851N CA + poweramp?

[donGarcia]

I currently own a couple of Dali opticon's 6, I own them with the combination of 851N + CXA80 and the sound is great but, due to the fact that the 851N can be used as a pre-amp I think maybe a power amp in stead of an integrated one, would be a more effective solution. I am right?if that is the case..for under 1500£ what power amp would you recomend?Don't mind 2nd hand.thanks

 

[muljao]

This may interest you if you haven't seen it already. Hopefully a few more will chime in here and sort out some ideas for you

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/what-nextupgrade-wise

 

[Al ears]

I currently own a couple of Dali opticon's 6, I own them with the combination of 851N + CXA80 and the sound is great but, due to the fact that the 851N can be used as a pre-amp I think maybe a power amp in stead of an integrated one, would be a more effective solution. I am right?if that is the case..for under 1500£ what power amp would you recomend?Don't mind 2nd hand.thanks

Possibly an ex-demo 851W if you can find one or, dare I say it, the new Nord One SE UP NC500DM is only slightly over budget at £1509 or the straight NC500DM at £1180 (highly recommended) ... ;-)

 

[donGarcia]

I checked the Nord, good reviews but prices advertised are without VAT. Second hand wise is an option if something arrives to the market. Still, 400W??that is a huge power!not sure if my opticons would not blow away!the 851W was also an option but, difficult to find it in the market at a good price. There is a roksan kandy 3 exdemo under 1000£ locally, I will try to demo it.thanks for the reply

 

[donGarcia]

Thanks for the reply, I just check it and I will follow the conversation but, mine is a quite specific upgrade.

there are audiolab 8200MB(x2) for 1000£, could be an option aswell but, maybe too old.

 

[donGarcia]

After a good few hours of reading, I got to this conclusions:
Dezzer as premium is 14£ and streams in flac quality. Tidal is 20£ but, lossless, their catalogue is poor unless, you contemporary american music is your main music like. For what is worth Dezzer seems to be the best streaming service.To stream in FLAC quality via Dezzer you need a sonos connect,zp90,zp80 currently at 100£ in the market of second hand and it has got the best app for mobile/pad streaming.[/list]To summarize I have got already good quality interconnects, I want to stream from mobile-ipad,I don't need analogues, taking in account this premises this are the best options I found considering market prices and reviews from multiple webs/magazines/personal experience:
SonosZP80(100£2ndHand)ChordHugo(900£2ndHand)RoksanK3PowerAmp(750£ex-demo)=1750£[/list]flacfiles/120w per channel/3 items/no remote.
SonosZP80(100£2ndHand)-MDAC+(750£new, difficult to find it 2ndhand market)-RoksanK3PowerAmp(750£ex-demo)=1600£[/list]flacfiles/120w per channel/3 items
851N(850£2ndHand)+RoksanK3PowerAmp(750£exdemo)=1600£[/list]limited to 320kbts MP3/ 120w per channel/2 items
SonosZP80(100£)+Hegel H80(1150£2ndhand)=1250£[/list]flacfiles/80w per channel/2 items
SonosZP80(100£)-CXA80(650£)=750£[/list]flacfiles/halfprice/80W per channel/2 items

Would be interesting to see which one sounds better at this prices, I understand that price-quality relationship is especific on each individual, while the cxa80 is a great amplifier, I noticed inmidiately the improvement in control,dinamics,accuracy and transparencywhen I compared the cxa80 on its own to the 851N-CXA80 combo, if that was worth 850£ more I have obvious doubts, but we are mad aren't we? source are ebay/hifishark/ex-demo there are not the cheapest I found neither the most expensive.

 

[muljao]

You are making it more difficult and potentially more expensive than it needs to be.

Your streamer has all you need, you just need to figure out if the cxa80 and speakers are good enough for you.

I'd imagine it's a great set up but if it needs improvement then i wouldn't be looking at other DACs etc, biggest improvement is normally speakers and/or dac

 

[donGarcia]

You are making it more difficult and potentially more expensive than it needs to be.

Your streamer has all you need, you just need to figure out if the cxa80 and speakers are good enough for you.

I'd imagine it's a great set up but if it needs improvement then i wouldn't be looking at other DACs etc, biggest improvement is normally speakers and/or dac

Thanks for the reply, you might be right but in terms of my speakers, they are perfect at least, for the type of music I listen to, an improvement over them would mean to spend at least 2500£.

the streamer is good but it is very limited by it's own software for mobile streaming, only tidal is an option and it is the most expensive player with the worst catalogue, I find this frustrating as I end up with a expensive system to only reproduce mp3 and I don't want analogues at all, if you have your own catalogue via NAS or like tidal then, yes it is likely the best option possible in the market.

cxa80 is great, but if I am going to upgrade it, I found it pointless to have an integrated amp with dac to only use its power amplifier section.

All this will no matter if at the end the 851N/Cxa80 sounds better or equal that the options posted above but, theorically they should be an obvious improvement for the same price or near my current system. I will try to demo some but, it is difficult.

 

[muljao]

I think it supports Spotify connect also.

Spotify look like they are going to be doing lossless music soon.

Another thread here recommend looking at Nord Poweramps. You can get one at about 1000 that's a very powerful class d amplifier

 

[donGarcia]

I think it supports Spotify connect also.

Spotify look like they are going to be doing lossless music soon.

Another thread here recommend looking at Nord Poweramps. You can get one at about 1000 that's a very powerful class d amplifier

851N

yes, it has got spooty but, I have doubts about what you said as Dezzer has got their catalogue on flac from start (28 million songs in flac)and then they compressed it for the free access. Spootify has always been mp3 so they will need to go one by one, that is as far as I understand so, I find it unlikely to happen.

 

[muljao]

I think it supports Spotify connect also.

Spotify look like they are going to be doing lossless music soon.

Another thread here recommend looking at Nord Poweramps. You can get one at about 1000 that's a very powerful class d amplifier

851N

yes, it has got spooty but, I have doubts about what you said as Dezzer has got their catalogue on flac from start (28 million songs in flac)and then they compressed it for the free access. Spootify has always been mp3 so they will need to go one by one, that is as far as I understand so, I find it unlikely to happen.

Personally I'd be slow to hook up with a streaming service that only allows a particular resolution with one brand (sonos obviously have some deal here). I'd actually be sickened if I bought a streamer as good as the one you have and had to add something else to it for it to work with my chosen provider

 

[donGarcia]

I think it supports Spotify connect also.

Spotify look like they are going to be doing lossless music soon.

Another thread here recommend looking at Nord Poweramps. You can get one at about 1000 that's a very powerful class d amplifier

851N

yes, it has got spooty but, I have doubts about what you said as Dezzer has got their catalogue on flac from start (28 million songs in flac)and then they compressed it for the free access. Spootify has always been mp3 so they will need to go one by one, that is as far as I understand so, I find it unlikely to happen.

Personally I'd be slow to hook up with a streaming service that only allows a particular resolution with one brand (sonos obviously have some deal here). I'd actually be sickened if I bought a streamer as good as the one you have and had to add something else to it for it to work with my chosen provider

well, I sold the 851 for the same price I got it, I got the oportunity to return it for free. I will stick with the cxa80/computer/appleTv for the time been until I found a solution, will try to demo next week the sonos(dezzer,FLAC)/mdac+/roksanK3 combo and see what it offers.