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General discussion

New Sound System for a Santa Fe?

Jun 12, 2007 3:52AM PDT

Any suggestions? How can I listen to my iPod? Any good stereos?

Discussion is locked

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I'm a bit lost too
Jun 12, 2007 12:34PM PDT

How exactly does one know what setup to get. Where is a guide for this?

Specifically, I have heard that Kenwood and Pioneer are really good. Great, so I pick out the deck I want... now how do I know what speakers to get? Is there some formula I should look for? Like if over XX watts get ZZ type speaker?

Example, one deck that looked good was rated 100 watts X 4 chanel. Someone said that means it's 25 watts a channel, meaning my speaker need only handle 25 watts. But if the speakers are too big that's bad, and if the wattage is too low I need an Amp, so GAH! How do I know what to get!

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don't buy power or amps
Dec 25, 2007 9:11AM PST

One of the worst mistake to make when shopping for audio equipment is to be impressed by watts (or pixels when you buy a TV). Lame sales persons will always tell you "this receiver is so great, it's got 200W per channel.

Good speaker brands are Monitor Audio, B&W, Paradigm, Revel, Wilson, and a lot of others. There's a bunch of good speakers at any price point, it's tough to recommend a particular set of speakers. A lot depend on the content you listen to (music ? movies ? regular tv broadcast ?). Not to knock on main stores but you don't tend to find knowledgeable salesperson in big name stores. They'll sell you whatever they have, that's the bottom line. A good starting point is researching online through sites such as audio perfection, audioholics.com or maybe stereophile.com for high end stuff.