Moved countries, help me get a new stereo system

[Dexter_prog]

Long story short: moved from shithole South America to Denmark. Now I feel like a kid first entering a Lego store: lots of options, I'm completely lost.

Back there I had: KEF R300 + vincent sv237mk. I was satisfied with it, but I want to upgrade now. But read on about the Vincent

Budget? 4000-6000 euros.

Room: about 4x3 (moving to new apartment, haven taken proper measures, but it's ballpark)

Source preferences: digital 90%, vinyl 10% (will get a record player later on, so don't count it within that budget).


I'm inclined to look in the used / demo market since prices get crazy "low". So I've spotted some Dynaudio Special Forty, and I was considering a cocktail audio n25 as a streamer. Any other suggestions for speakers?

Not sure if those are the best choices, but I'm completely lost at amps. I was about to get a used Hegel H160 or H200, but then I've been reading lot of hate regarding the company concealing it's manufacturing in China (don't care) and the transformer making a hum which Hegel says it's "normal", so now I'm having 2nd thoughts. Other stuff I found:
- Primare i35 prisma (would skip the streamer), but this is class D and I'm just not sure
- Music Hall A70.2. Don't know much about the brand, but it looks like it's powerful, and it's cheaper than anything else
- Yamaha A-s1200 (new)
- Gold note IS1000: same, no idea about this one
- Krell KAV-300iL
- Lots of NAD, e.g.: M12, etc.
- Atoll in200

Any thoughts?

 

[abdo123]

I'm guessing you're looking for a stereo setup.

So for me, If i were starting from scratch with that sort of budget, I would buy a KEF LS50 Wireless II with a KEF KC62. Later down the line I would buy a second KEF KC62.

This is a state of the art setup no headache zero effort reference sound.

 

[Apesbrain]

Maybe a Lyngdorf streaming amp, a pair of Dynaudio speakers, and a Roon subscription. Enjoy!

 

[sweetchaos]

Denmark eh?
Check out a local company, Buchardt Audio, who's releasing well-measuring speakers.

Buchardt Audio Products

Passive speakers, Active speakers & Accessories

buchardtaudio.com

See my threads 'passive speakers', and 'subwoofer comparison'.

IMO, a combo that's tough to beat is Kef R3 + Hypex Ncore amp + dual subs + MiniDSP Flex.

 

[MCH]

Hey Dexter, welcome to Europe,
Sure you'll find your amp easily here, and I am also sure you will be missing some other things from South America sooner or later in Denmark .
Just wanted to call your attention if it is your first time in EU that with that kind of budget it might be worth for you to spend a few minutes searching what are your choices when buying online from other EU countries when it comes to VAT.
If i am not mistaken Denmark has a pretty high 25% vat while for instance Germany has 19% and Luxembourg 17%.
It is perfectly normal here to buy from neighbour countries within the EU, but you will see some retailers apply the VAT of the country they are sending from (probably favourable for you) and some of your country (probably unfavourable for you), for instance amazon.
Denmark might be a bit special in that regard, i don't know, ask around and see, but 6% of 4000-6000 eur can buy you several months subscription to your favourite online music or a nice dac.
Also beware, very recently i bought some speakers online and the shop applied my 17%vat instead of the 21% vat of their country, but they were smart enough to kept the difference for them increasing the net price of the speakers specially for me. They won 50 euros but lost a customer

Good luck with your endeavour!

 

[Dexter_prog]

Hey Dexter, welcome to Europe,
Sure you'll find your amp easily here, and I am also sure you will be missing some other things from South America sooner or later in Denmark .
Just wanted to call your attention if it is your first time in EU that with that kind of budget it might be worth for you to spend a few minutes searching what are your choices when buying online from other EU countries when it comes to VAT.
If i am not mistaken Denmark has a pretty high 25% vat while for instance Germany has 19% and Luxembourg 17%.
It is perfectly normal here to buy from neighbour countries within the EU, but you will see some retailers apply the VAT of the country they are sending from (probably favourable for you) and some of your country (probably unfavourable for you), for instance amazon.
Denmark might be a bit special in that regard, i don't know, ask around and see, but 6% of 4000-6000 eur can buy you several months subscription to your favourite online music or a nice dac.
Also beware, very recently i bought some speakers online and the shop applied my 17%vat instead of the 21% vat of their country, but they were smart enough to kept the difference for them increasing the net price of the speakers specially for me. They won 50 euros but lost a customer

Good luck with your endeavour!

Hey, thanks for the info. I was aware of the price difference (and on top of that our 25% VAT), but I thought all countries had to adjust VAT for the country of delivery, so this is interesting. Could you list some stores for me to check? Specially those that offer 2nd hand and demo products. I've got a nearly 10-15 store list from Denmark, but I don't know about stores outside of Denmark

 

[MCH]

Hey, thanks for the info. I was aware of the price difference (and on top of that our 25% VAT), but I thought all countries had to adjust VAT for the country of delivery, so this is interesting. Could you list some stores for me to check? Specially those that offer 2nd hand and demo products. I've got a nearly 10-15 store list from Denmark, but I don't know about stores outside of Denmark

Oh i really don't know that many, but can recommend you idealo.de that is a price comparator for online shops in germany. Also shows B-ware offers. I never buy anything >200eur without checking it before. For used private to private in germany the best is ebay-kleineanzeige.de. Some users will ship abroad, some not. Shipping from germany is very cheap and reliable.
I would check idealo.de as first step. Searching for one of the devices you want will at least give you a list of shops that sell that device online and then you can take it from there.

