Need advice building my first Hifi

with a ipod as a source with mp3 , do not waste all that money

So what sort of equipment would suit a large room with mp3 as the source?

Oh dear, don't wast your money if your gonna be using an iPod as a source, just buy an iPod dock and lump it.

but if you want to get serious look at ripping music onto a pc in high quality format and buying a dac and amp etc....

use wav or flac , not mp3 for storing/ripping music

feed into a dac/amp  then floorstanders

You'll get a more helpful response here:

http://hddaudio.net/viewforum.php?id=3

Just buy a pair of AVI ADM9RS and be done with it!

There's no reason why you can't get good SQ from high-bitrate MP3s or equivalent, even when using an iPod as source.

Dynaudio Xeo 3 + Xeo wireless transmitter + Apple TV (or substitute an Onkyo ND-S1 for the Apple TV if you are not using an iPod Touch or iPhone/iPad device with AirPlay).

Leaves just about enough (out of the £1500) for a pair of speaker stands.

Hi Daniel,

I have a Marantz PM 6004 amp and Marantz na7004 streamer (not Wi-fi) connected via cable through powerline adapter in my living room. I got this last year so you could probably get the streamer for less than £400 now. The Pioneer n50 network streamer seems to have supplanted the Marantz and costs £500. I have a pair of Wharfedale 10.1 speakers.

I have ripped all my Cds to Flac files  on my PC using dBpoweramp and stream from my NAS box Synology DS 212j to the Marantz Streamer in the living room. I also use the Synology DS audio app on my Samsung Phone and tablet to stream the flac files  from the NAS so can listen while in bed. The music files can also  be accessed through my phone and tablet via a wi-fi connection when I'm away from home on holiday or at work for example.  This app also turns  the phone and tablet into a handy remote control for the Marantz streamer in my living room. Better than the Marantz display as they also display CD cover art.Hope some of this helps.David

Thanks everyone, think I'm a bit more informed now.

I know the whole ipod thing is unpopular but ipod and spotify is what most of my friends will use when they come over. I personally would use it for more digital radio and I would love to get into high quality files.

Just be careful with some of the streamers from Marantz, Pioneer et al as they do not support gapless playback.  Some people don't seem to care about this but if you listen to any music where there are seamless gaps between tracks, the gaps won't be seamless any more.  To me, this makes these units completely unacceptable but you will have to decide for yourself.

There's no reason why an iPod can't be a legitimate source. As you mention Spotify I guess it's a Touch ?

As is typical the first few responses you got were what you might expect here. 

Phileas and Chebby have made good suggestions. Also do try hddaudio forum for more positive input. 

My personal choice would be an Apple TV or Airport Express to AVI ADM9, but I would say that  :)

Store lossless files and use a dock with dac to get at the original lossless data before the iPod converts it, this is not a bad place to start surely

Have got rid of my physical docks. Things of the past ?

Anyway, how can you play Angry Birds if the iPod is docked ?

You could look at the Naim UnitiQute. Last years mode is now £999. And get a pair of Kef R100 which I believe you can pick up for as little as £399 if you shop around. That should give you great sound quality even with MP3s and will be future proof for when you do  upgrade to lossless and eventually high-res 24/96 audio.

i have the Qute attached to some old Kef q10s and it sounds brilliant even when streaming Internet radio at 320k.

It's also easy to connect your iPad or iPhone or USB stick. One down side is that it doesn't have a CD player. But you can always attach a DVD player or PS3 to it via co-oxial or optical.

Just add an apple airport express (digital output feeding the Qute) for streaming wirelessly directly from your iphone to the Qute and you have everything you asked for and more.

Only issue I can see is that you said its a large space, and the Qute isnt that powerful. Definitely worth a demo tho 

With that budget I would go for the following:

Apple TV/Airport Express for streaming from iphone/ipod touch/PC    £67.99

Audiolab Mdac as Dac and Preamp                                                    £519.98 (including postage)

Cyrus X power as  stereo power amp                                               £500 or thereabouts (cant find one now but thats how much I paid)

Q acoustics 2050i                                                                           £359.95

                                                                                        Total:    £1,447.92

Plus I think it would sound pretty good too.