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Hi,

Im 14 Years old and i brought a onkyo CS-315 Hi-Fi System last Christmas.

I recently wanted to update and change it to a louder and nicer Hi-Fi, But Dont Really know where to look or what to look for.

I Would like to have a 4 speaker set up for my room And would like to be able to keep the Part where it play's the cd's and radio (cant think what its called)

But the main trouble is that it only has 2 speaker out-puts on the rear (2 black, 2 red cable outputs) is there anyway of being able to add another 2 speakers easly because im not sure what sort of thing i would need to buy to do this? (possable spilting the cables? but would the sound/ volume deteriate?)

Also i would have possably £400 to play with, but i mainly want to know how to have a 4 speaker set up and to boost the Wattage output after doing so? (amp?)

Manny Thanks Guys (Try to keep it simple)

Hi Rexon

If you went to somewhere like Richer Sound they could kit you out with some nice stuff for £400 which is a pretty good budget to be starting off with.

You'd get an amp and CD player and some speakers for that.

Don't understand what you want 4 speakers for, and no you can't just wire 2 more speakers on to the outputs of your system. If you do this you might drop the impedance to too low a level and this might blow the amp or you just might not wave enough power to drive the speakers at all.

For Stereo you only need 2 (they might have more than one actual loudspeaker in each box but there is a bit of electronics in the box called a crossover which takes care of driving them all)

If you plan to add a TV and DVD or Blu Ray later on then you might prefer to have 5.1 sound. This basically has 5 loudspeakers and a sub woofer for the deep base notes. This might be a bit much for a bedroom if that's your planned location.

If it's mostly music you want to listen too then I'd go for a HiFi stereo set up. Maybe look for an amp that has the capability to take an ipod dock and put some headphones on your Chistmas list. Also get a nice CD player to go with it. With this type of set up you can easily add a DAB/FM radio tuner later and even a turntable if you get into vinyl. This means it's pretty flexible place to start. I doubt at your price point you'd get an amp with 2 sets of speaker connections (4 speakers) but you might be lucky. The purpose of the second set of connections is usually to allow a second set of speaker in another room BTW.

The system you have now is a pretty good one you know.

rexon64:

Try to keep it simple

Teac Reference 300 system from Vickers Hifi - £329. Or £350 with speakers. Speakers aren't brilliant so I'd try and spend the extra £71 on other ones and decentish cable.

http://www.vickers-hifi.co.uk/retail/REF300.html

Or the all in one home cinema style system:

 http://www.vickershifi.co.uk/retail/DRH300DAB.html

Just got the Reference 300 separates linked to Bose 301s and the sound is excellent.

rexon64:

Hi,

Im 14 Years old and i brought a onkyo CS-315 Hi-Fi System last Christmas.

I recently wanted to update and change it to a louder and nicer Hi-Fi, But Dont Really know where to look or what to look for.

I Would like to have a 4 speaker set up for my room And would like to be able to keep the Part where it play's the cd's and radio (cant think what its called)

But the main trouble is that it only has 2 speaker out-puts on the rear (2 black, 2 red cable outputs) is there anyway of being able to add another 2 speakers easly because im not sure what sort of thing i would need to buy to do this? (possable spilting the cables? but would the sound/ volume deteriate?)

Also i would have possably £400 to play with, but i mainly want to know how to have a 4 speaker set up and to boost the Wattage output after doing so? (amp?)

Manny Thanks Guys (Try to keep it simple)

What size room do you have?

Quick update for you

Richer Sounds have the following on offer at the moment:

Hi Fi System 4

Cambridge Audio 540A v2 amp (with 4 speaker outputs)

Cambridge audio 540C Cd player

2 Cambridge Audio S30 speakers

All for £399.95 complete.

Tip - join their VIP club and they might give you more money off this price.

Rexon,

By happy coincidence over the last month I have built up a hifi system I am VERY happy with for around 400 quid. Here's how/what I did:

Firstly, RicherSounds are your friend. I swear by these guys, not just because of their prices, but for 2 main reasons:

1) The 5 year supercare warranty is a brilliant deal and gives great peace of mind.

2) If you have some equipment, and want to upgrade it, they'll let you at no charge (except the price difference). When I went from my Cambridge A1 to A5 amps, they didnt even check to see if I'd damaged the first one before upgrading!

Right, my set up:

Amp: Cambridge A5 - I started with an A1, and soon decided I wanted more power so got the slightly larger A5. Its dead simple, has a very nice clean look (black brushed aluminium), and the action on the volume control is VERY smooth, which I find always encourages me to turn it up... Bass and treble controls are there, plus a bypass which I find handy now and again, left and right channel balancing, and 5 two-channel inputs. 120 quid

Speakers; TDL Saturn/Studio 10's - AMAZING speakers for the price, I paid 150 for them, but they've now dropped to 100. Solid bass, good mid range and high end, and in my opinion are some of the best looking floorstanders for under a grand (except maybe the Q Acoustics ones). The pairing to the Cambridge amp seems brilliant. 100 quid.

Subwoofer: Gale 4070 - maybe not the best subwoofer for around this price range, but I liked the look of it, and kicks out more than enough bass. The only part I'm tempted to upgrade, but its definitly more than good enough for listening to music (and I listen to a lot of electro, drum and bass and dubstep, where a full bass sound is very important). A subwoofer might seem excessive or only really for movies, but you get a much more rounded sound and once you've had one you wont want to be without one. Even for rock, I'm currently listening to Fleetwood Mac and the bassline to The Chain cant be beaten with a subwoofer in your installation. 80 quid

Cables: Gale Symphony 400's - a lot of people ignore the cost of cables when pricing up their system, or go for rubbish ones. I went for the 400 over the 200 as it was thicker, and in general that means better bass quality. I've also gone for 5m length, dont really need it, but it means I can move speakers around without fear of ripping my amp around. In addition a subwoofer will require a dedicated cable. 20 quid for 2 5m gale 400's, plus 10 for the sub cable - 30 quid 

Total: 330 quid

Amazing setup, with the exception of maybe a more powerful sub i'm not planning on changing it any time soon. Hope this helps.

Russ 

I have no idea how much £400 quid would have been, back when I was 14 years old.

What ever it was, I know it would have been an absolute fortune, and if I HAD it to spend on Hi-Fi, the smile on my face would have illuminated the whole street.

So, whatever you buy. Sit back - enjoy and appreciate!

;-)

Serenity

Serenity:

I have no idea how much £400 quid would have been, back when I was 14 years old.

What ever it was, I know it would have been an absolute fortune, and if I HAD it to spend on Hi-Fi, the smile on my face would have illuminated the whole street.

So, whatever you buy. Sit back - enjoy and appreciate!

;-)

Serenity

 

Hi, had a look at what you said and i can say that the teac systems look great! But i have already got my onkyo 315 cd reciever and would like to keep that and use it instead of buying a new one, the thing is that it only has 2 speaker outputs on the rear ( 2 black, 2 red).

Is there anyway of being able to add another 2 sets of speakers? like splitting the cables or somthing...but would that result in loss off sound? in which case what other ways are there of adding 2 more speakers? do amps do that? any ideas..

Manny thanks! shaun

2 good speakers are better than 4 my Padawan. Don't confuse bi wiring or bi amping with 'more is better'. Anyway, save some cash for a decent pair of 'phones cause if you were my son I'd have something to say about it.

( You know, I never thought I'd ever say those words)