I am first year student about to move into a student house next year and have decided to buy a hi-fi for our living room. I have a budget of around £1000 for an amp and speakers. I have been looking at the B&W 603 S3 (£500, Sevenoaks), and was also considering the new Rotel RA-03, which is also around £500. Would these pair well together? Or can anyone recommend a better package for a similar price? (The system will be used mainly for music, however it will be used in conjunction with a DVD player and Sky+)

Hi Michael,

The 603s have been getting good reviews, although some have noted a slightly hard top end sound. For around the £500 mark, you could have a look at the Rega R3 floorstanders, or the Epos M12.2 standmounts - both of which are excellent all-rounders.

The RA-03 is a good choice for an amp as it gives a clear unfussy sound and is relatively versatile as to what speakers partner it. There are others you might want to test out as well - the Exposure 2010s and the Marantz PM7200 KI are probably its nearest competitors. There's a review of the 2010 here.

Give the B&W 602s a listen. I've not heard the 603s but apparently the 602 isn't quite as harsh sounding.

Micheal,
try the Nad 352ct amp, the Nad 521bee/542 cd player's and maybe a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze B2's. Make sure though that you get a get pair of stands if buying the B2's.

All this gear will give great value for money and excellent sound.

Michael

Not sure where you're located mate, but I'm looking to punt a Myryad MI-120 integrated amp in excellent condition (do a search and you'll see it's a well rated £700 integrated amp). I'm looking for £275, which would leave you more money for speakers, DVD kit or beer.

As ever, curious where you're located for possible dem / look at it?

Hi Michael Ireland, what the hell is a student doing with a grand, spend it on more serious stuff like wine women and song. Just go on ebay and get High quality kit from 5 or 6 years ago for next to nothing. You can get £1000 worth of amplifier for example for 2-3 hundred pounds and it will definately be better thana 2-3 hundred pound brand new amp of today. The same applies to speakers. Technology has improved in CD reproduction with new recording techniques but believe me an expensive amp or speakers from even 10 years ago will still be better than a new £300 amp or speakers. Cheers. Paul.

I agree with Paul. You could get a second hand Quad system and a pair of EPOS all within that budget.

If I could go back to when I was a student, which is tens of thousands of pounds of hifi ago for me, that is exactly what I would do.

I'd think also about second hand Naim. The advantage of good quality second hand is that you roughly get your money back when you sell it. I've made a profit on all of my Quad and Epos purchases. If you buy new, you'll be flushing money away which may matter to you as a student.

When you come to sell them, you also notice that Quad and Naim also go within about two or three days of your ad going in Loot or hififorsale.com so you can cash out easily if you want a change.

Naim and Quad (to a lesser extent) will also provide good support.

Cheers for all the advice. And I will look into it. I have in the meantime been looking now to get the new Rotel RA-03 combined with the new Monitor Audio RS6 floodstanders. This combination will come to around £1100 so I will also look into the second hand market.

First year student with a budget of £1000?! You lucky devil. I'd go for the NAD range(C352CT amp and EPOS M5 speaker). Slightly cheaper, but got a cracking review in What Hi-Fi?. Works out £700 for speakers and amps..... I'd advise you save the remaining £300 as a beer contingency fund.

Hmmmm, thinking back to my student days pretty much everything in our house got mistreated, lost or broken. I'd think very seriously about spending a grand on hi fi equipment unless you are made of money and damaging it won't bother you. Just get something alot cheaper and spend the rest of the money on a big fridge and some beers, wines and spirits to fill it up.

Thanks for the advice guys but I think I have made my final decision. I decided a while ago to go with the combination of the new RA-03 from Rotel and Monitor Audio's new RS6s. You may, if you are a keen hi-fi magazine reader, notice my published letter in this months "what hi-fi" and they too say students should be spending their money on beer! Don't you worry yourselves as I will be doing both ;)

I did audtion the RA-03 and the RS6's together last week and was very impressed, however I am yet to find, either online or in a publication any reviews of the new RS6s. Though of course my ears will make any final decisions!

Thanks for all your advise

Glad you've come to decision, be sure to let us know how the set up works out and sounds once you set it up. That is if you can find a minute in between all of the snakebite drinking, greasy pizza eating and wearing of cones on your head that you'll be doing at uni!

Michael
Forget all these other amps and go for a Sonic ImpactTAMP, save yourself a few bob go out for a few nights have a few drinks.buy an eight and thank me for letting you in on the cheapest bit of hi - fi out there right now
Just type sonic impact into your goooogyy bar and off you go

Hi John, I have just read the 6moons review of this little amp and it appears too good to be true. Do you own one or have you heard one. If its as good as they say it is the hard part will be getting hold of one. Cheers. Paul.

HI PAUL
HE IS A LEAD TO WHERE YOU CAN BUY THE SONIC
IMPACT
http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/t-amp_e.html

I BOUGHT MY TWO AT THINKGEEK AND THEY ARRIVED WITHIN 3 DAYS . BUY ONE, TRY IT,
PLAY WITH IT FOR AT LEAST100 HOUR AND THEN START TO IMPROVE ON POWER SUPPLYS AND THE REST.
EVERYTHING IS IN THE ADDRESS I GAVE IN MY PREVIOUS POST AND THE REASON I BOUGHT TWO WAS THE SECOND WAS FOR MY SON WHO LAUGHED WHEN HE SAW IT NEXT TO MY OTHER EQUIPTMENT
I RUN A MARANTZ SA1 THROUGH A CLASSE DR 6 PRE, CLASSE CA 300 POWER AMP AND MONITOR AUDIO GR60 GOLD SPEAKERS

I DONT WANT TO GO INTO CABLES STANDS ETC
IM NOT SAYING THE SONIC SETUP IS AS GOOD AS MY MAIN SYSTEM BUT THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING IS IN THE EATING SO TRY AND ENJOY