty alone in this thread. I like the NAD system, expensive but seems good quality. I haven't seen any 'competitor models' i.e. good receivers w/ an integrated cd player. All there is pretty much at best buy are receivers, dvd/cd players, and a few cd only players. no units combined that are worth it apart from the all in one bookshelf system units which aren't worth it.

question: what do you think of the audioengine a5 powered speakers? Do you think i can hook up a cd player system to them without the need of a receiver? They have some aux inputs. http://www.audioengineusa.com/a5_home.php


I wish i could go to a store and try those speakers you mentioned out, but around here we're stuck with what best buy offers. Two stores in the city (NY) are worth it, J&R and B&H but i live in central jersey so its not too close.

[avhelpindeed]

by the way, best buy has a few polk audios speaker pairs which look good. What do you think of polk audio? Here are the speakers

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1207956903826
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1207956903759

best buy also has a polk audio t15 model in store for 100 bucks (pair) and a klipsch VB-15 pair for 300 bucks, both models in store.

Sony also makes a SS-B3000 model for about 100 bucks but is sold out at best buy.

WHich one of these would you recommend?

[avhelpindeed]

So I got the Energy C-200 speakers (audioadvisor.com) and the TEAC cr-h227i receiver/cd player (electronicsexpo.com). I have them connected with monster xp cable

Label: NW . Compact Precision Stranded High Resolution Speaker Cable with Magnetic Flux Tube and LPE Dielectric
- I’m not sure what gauge they are though, the diameter of the copper is about 2mm, so the SA is 3.14 mm2

Should I get better cable?

Also, I would like to know which connection method you recommend. I was thinking banaplugs adapters to easily plug them in the back of the receiver and speakers. At the moment they are hooked up with bare wire. The connectors on both the receiver and the speakers are 5 way binding post.

Also, do you both with bi-amplification or bi-wire? My speakers can do that although my receiver has only two channels each with 1 positive and 1 negative output.