 

[Moonhead]

If your chasing secondhand speakers look here: https://www.dba.dk/billede-og-lyd/hi-fi-og-tilbehoer/hoejttalere-hi-fi/

Monitors from Germany.

Thomann Studiemonitorer

Over fra € på lager - vi har et instrument til alle. Gratis levering ved køb over 199 €, 30 dages money back garanti og tre års Thomann garanti. Thomann - Europas største music detailhandel.

www.thomann.de

 

[jensgk]

Long story short: moved from shithole South America to Denmark. Now I feel like a kid first entering a Lego store: lots of options, I'm completely lost.

Welcome to Denmark!

While we don't have a large selection of hi-fi stores, where you can listen, there are some.

This is a list of those I know about, but there are more, especially within vintage equipment:

https://www.hifiklubben.dk/ in many cities
https://www.topsoundhifi.dk/ in Copenhagen
https://high-performance.dk/ in Copenhagen
https://ktradio.dk/ in Copenhagen
https://lydbutikken.dk/ in Copenhagen (Frederiksberg)
http://www.abaudio.dk/ in Copenhagen (Frederiksberg)
https://audioconsult.org/ in Copenhagen (Frederiksberg)
https://lydarkitekten.dk/ in Hillerød
https://www.av-connection.com/ in Sønderborg
https://www.audiocompagniet.dk/ in Odense
https://www.hifihuset.dk/ in Svendborg
https://audiobutikken.dk/ in Skive
https://hificenter.dk/ in Frederikshavn
https://hifi-shack.com/ in Aalestrup
https://tapeconnection.dk/ in Højbjerg
https://hifi-freaks.dk/ in Glostrup (no showroom)

 

[jensgk]

Denmark eh?
Check out a local company, Buchardt Audio, who's releasing well-measuring speakers.

Buchardt Audio Products

Passive speakers, Active speakers & Accessories

buchardtaudio.com

Also have a look at System Audio Speakers (https://system-audio.com/) in Roskilde, I think they use the same or very similar electronics in their active speakers.

 

[Dexter_prog]

Welcome to Denmark!

While we don't have a large selection of hi-fi stores, where you can listen, there are some.

This is a list of those I know about, but there are more, especially within vintage equipment:

https://www.hifiklubben.dk/ in many cities
https://www.topsoundhifi.dk/ in Copenhagen
https://high-performance.dk/ in Copenhagen
https://ktradio.dk/ in Copenhagen
https://lydbutikken.dk/ in Copenhagen (Frederiksberg)
http://www.abaudio.dk/ in Copenhagen (Frederiksberg)
https://audioconsult.org/ in Copenhagen (Frederiksberg)
https://lydarkitekten.dk/ in Hillerød
https://www.av-connection.com/ in Sønderborg
https://www.audiocompagniet.dk/ in Odense
https://www.hifihuset.dk/ in Svendborg
https://audiobutikken.dk/ in Skive
https://hificenter.dk/ in Frederikshavn
https://hifi-shack.com/ in Aalestrup
https://tapeconnection.dk/ in Højbjerg
https://hifi-freaks.dk/ in Glostrup (no showroom)

thanks for the list, I didn't know some. Here's my complete list (new ones added at the end). There's a couple from the EU because I'm building a DK + EU list to have more options:

HiFi Klubben

Audio Compagniet

Audiophile

AV-connection

Blue Cat Audio

Custom Audio

Hi Fi Center

Hi Fi Sound (DE)

HiFi Forum

High Performance

http://lydogkabel.pdp-innovation.dk/index.php/vare-kategori/brugt-og-demo-salg/

https://www.scalahifi.dk

KT Radio

Lyd Specialisten

Tape Connection

Top Sound

Wifi Media

http://www.abaudio.dk

https://audioconsult.org/

https://lydarkitekten.dk

https://www.hifihuset.dk/

https://audiobutikken.dk/

https://hifi-shack.com/

https://hifi-freaks.dk/

https://lydbutikken.dk/

 

[jensgk]

thanks for the list, I didn't know some. Here's my complete list (new ones added at the end). There's a couple from the EU because I'm building a DK + EU list to have more options:

Great list. Thanks!

