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I've got a £200 gift voucher to spend at Very, need some help choosing a hifi system


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Old 25-07-2015, 19:20
sithlord3k
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So I just got a gift voucher for £200 from work (yay me ), to spend at Very, and I'd like to buy a hifi system from there.


I'm thinking of either the Panasonic SC-AKX400EB:
Panasonic SC-AKX400EB 600 Watt Mini System HiFi with Smart Networking | very.co.uk



or Sony MHC-ECL77BT
Sony MHC-ECL77BT Hi-Fi System with NFC and Bluetooth - Black | very.co.uk


I know that more watts =/= better, so I need some help deciding. Alternatively, if there's a better system on there that you guys think is better please let me know.

The main reason I am thinking about the Panasonic is that it has 2GB built in storage, which means that I can play my mp3s straight from there.

Main use for the hifi will be mp3s from usb (or internal storage if I get the Panny).

I don't know anything about audio (except that separates are better). To put this into perspective, the only audio system I've used in the last 10 years or so (and still currently using) is the Logitech Z-5400, and it still sounds brilliant to me. I'd like a hifi system that sounds as good as that, with as much bass as the Z-5400 if possible.

Thank you
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Old 25-07-2015, 19:47
chrisjr
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Neither of those "things" are anything remotely like what I would call HiFi. If you are in any way interested in sound quality then the last place to go looking is some online catalogue store that wouldn't know good quality audio if it jumped up and kicked them up the backside.

You would get a far far far better system going down to a Richersounds store and listening to some proper HiFi kit.

But if you are not serious about sound quality then buy whichever of those monstrosities you fancy the best. They both probably sound as bad as each other.

Can you tell I don't like that sort of system masquerading as "HiFi"
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Old 25-07-2015, 19:51
sithlord3k
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Can you tell I don't like that sort of system masquerading as "HiFi"
No




In all seriousness, I'd like to get some okayish sound for my home gym, with decent bass, and I've got a gift voucher so I thought why not. My main setup will still use the Z-5400, so wanted the best that free vouchers can buy
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Old 25-07-2015, 20:43
Nigel Goodwin
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chrisjr is a little overly critical (although quite right).

Either should be fine for what you want, but you should bear in mind the claimed 'power' is entirely imaginary - and no where near 600W
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Old 25-07-2015, 21:37
sithlord3k
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chrisjr is a little overly critical (although quite right).

Either should be fine for what you want, but you should bear in mind the claimed 'power' is entirely imaginary - and no where near 600W
How can they advertise it as 600w then ?
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Old 25-07-2015, 21:49
stvn758
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Ahh the old PMPO and RMS trick still going on is it.

It's been a very long time since I had my ghetto blaster or anything with speakers for that matter, headphones have long since been my love, but RMS is the one you should pay attention to, the peak output will probably be an unlistenable wall of white noise.
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Old 25-07-2015, 21:54
chrisjr
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How can they advertise it as 600w then ?
Because they can. They can invent some spurious method of measuring power that gives rise to all sorts of inflated numbers.

Basically the manufacturers think the punters are so stupid they think a 600W system must be better than an 60W system even though when you use the same measurement method the 60W system is the most powerful!

If you look in detail at the specs of some kit you can spot the dodgy power claims quite easily. For example a system that claims to be 1000W but when you look closely it has a 150W power supply. So where does the other 850W come from?
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Old 25-07-2015, 22:14
Tassium
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The quality difference between a typical stereo system and a true hi-fi system is hardly going to be noticeable these days for most people.


I think neither of those stereo systems has a headphone socket, is that important?

Also the Very price is very expensive, the Sony system is available for £135 on Amazon.

But looking around on the web I think the Panasonic is not a bad price.


I'm sure either will be fine.
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Old 25-07-2015, 22:19
dearmrman
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Personally if it was me and I was spending the £200 I would either go for the Sony CMT-SBT100B or put an extra £49 towards it and go for the Panasonic SC-PMX70BEBK, but they might not suit your needs.
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Old 25-07-2015, 22:20
sithlord3k
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Because they can. They can invent some spurious method of measuring power that gives rise to all sorts of inflated numbers.

Basically the manufacturers think the punters are so stupid they think a 600W system must be better than an 60W system even though when you use the same measurement method the 60W system is the most powerful!

If you look in detail at the specs of some kit you can spot the dodgy power claims quite easily. For example a system that claims to be 1000W but when you look closely it has a 150W power supply. So where does the other 850W come from?
So how do you tell what you're actually buying ?

