£5k, starting fresh with a complete new system. What would you do?

[Covenanter]

I would buy my current system! Why not, it fits the bill and delivers great sound.

Chris

 

[James7]

£5000 will buy a very nice system - in my case I would build the system around a pair of Audiosmile Kensais (£1525), which should work well in my small, awkward attic listening room, powered by a suitably smooth, powerful amp such as Creek's Destiny 2 (£1750). I would be more than happy with my Marantz SA KI Pearl Lite SACD player (£675) which would leave over £1000, more than enough for some robust, sand-filled stands, decent but not overly expensive cabling and a decent number of classical SACDs.

But then if you think in head-fi terms, £5000 would buy a system that would really show just what is possible. There are a couple of new products that I would be seriously interested in investigating - Chord's Hugo DAC / headphone amp (£1400) and the Oppo PM-1 (£1100) planar magnetic headphones. Add in the Pearl Lite as source (CD only, though I would hook up my PC for hi-res) and that would leave £1700-1800 for a cheaper amp and speakers such as Creek's Evolution 50a and Martin Logan Motion 15 standmounts along with some decent cheap stands and cables.

 

[matthewpiano]

I'm not convinced I could feel comfortable spending £5k on a hi-fi system in the end. If I could get over that, then I'd probably have to persuade myself to spend just over £6k on the Devialet Ensemble. I love the simplicity of it and I think the new speaker matching SAM technology is a fantastic idea.

 

[atticus]

To quote myself: 'Don't go into a HiFi shop and say that'

With 5k and the benefit of hindsight, I would buy the latest version if the AVi ADM 9 active speakers and the accompanying subwoofer. I'd rip all my music to harddrive and stream everything through an Apple TV.

And I'd still have have money to spare.

 

[James7]

I'm not convinced I could feel comfortable spending £5k on a hi-fi system in the end. If I could get over that, then I'd probably have to persuade myself to spend just over £6k on the Devialet Ensemble. I love the simplicity of it and I think the new speaker matching SAM technology is a fantastic idea.

yes ... Very tempting.

 

[James7]

Duplicate post

 

[DocG]

I'm not convinced I could feel comfortable spending £5k on a hi-fi system in the end. If I could get over that, then I'd probably have to persuade myself to spend just over £6k on the Devialet Ensemble. I love the simplicity of it and I think the new speaker matching SAM technology is a fantastic idea.

yes ... Very tempting.

Or you could go for a Devialet 120 with the SAMmed KEF LS50s, and keep things within budget!

Listening to the Ben Webster Quintet - Soulville at the moment and it sounds sooo good! :dance:

 

[CnoEvil]

Or you could go for a Devialet 120 with the SAMmed KEF LS50s, and keep things within budget!

Listening to the Ben Webster Quintet - Soulville at the moment and it sounds sooo good! :dance:

Now that's a system I'd love to hear...and I suspect would take a lot of beating.

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

if everything is going to work out as I plan then soonner or later I'll be buying equipment for about GBP5000 myself. firstly I must shift my current set up.

I'll be going for a pair of opalum flow.4810 speaker system (those are the more rectangular, white ones on the picture below).

I say speaker system because they comprise of a pair of very thin digital active speakers and a control unit (hub) which role is to send digital signal into the speakers along with power to feed the amps inside the speakers. (you can think of this arrangement as in case of USB powered headphone amp which receives power and signal via USB). that means you don't need to worry about thick power cords hanging off the wall and you don't need to worry about speaker cable as well since the speaker receives digital signal. supplied thin wires are all you need. no esoterica nescessary. the hub also has gain control which can be used as volume control if you have no other choice.

the source will ba a windows based ultrabook or tablet running jPlay paired with this creation:

http://www.audiofly.eu/collections/revel-komplettsysteme/products/revel-d-starter-set

the sender together with the receiver could be called a wireless sound card because it plays every sound your computer plays. unlike a streamer which only plays music files. this makes this device much more useful and flexible than a streamer IMO. for instance you could watch a movie too. and by using a digital out into hub's digital in means you can keep the signal in digital domain for as long as it's possible (AFAIK in those speakers drivers' voice coils act as passive filters for the PWM signal effectively rendering them DACs).

optionally you could add a subwoofer because integration will not cause a problem. the hub has a sub-out with signal sensing. if a sub is connected then the hub establishes a digital crossover @ 80Hz in which case the flow speakers receive all signal sans deep bass which is routed to the subwoofer. just like in HT set-up. clever and that's who those things should be dealt with.

EDIT: I forgot to mention one think which is super important to me ATM as far as hi-fi goes as I'm not into hi-fi showcasing anymore. the hub and the dac are very small thus very easy to tuck away out off sight. you're then only left with flows. but IMO they wouldn't make any room more ugly. quite the contrary actually.

 

[James7]

I'm not convinced I could feel comfortable spending £5k on a hi-fi system in the end. If I could get over that, then I'd probably have to persuade myself to spend just over £6k on the Devialet Ensemble. I love the simplicity of it and I think the new speaker matching SAM technology is a fantastic idea.

yes ... Very tempting.

Or you could go for a Devialet 120 with the SAMmed KEF LS50s, and keep things within budget!

Listening to the Ben Webster Quintet - Soulville at the moment and it sounds sooo good! :dance:

ah ... A thinking man's choice!

 

[nopiano]

Or you could go for a Devialet 120 with the SAMmed KEF LS50s, and keep things within budget!