 

[Dexter_prog]

I've been doing some more research. Since the Dyn's are low impedance speakers, I'm aware they need lots of power. I never owned an amplifier that wasn't integrated, but within my budget I saw the Parasound A23+, does that sound like a good match? I would of course need some sort of preamp (would just getting a streamer fulfill this?) and that's another area for which I'm no expert at all

 

[jensgk]

I've been doing some more research. Since the Dyn's are low impedance speakers, I'm aware they need lots of power. I never owned an amplifier that wasn't integrated, but within my budget I saw the Parasound A23+, does that sound like a good match? I would of course need some sort of preamp (would just getting a streamer fulfill this?) and that's another area for which I'm no expert at all

Why not this one instead: https://www.audiophonics.fr/fr/ampl...tereo-class-d-ncore-2x250w-4-ohm-p-14278.html

It uses the Hypex Ncore NC252MP module.

As streamer you could get the Argo Audio Solo Streamer, or a Topping E30 (dac)/Raspberry Pi4 (4Gb)(computer)/Moodeaudio(software) combo.

 

[freemansteve]

If the apartment has a 4m X 3m room (did you say that?), then you'll not need a PA system to upset the neighbours or take up half the room.

Why not look at a compact all-in-one like a Cambridge Audio Evo 150. It'll work with a turntable, and will drive any speakers you fancy. Look it up!

I have the Evo 75 and it works very well in my small lounge. Wife-friendly too!

 

[Dexter_prog]

If the apartment has a 4m X 3m room (did you say that?), then you'll not need a PA system to upset the neighbours or take up half the room.

Why not look at a compact all-in-one like a Cambridge Audio Evo 150. It'll work with a turntable, and will drive any speakers you fancy. Look it up!

I have the Evo 75 and it works very well in my small lounge. Wife-friendly too!

haha regarding wife-friendly, this is a separate room JUST for audio. Meaning it's MY room (the rest of the house is hers, naturally ), so the WAF is not for consideration.

Why getting a big system? Well, this will definitely NOT be the place were we will be living for life, so instead of buying and selling (and losing money in the process) I'm looking for something that will stay for a while. I'd rather stay away from all integrated since in this continent you have so many options (and better economy) that it will allow me to try different stuff, upgrade/"sidegrade"/etc, so I want to be able to experiment that

 

[DanielT]

Long story short: moved from shithole South America to Denmark. Now I feel like a kid first entering a Lego store: lots of options, I'm completely lost.

Back there I had: KEF R300 + vincent sv237mk. I was satisfied with it, but I want to upgrade now. But read on about the Vincent

Budget? 4000-6000 euros.

Room: about 4x3 (moving to new apartment, haven taken proper measures, but it's ballpark)

Source preferences: digital 90%, vinyl 10% (will get a record player later on, so don't count it within that budget).


I'm inclined to look in the used / demo market since prices get crazy "low". So I've spotted some Dynaudio Special Forty, and I was considering a cocktail audio n25 as a streamer. Any other suggestions for speakers?

Not sure if those are the best choices, but I'm completely lost at amps. I was about to get a used Hegel H160 or H200, but then I've been reading lot of hate regarding the company concealing it's manufacturing in China (don't care) and the transformer making a hum which Hegel says it's "normal", so now I'm having 2nd thoughts. Other stuff I found:
- Primare i35 prisma (would skip the streamer), but this is class D and I'm just not sure
- Music Hall A70.2. Don't know much about the brand, but it looks like it's powerful, and it's cheaper than anything else
- Yamaha A-s1200 (new)
- Gold note IS1000: same, no idea about this one
- Krell KAV-300iL
- Lots of NAD, e.g.: M12, etc.
- Atoll in200

Any thoughts?

Aha, kids. Here maybe, if you live nearby, they might have fun .... and you too.
Ask jensgk, in this thread, who is Danish if he knows anything more about that place. If it's good that is.

Struer Museum is a cultural history museum in West Jutland. At Struer Museum you can explore our Bang & Olufsen exhibition and see the iconic designs that made the company one of the world's strongest brands. In The Sound Universe-exhibition, the whole family can learn about sound and technique through play, competitions and experiments.

Om Struer Museum - struermuseum.dk

www.struermuseum.dk

 

[Digby]

Why getting a big system? Well, this will definitely NOT be the place were we will be living for life, so instead of buying and selling (and losing money in the process) I'm looking for something that will stay for a while.

4x3m is a pretty small room. Buy some small speakers and get the big ones later, unless you don't care about apartment neighbours, but you should, more so if you are new to a country.

You may be happy to leave South America, but you should want the Danes to be happy to receive you too.

 

[Dexter_prog]

4x3m is a pretty small room. Buy some small speakers and get the big ones later, unless you don't care about apartment neighbours, but you should, more so if you are new to a country.

You may be happy to leave South America, but you should want the Danes to be happy to receive you too.

When did I say my intention is to bother neighbors? In fact, I prefer listening to music at lower levels (I do love my hearing abilities and want to keep them). Bookshelves have always been fine for such rooms, plus frankly you don't even know where I live.

 

[jensgk]

Ask jensgk, in this thread, who is Danish if he knows anything more about that place. If it's good that is.

Om Struer Museum - struermuseum.dk

www.struermuseum.dk

I haven't been there, but I sure will, when and if I get nearby