[Ch@pS]

So here's the deal. I switch the AMP on, the LCD shows everything is working fine, 3 seconds later you see a small short on the one PCB through the ventalation fins, AMP turns off and standby light flashes.

That's the problem I faced after having the NAD work perfectly for 2 weeks.

I decided let me clean the area that's shorting with a paint brush, worth a shot right?

After cleaning there is no longer any short, but the AMP still has the same issue. Turn on, flash, turn off. After repeating this 4 times, I stick my face close to the AMP to see if there is a short further down the PCB. Turn it on and BOOM! A huge short right in my face, smoke and alles.

After this I decide screw it, don't have time for this anymore. SO I close up the AMP casing. Now the holes for the screws aren't lining up properly, so in my frustration I moer the damn thing with the back of a screw driver. The AMP turns on, and starts working...

What. The. Fook??????

It's now back in my lounge working as well as it ever did.

Ok, LOL is over, time for the advice bit.

At the moment I'm running a set of 5 TLS reference speakers off the AMP (my dad bought them ages ago at a closing down sale for next to nothing) with a TLS active powered sub. As you can imagine I want to upgrade.

So what are my options? I can manage around R4000 for a decent pair of stereo speakers, but cheaper the better. Also what second hand speakers should I be looking at? And any shops in JHB that sell decent second hand audio?

The system will be used for music 60% of the time, movies 30% of the time and general TV(sports and the like) 10% of the time.

[RegBes]

I have found this to be the best place for second hand audio equipment.

http://www.avsa.co.z...fieds/available
at the top there is a link for some good audio stores that sell second hand and demo equipment.

also try

http://www.avforums....x.php?board=3.0

If you look around you may find a pair of "B&W DM603 S3" for a good price, they would be a great fit for the NAD you have.

This post has been edited by RegBes: 09 February 2010 - 02:21 PM

[naughty]

both those links have some nice bargains

about the B&W DM603 S3's i reckon you would be better off saving up a bit more cash and getting the newer 685 or something like that .... the difference in performance would make it worthwhile waiting a bit to be able to afford the newer speakers - good hi-fi speakers nowadays are not cheap but you can pick up some second hand bargains

if you dont worry about brand name then you can also get some items that give you excellent performance at a low price

too bad you are not in Durban cos i could have got you some good stuff here at bargain prices - unfortunately i dont have a clue as to who you can see in Gauteng

[Ch@pS]

Thanks for the advice guys.

@ RegBes - had a quick look at those links, seems I need to do some reading. Thanks

@ Naughty - Brand name isn't important to me, You could call it anal warts and I'd still buy it as long as it sounds good. I'm probably going down to Durban in March, so if it means getting good deals I'm sure picking up speakers wont be too much of a problem. Provided they'll fit into my Ka. :/ If I were in Durban and were to ask you (in a very nice way ) to get me some good deals, what would you suggest for a budget of around R2000 - R2500(finances hit a pot hole today )?

Bear in mind I listen to classic rock more often than not, have a liking for great quality base(loudness isn't really a factor) and will be in a room that's 3m x 3m(my pc room).

[naughty]

Ch( at )pS, on 09 February 2010 - 05:33 PM, said:

Thanks for the advice guys.

@ RegBes - had a quick look at those links, seems I need to do some reading. Thanks

@ Naughty - Brand name isn't important to me, You could call it anal warts and I'd still buy it as long as it sounds good. I'm probably going down to Durban in March, so if it means getting good deals I'm sure picking up speakers wont be too much of a problem. Provided they'll fit into my Ka. :/ If I were in Durban and were to ask you (in a very nice way ) to get me some good deals, what would you suggest for a budget of around R2000 - R2500(finances hit a pot hole today )?

Bear in mind I listen to classic rock more often than not, have a liking for great quality base(loudness isn't really a factor) and will be in a room that's 3m x 3m(my pc room).

at that budget you might be able to get a pair of decent floorstanders secondhand maybe something like mission or maybe even something like Acoustic Research second hand - those do perform well for their price (im using a set) and if you still had your original budget of R4k you could have maybe got a full 5.1 set including a subwoofer - the full set may just be a problem to fit into your car though if you have other luggage

when you come down how long are you going to be around for? cos i could show you a few speakers that you could listen to and decide upon if you have the time - the thing is though floorstanders may be cheeky in a room the size you have cos my bedroom is about that big and im using bookshelves in that for the PC that are on wallmounts



so im sure we could find you a high quality bookshelf speaker that plays a bit better bass than the ones ive got (high quality not high quantity)

[naughty]

hey - small update if you are interested one of my friends has a set of speakers for sale - the set comprises of 5 speakers - you get a pair of floorstanders for the front and a pair of bookshelfs at the rear including the stands (those stands cost him R1500 for the set when he bought them) and the set also includes the centre channel speaker

all you need to do is add a sub and you have a set of really topnotch surround speakers

heres a pic of the set



the guy wants R4k for the set - i would have taken these from him cos they are a steal at that price and mission is definitely a brand that punches way above its weight - but i have too much audio equipment lying around as it is - this guy looks after his stuff and these are in excellent condition - lemme know if you are interested - they are available but he does have them up for sale in the classifieds at lots of forums

remember that you could normally expect to pay around R8k to R10k for a set of a similar calibre .... brand new and also around R1500 for the stands

[Ch@pS]

Thanks for the updates Naughty.