Listening to the Ben Webster Quintet - Soulville at the moment and it sounds sooo good! :dance:

Now that's a system I'd love to hear...and I suspect would take a lot of beating.

It would be pretty quiet too without a source! Or maybe we have to assume everyone has a IThing handy?

 

[CnoEvil]

Or you could go for a Devialet 120 with the SAMmed KEF LS50s, and keep things within budget!

Listening to the Ben Webster Quintet - Soulville at the moment and it sounds sooo good! :dance:

Now that's a system I'd love to hear...and I suspect would take a lot of beating.

It would be pretty quiet too without a source! Or maybe we have to assume everyone has a IThing handy?

Hah!

 

[DocG]

if everything is going to work out as I plan then soonner or later I'll be buying equipment for about GBP5000 myself. firstly I must shift my current set up.

I'll be going for a pair of opalum flow.4810 speaker system.

Hi Oldric,

Did you manage to demo the Flows already?

I for one have really insisted on hearing the AudioVector Discreet system (with Opalum amplification, as you know), but no one seems to be able to offer a demo... So I let go in the end...

 

[plastic penguin]

Either Leema Tucana + matching Antila + PMC TB2is. I could also be tempted to look at Lavardin IS Reference, although the latter does lack a little on the feature front.

 

[DocG]

Fair point!

I'm using my good old Rotel CDP as a transport. Sounds excellent. I reckon it can be had for less than 50£ on the bay. :cheers:

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

if everything is going to work out as I plan then soonner or later I'll be buying equipment for about GBP5000 myself. firstly I must shift my current set up.

I'll be going for a pair of opalum flow.4810 speaker system.

Hi Oldric,

Did you manage to demo the Flows already?

I for one have really insisted on hearing the AudioVector Discreet system (with Opalum amplification, as you know), but no one seems to be able to offer a demo... So I let go in the end...

no, I didn't manage demo anything. but I don't care. the tech and its implementation within the product more than convince me. besides there are a few reviews avaialble on-line which are basically very positive. if it sounds well to others I can't see a reason why it won't sound well to me.

besides I need to free up the room from my hi-fi junk. toddler allert!

I thought over the whole matter and I think the flows are great not only from practical POW in my situation but also I believe I won't be loosing out on SQ as well. maybe even gain a bit in one or two areas? my Pathos + Magnepan combo sound great to these ears but it has a few (minor) faults IMO. now, only if someone was willing to buy my set-up... the sooner the better.

 

[Covenanter]

To be controversial - I suspect most of the posters here are just posting stuff that they have not heard and have selected simply on the basis of obscurity. Discuss!

Chris

 

[mpapo]

Pair of Neumann KH310a or PSI Audio A21-M with a benchmark Dac1 HDR.

 

[Covenanter]

Duplicate. The CB software is ****.

Chris

 

[matthewpiano]

To be controversial - I suspect most of the posters here are just posting stuff that they have not heard and have selected simply on the basis of obscurity. Discuss!

Chris

Guilty as charged, kind of...

I've selected the Devialet because if I was going to spend £5k I'd want something upgradeable and flexible and the Devialet system offers this in spades. It isn't really on the basis of obscurity.

 

[matt49]

To be controversial - I suspect most of the posters here are just posting stuff that they have not heard and have selected simply on the basis of obscurity. Discuss!

Chris

If you're asking us individually to hold our hands up and say "I've heard all the stuff I recommended!", then I'm happy to do so.

I guess that means I've spent far too much time demoing hi-fi ...

:wall:

Matt

 

[the record spot]

Hypothetically, you have £5k to burn on a completely new (or S/H items if you prefer) stereo system. What would your choices of equipment be and why? (Including stands, cables, plinths etc) The reason I ask is because I'm seriously considering doing this. If all goes well, I should have the finances by the end of the year and I'm interested to see the various options that you lovely folk come up with.

I'd stick with my current amp but go for the latest version, likewise the Blu-ray player, so...

Onkyo TX-NR838

Mac Mini 8GB RAM, Quad Core, 1TB drive

iPod Touch - 64Gb

Marantz UD7007

Audiosmile Kensai

Apple TV

Western Digital External Hard Drive (4TB)

 

[CnoEvil]

To be controversial - I suspect most of the posters here are just posting stuff that they have not heard and have selected simply on the basis of obscurity. Discuss!

Chris

You are now a witness as to how good the R700s are.

 

[sublime]

I would probably go second hand and get a pair of Acoustic Energy AE1 Mk III speakers and a pair of Orpheus Labs dual mono amps - with the change I would buy a Arcam Alpha 9 CD player (or just keep my modded one) - pre amp: no idea...

EDIT - Pre amp - Wyred4Sound STP-SE (which takes me way over budget, but thats hi-fi)

 

[Covenanter]

To be controversial - I suspect most of the posters here are just posting stuff that they have not heard and have selected simply on the basis of obscurity. Discuss!

Chris

You are now a witness as to how good the R700s are.

Indeed I think they are fabulous and I am pleased to observe that we are ad idem on this. I will shortly post a report on my experience with my new system (I have been delayed as my OU course has been completing, exam this afternoon, and I needed to concentrate on that). My concern is that many posters to this thread (and indeed this CB) haven't really experienced the kit they recommend. I know you have heard a lot of stuff and trust your opinions (although I think you are flaky on cables etc lol). My experience is limited but within what I have heard I think it is reliable (I would say that!).

Chris