£750-£1000 to spend on amp cd and speakers

[jonnyr100]

Anybody want to give any suggestions for an amp, cd player and speakers. I'd rather stick around £750 but will push to £1000.

The key component is my 1980s Rega Planar 3 with Origin Live mod'd RB300 tonearm and a new 24v motor upgrade. At the moment it's part of my AV system (Yamaha RXV767 and Kef 3005 5.1 although when listening to music I listen in 2.1 only). For me, I'm really impressed with how it sounds.

But I'm moving my music from TV room into the living room. The room is 5m x 4m x 2.7m high. My taste in music is classical in general and opera in particular.

I was thinking of something like a Yamaha AS500 amp with CDS300 CD player, or a Marrantz 6003 amp and CD combo with Dynaudio DM 2/6 speakers but they seem to be so ugly (paricularly with the grilles on: very retro looking). Alternatives are KEF Q300 or B&W 685s but I'm attracted to the smaller size of the Dynaudios.

Can anyone suggest a suitable setup where the speakers are relatively unobtrusive but if they have to be seen then reasonably attractive. Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

If you can get past your dislike of the looks then the Dynaudio deliver, simple.

Marantz make a good combo in the 6003 and it really works with classical. For what it's worth I listen to a lot of Wagner, Mozart Film scores and so on. The Dynaudios cope with ease and if you want to give them some welly they just take it in their stride. They certainly don't sound like a small speaker. They look basic because Dynaudio have spent all the money on the components. I don't expect they would grab you immediately on auditioning in a shop , but they are long term winners . Not just Jazz hands! they have tap shoes and soul to.

Good luck with your hunt. Can't help with the Yamaha,, .

 

[matthewpiano]

The Limey, what are the Dyns like at lower volumes?

 

[steve_1979]

Here's a link to the What Hifi recomended budget system.

www.whathifi.com/best-buys/hi-fi-budget

 

[steve_1979]

Here's another good system that's worth an audition.

CD player - Marantz CD6003 £230

Amplifier - Marantz PM6003 £220

Speakers - B&W 685 £400

 

[Cypher]

I would also go for a Marantz PM6003/CD6003 combo. Or wait for the PM6004/CD6004. You could also try Boston Acoustics speakers. I heard the A26 speakers lately and they were awesome.........thinking of buying them myself. The bass was incredible, tight and punchy.

Never been a fan of Dynaudio myself. But a lot of people like dynaudio so try it out for yourself.

 

[Anonymous]

The Limey, what are the Dyns like at lower volumes?

Hi MP,

The DM6 's work well at low volumes. Listening to Murray Perahia playing Mozart's 21 Piano concerto at low volume the other night was very enjoyable. I could hear all the physical noises of the Piano being played, not just the notes. By this I mean, the hearing the way the keys are depressed and the way the sound resonates around under the half opened lid and the hammers working away furiously. Some of the experiences you might get at an actual piano recital. Difficult really for any small speakers to perfectly replicate a fully loaded Steinway Concert Grand being played live and realistically this is never going to happen. At a Piano recital the sound is emitted from a mono source and envelopes you. Your ears are hearing sound waves from many different reflections and that particular hall dictates the sound quality. Listening to two box speakers in stereo placed equally apart firing music directly at you is always going to be a totally different experience.
That is why I think it is good to be realistic about what any Hi Fi can actually replicate. I will go against the norm here and say that I think I get a far more realistic sound from my HiFi when listening to classical music by placing the speakers in a different position. I prefer for this genre to have the speakers placed higher than normal, 2 to 3 ft above ear Height, maybe on bookshelfs, wider apart than usual, at not necessarily symmetric. Have a go at getting two radios playing classical on the same station at the same time and placing them randomly around the room, most enjoyable.

Sorry really rambled on there.

I feel that they really begin to sing at about 8 1/2 on the dial.

I have to listen a lot at low volume and I think your ears adjust really well to this. Night time listening, no ambient noise , low level on the amp that's my ideal.

 

[matthewpiano]

Thanks The Limey!