I would have thought that companies such as Panasonic and Sony were above all this.

I really don't know whether to get the Sony or Panasonic now
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Old 25-07-2015, 22:23
sithlord3k
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The quality difference between a typical stereo system and a true hi-fi system is hardly going to be noticeable these days for most people.


I think neither of those stereo systems has a headphone socket, is that important?

Also the Very price is very expensive, the Sony system is available for £135 on Amazon.

But looking around on the web I think the Panasonic is not a bad price.


I'm sure either will be fine.
I don't need a headphone socket, so that's fine. I was leaning towards the Panasonic myself.
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Old 25-07-2015, 22:27
sithlord3k
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Personally if it was me and I was spending the £200 I would either go for the Sony CMT-SBT100B or put an extra £49 towards it and go for the Panasonic SC-PMX70BEBK, but they might not suit your needs.
Can I ask why you'd go for one of those two ? I can see that the £249 Panasonic offers extra features like FLAC playback (although I don't have many FLAC files), and internet radio.
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Old 25-07-2015, 22:32
dearmrman
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Can I ask why you'd go for one of those two ? I can see that the £249 Panasonic offers extra features like FLAC playback (although I don't have many FLAC files), and internet radio.
Purely for the way they look, and both look as if they are quite good systems for the choices you have with Very.
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Old 25-07-2015, 22:37
sithlord3k
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Purely for the way they look, and both look as if they are quite good systems for the choices you have with Very.
Oh ok.

Silly question here, but can you add on extra speakers and subwoofers at some point down the line to these types of systems ?
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Old 25-07-2015, 22:38
fmradiotuner1
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If it had to be very think I would get the Sony CMT-SBT100B Micro Hi-fi System as most the others use all the silly watts this thing looks like it will be the best for quality.
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Old 25-07-2015, 22:45
sithlord3k
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If it had to be very think I would get the Sony CMT-SBT100B Micro Hi-fi System as most the others use all the silly watts this thing looks like it will be the best for quality.
Would you also suggest putting in an extra £49 for the Panasonic SC-PMX70BEBK that dearmrman suggested as a possibility ?
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Old 25-07-2015, 23:10
Winston_1
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I would have thought that companies such as Panasonic and Sony were above all this.
Why? Those companies are respected by some, but in fact are little better than anyone else.
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Old 25-07-2015, 23:59
Tassium
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Seriously, any brand name for £150 - £200 is going to be fine.

My understanding of these mega-high Watts is that the high number can be safely divided by 10 to get a truer sense of what it's all about. So 600W=60W approximately.
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Old 26-07-2015, 10:26
fmradiotuner1
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I would stick to Sony.
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Old 26-07-2015, 10:57
Nigel Goodwin
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How can they advertise it as 600w then ?
Because it's a con

If you check the specs. it says power consumption 85W - pretty clever for outputting 600W.

Don't you think 600W would blow your windows out?, my old Leak Stereo 70 (genuine 35W per channel) could easily exceed the threshold of pain in a pretty big room
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Old 26-07-2015, 10:58
Nigel Goodwin
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Oh ok.

Silly question here, but can you add on extra speakers and subwoofers at some point down the line to these types of systems ?
Unlikely, such cheap systems are usually badly crippled as far as expansion goes.
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Old 26-07-2015, 22:06
oilman
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For those of us old enough to remember Amstrads, we know that any modern digital input system is far superior to the old analogue input systems and in real terms a fraction of the price.

I remember the days when wow and flutter were important!

The quality of the speakers is probably more significant these days than the actual player (if you avoid the bargain basement end).
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Old 26-07-2015, 22:08
Nigel Goodwin
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The quality of the speakers is probably more significant these days than the actual player (if you avoid the bargain basement end).
I would say that was pretty well always true - upgrading the speakers has always made the biggest difference (despite what the crazy HiFi mags used to claim).
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Old 26-07-2015, 22:26
sithlord3k
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I'm guessing that all the stuff I'm looking at is the bargain basement end
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Old 26-07-2015, 22:49
sithlord3k
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Am I better off going with a home cinema system for the same price ? I Mean in terms of sound quality, as they come with their own subwoofers ?

e.g.


LG BH4030S
http://www.very.co.uk/lg-bh4030s-blu...1222706312.prd


Or even something like:

Panasonic SC-BTT465
http://www.very.co.uk/panasonic-sc-b...1394738808.prd



I just want to get as close to my Z-5400 as possible
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