If you’re looking to build a quality hi-fi system that will give you the best possible sound for your tastes, then this succinct guide is right up your alley.

When we talk about a quality hi-fi system, we’re talking about a stereo “two-channel” system. Not a single speaker that plays by itself, or a 5.1 surround sound system, or a soundbar; rather a pair of speakers (and maybe a subwoofer).

The reason for this is because when it comes to sound quality — clarity, realism, nuance — a pair of speakers gives the best results. You only need two speakers to achieve stereo, allowing them to place sounds around a room and create an amazing soundstage.

Below I’ll cover:

• Are stereo hi-fi systems worth it?
• Here’s what you need to build a hi-fi system
• Understand the process of choosing components
• The most financially smart way to build a hi-fi system

Now the first question may be…

If you close your eyes and listen to the space around you, assuming there are sounds, you can tell with incredible accuracy where those sounds are coming from and even what’s making them.

The human ears are powerful. Professionals in the recording world know this, and they work to capture as much of it as possible. Thus, there’s a lot of auditory information on most recorded music.

Yet today, most people listen to flat, distorted and severely limited playback of their music. And they’re so used to it, they don’t even realise what they’re missing.

This is (in part) because our enjoyment of music is often associative. When we hear a song (or perhaps even a style of music) that we already know and love, we associate its sound with the positive feelings it once gave us.

In other words, the music we already love can impact our emotions even if it’s played by a poor quality speaker or audio system. The brain can “fill in” missing details by memory, allowing the feelings to persist even when fidelity is low. That’s why for many, it’s easy to think that a poor quality system is good enough.

However, could our favorite music make an even greater impact on us if it were played through a high-fidelity system?

Browse audio threads on Reddit and you’ll find the answer. First-time experiences of people who hear high-fidelity playback of songs they’ve been listening to for years involve goosebumps, crying, and words like “life changing” and “unforgettable.” Sometimes people realise they’ve gotten lyrics wrong or hear instruments and effects they never knew existed.

It makes sense, too. Quality systems reproduce sound with more clarity, dynamic range, and detail. They capture subtle textures, vocal inflections, and spatial effects — all elements that can enhance emotional cues.

More sensory information makes for more excitation. Think of the massive buzz when Apple release a new phone with a higher-resolution camera, or the difference between a microwave pizza with bland ingredients versus a woodfired one with fresh basil, fresh tomato sauce and two cheeses.

And with a high-fidelity system, would we also enjoy new music even more?

Absolutely. One of the biggest reasons for this is, when you have a great audio system, you listen to music more. And when you listen to music more, you deepen your relationship to it.

If that sounds like something you want to experience, then…

You need media that holds the recorded music — like a CD, vinyl record or digital file (which can be streamed from a service like Spotify).

You need a source that reads the media and turns it into an analogue signal — which could be a CD player, turntable or network streamer (which contains a DAC, though separate DACs are available).

You need an amplifier that boosts the analogue signal so it’s powerful enough to drive speakers — this can be a separate unit or it can be included inside a network streamer or even a pair of speakers.

And you need speakers to turn the analogue signal into mechanical vibrations that you can hear.

In choosing these items, there are two phases. Phase one involves deciding what kind of setup meets your logistical needs (such as how much space you have, where the products will go, what media you want to play, and so on). And phase two involves selecting specific products based on sound, budget and looks.

It’s convenient, flexible, and allows full resolution audio playback (which means better sound quality).

Here it’s important to understand the difference between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, as both are “streaming” protocols. (Streaming essentially means the audio file is downloaded in chunks so it can be played while it’s downloading.)

Bluetooth is like an invisible aux cable between devices. It doesn’t require a network, and can be done anywhere. It’s a quick and easy way for a phone to connect to an audio device and play music. Then, whatever audio plays on the phone “pushes” to the device in real time. Streaming services, YouTube videos, phone calls, and so on.

On the upside, it’s quick, easy and convenient to connect. On the downside, it reduces sound quality and has short range. It also limits control to one device, which cannot be used to do any other audio function without interrupting playback.

Wi-Fi on the other hand is only usable at home, because it requires a network. This means more setup effort. But once it’s set up, it’s easily more flexible than Bluetooth and it can sound better (because it has way more bandwidth).

