Compact stereo system advice

[Larry Kart]

I have a perfectly fine system of individual components in the basement, but my wife (and me too) would like a decent sounding compact system for the living room/dining room area (all one room really) to replace the crappy Bose unit we have by default. Any thoughts/recommendations? It's a subject I've never explored before. I assume it would involve a CD player/amp combo of some sort, plus separate speakers.

[Teasing the Korean]

Consider some B&W shelf speakers as part of your setup.  They are small, wall-mountable, and they sound great.

[Larry Kart]

My basement floor-standing speakers are B&W 850s. Love them.

[Teasing the Korean]

21 minutes ago, Larry Kart said:

My basement floor-standing speakers are B&W 850s. Love them.

So that's one third of the issue solved.  

[Larry Kart]

Nosing around on Amazon I see compact bookshelf systems (CD player, tuner, speakers) from the likes of Sony and Phillips in the $200 range. If those or something similar are sturdy and sound better than my crappy Bose unit, I would not be averse to going that route  (the plug in and play aspect has appeal) but would be willing to pay more for a compact bookshelf system of better quality.

 

[Teasing the Korean]

8 minutes ago, Larry Kart said:

Nosing around on Amazon I see compact bookshelf systems (CD player, tuner, speakers) from the likes of Sony and Phillips in the $200 range. If those or something similar are sturdy and sound better than my crappy Bose unit, I would not be averse to going that route  (the plug in and play aspect has appeal) but would be willing to pay more for a compact bookshelf system of better quality.

They will probably sound as good as or worse than your Bose unit.

[Larry Kart]

18 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

They will probably sound as good as or worse than your Bose unit.

That's depressing.  Is there no upgrade for say $200 or so more?

[mjzee]

Since you're now part of the iPhone generation, you may want to consider a powered speaker (or pair of powered speakers) to connect to the iPhone.  Edifier makes some good ones, but many others do too.  Just search on Amazon for Edifier.

[Larry Kart]

49 minutes ago, mjzee said:

Since you're now part of the iPhone generation, you may want to consider a powered speaker (or pair of powered speakers) to connect to the iPhone.  Edifier makes some good ones, but many others do too.  Just search on Amazon for Edifier.

My problem is that I need a CD player, speakers, and an amp in compact form. I've been told by Teasing the Korean that any such unit (E.g. from Sony or Phillips)  won't sound better than the crappy old Bose unit I have. I'd be happy to pay twice as much than the $200 or so for the units I've been looking at if pricier units would be an upgrade, but I can't find any such units. Maybe the market for such units no longer exists, and thus they aren't being made. I'd be willing to hook together such a thing out of decent components, but I while I see compact speakers, I don't see any compact amps or CD players. A Dixie cup and a string?

[Larry Kart]

Or do I just need a DVD player? That is, if I put a music CD into a DVD player that is hooked up to speakers, will the music on that CD be heard through those speakers? If that is the case, all I need is a DVD player and some speakers -- no CD player or amplifier required?

[mjzee]

Powered speakers have the amp inside the speakers; can't get more compact than that.  See, for example: https://www.amazon.com/Edifier-S1000MKII-Audiophile-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B07ZVPMR58/ref=sr_1_8?crid=Z5PB6O8LDAJQ&dchild=1&keywords=edifier+speakers&qid=1634443871&sprefix=edifier%2Caps%2C198&sr=8-8

3 minutes ago, Larry Kart said:

Or do I just need a DVD player? That is, if I put a music CD into a DVD player that is hooked up to speakers, will the music on that CD be heard through those speakers? If that is the case, all I need is a DVD player and some speakers -- no CD player or amplifier required?

A DVD player will play a CD, but you'd still need an amp.  But that DVD player and a pair of powered speakers would do you fine.

BTW, if your DVD player has an optical out, using an optical audio cable with powered speakers would sound great.

[mhatta]

My audiophile friends praised highly about Marantz M-CR612.  Seems it is sold as Melody X outside Japan?  Not so expensive, small footprint, great connectivity, etc.  You still need speakers.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/marantz-melody-x

I should say that I usually listen to awful sounding airchecks from Cafe Bohemia in the 50s or such, so I am no audiophile at all.  These days I usually listen to CD-ripped MP3s or streaming music via Bluetooth.  Olasonic IA-BT7 is a crazy Bluetooth (and 3.5mm input) powered speaker I use.  I think sometimes its sound quality beats more expensive pure audio equipment.  But I'm not sure you can buy it outside Japan (I can't find reviews in English).

https://www.olasonic.jp/product/?id=1526269723-648034

[Larry Kart]

34 minutes ago, mjzee said:

Powered speakers have the amp inside the speakers; can't get more compact than that.  See, for example: https://www.amazon.com/Edifier-S1000MKII-Audiophile-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B07ZVPMR58/ref=sr_1_8?crid=Z5PB6O8LDAJQ&dchild=1&keywords=edifier+speakers&qid=1634443871&sprefix=edifier%2Caps%2C198&sr=8-8

A DVD player will play a CD, but you'd still need an amp.  But that DVD player and a pair of powered speakers would do you fine.

BTW, if your DVD player has an optical out, using an optical audio cable with powered speakers would sound great.

Guess I need to go back to audio kindergarten; I don't understand any of this. Say I've got a CD that I want play in my basement, where I have an amp, a CD player, and speakers. I put the CD in the player, turn on the amp, music comes out of the speakers. In my living room (of the near future, I hope) I'll put my CD into what? And how will the sound on that CD then be transmitted to whatever speakers I'll have that will be hooked up to what? And what will whatever this setup is cost? 

