Second Hand Hifi Systems & Separates | Second Hand Electrical Appliances

It might be tempting to buy an all-in-one hi-fi system, plug it in and call it a day (it's the easy way to do it, after all) - but you may actually be paying too much for the convenience of an all-in-one system, either financially or in terms of sound quality. Let's take a closer look at some of the ways you can set yourself up with a good hi-fi, starting with buying elements of it separately.

Why Choose Separates?
A home theatre system consists of several components and not every manufacturer is a market leader in each of the components. Sounds confusing? For example, Toshiba is a highly respected manufacturer of DVD players. You may then want to buy DVD player made by Toshiba - but would you buy your speakers from the same company? The answer has to be no, simply because they don't manufacture speakers!

Another reason for choosing to buy separates, is that if you buy an all-in-one home theatre system, after a couple of years you might feel that the amplifier is still functioning well but the speakers have become a little jaded. You would like to hold on to the amplifier but yearn for a replacement for the speakers. Unfortunately you can't do anything about it. With separates though, you can upgrade your system at your own pace and budget.

Suppose you need a system which is equally great while playing DVDs as it is when dealing with CDs. Perhaps you would like your DVD player to do the recording for you too and of course the speakers should produce a sound which is extremely crisp across the frequency range. All this is not unreasonable to ask from your system, but it is extremely difficult, perhaps impossible, to find an all-in-one system to measure up to all these demands. So, the only option you have is to go for separates. These can be readily selected based upon online reviews and of course constrained by your budget. There is no real upper limit to the amount you can spend on hi-fi and home cinema!

So, it is generally advisable for a connoisseur to choose separates instead of buying a compact hi-fi or home theatre system from one manufacturer. By carefully mixing and matching the best features from every manufacturer an aficionado gets what he/she wants and ends up with something truly tailor-made. That said, as you can see from the system setup information below, it is important that you select equipment which has inputs and outputs of compatible types to ensure that you can connect it all together.

Setting up the System
Once you have purchased all of your components, the first thing you should do is to make sure all the units are switched off and disconnect everything from the mains. The first connection that needs to be made is between the compact disc or DVD player and the amplifier. Ensure that this connection uses good quality RCA cables or, if the system supports it, perhaps an optical connection. In fact, you should spend roughly 10% of the entire budget on quality cables to get the most out of your system.

The next connection to be made is between the amplifier and the main left and right speakers (which may be the only speakers if you are simply setting up a hi-fi system rather than a home theatre system). Be doubly sure that the positive terminal of the amplifier is connected to the positive terminal of the speakers and the negative to the negatives. Any mistakes in this area may potentially damage your amplifier and will also result in poor bass reproduction from the speakers. If your speakers can be bi-wired (a separate speaker cable for different sets of drivers within the speaker found on high-end systems) for better performance, apply the same care to both connections.

An amplifier needs to be connected to an input source. A standard amplifier can be connected to numerous input sources. The most popular input sources are tuners, turntables, CD players, DVD players / recorders and digital TV boxes.

If you are planning to set up a home cinema system, two additional components that need to be managed are a DVD player and the TV screen. Connect the DVD player to the TV through the best possible connection. This may be HDMI if both units are HD (high definition) or perhaps via component (red, green and blue RCA connectors) or maybe a good quality SCART lead. Another connection option is S-Video which is found on many DVD players. These will give similar picture quality to a Scart lead.

You should then connect the DVD player to the amplifier. You should ideally use a digital lead (either coaxial or optical, as there is relatively little difference in performance) to connect these two devices if you want to enjoy DTS surround sound and if your home theatre amplifier supports it. Otherwise there may be separate 5:1 or 7:1 channel RCA connections between the two. For a home cinema system, you will also need to connect the centre and effects (left and right rear and possibly others if using a 7:1 system) speakers to the amplifier. In addition, you will need to connect the subwoofer (the large unit used to reproduce deep base in home cinema systems). If you have a passive subwoofer connect it just like any other speaker but if you have an active subwoofer (with a built-in amplifier), it will usually require a single phono lead to connect it to the amplifier's subwoofer output.

The final step is to connect any other devices including a tuner or set top box to the system. Many digital set top boxes / satellite boxes will have good quality optical connection options for surround sound and perhaps component video or SCART for video to the TV screen. Some may even be HD boxes with an HDMI output.

Configuring Your System
Each component's setup and requirements will vary. Components will come with their own manual (and if buying second hand it is essential that you make sure the manual is included although there are now a number of excellent online resources from which you can download manuals as needed - but not all!) Most modern manuals will have a 'quick start' section which details the connections the item requires and focuses on the basic settings. An explanation of the more advanced settings can generally be found in the main body of the manual.

TV Screen Setup Hints
In addition to the setup process defined in the manual, consider toning down the colours so that you get a natural image. If there are any picture sharpness options, switch them off. Contrast should not be set at more than 25% and brightness should not generally need to exceed 50%. If you're using a wide screen TV and widescreen input source (most modern DVDs are widescreen), set the aspect ratio to 16:9.

DVD Setup
Again, adjust the aspect ratio to 16:9 if this is an option and, in most cases you will need to set the audio output to bit stream. This allows digital multi channel information to be sent to the amplifier via the digital cable for decoding into surround sound.

Amplifier and Speaker Setup
Choose the correct speaker size both physically to suit the room and in power handling terms (be sure that measurements are in Watts RMS as there are a number of ways in which power handling can be measured). In a home cinema system, you may need to set the proper delay time for each speaker. This ensures that effects reach you at the right time based upon your regular seating position. In an ideal world, this will be achieved by properly positioning the speakers but where room layout constraints prevail, some systems will allow you add a delay to a channel to emulate the correct position. Many modern home cinema amplifiers will provide some test facilities to assist in this process and there are many excellent and detailed online guides to home cinema setup. If you are setting up a stereo hi-fi system, make sure that the speakers are located away from the wall, if they are of the floor standing type and ideally 1 to 1.5 metres away from any corner to prevent resonance. They should also be at least a couple of metres apart to give reasonable stereo separation.

Conclusion
All-in-one hi-fi systems and home theatre systems may be convenient but will almost certainly involve you compromising on some aspects of your ideal set up. That said, they greatly reduce the complexity of the setup process which, as you can see from the above, is quite significant. Buying separates ensures that you get the best possible performance from each component; you will have a tailor-made system that you can update, as your budget allows, taking advantage of any improvements in technology at a later date. Buying an all-in-one system offers relatively simple installation and guaranteed compatibility between all components. The choice is ultimately yours!

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05 March 2010

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LOUDSPEAKER STANDS with Double Column Design - hea..

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