General Comments

I used to be the type who loved walking around Comet looking at all the latest mini systems with their flashing lights, graphic equalisers and hundreds of toys. Eventually I got my hands on an expensive JVC system. It seemed pretty nice at first but a few things got on my nerves. Most remote controls are quite good - you've got about a 30 degree angle that you can move from side to side of your hi-fi and the control will still work. Not so my JVC - unless the control was pointed precisely at the unit it was no go - at the end of the day, it was a waste of space. I liked the little speakers the rotated when you changed sound modes, but not the metres of thick ribbon ...

Added 06-10-2000 One thing I have found after having built a simple home cinema system is that the system should be balanced and that you should not cut back on any part, even down to the speaker cable. An all round good system will sound far better than a great amp with great speakers but with a £20 second hand CD player. Balance is the key especially with home cinema. Spend about 25% on a DVD player, 30% on an amp, 15 % on fronts, 10% on centre, 7.5% on rears and the other 12.5% on connectors and speaker cable. This will ensure a balanced system. Good luck ___________________________________________________________ Hi-Fi separates ...

Firstly, I should give you a little bit of background. I am (or was) very anti-vinyl. Even back when it was the way you got your new album, I would always tape the record and from then on use that. For many people, vinyl is an all-round experience, but I never really liked it. When I was young, my family had a Dynatron music system with a Garrard record deck. The sound from that, playing a 12" single was immense. However, in the eighties, we were forced to hate records due to the awful quality of the vinyl used and the awful plasticcy tackiness of those "midi record decks". We all went over to CD didn't we? Cut to 1991. I am living ...