Recommend Me A Bookshelf Stereo System

[CyberJCM]

I need real music back in my home and my life!

I used to have a big stereo with big speakers, lots of power and fancy Hi-Fi bells n' whistles. Then, I got married, bought "her" house, and had a couple babies. My days of blasting the tunes were gone, and I sold it all off.

Well, I'm older and more settled down now, the babies are grown into kids, and I've found the absence of music playing around me has had a negative effect on my mood and general well being. I want that back!

iPods and headphones are ok occasionally, and the computer will work in a pinch. But I want something thats a true stereo. I don't have a place for a big floor speaker system anymore, and no need for a room full of speakers surround system. A decent Bookshelf System will be perfect. I'm a bit out of the game on whats what in audio these days, but I know these type systems remain fairly straight forward. But I do have some requirements:

Decent power - Something I can crank up a bit and hear throughout the house
Classy Form Factor - Nothing like a plastic-y Boombox
CD player
iPod Dock or Connection
Speaker Size - The space I have for it can probably accomodate a 6" woofer size, give or take, and I have room for a seperate subwoofer
Great full sound - Good bass and great tone
Well Priced - I'm not interested in a high end high dollar system, but I don't want cheap Walmart brand either. Something midrange, maybe $300 budget give or take

My music preference is pretty much all forms of Rock, keeping that in mind. But some versatility for the wifes Country or the kids... whatever the hell that is they listen to.

Can anyone share a recommendation or point me to a system given all that? What do you guys listen to your music on?

Thanks!

 

[one cut]

Bose Cube Speakers, I know there expensive but they are small, with very good sound.
The first time I played records with thouse speakers hooked up I herd sounds I did not know were on there.

Put the 300 $ into the speakers and then hook up what ever you have, because the sound is what you live for.

 

[CyberJCM]

Bose Cube Speakers, I know there expensive but they are small, with very good sound.
The first time I played records with thouse speakers hooked up I herd sounds I did not know were on there.

Put the 300 $ into the speakers and then hook up what ever you have, because the sound is what you live for.

Thats part of the problem. I need a whole system. I don't have a receiver or playback components anymore

 

[peak_oil]

I feel your pain. And, I know you will get what you want. Things have changed in the last ten years. The days of Best Buy gear being unacceptable are gone. Lots of well known companies have gone legit and make good stuff. I recently scored a Sony receiver for $143 brand new in box, and a Polk 10" sub for $70. For speakers, you might consider these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...147&nm_mc=AFC-IR&cm_mmc=AFC-IR-_-na-_-na-_-na

Or maybe two of these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...147&nm_mc=AFC-IR&cm_mmc=AFC-IR-_-na-_-na-_-na

Or a pair of these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290276

I realize all of these are from newegg, but I got the link from fatwallet.com. I made a mental list of what I wanted and checked in with fatwallet from time to time. Eventually, I wound up with a very workable receiver that does more than I need it to, a sub that very clearly gets a gold medal for my fairly small space, and complements my quite capable floorstanding speakers.

Other than those pieces, I would suggest one of the blu-ray players that has built in wifi so you can stream Netflix and Amazon Prime. I haven't had cable in years and don't miss it at all. I buy enough junk from Amazon that the $79 annual fee covers shipping and then some and THEN some, but the free movies and TV shows are a huge bonus. And you get Pandora, which is a great music service. I got my blu-ray for about $90.

Total outlay for a system as described above is about $500. Not quite your $300 range, but it's soooooooo much better and you'll have a lot of flexibility with it.

There is another great way to go. If you can hook up a TV to the system, get yourself a blu-ray player with wifi streaming and a set of computer speakers. Some of them have little cubey-type speakers and a sub. Klipsch makes one. I have a set of Logitech computer speakers hooked up to a blu-ray player in the living room where my kids play. I think the speakers were about $50 and they do a pretty good job. A couple years ago I used to bring them to work and hook up my mp3 player to the input. They were great for that application.