With Wi-Fi streaming you can play music from your phone instantly, as long as you’re in range of the router. If someone else wants to choose a song they can add it to the queue without interruption; no re-pairing needed. And unlike Bluetooth, you can use your phone for anything you want and the music doesn’t stop playing. The system becomes an independent entity. Your mobile device only sends commands and receives information; it isn’t actually playing the music in itself.

It's worth noting that some Wi-Fi streamers have wireless capability, while others require an ethernet cable to be connected. The latter can be less convenient, but it's superior when it comes to preventing dropouts and latency issues.

The rest of this guide will assume you’ll want Wi-Fi streaming capability. Then if you want to play vinyl records as well, simply add a turntable.

• Do I want to use Spotify, Tidal or some other streaming service? (Make sure your streamer supports it.)
• Do I want to use files in my own music library? (Look look for a USB-A input or a streamer with UPnP.)
• Do I want to play vinyl records? (Make sure your system has a phono preamp — in the turntable, amp or separately.)
• Do I want to plug any other devices into my system? (Make sure the system has the inputs you need — like HDMI for a TV, or USB-B for a laptop.)
• Where will I put the speakers? (This will help determine size and style.)
• What performance level am I after? (This will help determine budget, floorstanding speakers versus bookshelves, whether to add a subwoofer, and so on.)

That should reveal a checklist of logistical needs — inputs and streaming services that must be included, size limitations, and so on — which will help you decide on a setup type. As you browse products you’ll want to confirm these items in the features and specs.

Now a few quick notes…

In general, at the same budget, separates tend to perform better than combined products. (Such as a traditional integrated amplifier versus a streaming amplifier). That’s because the engineers have more resources and design liberty when they’re making a product that does fewer jobs. There are however some exceptions, where combined products perform exceptionally well.

Also, bigger speakers (like floorstanders) tend to perform better than smaller ones (like bookshelves) from the same product series — more bass and better sound at high volume — however they’re usually more expensive too.

These are some of the reasons that actually auditioning products to get a feel for how they performance is helpful.

Okay, so now you know the components your hi-fi system needs. In order to acquire the right ones for you however, you must…

It all starts with your vision. Answering the question above should’ve helped you to refine this vision, and at this point you should now have a sense of components you need.

How many different styles of music do you listen to? Do you like rich, exciting music with lots of instruments and action? Do you like calm classical or jazz music? Clear acoustic recordings of piano and vocals? Do you love electronic music with deep bass? All of the above?

You’ll want to build a hi-fi system that plays the music you love, in a way that lets you fully experience the emotions you associate with it.

Also consider when you listen to music. Will you sit directly in front of your speakers and give it your full attention? Will you listen while doing other things — like painting or doing chores? Will you listen in the background while spending time with people? Will you watch movies or play video games?

These questions will inform your search for the right sound signature and performance level.

Browsing a few reputable brands’ offerings like this will quickly give you a sense of what to expect in price and performance.

How do you know if a hi-fi brand is “reputable?”

It means they prioritise making products that reproduce recordings to a high standard of fidelity. Some “hi-fi” brands aren’t doing this. Instead, they’re focused on being the most popular, or selling as many units as possible, or looking the most fashionable, without making great audio performance the priority.

It’s difficult to nail down whether a brand is reputable without doing some research. But there are things you can consider.

• Do they offer more “home theatre packs” than they do stereo speakers?
• Do all their products come with bells and whistles and LEDs and Bluetooth?
• Do they have some more expensive flagship offerings?
• Are they discussed in audiophile community forums?

A reputable brand has at least 1–2 lines of traditional, passive stereo speakers or amps or sources that aren’t cheap, and that they’re proud of. And they tend to have fewer (or none) of those cheaper products with bells and whistles.

Once you find one, browse their offerings and get a feel for looks and price points. Then you’ll be ready to start exploring your subjective needs.

Reviews, specs and measurements can only take you so far.

We all have a unique relationship to the sound of music — and there are caveats inherent to reviews, specs and measurements — so listening is the only real way to judge an audio product for oneself.