Unfortunately my budget remains at R2000, loads of things on my plate right now. I was reading your thread with the JVC speakers you bought and can't help but wondering, after buying so many boxes you sure you don't have a set or two lying around somewhere?

That set of missions looks very nice indeed, what models are they? I wish I could afford them right now but I'll be out of things for at least a month. With the R2000 budget I have now I'm just keen on getting a set of bookshelfs and running them as a stereo setup, I've got some old panasonic satellites that will make do for the centre and rear channels until I can afford a properly good set.

Anything you would suggest? And any super bargain deals like those JVC's you got floating around?

[SLR]

Hi,

I can arrange a set of Polk Audio TSi 100s for R2500 for you. Brand new in box and I am in Gauteng.

[Ch@pS]

Let me do some reading on them(Naughty's advice appreciated) and I'll get back to you, will PM you once I've got enough info.

Thanks

[naughty]

to be honest i cannot say a single bad word about Polk - they are a respected High fidelity brand and i would be happy to use those .... moreso after reading the following review

http://hometheaterre...akers-reviewed/

it seems like they can be biwired/bi-amped as well and it also seems a decent price despite it only being $200 in the states - remember we have to have those shipped here so that costs a bit as does import duties and also VAT and then shipping and handling as well as dealer profit margins - so its not as pricey as some other brands of speakers

the cons of those speakers as per the review linked above are very similar to the JVC's that im using right now ie those also need to be near the back wall and those also dont have huge bass extension so will need to be paired with a decent subwoofer to get the lower frequencies to play (not necessarily to thump)

so the polks are as good as anything else i could organise at that price - only thing is you might be needing a set of speaker stands with bookshelf speakers but if they need to be close to a wall then they might even work well with a pair of wall mounts or they might even work on the top of a typical desk - depends how you plan on using them

the fact that the reviewer says that they sound like a typical British bookshelf speaker is a huge compliment cos the British do make the best budget components that can possibly rival high end equipment so if the reviewer says things like that then its a sure sign that they are pretty decent speakers

This post has been edited by naughty: 19 February 2010 - 07:39 PM

[SLR]

BTW, naughty - its RS4. Someone else has already registered 'RS4' here.

The Polks are nice, they come in that glossy black finish. IMHO, for its price its a damm nice set!

This post has been edited by SLR: 20 February 2010 - 12:33 AM

[naughty]

SLR, on 20 February 2010 - 12:31 AM, said:

BTW, naughty - its RS4. Someone else has already registered 'RS4' here.

The Polks are nice, they come in that glossy black finish. IMHO, for its price its a damm nice set!

oh okay - good to see you on here

[SLR]

Thanks Naughty

[Ch@pS]

Update:

Ok so I got caught up over the last few weeks and pushed back audio till now. After a whole bunch of reading and some advice from the guys over at avforums I've manage to buy myself a set of Wharfdale Diamond Series 10.1s...

And all I can say is they live up to their hype. I've only read good things about these and after setting them up I'm really glad I listened to the advice given to me.

Paid R1299 at Hifi Corp and worth every cent. I can't say it better than this.

Along with these I got Denon overture Series 100's for the centre and rear, next to no bass but crystal clear providing ample sound for the full surround effect. I only use the Wharfies in Stereo for music, but when it comes to games and the occasional movie the Denon's do their job well. Paid R400 for them second hand at a cash converters.

Will post pics of my setup as soon as I can.

[naughty]

Ch( at )pS, on 11 April 2010 - 06:53 PM, said:

Update:

Ok so I got caught up over the last few weeks and pushed back audio till now. After a whole bunch of reading and some advice from the guys over at avforums I've manage to buy myself a set of Wharfdale Diamond Series 10.1s...

And all I can say is they live up to their hype. I've only read good things about these and after setting them up I'm really glad I listened to the advice given to me.

Paid R1299 at Hifi Corp and worth every cent. I can't say it better than this.

Along with these I got Denon overture Series 100's for the centre and rear, next to no bass but crystal clear providing ample sound for the full surround effect. I only use the Wharfies in Stereo for music, but when it comes to games and the occasional movie the Denon's do their job well. Paid R400 for them second hand at a cash converters.

Will post pics of my setup as soon as I can.

good to hear that you are sorted - that might land up being a good budget setup

if those denon's dont play a lot of bass - you could always add an active subwoofer for LFE (Low Frequency Effects) at a later stage - remember that the subwoofer doesnt necessarily need to be setup to play boomy bass - you could configure it to shore up the lower frequencies

hope you enjoy the setup - and please do post the pics - i am curious to see those denon speakers

[Ch@pS]

Thanks for the reply Naughty.

I've found next to nothing on these Denon speakers via google, maybe(probably) I'm doing it wrong. I figured i'd risk the R400 and see if they're good, if not they can always replace my systers cheap Sansui crap.

The Denon Rears:



The setup, I sit about 1.2m away from the screen, the Wharfies either side of the Denon centre under my screen, T741 to the right:



The entire setup is just a temp solution until I move later this year.