A Fresh Start

[Terryff]

Ok, having lost my marantz pm7002 (blew up and was, apparently, not worth repairing), and now left with just an old cambridge audio A1 powering my Castle Pembrokes (in the kitchen, stone floor, on their own stands) I am now starting the search for a new system, from scratch. I play music direct from itunes via a 3.5m to phono into the amp from the headphone socket on the laptop. Iknow it is low tech, but thats where i am at the moment.

Ok, I want to get a decent amp and maybe look at the sepakers too, outputting music from my laptop (might consider a DAC or whatever) the budget cannot be too high as currently upgrading my AV kit to something half decent. Maybe need to look at second user amp and speajkers, looking for advice on good kit that moves at reasonable prices on fleabay etc that will give me better sound than i have. If i say a budget of £2-300 for an amp and the same for speakers. No idea about DAC prices or if i need one, again any advice would be fine. I am using decent interconnects et and speaker wire so do not need to upgrade that aspect.

 

[Terryff]

Was wondering if anyone had an opinion on whether getting hold of a cheap CA A5 would significantly improve the sound or should i set my sights higher?

 

[plastic penguin]

Couldn't tell you about the Cambridge A1, but owned the A5 for... two days. IMO, wasn't as good as my old Pioneer, but found the Arcam Alpha 7R much better.

 

[kevinJ]

You could give that Onkyo 8050 stereo receiver a try. There are a few topics about it here on the forum, and it seems to have a great value for money. And it even comes with a built in dac, so you get to save some money too.
For speakers, have a look at Dali, Wharfedale, Monitor Audio and Q Acoustics.

 

[Terryff]

thanks guys, will investigate. Had thought about arcam, not really sure what is good and not in that range.

 

[matthewpiano]

One option would be to look at the Denon RCD-N7 or Marantz M-CR603 and use Airplay to stream your music. Later on, if you find your circumstances change and you want a streaming client with a more informative display and access to Spotify etc. you could add a Squeezebox Touch to either unit and connect digitally or by analogue interconnects depending on what sounds best.

 

[Terryff]

Anyone have any thoughts on these s/h amps?

Rotel RA-930BX

Rotel RA-930AX

Arcam Alpha 7

anything else in that range? Nad 3140 or denon PMA-560 cut the mustard?

 

[Electro]

Anyone have any thoughts on these s/h amps?

Rotel RA-930BX

Rotel RA-930AX

Arcam Alpha 7

anything else in that range? Nad 3140 or denon PMA-560 cut the mustard?

I have a Rotel RA-930BX in a second system and I am constantly amazed at just how good this little amp is , I use it with a RCD 950 Cd player and an old pair of QLN Cubic 122 small floorstanders ,the whole lot cost me less than £100 s/h and it sounds better than some new systems that cost 10 x more IMO .

I highly recommend the Rotel RA-930BX .

 

[Terryff]

Thanks Electro, that's a great recommendation

 

[Terryff]

Ok, after much reading of whathifi, i finally bought this:

Marantz pm6005 using optical input from apple tv for streaming.

Dali Zensor 3 connected with audioquest speaker cable, terminated with cambridge audio all gold.

Mounted on soundstyle z2i stands, spiked.

It sounds beautiful. I also bought a pair of grado sr325i's and they are lovely. Yes, very slightly harsh t times, but overall fantastic.

Next up is the turntable. Do not think i will go for the cd player as just do not buy discs anymore.

Was thinking maybe project elemental, any thoughts on if that would be about right for the system, anyone?

 

[Terryff]

Oh, also, stereo now in front room with carpets....

 

[nopiano]

Congrats on your purchase, terry.

The Grado phones will mellow a bit with use, if my SR60s are anything to go by. The Pro-Ject will be fine, and you pretty much get more with increasing cost, if the budget will stretch. Rega's RP1 and RP3 can be upgraded with various addons, for example.

Enjoy!

