£2500-£3k budget - Streamer, Amp and Speakers

[Andrew17321]

Frazzle

There are probably about 10 good places in Glasgow to see/buy HiFi. Can I suggest "Loud and Clear" (520 St Vincent Street) as one with very helpful staff and a good variety of makes, also the one at the corner of Maryhill Road and Great Western Road at St Georges Cross. Some of the others are one make only, eg B&O, Linn. These are probably worth visiting once you have seen some variety of what is on offer.

 

[frazzle]

Frazzle

There are probably about 10 good places in Glasgow to see/buy HiFi. Can I suggest "Loud and Clear" (520 St Vincent Street) as one with very helpful staff and a good variety of makes, also the one at the corner of Maryhill Road and Great Western Road at St Georges Cross. Some of the others are one make only, eg B&O, Linn. These are probably worth visiting once you have seen some variety of what is on offer.

Thanks Andrew. I'd seen a couple of local places but hadn't spotted Loud and Clear. Think the auditioning will start next weekend!

Thanks

 

[frazzle]

Thanks again Matt. I'm up in Glasgow where there are two or three places.

Looks like you've got lots of good options: Spendor, KEF, Dali, Dynaudio, Focal, Tannoy, B&W, Quad, Kudos, Neat ... and probably others besides.

Thanks Matt!

 

[Womaz]

With that much cash at your disposal you certainly have a lot of options.

Me personally I would keep the streamer as I think there will be a lot of new streaming products in the next couple of years. I would focus on the amp and speakers .

So many choices so should be a lot of fun

 

[matt49]

Thanks Andrew. I'd seen a couple of local places but hadn't spotted Loud and Clear. Think the auditioning will start next weekend!

Thanks

Let us know how it goes. Always interesting to get forumites' reports of their auditions!

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Hi frazzle, I'm down in Ayr and usually go to Glasgow audio(St George's cross) for my new gear and they are well stocked with naim gear, I recommend you try the Naim si, a nait xs2 and give them a go with some neat motive sx2's and keep the streamer, should sound very good indeed. Another route would be a unitiqute 2 and nap 100 for amp and streaming which would still leave enough for neat motive sx2 or focal aria 926 at the extreme end(probably above) a 3k budget. Just checked some prices and definitely above budget, only take on the second suggested route if you can get your hands on 3.5k.lol.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

If I can add my penny's wouth in please as a wild card can you try the Dali opticon 6 floor standing speakers £1100 very good speaker well wouth a demo on this you will not regret it

 

[rainsoothe]

Hi. You really need to try Naim again Was gonna suggest Nac N-172 + Nap 155XS + Revel Performa 3 M106, but only because I got carried away by overestimating your budget.

But do try my setup: Naim Unitiqute 2 + Nap 100 + Focal Aria 906. I really love this setup, it sounds lovely and the UQ2 has a less Naim sound then the usual amps. Partnered with the Nap100 it's amazing, it has great soundstage, and everything seems to be in place with any kind of music I play on it.

Stands are Atacama Nexus 6i filled with Atabites (but you could use sand) and using the bottom plates for stability as well. Cabling is Flashbacksales RCA to DIN4 to connect the UQ to the Nap, and DNM Reson speaker cable. The speaker cable is really important, I tested 5 of them at home and only the DNM gave me what I wanted. Chord Rumour 2 also sounded great, but in my 16 square meter square room it made the bass a bit boomy. Sounded amazing at the dealer's though. Reading the review on Chord Clearway makes it seem like it does what the DNM does, so that's a viable alternative. The Naim speaker cable sounds pretty bad on this combo, so when you audition, ask dealer if they can replace it with either DNM Reson, Chord Clearway or Chord Rumour 2.

I think standmounts are more then enough for your room.

Also, a very important part of the streaming experience is the ease of use imo, and the Naim app is pretty easy to use and, if you're using Ios, very stable.

So, to summarize, Naim Unitiqute 2 + Nap 100 + Focal Aria 906. Flashbacksales RCA to DIN4, DNM Reson/Chord Rumour 2/Chord Clearway. Atacama Nexus 6i stands.

