Audiophile newbie

Go shopping for a couple of weeks, read a couple of magazines, then get back to us. You need to decide on a rough budget, types of music you like, the location of the system, 2 channel or home theater, does size matter, do you love bass or will the neighbors kill you...

A preamp is where you select the device you want to listen to i.e.. Vinyl, CD, Server, it also serves as a volume attenuation / gain device and it drives the cable and the power amp. Its the control center of your hifi system in short.

A integrated amplifier is a preamp and a power amp in one box.

Cables, contrary to what others may chime in with, is the least important thing to worry about, not saying they don't matter, however they are secondary. Source components, speakers, amplifiers and the room they go in should be considered first, then start worrying about cables.

There are many choices for "best bang for your buck" brands, of the ones you mention the only one I have any experience with is Arcam, they make very decent equipment.

Good Listening,

Peter

Welcome to what can be an insane hobby. To get an idea of what brands, prices, and components do, get your hands of a "recommended Components" issue of Stereophile, jump on a few sites, and read a lot: AGon, Absolute Sound, Enjoythemusic, etc. Most of us are self-educated (and much poorer than when we started… ha ha).

Personally I find when starting a system find speakers that sound the best for you for the type of music you like and what is in your budget. A very general rule of thumb is to spend approx 50% of your budget on speakers. I would then suggest an integrated amp to start (pre and amp in 1 box). Then there is the source (garbage in garbage out).

That said there is something known as system synergy. That is when all the components sound good together. So once you have picked out speakers you need to find an amp that can drive them and sound great. Not all amps - speakers or sources sound good together. Some will be better than others. What may sound great to me may sound like cr@p to you or visa versa.

What you really need to do is get out and seriously listen to as much as you can to get a feel for what you like and can afford.

Best of luck