 

[Terryff]

Thnks for the advice, i tried a rega rp1 from my local richer sounds only to find it was faulty. Had heard this can be a problem, so i did not want to give rega another chance and bought a project debut carbon instead. Now, here is the thing, i have problems using apple tv to stream from my mbp, i keep getting break ups in the sound. I have had BT out and they have done all the usual line checks etc but still when i browse or even when just use my spotify, it breaks up or sometimes stops alltogether.

Unsure if this is an apple tv problem or the router is faulty.

So....i am proposing to end my misery and buy a hard wired device to accept an input from my mbp or ipad. Any suggestions? Do not want to go mad with the cost, in keeping with the rest of the system. Just want to be able to play from spotify and or itunes through either usb or the optical output (3.5mm socket) on the mbp for great quality sound.

Anyone have an idea?

 

[davedotco]

Thnks for the advice, i tried a rega rp1 from my local richer sounds only to find it was faulty. Had heard this can be a problem, so i did not want to give rega another chance and bought a project debut carbon instead. Now, here is the thing, i have problems using apple tv to stream from my mbp, i keep getting break ups in the sound. I have had BT out and they have done all the usual line checks etc but still when i browse or even when just use my spotify, it breaks up or sometimes stops alltogether.

Unsure if this is an apple tv problem or the router is faulty.

So....i am proposing to end my misery and buy a hard wired device to accept an input from my mbp or ipad. Any suggestions? Do not want to go mad with the cost, in keeping with the rest of the system. Just want to be able to play from spotify and or itunes through either usb or the optical output (3.5mm socket) on the mbp for great quality sound.

Anyone have an idea?

Sounds like a set up issue to me.

Check your wi-fi channel, look in system info on your MBP and see what channels are being used around you, then try one that is not in use, most users stick with the obvious channel 1 or 12, pick something else, I use 36.

Also check that you are not trying to connect wirelessly to both the ATV and the wireless router at the same time, I use the AEX rather than the ATV and connect wirelessly to that, wired to the router. The wi-fi on the router is then turned off.

My streaming is pretty much rock solid, even when browsing the net on the MPB that I am streaming from and Mrs DDCs ipad all connected at the same time.

 

[Terryff]

If i do not connect to both the ATV and the wireless router, how can i surf art the same time as streaming, or do they preclude each other on ATV?

I am assuming that the airport express has the ability to act as a router? I think ATV does not???

Also, cannot see anywhere in my mbp to chnge or check the wireless channel, any clues?

 

[davedotco]

If i do not connect to both the ATV and the wireless router, how can i surf art the same time as streaming, or do they preclude each other on ATV?

I am assuming that the airport express has the ability to act as a router? I think ATV does not???

Brief research suggests that you may be right, in effect I use my AEX to extend my network, even though in reality it is in the same cupboard as my modem/router.

I connect wirelessly to my AEX for everything, the AEX is wired to the modem/router and the wi-fi on this is switched off. I can stream music and browse the net from my MBP simultaneously while Mrs DDC has her iPad on line. Everything goes wirelessly to the AEX, wired to the modem/router which acts as a wired device. Pretty much rock solid.

Use airport utility to see what options you have on the ATV, I think they are more limited than the AEX but I don't have one so can't check.

Also do not overlook the wi-fi channel issue, which channel are you on?

 

[Terryff]

Found out and changed the wireless config as 2.4ghz disabled and 5ghz channel on router (BT) to 36. Will monitor to see if this is any better.

 

[davedotco]

Found out and changed the wireless config as 2.4ghz disabled and 5ghz channel on router (BT) to 36. Will monitor to see if this is any better.

Good start,

If you go -system info > network > wifi- you will see any 'competing' networks and the channels they are running on. Most will be 2.4Ghz, usually channels 1 or 12 which are default setings for many modems. Channel 36 should be fine, just make sure a close neighbour isn't already on it.

See if you can find out what you are connecting too, ie direct to the BT Modem or via the ATV. If possible try both options.

One final thought, i found BT modems incredibly prone to radio frequency interference. My plasma caused so much interference that I could not watch TV and use the net at the same time. If you can, switch off and unplug your TV and do a speedtest, compare it to a test when the TV is on.