As someone who works in the piano trade, selling expensive grands by Schimmel, Bosendorfer, Steinway, Yamaha, Kawai, and Bechstein, I fully agree with what you say. The piano is one of the hardest instruments to record and reproduce convincingly and it is unreasonable to expect any speakers or equipment to get it 100% right. Some speakers do it much better than others, although sometimes the actual microphone placement for the recording can hold things back. A wide stereo spread doesn't do the piano any favours whatsoever and some recordings can end up making the bass, middle and treble of the piano sound too disparate. What is reasonable to expect is that the speakers give enough information to be able to tell the difference between different makes of piano. Angela Hewitt's Fazioli sounds very different to a Steinway, whilst the Steinway and Bosendorfer instruments that Andras Schiff used for his ECM set of the Beethoven sonatas have quite different qualities to each other.

Interesting to hear your thoughts on the Dyns.

 

[Anonymous]

It sounds like such an enjoyable job, it must be great having to demos of the different brands. I studied piano and used to love playing Grands. I am very lucky to have played an awful lot of Steinways but surprisingly the most fun I have ever had was on some of the Yamaha Grands, incredibly easy to play and quite forgiving , lovely tonal structure in the lower register. IMOP Steinways are a more difficult beast. I currently own a Hoffner upright from the mid 80's.

 

[CnoEvil]

This is an interesting point. The accurate replication of a piano is a good litmus test for any system. I think that the amp is key in getting this right, and it's one of the strengths of the Marantz Pearl Lite.....and of course the tonal quality of the speakers has to be correct.

The other factor that has a bearing, is that a higher resolution of the recording will improve this still further. I've tried this from the Linn record site where I've compared 16 vs 24 bit, and it's with the 24 bit that you get more of what Limey is talking about, due to the greater level of info (ambient/atmospheric etc.) getting through.

 

[BenLaw]

Interesting discussion, thanks guys

And I may now try the two radio thing

 

[matthewpiano]

It sounds like such an enjoyable job, it must be great having to demos of the different brands. I studied piano and used to love playing Grands. I am very lucky to have played an awful lot of Steinways but surprisingly the most fun I have ever had was on some of the Yamaha Grands, incredibly easy to play and quite forgiving , lovely tonal structure in the lower register. IMOP Steinways are a more difficult beast. I currently own a Hoffner upright from the mid 80's.

It's great!

Yamahas tend to have a more straight forward sound with less complexity of overtones whereas the Steinways have a broader range of colour available to them but can be somewhat harder to manage. A lot of Steinways can sound quite aggressive - quite the opposite to the Bosendorfer. We have great success with the Schimmel Konzert range. Lovely, flexible instruments, particularly the K230T grand. It's the variety of sound from the different makers that makes it so interesting and it would be nice to see more variety in concert halls.

I've got a Schimmel upright myself and love it. Bought it new 11 years ago, long before I worked in the industry. Had a 70s Bluthner upright before that.

Sorry to the OP for the off-topic tangent. Just an interesting turn of conversation!

Back on topic, I can't recommend the Marantz 6003 components highly enough if you can still find them. At recent prices they are a huge bargain and are very even handed across a wide range of music.

Speaker-wise, MAs work really well but I would also suggest auditioning the DM2/6 purely because so many people seem to rate them so highly.

 

[CnoEvil]

Thanks The Limey!

As someone who works in the piano trade, selling expensive grands by Schimmel, Bosendorfer, Steinway, Yamaha, Kawai, and Bechstein, I fully agree with what you say. The piano is one of the hardest instruments to record and reproduce convincingly and it is unreasonable to expect any speakers or equipment to get it 100% right. Some speakers do it much better than others, although sometimes the actual microphone placement for the recording can hold things back. A wide stereo spread doesn't do the piano any favours whatsoever and some recordings can end up making the bass, middle and treble of the piano sound too disparate. What is reasonable to expect is that the speakers give enough information to be able to tell the difference between different makes of piano. Angela Hewitt's Fazioli sounds very different to a Steinway, whilst the Steinway and Bosendorfer instruments that Andras Schiff used for his ECM set of the Beethoven sonatas have quite different qualities to each other.

Interesting to hear your thoughts on the Dyns.

Apologies to OP for going off topic.

MP, I have a John Broadwood & Sons (London) "Boudoir" Grand piano, that I inherited from my mother, who was a pianist and classically trained singer. I have always thought of it as a nice piano, but would be interested in your insight.

Cheers

Cno

 

[matthewpiano]

I'll create a thread in the Off Topic forums rather than completely hi-jacking the OP's thread. That way we can all talk about pianos and the OP can hopefully get more advice on his purchase.

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/off-topic-and-miscellaneous/pianos-cont-from-hi-fi-forum#comment-2655483