Audiophiles: Best Stereo Available In Cm

[samsara]

getting really tired of tv speakers so want to pick up a stereo this week. whats available here in chiang mai? ive been by tesco, the new-ish electronics center just outside the moat, and the malls. saw lots of stuff between 8-20,xxx.

1) looking for quality first, price 2nd. whats the best available?

2) is delivery possible? dont have a car yet.

many thx in advance

[whimsy]

If you mean true audiophile gear you will probably save money and definitely have more selection by buying in Bangkok and shipping it back to CM.

There is a small store in the Kad Suan Kaew shopping centre that carries both new and secondhand quality gear. I think they are on level 3. Follow the signs to walk to IT City from the main part of the shopping centre and it is on the left halfway along the link between the two areas.

[cloudhopper]

http://www.neoentertainmentgallery.com/neox/

[T_Dog]

http://www.neoentert...llery.com/neox/

That location is on Huay Gaew Road right next to the Lanna 3 apartment building. Definitely high end and priced accordingly. Siam TV on the south side of the moat has a good selection of more affordable stuff as well.

[SoloFlyer]

Conice. Nice NADs.

[62strat]

This is a very subjective and personal preference thing. As a former sound man and musician with some electronics background I would start by saying high end audio is not usually worth it, because of the room/ space the system will be installed in. Tile floors, small boxey rooms with lots of glass, open windows, aircon and fans, do not a audio heaven make.

That said speaker placement and diligent EQ can make most systems fit your room fairly well just not audiofile level.... Amorn (next to IT Com plaza) carries a surround system 'Aconatic brand' with mic inputswith echo and mix, for the Thai singers (if you have friends or family they will want this) and a usb hot flash drive. The subs are a bit muddy but this is alawys a problem with mid range audio...and really without a tuned room that is somewhat sound friendly, even high end sub woofers will not perform well... IMHO

[HaleySabai]

Take a trip to BKK and check out these speaker systems : http://www.norh.com/Norh_Loudspeaker/Norh.html

Owned and operated by an an American who knows his stuff - mid to high-end on offer.

[Puwa]

You might try CD Green on Sukkasem Rd, a kilometer or so past Lanna Hospital and the Lanna Polytechnic. They've got some decent imported name brand stuff there and prices seem reasonable by local standards.

[seedy]

and really without a tuned room that is somewhat sound friendly, even high end sub woofers will not perform well... IMHO

Is it possible - any reasonably affordable - to transform the typical concrete 'box' into something with better sound quality ? Thinking of turning one room into a home theatre room and would like to improve sound quality.

Thanks.

PS - 1962 Stratocaster ???

Edited July 27, 2012 by seedy

[elektrified]

If you mean true audiophile gear you will probably save money and definitely have more selection by buying in Bangkok and shipping it back to CM.

There is a small store in the Kad Suan Kaew shopping centre that carries both new and secondhand quality gear. I think they are on level 3. Follow the signs to walk to IT City from the main part of the shopping centre and it is on the left halfway along the link between the two areas.

+1

Bangkok. Nothing comes close here.

[elektrified]

and really without a tuned room that is somewhat sound friendly, even high end sub woofers will not perform well... IMHO

Is it possible - any reasonably affordable - to transform the typical concrete 'box' into something with better sound quality ? Thinking of turning one room into a home theatre room and would like to improve sound quality.

Thanks.

PS - 1962 Stratocaster ???

Yes it is possible. You will have to spend some money to improve the acoustics of the room.

[62strat]

corner foam (black and bumpy) can take away bass tanks, a place where low freqs get naturally amplified..carpet and cloth drapes, and plants, help clean up reflections...getting speakers off the floor (with some kind of stand) and a little space from the back walls ...next a reference CD of full spectrum sound you know well can help you to get the EQ for the room adjusted ...expensive white noise and pink generators with a decent condensor mic to a spectrum analyzer is the costly way...but sit where you want, put in a reference cd listening for clear articulate natural sound will work for all but the sound obessed, I am boderline (obessed on a budget)... the 62 strat was my favorite boy-toy of way too many guitars gone for good reasons at the time, gone but not forgotten !!!

[scd]

And now for the other end of the spectrum... we're looking for a cheap second hand sound system.

Anyone know of any shops that might sell these? (pawnbrokers, second hand stores etc?).

Cheers

[hellodolly]

This is a very subjective and personal preference thing. As a former sound man and musician with some electronics background I would start by saying high end audio is not usually worth it, because of the room/ space the system will be installed in. Tile floors, small boxey rooms with lots of glass, open windows, aircon and fans, do not a audio heaven make.

