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Hi-fi systems have evolved over the past three decades. Since their inception in the late 1970's, they have become smaller in stature and superior in quality. They evolved from relatively bulky devices, to slimline midi / mini systems because of of CD's. While for many years hifi systems included both a turntable and a CD player. As time passed, and vinyl records waned in popularity, turntables were slowly removed from hifi systems. Manufacturers began to see a leap in the sales of their mini hifi systems, which were more compact and living room friendly. In 2008 you'll be hard pressed to find a integrated hifi system which isn't classified as midi or mini in dimension. Small proportions are a key selling feature, and helps distinguishes the integrated hifi from the more expensive, and better sounding hifi 'separates'. To began with most integrated hifi systems were cheap and poor sounding, costing about £50, they were primarily made by budget brands like Bush, Goodmans and Alba. Today, many specialist hifi manufacturers, such as Arcam, Cambridge Audio, Denon and Teac manufacture them. And prices can range from £300 to £800.

Recommended Resources

• Comet- Hifi's - Comet are one of the UK's leading electrical high street shops.
• Hifi Bitz - Find hifi systems and sperates from a massive range of brands. .
• Empire Direct - Hifi's - They sell quality Hi Fi equipment, Home Cinema products.
• Hi-Fi Choice Magazine - Hi-Fi Choice..
• HI-FI World Magazine - Britain's expert hi-fi magazine!
• What Hi-Fi? - Chat. Sound Advice.

Features to look for;,

• Digital Sound Processor (DSP) - alters the atmosphere of the sound.
• CD compatible playback
• Dolby Pro Logic surround sound for 4-channel sound
• Dolby B noise reduction for cassette decks, this reduces the hissing noice
• WMA compatible, CDs burnt on your PC which can fit far more tracks onto CDs
• RDS tuner for the radio. Will pre-set favourite stations and display the name of the station.

Terms explained;

CDR compatible; allows the playback of recordable cds. Such discs do not allow tracks to be erased once they have been recorded. You may find older hifi systems will not recoginise recordable cds burnt on a pc for example. Therefore you may require a newer hifi to play them. Most average priced hifi's are now CDR compatible.

CD recorder; allows for advanced CD recording technology which enables you to record from the CD changer, radio or external sources to create your own music discs and compilations. If you are into burning cds and creating mp3 compilations than this is a great feature to want on a new hifi system. Currently in 2003 a cd recorder is only included on more hi spec hifi systems so you may have to spend at least £200 for this feature.

CDRW compatible; means the hifi enables the playback of re-writable cds. Rewritable discs can be erased and recorded on again and again. A re-writable cd or CDRW have been priced in 2003 at around £10 and therefore are more expensive than a normal recordable cd, but have the huge advantage that they can be erased and recorded on as many times as you like.

MP3 CD playback; means you can create your own mp3 cds on your PC, to fit lots more music on to one CD. Some low spec or older hifi's do not support this feature, so you always want to look closely on the features available on the hifi you are buying if you create and play mp3 cds. MP3 is an audio compression system that allows users to compress audio files without noticeable loss of quality. MP3 stands for Motion Picture Experts Group Audio Layer 3 (MPEG Audio Layer 3), and because its ability to compress songs, it became de facto standard for music distribution over the web.

DAB radio; feature on a hifi stands for digital sound quality for interference free reception access to more stations to listen to what and when you like digital display and scrolling text Its free with a DAB radio. A dab radio on a hifi also means you can easily tune your radio with electronic buttons, store your favourite stations with the pre-sets and RDS will also display the name of the station you are listening to.

Posted on 20 / 05 / 2003

Aiwa Mini Component Stereo

We currently have a Aiwa mini component stereo and it is just what we were looking for to squeeze into the living room. The sound is great and the price was better than lower quality products. Truly the sound is wonderful for the price. While searching your site we found this same Aiwa mini component stereo and even though we live in the US and this site doesn't ship to the US I would recommend this stereo to UK users.

User Rating -
Dianne, Sacramento

Popularity
Value for money
Ability to find on the Net
Better value than high street

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Hifi systems come in four broad price spectrums. The very cheap £20-50, ideal for small children, those of a moderate standard £50-150, maybe to placed in a kitchen. Those of a good standard £150-300, ideal for a living room. And those which aim to produce a sound equal to that of hifi systems made up from separate units £300-800, aimed at the audio enthuriast.