Here's one thought on that note

http://www.klipsch.com/computer-speakers

Here's a receiver deal

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/expired-deals/1329677/

 

[Legion]

I bought some Harmon Kardon Soundsticks for my computer, but they will hook up to most anything. They sound great for the price. And they look pretty cool, which is a bonus.

 

[Teppanyaki]

I have a component stereo that has been replaced bit by bit over more than 2 decades. These days, I like simplicity and good sound.

I have a Logitech Wireless Boombox. When plugged in, it sounds pretty darn decent, and I can get my iPhone with Pandora to sync to it with no muss, no fuss.

I haven't researched any all-in-one systems, but I do think Yamaha makes great stuff. I will admit that a good subwoofer makes a big difference.

 

[dpm802]

If you're going to be moving throughout the house and not sitting directly in front of the unit, you might want to consider a high-quality Mono system instead of Stereo.

The name that comes to my mind is Koss Tivoli. I've never owned one, but its been something I've been drooling over for years.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_2...&keywords=tivoli+audio&ie=UTF8&qid=1389753338

 

[FunnyHoney]

Bose wavesystem. Don't need to buy amp, tuner, etc..

 

[CyberJCM]

Thank you guys!

I bought a system yesterday at Sams Club that was $300. It's a Pioneer 5.1 receiver and a pair of bookshelf speakers and a sub. I set it up just to test, because I didn't want to fully install it in the intended location until I was sure it was a keeper. The receiver has all these bells n whistles, ipod, Pandora, network ready, a bunch of sound modes and Dolby this and that, etc. etc. After playing with it for awhile, and having to read the manual to even get it working (I've never had to do that with any stereo!) I've decided that it's complexity is a major downside and simply not what I wanted. It has to be hooked up to a TV through HDMI to get to all the features, and is remote dependant. Another bug downer. It sounds pretty good, I can't take that away from it really. Although, the subwoofer had a hard time balancing between not really being a strong presence to thwompy depending on the music and volume, and I had to adjust it too much.

So, I'm going to return it and try again. I really want something simple that allows me to play a wide range of music either nice and loud or just in the background and sound good. I like some of the suggestions given so far, and am currently researching

Does anyone know of a simple stereo receiver with decent power, that isn't designed for home theater, possibly even 2.0 or 2.1 with a sub out and ipod capability that doesn't look like a futuristic boombox?

 

[dklaiman]

Does anyone know of a simple stereo receiver with decent power, that isn't designed for home theater, possibly even 2.0 or 2.1 with a sub out and ipod capability that doesn't look like a futuristic boombox?

For this, you should look used/vintage. As long as it has an auxiliary input, you should be fine with an iPod--it won't have charging capabilities. There are plenty of nice new ones out there, but they're probably more than you want to spend

 

[ksjp2008]

Bose Soundwave has been mentioned a few times and I have to agree.. Quality Sound, great product..

 

[Rhythm and Blues]

The good stuff is hard to find these days, I use to love my old tube radio....try finding one of those in good shape. I think if you just settle for a modern bookshelf system, plastic and all you will find it meets all yer criteria and is fairly simple

 

[Jack Burton]

B&H has an Onkyo system for around $200. I know it's hard to tell online, but the same system reviews well on Crutchfield.

 

[tinashubby]

Not really a bookshelf system, but for what its worth. This is my receiver. I did not want any complexity, or anything that was remote dependent. I did not even want surround sound, just something that would power 2-4 speakers and a sub. Something I found with some of the big box store home theater receivers, is that you could not turn off the speakers while listening to headphones-a deal breaker for me for sure. This Yamaha allows me to do that, and it will certainly make plenty of noise with some good speakers. It does not have usb port (bummer), and streaming from the internet is possibly limited compared to some models. I do have a Roku player and I am able to stream Pandora through my receiver just fine, all I have to do is turn on the tv, and mute the volume.
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/hifi-components/stereo-receivers/r-s300/?mode=model
I do like the looks of the Tivoli radio!

 

[Maxray]

Could always go vintage. I would stay away from Bose personally.