That said speaker placement and diligent EQ can make most systems fit your room fairly well just not audiofile level.... Amorn (next to IT Com plaza) carries a surround system 'Aconatic brand' with mic inputswith echo and mix, for the Thai singers (if you have friends or family they will want this) and a usb hot flash drive. The subs are a bit muddy but this is alawys a problem with mid range audio...and really without a tuned room that is somewhat sound friendly, even high end sub woofers will not perform well... IMHO

I would like to add that there are people like me who have difficulty hearing in certain levels and a sound system is not going to improve that.

[pilou]

And now for the other end of the spectrum... we're looking for a cheap second hand sound system.

Anyone know of any shops that might sell these? (pawnbrokers, second hand stores etc?).

Cheers

There is a small shop called ST Audio that does have 2nd hand kits . I have bought and sold him some equipement, and still have some stuff there for sale.You might get lucky . They are located on Manee Nopparat road, in a small dead end street near the Samsung service center ( outer side of the moat between computer plaza and Chang Pheuk gate ) The owner is a very nice chap, he may help you locate what you want or order it from Bangkok . Phone is ( or was ..) 053 218289 . If you know what you want and find something you like on Piyanas website ( http://www.piyanas.com/en/index.php ) he will order it for you from Bangkok at the same price, i did it already ( there might be a small handling fee, i don't remember )

Cheers,

Phil

Edited July 27, 2012 by pilou

[scd]

And now for the other end of the spectrum... we're looking for a cheap second hand sound system.

Anyone know of any shops that might sell these? (pawnbrokers, second hand stores etc?).

Cheers

There is a small shop called ST Audio that does have 2nd hand kits . I have bought and sold him some equipement, and still have some stuff there for sale.You might get lucky . They are located on Manee Nopparat road, in a small dead end street near the Samsung service center ( outer side of the moat between computer plaza and Chang Pheuk gate ) The owner is a very nice chap, he may help you locate what you want or order it from Bangkok . Phone is ( or was ..) 053 218289 . If you know what you want and find something you like on Piyanas website ( http://www.piyanas.com/en/index.php ) he will order it for you from Bangkok at the same price, i did it already ( there might be a small handling fee, i don't remember )

Cheers,

Phil

Thanks for the tip Phil!

[simoncnx]

You might try CD Green on Sukkasem Rd, a kilometer or so past Lanna Hospital and the Lanna Polytechnic. They've got some decent imported name brand stuff there and prices seem reasonable by local standards.

+1

[pilou]

You might try CD Green on Sukkasem Rd, a kilometer or so past Lanna Hospital and the Lanna Polytechnic. They've got some decent imported name brand stuff there and prices seem reasonable by local standards.

+1

+1 for new stuff, mostly Marantz and Mordaunt-Short

[Greenside]

I happened to be in Robinsons at Airport Plaza the other day and was surprised to find their range of Home Theatre gear much improved since the last time I looked (several years ago). They tend to major in HTIBs but some OK looking offerings from Onkyo and Denon starting from about 16k. Worth a look if you are that way - otherwise a vote for CD Green.

One thing to bear in mind if your main aim is to improve on the TV sound is that much of the source material here is poor to start with so maybe it's not worth spending too much.

[Awk]

That said speaker placement and diligent EQ can make most systems fit your room fairly well just not audiofile level.... Amorn (next to IT Com plaza) carries a surround system 'Aconatic brand' with mic inputswith echo and mix, for the Thai singers (if you have friends or family they will want this) and a usb hot flash drive. The subs are a bit muddy but this is alawys a problem with mid range audio...and really without a tuned room that is somewhat sound friendly, even high end sub woofers will not perform well... IMHO

I would like to add that there are people like me who have difficulty hearing in certain levels and a sound system is not going to improve that.

Also a friend of a relative of mine is deaf on one ear and hears very bad on the other ear. I might add that I suspect a good sound system is not going to improve that either.

[samsara]

thanks for all the suggestions, guys.

im finding my main issue to be hdmi INPUTS. everything 10k and up has an hdmi OUTPUT but its rather difficult to find a receiver with any inputs (im looking for at least 2).

anyone know what brand(s) i should look for? so far ive found only pioneer, lg, and samsung to have the setup similar to what im wanting. onkyo does as well, but cant find the system anywhere in thailand (and not looking to go through vat/import process).

[FolkGuitar]

I would like to add that there are people like me who have difficulty hearing in certain levels and a sound system is not going to improve that.

My hearing is so bad these days that I can use the speakers out of old telephone handsets without noticing any loss of sound quality. Be careful that you don't pay for speakers putting out sounds so low or high that you aren't able to hear them.

[prism]

thanks for all the suggestions, guys.

im finding my main issue to be hdmi INPUTS. everything 10k and up has an hdmi OUTPUT but its rather difficult to find a receiver with any inputs (im looking for at least 2).

anyone know what brand(s) i should look for? so far ive found only pioneer, lg, and samsung to have the setup similar to what im wanting. onkyo does as well, but cant find the system anywhere in thailand (and not looking to go through vat/import process).