Plus, the showroom approach is fun. It makes for an outing. Maybe you grab lunch while you’re out and make a day of it. It’s also a chance to meet people who are passionate and experienced, who you can learn from (as long as it’s a good showroom). And it’s a chance to explore fun products that bring your music to life in different ways.

If you absolutely cannot visit a showroom however, that’s okay. There are ways to choose products online and still end up with a sound you’ll love.

You’ll want to gather information about each component’s sound signature, and try to match that to your relationship to music. Consider overall fidelity, highs, lows, and soundstage. Consider timbre — does it sound more warm and rich, or more clean and detailed? Busy, exciting music like rock, electronic and pop often sounds best with a bit of warmth, where acoustic recordings like jazz and classical often shine with a more accurate sound.

(Below you’ll find a showcase of offerings with this kind of information, to help you understand what I mean.)

Now that you understand the process of picking good products, I want to share how best to make the purchase.

It takes a lot of design and manufacturing prowess to accurately reproduce musical recordings. Research, development, prototyping, top engineers and craftspeople with many years’ experience, high-quality materials and sub-components, and so on.

So the reality is, good hi-fi isn’t cheap. The jump up in sound quality from a budget-focused design to a performance-focused design is significant. And even entry-level, performance-focused products are notably more expensive than the common audio products you find at big box movers.

As stated before however, they’re well worth it if you want to fall in love with music.

Even though quality hi-fi isn’t exactly cheap, there are ways to purchase great hi-fi products without dropping a ton of cash up front and disrupting your lifestyle.

There are two ways to get yourself a quality system from a financial perspective:

1. Get everything you need at one time by dropping a ton of cash
2. Get everything you need at one time with minimal affect on your cash flow by taking advantage of a zero interest service

The first approach requires offloading a lot of money in one shot, throwing your finances out of balance by pulling funds that would’ve gone to a safety net, rainy day account, or investing fund. This has never been ideal, but it was the only good option for a long time.

That’s because the second approach used to be called “buy it with a credit card.” It wasn’t really a smart move, because it ended up costing quite a bit more than the price of the system (due to credit card interest).

But now the second approach has evolved.

There are now zero interest payment plan services that allow you to take something home today, and pay for it over many months… and by the end of it, you’ll have paid the exact same amount as if you’d paid in full up front. Not a dollar more.

Once these services became available we jumped on the opportunity to offer this to our clients, because it allows them to bring an exciting new sound system into their lives without putting tension on their finances.

So we partnered with SplitIt; one of the best providers of zero interest payment plans.

We’ve included info to help you understand if each model is a good fit for your needs and listening preferences, just like we discussed above.

If you feel drawn to any of these proven products, we’d love to have you in our showroom in Leichhardt for an audition. Or you can choose based on the information we’ve provided and purchase online.

Either way, you can opt to use SplitIt and spread out your payment over as many as 18 months with zero interest. You pay the same amount whether you do it in one shot, or gradually over 18 months.

This first section is all-in-one wireless speakers systems. Here, everything you need is in one package: a stereo pair of speakers with amplifier and streamer built-in.

These next three sections are for passive speaker and integrated amplifier systems with streaming.

Bookshelf speakers have been prioritised, however floorstanders are a better option if size is no issue. You can view floorstanding speakers here.

Note that you'll need speaker cables here. (Speakers don’t come with cables because reputable hi-fi brands know most of their users prefer to choose their own cables.)

You’ll need to make one choice from each of these three sections to complete a system.

If you love huge bass and want a system that really thumps, you should consider adding a subwoofer. Dedicated subwoofers have big, tight drivers, as well as their own separate amplifier. Even big floorstanding speakers struggle to produce the deep, powerful sub-bass that quality subs do.

If none of the above spotlights tickle your fancy, we have many more options available on our website. To see more, use the product navigation in the header menu at the top of this page.

Hopefully you now have a full grasp on what you need to buid a great hi-fi system... how to go about choosing the best components for you... and how to make the purchase easier from a financial standpoint.

If you'd like a more in-depth exploration of hi-fi, stop by our showroom in Leichhardt and we'll take you through a tasting journey. Or you can order through our online store and still enjoy a zero interest payment plan up to 18 months — simply select SplitIt at checkout.

Happy listening!