Home Sound System quote - any good?

Now not being an expert on these things, I thought you folks might assist?

Just looking for a good quality sound system for the living room, cd player, amp and speakers, would like a radio aswell.

I've been quoted €1700 for 2 KEF Q7 series speakers, NAD C320 Amp, NAD C525BEE separate CD and all the cables. Separate NAD radio was another €300!

So what do you think? Or can you suggest any alternatives? Not interested in cinema surround sound systems, etc just good speakers and cd player (that I can also hook my ipod into).

Thanks for any guidance.

check out this website to get a comparison

NAD is a good make - the CD player and amp are top drawer and rated very highly. Try getting your hands on a copy of What hi-fi for a look. Good websites include www.audioreview.com

An alternative to buying is separate radio is to get a reveiver (i.e. amp and radio all in one), NAD do this.

The KEF speakers are also excellant. I believe what- hi-fi gave them 5 stars in a recent review.

Alternatives include:

Rotel (I have an amp / cd player from them and it sounds wonderful)
Arcam

Happy listening!

What do you mean by good - is the equipment good quality, or is the price fair for the equipment. Answer imo is yes it's good mid-fi stuff. However, price seems a bit steep. Can't remember the exact rrp for it, but the boxes you're getting are entry level nad gear. Assume 300-350 for amp, 300-350 for cd player. Just guessing, but those speakers would be approx 300? so a total of 1k for equipment with about 100 or so for cables.

Having said that, hi-fi is only good if you think its good. The only way to do that is to compare a number of different options and solutions. Experts and manufacturers differ, but usually the biggest change you make to the sound is the speakers. All the other kit should be bought to suit them e.g. making the amp has sufficient power etc. My experience is that having a budget cd player especially for complex music is a waste of money, better players are more involving.

Also ime, don't be fooled by mumbo jumbo in cables. Make sure the speaker cable is good and thick - multistranded copper should do. There are lots of different factors which affect how cables might sound between different bits of kit
e.g. impedance, but it's impossible to generalise. Try them out and if you can't hear the difference between the free cheapo and your €100 rhodium plated doo-dad then you know what to do!

updated:
kef q7 are discontinued. New iQ7 speakers seem to be approx £575 e.g €900 or so. These are floorstanders - do you have a big room to put them in?

Hi-fi is pretty subjective - some people are happy with a €100 hi-fi that sits on the kitchen worktop, some will spend literally 1,000's to get the best from a system, including spending what seems like riduculous money on components such as inetrconnects, speaker cable, etc. The choice and cost is endless. Horses for courses.

It is undeniable there is a huge difference between an entry level hi-fi and a 'boom box' that flashes and warbles. I had a pretty basic / bottom line marantz CD player for over 10 years, friends agreed it sounded amazing when the heard it. When it eventually died (laser packed in, not worth replacing), I traded up to a Rotel - it cost about €600, a good mid-range player. It certainly sounds more convincing over the marantz - instruments are more realistic, well placed in the sound stage and it handles complex pieces of music well due to its higher sampling rate (24-bit/96kHz). All in all I'm very happy with it.

I agree with Aldark in that the quality of the system has to be matched - my CD player paired with a crappy amp will not do it any justice. Spend the money wisely and you'll have a system that puts a smile on your face whenever you spin a disc.

Looking back, here are a few pointers I would add when choosing a set up:

1. Most important is to listen to a set-up and hear what is good for you. Some people prefer a warmer sound (an Arcam will gernally deliver this), to a more pure / atatcking sound (Rotel, maybe NAD, will generally deliver this).

2. Power rating - don't get hung up on Watt rating of amps. My Rotel amp is 40w per channel - this is plenty to fill an average medium sized living room. Don't let a salesman flog you a leviathan that will over power your space. Upgrade options worth looking for in an amp include pre-out (for pairing it with a power amp), 12v triggers (for remote operation, for example a wall mounted key pad in another room), a remote control, plenty of inputs (for CD, radio, turntable, casette player, DVD etc etc), switched paired speakers (i.e. that will run 2 pairs of speakers - handy for separate rooms)

3. Bear in mind that that lower impedance of a speaker will challenge an amp - the lower the ohm rating, the harder it is for the amp to work the speakers. Most speakers are in the range 4 - 8ohms (floor standing speakers tend to have a lower impedance). This may also have an impact if you run 4 speakers from an amp - a good amp will generally olny handle a max of 4 ohm when both speakers are running.

4. Spend money on good quality cables, but don't get carried away. 10% of the cost of the system is a general rule of thumb. A good system will be crippled by poor quality cables (for example, bell wire or standard electricalcopper cable). It's all about conducivity - the more you can transmit down a given cable, the better the sound.

5. Get your hands on what hi-fi / hi-fi choise magazine and get familiar with what's out there. Not all systems on paper will sound the same.

Right, cheers for that advise folks, looks like i'm going to have to do abit more boning up before i invest! generally speaking would you be happy with a set of KEF speakers and a NAD amp and cd player? I suppose we listen to the more mellow type of music and its not going to be cranked up that often but i do want a good sound throughout our living room. Can you get digital radios to go with these things, the NAD amp i saw had a built in ordinary radio?
Thanks again