My recommendation would be a set of nice powered speakers like these:

http://audioengineusa.com/Store/A5-plus-B-Powered-Speakers

They sound phenomenal - and they have two inputs that you could just connect your ipod to, or a used CD player to or whatever source you want. A buddy of mine has these with an apple airport express connected to them which allows him to stream from his iTunes collection to it - remote controlled from his iphone.

These are audiophile class speakers and will sound better than any other portable/boombox system around its price point. They feature a silk dome tweeter which is a key feature for me, no harshness up high and they go low enough that you shouldn't need a subwoofer.

 

[CyberJCM]

B&H has an Onkyo system for around $200. I know it's hard to tell online, but the same system reviews well on Crutchfield.

Thats a really good possibility. I'm going to have to try and find it in store somewhere, see how I like it!

Could always go vintage. I would stay away from Bose personally.

My recommendation would be a set of nice powered speakers like these:

http://audioengineusa.com/Store/A5-plus-B-Powered-Speakers

They sound phenomenal - and they have two inputs that you could just connect your ipod to, or a used CD player to or whatever source you want. A buddy of mine has these with an apple airport express connected to them which allows him to stream from his iTunes collection to it - remote controlled from his iphone.

These are audiophile class speakers and will sound better than any other portable/boombox system around its price point. They feature a silk dome tweeter which is a key feature for me, no harshness up high and they go low enough that you shouldn't need a subwoofer.

Despite all the recommendations, I'm with you on Bose. They're all priced out of my budget, and frankly, though they do sound very good, I think they're a bit overrated.

My only experience with powered speakers has been with big, concert sized stuff. Xlr connections and things like that. Far more than a home setup lol. While the ones you showed are a bit more than I'm comfortable with, the general idea is a sound possibility!

Not really a bookshelf system, but for what its worth. This is my receiver. I did not want any complexity, or anything that was remote dependent. I did not even want surround sound, just something that would power 2-4 speakers and a sub. Something I found with some of the big box store home theater receivers, is that you could not turn off the speakers while listening to headphones-a deal breaker for me for sure. This Yamaha allows me to do that, and it will certainly make plenty of noise with some good speakers. It does not have usb port (bummer), and streaming from the internet is possibly limited compared to some models. I do have a Roku player and I am able to stream Pandora through my receiver just fine, all I have to do is turn on the tv, and mute the volume.
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/hifi-components/stereo-receivers/r-s300/?mode=model
I do like the looks of the Tivoli radio!

Sounds like we're in the same place as far as what we wanted! That Yamaha you shared is right along the lines of what I want, hooked up to a decent set of speakers. I'm definitely going to research that more!

 

[Maxray]

If a receiver is where you want to go - there are tons of good 2 channel models on craigslist etc that you can pick up cheap as most people want surround these days. This will allow you to spend a bit more on speakers - which is a good place to put your $.

 

[Mick]

This is what we have in our cabin in New Hampshire. Cabin is VERY small so no room for anything larger than very small (360 sq ft). The location is VERY remote so all we have are tunes (no TV) and the FM stations are at the extreme of reception (80 +/- miles).

Mounted the satellite's high on the wall upside down (tweet down, mids up to bounce the ceiling) with a sub-woofer in a corner under a table. Tunes are on my Zune 128 which is in the AUX input. Wired the cabin for sound when we build it so no wires dangling around

Satellite's are B&W LM1. Sub-woofer is M&K. Electronics are McIntosh.

You don't know it is there until you turn it on then it dominates the room

 

[Jack Burton]

If a receiver is where you want to go - there are tons of good 2 channel models on craigslist etc that you can pick up cheap as most people want surround these days. This will allow you to spend a bit more on speakers - which is a good place to put your $.

You may find something great this way. I have a NAD 302 integrated amplifier that's been in my garage for years because I don't have anywhere to put it right now. But I haven't been able to part with it. It sounds sweet. Maybe someday I'll have it set up again.

 

[N1CK]

It's hard to get good and loud for 300 bucks. A nice set of bookshelf speakers is going to cost all of that.