Beginner need suggestion on home stereo setup

I think you have been given good advice.....especially about leaving it till you know the room it's going in.

For your taste in music, my preference would be:

Rega Dac + M3i + Dynaudio / Rega / Kef R series / Spendor / Sonus Faber / Epos - though you should hear as much equipment as you can.

Yes! If you want some inspiration, this is how I started: http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/new-amplifier-my-long-journey

Hello BigH,

Thank you for your feedback

I'll definitely go for few more demos, especially for the x12 that i'm quite interested with it's performance. Althought i've heard some reviews saying the RX2 is a bit more bright but i'll definitely check that out as well. I've seen a lot good reviews on the rega DAC and brio R amp as well, i might get a chance to have a listen as well. As for the cables, i've seen a lot possitive reviews on the Chord and Audioquest, but i'm not sure which one suitable for my current setup yet, as i haven't study much about cables yet. Definitely no sub at this stage Not sure how it sounds like when using the system for cinema as i haven't try that yet lol.

Happy New Year everyone !!!

Hi CnoEvil,

Thank you. I'm actually mix and match based on the informations and online readings that i've found. So i'm not confidences with my shortlist will get a good synergy or not lol. 

I'm suppose to have an audition with the x12 today as promissed by one of the local store that they will have the speakers and run in ready either today and tomorrow. Unfortunately i rang them this morning and they said they didn't get any x12 in and the staff that i spoke with was on holiday. So not sure what's gonna be happen so i'll just have to wait till they're ready or maybe seek for a different showroom have the items that i need.

Cheers

Hi acalaex, thanks for the post link sharing. I'll definitely go through your diary ! really appreciate.

Yes...you will notice that at the beginning I was so much like you...read so much stuff online that I was almost sure to know what I wanted (which is completely different from what I bought in the end btw). Then, once, I started to go out and listening to whatver kit was in my price range and started to enjoy a lot the process. Also because you learn listening in a critical way and all the buzz words you read will start making sense. 

Then a day will come when you hear the perfect combo for you...the kind of sound/presentation you love and can't stop listening to. 

From this moment on I listened to so much different equipment...but in the end I bought exactly that combo. The all process I went through was absolutely needed as it allowed to mature a personal critical opinion on what is out there!

Hello acalex,

Thank you for the link and i've read half of your thread that you show me. It was a very interesting journey that you had and i've also found that we share the same similarity in many ways of thought as well lol.

I'm really glad that you have found a great dealer and i just realised that my experiences with dealers that i met in the past wasn't very pleasant. They declined (indirectly) to listen to me on what i'm pursuiting and ask for my budget straight away and introduce me a system and keep telling me how great they were.

I've experienced with a dealer repeating telling me that he had more than 30 years experiences in this field and he introduced me the KEF 3005SE satellite speakers and he proposed no customer complaint with their quality. He asked for my opinion after play a few minutes transformer movie and not even half track song and i reply him humbly and say it's not what i really want and the next second he looks so angry and expressed that he couldn't help me and turn away lol. 

Another dealer that i've met when i try to ask him about other speakers he replied me and said "thats too expensive for you and out of your budget" lol.

I really never thought such a great dealer that you've met would exist and i didn't even realise i wasn't being  treated sincerely until i've read your pleasant experiences lol. So i always though how would you guys be able to do "listen as much as you can" cause my past experiences told me that dealers want you to be ready and have as little audition as possible, pay for the items and walk out of the stores, come back only if you want to buy something more... lol. To be honest, i'm not sure if i would had the chance to met someone who would be happy to introduce me more on different systems, listen a bit of my story (i'm sure won't be long lol), show me and happily allow me to listen. Cause all my shortlist was the homework that i done based on internet research and mags lol, which could be far from what i like or the combination could be wrong and many other factors could be possible as well.

And i'm jealous your discussion with Cno as well lol. So peaceful and info sharing... unlike many thread that i've found having a war for speakers comparison lol. 

Thank you again for what you've shared. I'm really appreciate for what you've done. I'm also glad that i'm not alone with the conservative thoughts lol.

Cheers

I'm here to help if I can....though I do tend to go on a bit.

I usually prefer the less trodden path, and like to encourage people to go and listen to a whole variety of equipment before coming to a decision. Alex and Roby were kind enough to humour me, and so try out some of my suggestions.

There is a wealth of experience on here, and it's just a matter of latching onto people who have a similar taste and outlook.

I am glad you are enjoying the diary as I enjoyed a lot writing it .

I actually also enjoyed a lot the process of discovering...and it was a long one but every single experience added something more to my knowledge and made me feel much more confident when walking to the next demo. 

The dealer is indeed very important and I spent quite a lot of time looking for the perfect shop! It is probably not mentioned in the thread but I visited ALL the hifi shops of Brussels and the near cities before meeting Francis in Antwerp which is, by the way, a 60km drive from where I live. 

He was the only one who offered the service I was looking for...and in the end we developed a nice friendship along a business relationship (I stopped to eat at his place with his family once and also he came a couple of times to my place for some wine, limoncello and homemade tiramisu ). 

So keep looking for the place where you can feel at home once walking in and you can spend hours talking, listening and enjoying. I have driven up to 180km to have a demo once (in another country) as I couldn't find the brand I was looking for in Belgium (Pathos amplifiers) and it was a nice but different experience. 

If you are not that far you could also fly here and I will take you for a music tour (Cno promised he will come this year  )

All the available suggestions

That is why your house is full of hi-fi, and your bank account is empty of money!  

True and false  

You haven't bought your cables yet! 

I'm over here in Oz as well. One of the things that I have taken from reading Alex's thread and a few others is the difference in dealers attitudes over here. I guess that we are a much smaller market & distributors jealously guard their teritories. But honestly the service over here is shocking at times.

& that's before we even start discussing the ridiculous margins that they work with. Different over here, we can't drive over the border to get a better deal.

I would recommend doing all your demoing but at the same time thoroughly research your pricing from overseas sellers. You might find that you are able to step up in the range, for example m3i to m6i, for the same or very similar money.

When I started an upgrade last year I was looking at the Focal Electra 1008be standmounts, but by importing from a dealer in France I ended up with a pair of Focal Diablos. It did push the budget, but they were around 35% cheaper even with inport duties.

I did the same comparison with my amp, but the % difference wasn't enough to warrant the import. I felt that importing speakers was less risky than an electronic device like an amp. Which turned out to be a blessing, but thats another story.

My rule of thumb was if I could negotiate the dealer down to 10 to 15% of the imported cost I would go with them. More than this & you really have to consider going overseas. At the very least you will enter any negotiation with them knowing what is a competitive price.

So thats not to say that there are not good dealers out here, there most definitley are. But know your pricing, be patient, be aggresive in your negotiations. You are the customer, they're not doing you a favour by letting you into their shop!

Good luck, look forward to hearing how you go.

True...and maybe some BR will suddendly show up some time soon