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

Evolith schrieb:
and then maybe hide a box in the corner of the room on the right side.
Do they still run entirely on cables nowadays, or is good quality wireless also possible?

In my opinion, wireless only works for synthesizer crap, and a stereo triangle should always be isosceles. But academically, this question can’t really be answered without knowing what is actually going to be listened to. Mozart or Stockhausen, Ian Dury or Celine Dion – either you can focus your aim precisely, or you need to cover the entire range. In the latter case, that stuff costs six figures (unless it’s just meant for background music).

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11ant schrieb:
In my opinion, you can only listen to synthesizer crap wirelessly, and a stereo triangle should always be isosceles. ...

As someone with expertise in music, I would say: that might still be the dream of many in the industry. Enjoying music without distractions, etc. But the reality is different. Stereo effects and such usually don’t matter. Nowadays, music is often enjoyed from a single speaker on a shelf. And of course, that is digitally encoded and decoded. This no longer has anything to do with hi-fi, but overall it still sounds better than 90% of the noisy recordings from the analog era ;-)

There are people who always have the TV on. They don’t actually watch it. Others enter a room and turn on the radio. Or in the car, it’s just on. Without any reason. They can’t stand silence anymore.
But that’s neither truly hearing nor watching. Then, any Bluetooth speaker on the shelf is enough.
Hearing is when I consciously sit down at home at 5:15, take the Cranberries, *Bury the Hatchet*, and listen. Sometimes I join in. Sometimes I dance along. Until she comes and interrupts me with a flood of words.
Karsten

jansens schrieb:
Nowadays, music is also enjoyed from a single speaker on a shelf.

I've heard of that too. But the question here is about a stereo music system, not just computer speakers with an integrated USB plug for the playback device.

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I have had two small DIY monitors for about 10 years now. In the meantime, I had various other speakers around, including two large floor-standing speakers. But I have grown to love this absolute neutrality. Any "effect speaker" like Bose or Sonos just sounds terrible and annoying in comparison.

Purchasing something genuinely good is unfortunately very expensive.

What are you actually imagining? Smaller speakers or large, bulky floor-standing ones? How important is the appearance? What is your budget?

daniels87 schrieb:
In the meantime, I had all sorts of equipment lying around, including two large floor-standing speakers.

The enclosure type is secondary in the sense that floor-standing speakers don’t inherently offer advantages—the tuning and quality of components make a big difference. My days in the audiophile scene were about thirty years ago; back then, Teufel and Dynaudio had good reputations in the affordable segment, also JBL and Magnat, though not for every genre, and with more money you’d go for Canton, Quadral, and with even more for Infinity or Piega. The bass-reflex crowd at that time favored Hans Deutsch or Bowers & Wilkins.

My personal experience is that a powerful amplifier can “train” a speaker pretty well, at least regarding general resonance behavior, while partial resonances are almost only addressed by honeycomb diaphragms. With a “power transformer” amplifier from Harman/Kardon, I could afford to settle for speakers costing around 100 Deutsche Mark per pair. Similarly recommended were Onkyo amplifiers, and with a bit more money, Luxman (where the threshold to separate pre- and power amplifiers began).

Subwoofers were already a topic then, surround sound was just emerging. For a complete hi-fi system with integrated amplifier, CD and turntable, tape deck, tuner, and speakers, the threshold was around ten thousand Deutsche Mark, above which normal listeners noticed no quality improvement. The system was suitable for a wide range, from classical to Z-Wave or metal. Such a setup was worth it for something like the Queen of the Night aria—but for the Kufsteinlied, it would have been pearls before swine.

The tape deck needs servicing (it became slightly warped after several years of infrequent use), and the tuner is still from the era of terrestrial analog broadcasting. Otherwise, the quality pays off in that the gear is still quite up to date—except for the then-unforeseen advent of USB and MP3.

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