Recent content by Blackdawn

I would head towards your top budget of £1000 as most amps in the £500 would not be a massive improvement to what you already have, bearing in mind many of the budget amps are starting around £500 nowadays. e.g. Marantz 6007, Denon PMA-800NE. What about amps like Marantz PM8006, Arcam SA20...

As you mention two speakers in the post, I'm guessing you haven't bought them yet. For £45 more, I would go for the QX-2 and they had good reviews. As for amps, the Denon PMA-800NE is still a little expensive so would go for the PMA-600NE or Yamaha's A-S501.

Thanks for the interesting review. I know What HiFi and HiFi World liked these speakers. Out of the 3-4 days the previous owner used them they may have only used them a couple of hours. Possibly they still need longer to break in? I know my Dali speakers needed a while. Now that the newer and...

How about Wharfedale Reva 2 or Dynaudio Emit M10

I would keep the Marantz amp for now and upgrade the speakers - I've seen the Wharfedale Reva 2's for just over £400 online. Wharfedale recommend 20-80w for an amp driving the Reva 2's so your Marantz would fall somewhere in the middle. If you can stretch a bit then the Dali Opticon 2's might be...

Glad to see an update after so long. I like the fact it now has the phono stage like the original 3020A had and its quite a sleek, small design. A couple of things I would change however, are that the new V2 version has a volume control where you can't easily see the vol. level. I wish they had...

I think the 225's would be fine and give a decent sound. Theres always the newer 11.2 if you want a newer curvy design.

What about upgrading to a mid-range system. For exmaple, Onkyo C7070, Creek 50A, Focal Aria 926. The Focals should be fairly easy to drive as they have high sensitivity. The NAD 326BEE is known to have quite a lot of bass so am not suprised. You could try thw Focal's with the NAD and then...

Hi, as you already have Wharfedale speakers have you considered the Reva 2?

Glad I went for the Pioneer A30 instead of the NAD C326Bee in the end - A30 very nice budget amp. I'd definitely be looking at the Pioneer A50DA or A70DA if I wanted the extra digital inputs and an upgrade.

No idea about the newer NAD gear but I think the old gear is fairly reliable - have a 3020A still working in family. The main probem is the lack of dealers - sevenoaks only?- really good length warranty - longer than most. NAD C368 looks good

Maybe the sound quality with front ported designs isn't any worse? The speakers I mentioned all got 5 star reviews along with the Pmc range and new B&W 805d3, Focal 906 etc. Manufacturers surely wouldn't make this type of speaker if it noticeably worse? The down firing port with the plinth seems...

Do you think front ported speakers will become more common any time soon? Looking through dealers websites there are only a hand full of these available- e.g. MA Bronze 2, Proac Response D2, B&W 685S2 etc for standmounts. Rear-ported speakers seem much more common, I guess due to aesthetics more...

To the op. I also like the look and build of the larger Pioneer A70DA, particularly the low power consumption and high functionality but the power output is only about 25w more than the A30. For something different try the Denon PMA 1600NE, which is about the same price.

You could add the new Denon PMA 1600NE or larger brother PMA 2500NE. Another option could be the Musical Fidelity M5Si.