P.S.: I also had Wharfedale Jade 3 speakers on home dem. They are most likely my next upgrade. They require more power then the Focals to be controlled properly, but bi-amped (UQ2 to tweeters, Nap100 to woofer) they sounded gorgeous. Compared to the Focals, they sound warmer but at the same time airier, more ethereal, and their soundstage is bigger. They are more subtle and velvety (don't think they're muddy or anything, they can surely rock). In comparison, the Focals are more direct, more upfront, and lighter on their feet. Can still do great bass though. Make sure you try the Wharfedale Jade 3 as well.

 

[ID.]

- I have a CD player too which I have no intention of upgrading but I would like to have some sort of CD playing capacity. Therefore I guess I need to be able to amplify from a CD source which I assume removes options that have NP30 as the pre-amp.

- at the moment i have the three boxes (CD, Amp, Streamer) sat on a tv/Hi-fi unit with floorstanders either side, so no real pressure to reduce the physical size of the hi-fi

- may sound daft, but I do find the floor standing speakers visually appealing in the room, so floor standers are a preference purely from a personal aesthetic taste point of view

This (helpfully) narrows things down quite a bit.

Active speakers are now out of the question: you won't find good active floorstanders within budget (unless you go second hand).

I'd still recommend hanging on to the Cambridge NP30: every pound you spend on a new streamer will reduce your budget for speakers, which is IMO where the money really counts.

I'd begin from this perspective: what are the best floorstanding speakers I can get for around £2K. I'd then make a list of all the brands that you have access to (this will depend on what your local dealers stock). Then I'd audition all the relevant speakers. This will take time and effort, but your budget is such that the time and effort will be well rewarded.

Where are you, by the way? People here may be able to help by suggesting good dealers, which could save you a bit of time.

thats a shame as something like the Genelecs would have given stonking performance and better (and deeper) bass than those Tannoys, as would th Devialets, but I completely get where you are coming from in terms of aesthetics, etc.

I agree that it's speakers where you can make the most gains so should keep your streamer (certainly for the timebeing at least) and focus on finding speakers you like the sound of and an amp that can drive the properly.

 

[Frank Harvey]

There is a lot of hype about the Phantoms on the Devialet website, but their sound quality for the price is unbelievably good. Forget the What HiFi review - it reviewed a single Phantom; the first time they have reviewed one of a pair of stereo speakers! Goodness knows why they did that; they clearly did not understand what they were. Mind you, they gave a single one four stars.

The Phantoms are available individually, so they can be used, well, individually.

Also, if you watched the Floyd Toole video recently posted elsewhere on this forum, he made a reference to the blind listening tests they conduct at Harman - auditioning single speakers rather than pairs, as apparently you can tell more about a speaker by listening to one rather than a pair.

 

[Andrewjvt]

And for your budget, imo, you can get a much larger bang for buck if you consider the active route that has been sugested.

The amp you have is pretty good and changing amps/speakers is more expensive.

So thats why id say go for the active route.

 

[tino]

If you don't mind second hand, there's a gorgeous pair of Dali Fazon F5 floorstanders for £1200 in Aberdeen. Check out that well known auction site.

 

[frazzle]

So thanks to everyone for your suggestions. I've decided to keep the NP30 streamer and will focus on amp/speakers. Budget probably a little reduced, maxing at £2500.

In a couple of weeks I'll be auditioning the Naim Nait 5si, Rega Elex-R, and also, on recommendation from my local shop, the Moon Neo 250i.

Anyone with any experience of these? Especially the Moon?

 

[CnoEvil]

So thanks to everyone for your suggestions. I've decided to keep the NP30 streamer and will focus on amp/speakers. Budget probably a little reduced, maxing at £2500.

In a couple of weeks I'll be auditioning the Naim Nait 5si, Rega Elex-R, and also, on recommendation from  my local shop, the Moon Neo 250i.

Anyone with any experience of these? Especially the Moon?

 

I haven't heard the current Moon amps, but I found the older ones a little cold and shouty....I even had the i7 out for home dem. This was strange as it didn't reflect any of the reviews that I'd read, which said it was musical and refined.

My suggestion is to go in with an open mind and ignore everything, except whether you prefer it to its peers. If possible, I would add the Arcam, Creek and Hegel to the mix.