 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Larry - buy a pair of Klipsch powered speakers, either the R-41PM or the R-51PM. I have a pair of the R-41PMs that I am using for my computer speakers. I am using USB from my PC . It also has Bluetooth (to allow you to play music from your phone - try the Sirius/XM app if you subscribe) and two analog inputs (one RCA & one submini)  that can even be switched to a phono input, using the a built-in phono preamp.

All of the inputs can be controlled from the remote, which also has a volume control.

 

Edited October 17, 2021 by bresna

[mjzee]

9 hours ago, Larry Kart said:

Guess I need to go back to audio kindergarten; I don't understand any of this. Say I've got a CD that I want play in my basement, where I have an amp, a CD player, and speakers. I put the CD in the player, turn on the amp, music comes out of the speakers. In my living room (of the near future, I hope) I'll put my CD into what? And how will the sound on that CD then be transmitted to whatever speakers I'll have that will be hooked up to what? And what will whatever this setup is cost? 

 

A powered speaker is a combined amp/speaker.  So, to use your example, your CD player plugs into the powered speakers.  There are volume controls on the speaker itself and on the speaker’s remote.  The speakers come with an AC cord that plugs into the wall and provides power.

if you look at the Amazon link I provided, or at the Klipsch graphic above, you’ll see all the connection points.

[Larry Kart]

Simple cost-free solution I stumbled across last night. I have a Sony Smart TV with decent speakers and a Blu-Ray DVD player. Pop a music CD into the DVD player, hit play, and the music on the CD comes out of the TV speakers. 

[JSngry]

15 hours ago, Larry Kart said:

I have a perfectly fine system of individual components in the basement, but my wife (and me too) would like a decent sounding compact system for the living room/dining room area (all one room really) to replace the crappy Bose unit we have by default.

 

By default? Did it come with the house? Nice neighborhood(

[Larry Kart]

22 minutes ago, JSngry said:

By default? Did it come with the house? Nice neighborhood(

My first wife passed away some years ago after 36 years of marriage. My second wife and I got hitched nine years ago. When we did, she brought her Bose machine with her, along with her adopted son. Neither of us likes the Bose, and we seldom use it. The son, my stepson, now in college (at Denison in Ohio), is a blessing.

The cost-free solution I described above -- play music CDs through the TV's attached Blu-Ray player and the TV speakers -- almost certainly won't yield the quality of sound than would powered speakers fed by a separate CD player  (which, like the powered speakers, I don't have and also would have to acquire, no?), but it sounds better than the Bose and, again, it's cost free. Also, it may be possible to tweak the sound of the Blu-Ray CD combo signal before it comes out of the TV speakers. If not, the sound quality seems pretty good, and the solution (or "solution") made me feel like a bright boy when it came to me late last night.

[JSngry]

How bad does that Bode sound? Would you give it to the kid, or would that be punishment?

[Larry Kart]

3 minutes ago, JSngry said:

How bad does that Bode sound? Would you give it to the kid, or would that be punishment?

I'll broach the subject sometime.

Bose sound, I would say, is fake-spacey, cloudy.

[JSngry]

21 minutes ago, Larry Kart said:

Bose sound, I would say, is fake-spacey, cloudy.

Ok, I know what you mean then.

[jazzbo]

I bought my wife a Bose CD player/radio unit as she can't figure out my stereo system(s) or care to. It actually fills a large living room area with decent sound, especially when you get the polarity of the power cord right (it wasn't in right for a while, it uses a "C" type connector to the unit and the one supplied was not polarity specific; when I reversed the connection to the original way the sound improved.)

If you have a CD player you want to use a pair of powered speakers would be a nice way to get different sound. I don't have experience with them. I do say I don't personally really get along with the sound of Kiipsch speakers so I wouldn't go that route.

[mjzee]

1 hour ago, Larry Kart said:

fed by a separate CD player  (which, like the powered speakers, I don't have and also would have to acquire, no?)

Yes, if you want to directly play from CDs...but, as I suggested in my original post, you could instead connect your iPhone, to which you have already ripped your CDs.  Or you could reuse the CD player you currently use with your Bose speakers - it probably has audio out ports.

[Larry Kart]

21 minutes ago, mjzee said:

Yes, if you want to directly play from CDs...but, as I suggested in my original post, you could instead connect your iPhone, to which you have already ripped your CDs.  Or you could reuse the CD player you currently use with your Bose speakers - it probably has audio out ports.

In my Bose unit, the speakers and the CD player are coupled together in a plastic case; they're one thing. There is no separate CD player in my Bose unit. 

I have not ripped any CDs to my I phone and wouldn't know how to to begin. Also, I have thousands of CDs. Ripping individual CDs to my phone sounds insanely tedious.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

17 hours ago, jazzbo said:

I bought my wife a Bose CD player/radio unit as she can't figure out my stereo system(s) or care to. It actually fills a large living room area with decent sound, especially when you get the polarity of the power cord right (it wasn't in right for a while, it uses a "C" type connector to the unit and the one supplied was not polarity specific; when I reversed the connection to the original way the sound improved.)

I would suggest that there is something else at play here.  Flipping the hot/neutral should not alter the sound. The AC hot/neutral wires go into a transformer on the other side of the back panel and by design, a transformer works with the neutral and hot on either pole.

And in truth, AC is not technically polarized. The "polarity" on a polarized AC plug is there to indicate the hot & neutral feeds mainly as a safety feature. The wide blade is the neutral and the smaller blade is hot. Doing this allows the manufacturer to put their power switch in the hot feed. With a polarized plug, you open up the hot feed with the power switch when you turn it off. If the manufacturer shut the unit off using the neutral feed, there is a chance that the hot feed could still inside the unit and could cause a shock if someone was working inside and accidentally provided a ground path to that hot node.