Any Audiophiles Out There?

[Krikit 1,164]

The movers damaged my stereo so I'm in the market for a new one. I would like one with a radio and CD player. The ability to plug in an MP3 player would be nice but not a necessity. Clarity of sound with minimal distortion at higher volumes is important. I was looking into a Bose Wave system but the reviews on the new models are poor. If anyone has any recommendations I would really appreciate it.

[HeatDeath 430]

Any true audiophile [i've known/been related to a few in my day] will tell you that the instant you start listening to MP3s on it, true sound quality has left the building and you might as well be listening to a microphone diaphragm back-wired into the speaker jack via a rusty coat hanger.

Those Bose Waves look good on TV, I agree. But I don't know what sort of competition they have in that price range. I've heard you can't go wrong with Bang and Olufson, but you have to add another 0 to the price to get from Bose up into their price range!

[Krikit 1,164]

I've heard you can't go wrong with Bang and Olufson, but you have to add another 0 to the price to get from Bose up into their price range!

Yeah, those are sexy. I'm thinking I might stick with Denon, which is the unit they broke.

[john & jean 37]

ONKYO, you will be impressed!!

[Krikit 1,164]

Interesting. I have never heard of them before. Going to look into it. Thank you.

[Robert&Liliya 31]

I prefer Harman Kardon because of their use of high amps and lower watts. This produces much cleaner sound. To check for Total Harmonic Distortion take the receiver you are looking at and put it on a channel that has no audio input and crank it up as loud as it will go. The hissing and popping you hear is THD. The less THD you have the better the sound. Go stereo shopping and give it a try and choose what you like. And for a real Audiophile McIntosh doesn’t suck.

[Krikit 1,164]

Thank you! That was helpful.

[Fandango 1,439]

I had a laptop with Harmon Kardon speakers, and it was fab. Seriously blew every other lt speaks out of the water.

(this is only cos the poster above mentioned HK, and I had to share the only experience I had with them...)

[SMR 368]

Any true audiophile [i've known/been related to a few in my day] will tell you that the instant you start listening to MP3s on it, true sound quality has left the building and you might as well be listening to a microphone diaphragm back-wired into the speaker jack via a rusty coat hanger.

Those Bose Waves look good on TV, I agree. But I don't know what sort of competition they have in that price range. I've heard you can't go wrong with Bang and Olufson, but you have to add another 0 to the price to get from Bose up into their price range!

I know there are people that claim this to be this case. By if you understand the Nyquist frequency and the spectrum of MP3s, you will realize that anyone that claims this is either imagining things, full of it, or can hear sound of a much higher frequency than any human has ever been shown to be capable of hearing.

[TracyTN 237]

We also have an Onkyo (hubby chose it).

[Krikit 1,164]

Thanks for the input everyone. It was actually quite helpful in that I have changed direction. Instead of purchasing a standalone unit I am, instead, looking at it from a different angle. The previous owners of this house had it wired for sound.... literally. There is a network panel in the basement and major cabling throughout the house, along with surround-sound setups in various rooms. I am going to have a professional come out to determine what we really have and work from there. Thanks for your guidance.