ᐅ Purchasing a New Stereo Music System – Which Manufacturer to Choose?

My impression is that some audiophiles here, with their well-meaning advice, might be leading you down a path that doesn’t match your actual needs. Just my impression. Maybe it would help if you shared what you have been using for listening to music so far and what you want to replace it with (I think 11ant already asked this). It wouldn’t make sense to push you toward a full “system” with separate speakers if a good, small all-in-one speaker would do the job.

And yes, even a Sonos Play:1 can deliver reasonable sound that can fill a 25m² (270ft²) room. Of course, it won’t match the quality of a $1500 system. But if you neither need that quality nor can tell the difference, you would a) be misled and b) have wasted money.

Just as an example: I used to own nice Canton Ergo 90 speakers with matching individual components. They’re now at my brother-in-law’s place. For metal, punk rock, and grunge, one or two Play:1 units are enough for me. My collection of over 250 CDs still sits on the shelf looking good, but my listening habits have completely changed. I stream from my phone, NAS, or a streaming service (Spotify, Amazon Music), and I listen to radio via TuneIn or Amazon Prime without any issues. For that, I DON’T need a $1000 system that takes up space. Two small, discreet speakers are just as good as a compact stereo system—quite the opposite, actually.

One last note: at least 25 years ago, Yamaha was just one manufacturer among many and not nearly as highly regarded as some might suggest here. That may have changed since then. The top marks in objective tests back then (where else but in labs for fair comparisons) went to Harman/Kardon, Denon, Pioneer, Technics… Yamaha was NOT among the top brands at that time. Of course, that might have changed. For me, this is irrelevant for the reasons mentioned above—other factors have become more important to me than distortion figures and speed consistency [emoji6]. Just sharing this to complete the picture.

For 300 to 400 euros each, you can get good bookshelf speakers (these are speakers about one-third to one-half as tall as floor-standing speakers, but with similar depth and width). Many reputable manufacturers offer options in this range, such as Canton, Nubert, Dali, B&W... Before investing in more expensive speakers, it’s worth preparing your listening room first. That’s where most people stop.

For the same 300 to 400 euros, you can get amplifiers (Yamaha, Harman Kardon, Denon...) that will meet all your needs. More expensive amplifiers are only necessary if the speakers were very, very cheap or if you want extremely high power without distortion (like for a carnival float). However, pricier amplifiers do not produce better sound quality!

So — now you have two options: if you don’t care about the last 10% of quality, order the equipment online and enjoy the music over the holidays. If you want to pay closer attention to your own hearing, take two CDs to a good hi-fi store and have them demonstrate, blindfolded if possible, three, four, or five pairs of speakers within your price range.

Enjoy!

ruppsn schrieb:
My impression is that some audiophiles here with their well-intentioned advice might be leading you down a path that completely misses your requirements.

That is probably true. Until now, we have had a compact stereo system, which wasn’t really all that compact. So, an all-in-one that took up quite a bit of space in the living room with two fairly decent speakers. Upstairs, we have a somewhat better system with separate components, which is going to stay up there. The compact system downstairs is now supposed to be replaced with something modern. Unfortunately, I am so inexperienced that the first salesperson I talk to will probably take advantage of me.
Musically, I have my expectations—but I probably won’t hear the difference between various brands, or only in a direct comparison. In the end, it might depend more on the speakers.
I would already be satisfied if the device performs technically as it should and the buttons don’t fall off after one year or if functions don’t gradually stop working. I have experienced this with small systems from well-known brands.

With the budget, I would invest almost everything in the speakers. Playback can be managed, for example, using an iPod. This allows access to online radios, streaming services, personal media libraries, and so on. CDs can be imported into the media library on a PC or laptop, so you don’t have to keep digging them out and inserting them.

For music playback in my basement, I bought a used iPod Touch (~80€). Along with that, a small amplifier module from East Asia with a DAC (24-bit/192kHz) for under 100€.

I would strongly advise against being persuaded to buy any high-end hi-fi voodoo stuff—expensive cables, and the like. That’s simply nonsense and a waste of money.

daniels87 schrieb:
With the budget, I would put almost everything into the speakers. You can, for example, play music via an iPod.

You’re good. But I don’t have an iPod. 🙂
What I also don’t want is to have to start up or connect a computer every time just to listen to some music. In that case, I might as well keep playing music from the computer. It already annoys me that the TV takes almost 30 seconds to turn on.

You can buy an iPod, of course 🙂
And you don’t actually need a computer, that’s why the iPod is used.
I don’t even touch the iPod; I do everything very nerdy through voice control.