Just about all the new receivers out there have several HDMI inputs. Pioneer is widely available in Thailand. Also check out the new Yamaha and Denon receivers. Neo Entertainment carries Denon.

[Greenside]

Siam TV have a Pioneer with the (now fairly standard) HDMI 4 in 1 out but it's around 14k without speakers. Onkyo's entry level HT-S3500 is about 16K at Robinsons and includes a speaker set plus a dual zone output so you can play just stereo in a different room (should you have one!).If neither fits your budget, you can easily buy a 3/1 or 4/1 HDMI switch with or without remote for about 1500 baht at the AV shop opposite JIB on the 2nd floor of Panthip Plaza.

PS If you find a very cheap HDMI switch, make sure it carries audio as well as vision.

Edited July 30, 2012 by Greenside

[THAIPHUKET]

May I deviate just a bit= looking for wireless/bluetooth speakers, I like internet music because of it endless possibilities to switch according to my mood from Latin American to classical or experimental music.

Any recommendation for that?

Come to think of it, I probably could also connect the PC with a receiver. This , however, means that PC and receiver ought to be quite close to each other, not to loose transmission quality. And a wireless connection PC to receiver , possible or not?

Edited July 30, 2012 by THAIPHUKET

[Greenside]

I have tried various solutions to your issue. A cheap FM transmitter hooked into the speaker out jack via a splitter works but the cheap ones are just that and not great reception. More expensive versions available in the US but research carefully. I ended up with Roberts Wi-Fi radio from the UK that has the advantage that you can select the station and programme from the unit but it's heavy on batteries so best to buy one with built in rechargeables that will top up if you connect to the mains. There are many types to choose from but they all (as far as I know) get their programming via a gateway website and the one mine uses is not always kept up to date - for example if I want to listen to the midnight news from the BBC at say 8am here, sometimes it's not available until later in the morning. Sometimes even the next day.

Another extremely irritating thing is that if your internet has a hiccup, the programme you are listening to starts again from the beginning. Obviously that's only if you are listening to a podcast (which technically the BBC's "Listen Again" material is) so it's the case mostly due to the time differences. It's really annoying.

There are forums dedicated to internet radio and it's worth hanging out for a while to see what the current issues are.

Edited July 30, 2012 by Greenside

[OriginalPoster]

May I deviate just a bit= looking for wireless/bluetooth speakers, I like internet music because of it endless possibilities to switch according to my mood from Latin American to classical or experimental music.

Any recommendation for that?

Come to think of it, I probably could also connect the PC with a receiver. This , however, means that PC and receiver ought to be quite close to each other, not to loose transmission quality. And a wireless connection PC to receiver , possible or not?

Logitech sells a device called the Sqeezebox Touch that is good for that type of thing. The Sqeezebox connects to your receiver or to an an outboard DAC and pulls music from your PC by WiFi. You can also use it to listen to internet radio stations (in which case you don't need a PC). When used to play ripped CD's or SACD's from your PC the sound quality is superb; the internet radio sound quality is nothing to write home about though.

Edited July 30, 2012 by OriginalPoster

[THAIPHUKET]

OriginalPoster, you indeed made my curious, what is ripped CD? Admittedly, Wikipedia only added to the confusion http://tinyurl.com/3yegzd

But I don't want to hijack some else's thread. Will PM.

.

[OriginalPoster]

OriginalPoster, you indeed made my curious, what is ripped CD? Admittedly, Wikipedia only added to the confusion http://tinyurl.com/3yegzd

But I don't want to hijack some else's thread. Will PM.

.

Ripping a CD is the process of copying it from a CD to a harddrive. EAC and dbPoweramp are tools often used for that purpose. When done that way the ripped files should be bit-for-bit identical to what's on the original CD and should sound the same if placed back through a DAC that's of similar quality to what's in your CD player.

[T_Dog]

May I deviate just a bit= looking for wireless/bluetooth speakers, I like internet music because of it endless possibilities to switch according to my mood from Latin American to classical or experimental music.

Any recommendation for that?

Come to think of it, I probably could also connect the PC with a receiver. This , however, means that PC and receiver ought to be quite close to each other, not to loose transmission quality. And a wireless connection PC to receiver , possible or not?

thaiphuket.... Although not a wireless solution, just buy a cable from Amorn that has an earphone plug on one end (goes in your PC or Laptop) and two RCA plugs on the other end. Buy a nice stereo/dvd/surround system and plug those RCA plugs of the cable into the line input of the unit. Now you have lots of power, speakers everywhere and can listen to internet radio anywhere in the house. Allows you to have a very high quality listening experience and the diversity the internet provides.