1st Hifi Setup - I Need Advice

[wirelesskiwi]

Thanks for this,

I have heard that some people have paired this with B&W 685's and Kefs LS50 but I think from what you are saying these speakers might be out of this amps league?

Would the Marantz fair better? I guess the other question is is I only have 850-960GBP to play with. Am I better off spending more on the amp and less on the speakers or the other way around?

Thanks.

 

[wirelesskiwi]

So I got a chance to audition some amps and speakers today.

I managed to hear the Marantz PM6005 and also the newer PM7005 which I was not aware of. Both sounded excellent although I think I would give the edge to the PM7005. Does anyone here have this amp themselves in a basic setup?

The PM6005 I heard with a pair of Monitor Audio BX2 which sounded good although perhaps a little low in bass for my taste. Or maybe they just sounded a little thin. I also got the hear the B&W CM1, which are out of my price range but very very nice.

I also heard the Cambridge audio Azur 651A with some Kef's look liked Q100's perhaps and had a very nice sound.

Finally I heard the B&W 685 S2 with what I think was a moon amp??? Either way I thought the S2's sounded brialliant and even though they are really stretching my budget they might have stolen the show!

I still need to hear the wharfedale Diamond s220 but these are proving very hard to find in Hong Kong and the Q Acoutics Concept 20's and 2050i.

Strangely for such a tech hungry hub as Hong Kong most dealers are about 1 year behind in what they actually stock! Meaning finding the latest to listen to is hard.

I have found the NAD 3020 but only in computer and smaller AV stores, so none of them actually have it hooked up to any speakers! The large AV and Hifi placed only have older NAD amps etc...

My budget is sitting about 900 GBP (10500 HKD) and the costings about below.

B&W S2 6800 HKD (probably could get them down to 6000)
PM7005 7500 HKD
PM6005 5400 HKD

Monitor Audio BX2's 3400 HKD
Cambridge audio Azur 651 6000 HKD
Cambridge stream magic 6 V2 7000 HKD

So I am a little stuck. Ideally I would love to go for a set up where I can have my Imac connected to the amp and stream content from there along with a cheaper turntable for analoge needs at a later date.

Ideas and opnions always welcome...especially if doesn;t break the budget 😉

Thanks

 

[wirelesskiwi]

The below are my options all will be connected with my imac to stream from spotify/tidal or apple loseless via itunes. (Vinyl budget turntable to come later)

Budget setup:
Cambridge Audio Azur 351A (3700HKD) + Monitor Audio BX2 (2,080HKD)

Mid setup:
Cambridge Audio Azur 651A (6000HKD) + Q Acoustics Concept 20 (3680HKD)

Max Setup:
Marantz PM7005 (7880HKD) + B&W 695 S2 (5300HKD)

The last option I would need to wait probably 3 or 4 months to save further cash to get...is it worth it for the step up? Or am I better off going for one of the others and saving some cash? Also anyhting I might have missed?
Thanks

 

[ID.]

Max Setup:Marantz PM7005 (7880HKD) + B&W 695 S2 (5300HKD)

The last option I would need to wait probably 3 or 4 months to save further cash to get...is it worth it for the step up? Or am I better off going for one of the others and saving some cash? Also anyhting I might have missed?Thanks

Take the pain and go for this setup. I've heard the 6 series s2 hooked up to a variety of Marantz and thought it sounded good.

Then again, both this series of Marantz and especially the 6 series s2 are relatively new. Given 6 months to a year I'd be hoping for much better deals on the B&Ws.

 

[wirelesskiwi]

Thanks, yeah it is so hard to tell yourself to wait when you could get something now. But those S2 do sound rather nice!

 

[rainsoothe]

if you like it, try to hold it together and wait. I didn't and I wish i had 🙂

 

[wirelesskiwi]

So I called into the local B&W dealer to have another listen to the 685's S2.

It turns out they are having a bit of a xmas old model sale.

This seems like a ridicously good deal to me but what do you think?

Rotel RA1520 amp + B&W 685's S1 for $6380 HKD (approx 545 GBP).

I know this is a little dated for an amp compared to the newer Rotel, Marantz and Cambridge amps. But it does seem very very good at that price. Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[wirelesskiwi]

So I called into the local B&W dealer to have another listen to the 685's S2.

It turns out they are having a bit of a xmas old model sale.

This seems like a ridicously good deal to me but what do you think?

Rotel RA1520 amp + B&W 685's S1 for $6380 HKD (approx 545 GBP).

I know this is a little dated for an amp compared to the newer Rotel, Marantz and Cambridge amps. But it does seem very very good at that price. Any thoughts?

Thanks

I am thinking to hook this up to an apple TV via optical to a Audioengine D1 DAC and the stream the audio via itunes (apple loseless) or spotify to it and then to the Rotel via Aux RCA input.

 

[wirelesskiwi]

I had a listen this eveing and decided to go for it!
It really is to good a deal to pass up at this price (the only have one package available).
Plus it really does sound brilliant!

Gets delivered this weekend.

Set up will be: Rotel RA1520 (silver) + B&W 685 S1 (white) + Audio Engine D1 DAC connected to Spotify Premium or iTunes (Apple lossless) via Apple TV.

I am a happy lad! Just can't wait for Saturday!

Thanks for eveyones advice and I will report back after everything is fully broken in.

 

[rainsoothe]

congrats and enjoy 🙂

for what it's worth, I used to use a RA 1520 before i got my supernait and it sounded great to me. Plus, Rotel + B&W = luv ^^

 

[Kefref]

I had a listen this eveing and decided to go for it!It really is to good a deal to pass up at this price (the only have one package available).Plus it really does sound brilliant!

Gets delivered this weekend.

Set up will be: Rotel RA1520 (silver) + B&W 685 S1 (white) + Audio Engine D1 DAC connected to Spotify Premium or iTunes (Apple lossless) via Apple TV.

I am a happy lad! Just can't wait for Saturday!

Thanks for eveyones advice and I will report back after everything is fully broken in.

Nothing better than new hifi 🙂

Warms my cockles every time

Crack open a few beers and enjoy!

 

[wirelesskiwi]

It sounds fantastic...From someone who has always had audio generally from the inbuilt imac speakers of a small set of bluetooth speakers this is ridiculously better.

I am a happy happy lad. I can also vouch for the fact that Rotel + B&W's are a great combo.