UKC

I'm about to move into a new flat, a smallish two bed.

I'm after a sound system, primarily for music in the lounge and to link in to the tv but something I could expand upon over time would be better, would ideally like speakers in all rooms eventually.

Anyone have any recommendations? Something around the £300 mark at first but again with additional speakers that can be placed in other rooms.

Is wifi the way forward? wired?

I would prefer quality of sound over ease of use and all my music would be CD or DAB radio, dont need phone connections or usb.

Thanks all

In reply to cfer:

A trip to Richer sounds is indicated

In reply to cfer:

Yeah I thought as much, just didnt want to go in blind as it were and find personal recommendations very helpful

In reply to cfer:

within the products they sell, the advice I've had from RS has been very helpful, but I have a relatively old fashioned system of wired separates, including Cambridge Audio DAB tuner and CD player from them - great stuff at a relatively low price.

In reply to cfer:

I don't mean to state the obvious, I've got no idea how much you know about audio kit. The thing to consider with audio is that one of the main factors in both cost and quality is the amplifier. The signal from the amplifier (unlike ethernet cables, wifi, bluetooth, USB or virtually anything else you encounter in your daily life) is not just transmitting the audio data, it's actually physically driving the speakers, hence the need for the amplifier. The more speakers you drive off one amp, the more power you need, most home amps only support 4 speakers, so you could potentially do two rooms with that with wires running through the walls or some such.

Modern multi-room wireless systems necessarily have an amp in every unit. You may think of them as 'wireless speakers' but they are really wireless amplifier and speakers in a single box. If an easy, scalable, moveable (i.e. when you move house) multi-room system is what you want then it's hard to beat this, but if sound quality id what you want, splitting your money across lots of little amps is unlikely to give the best result.

I had the same choice and went with a traditional amp and speaker set up in one room (amp is a Denon PMA-720 - bought on ofer for £100) and speakers are Celestion floor standers (about £70 off ebay). Sound quality is ace and you'd struggle to get wireless in even two rooms for that price.

In reply to cfer:

If you want to link it to the TV, you might as well get a 5.1 system and use hdmi from tv and or digital outs from dvd/ blueray. Most of these come with wifi/ ethernet so you can can link it to your broadband for spotify etc. Many also come with bluetooth so you can play music from your phone or use your phone as a remote. (Yes, I know you said you don't need phone connections).

Having something that spans multiple rooms, could either be done with a stereo amp, with A/B speaker button (allowing you to select which set of speakers to direct the sound through.) Or, simply get a bluetooth stand alone system at a later date. Stream music from your phone to that if you are in that room.

Quality of sound is such a subjective thing, that only you know what it means. But, pay more attention to speaker placement, than oxygen free solid gold monster cables. Good cables are important. Speaker placement, is more so.

In reply to cfer:

Read the online reviews at what hifi, this will give u an idea b4 going to richer sounds.

In reply to cfer:

denon midi if you want something traditional and wired but will be limited to stereo in one room.
Sonos or something similar if you want wirles and limitles expansion and flexabilty