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I gained my interest in hi-fi due to growing up listening to high-end equipment. Hence when my brother moved out and took his system with him I started down the slippery road of hi-fi purchases :-). My first system consisted of a Rega Planar 2 turntable, creek amp, a cassette deck ands some mission speakers. A few upgrades later my system is now based around a Linn Axis and Arcam Alpha 5 plus. I'm often asked questions about what systems people should buy or other hi-fi related queries. This page is intended for people who are interested in buying their first system rather than dedicated audiophiles and as such only contains very basic information. I would thoroughly recommend the Rega Planar 2 or 3 for anyone interested in buying a budget turntable and the Linn LP12 Sondek for people with a bigger budget. If you are considering a CD player listen to the Arcam range and those produced by Naim. I have consistently preferred these in recent years to other similar players.
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Hi-fi
The faithful reproduction of a master recording.
Hi-fi System
A system which attempts to achieve the goal of hi-fi.
Mono
The reproduction of sound through a single channel. Mono recordings may be hi-fi.
Stereo
The reproduction of sound through two different channels. Stereo recordings may not be hi-fi.
Buying a system:
When buying hi-fi systems always consider the system hierarchy. The old computer adage of Garbage In, Garbage Out (GIGO) applies. If the media or recording you play on your system is of poor quality then the sounds reproduced will be of poor quality. There is only one way to determine if a system is any good - listen. Everyone has there preferences and biases, if something sounds better to you, it is. However a good guideline is that simple is often best. The more gadgets on a piece of equipment the less money was spent on developing the hi-fi parts.
The first thing to consider is what is your budget for a system as this will ultimately determine what you can get. Next consider is what is going to be your primary source, a source being CD, LP, cassette, radio etc. This is where you should spend the largest amount of your budget as this is what will retrieve the information from your media. After this work down from the source considering all components associated with it i.e. for a record deck consider the arm and then the cartridge, for a CD player you may wish to consider a DAC. Work your way down the system hierarchy distributing the funds from your budget proportionally from the amp down to the leads.
Question
How powerful does my amplifier have to be?
Answer
This depends on the speaker's efficiency but as long as your amplifier is powerful enough to drive your speakers this is irrelevant. Most amps are rated between 20W and 100W and these will drive the majority of loud speakers. Match your amp to your speakers.
Question
How do I get good bass?
Answer
Firstly good bass is not the same as heavy bass. The instrument producing the bass must be recognisable.
If the floor rumbles when someone is playing a flute then you are probably not getting real bass.
Question
How big should my speakers be?
Answer
Generally the size of the speaker is important and for good bass bigger is generally better, but small can be very good.
Question
Do I need a graphic equaliser?
Answer
No. These go against the basic aims of hi-fi by altering reproduction of the recordings. Graphic Equalisers used in recording studios are expensive precision-engineered pieces of equipment unlike those found in domestic systems.
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