A new hifi for me!

[admin_exported]

I have been planning to getting a new hi fi and i was wondering if anybody had any opinions/advice on what i was looking at.

I was thinking about Cyrus6XP amp with a CD6SE CD player and a pair of Monitor Audio silver RX6s - i really like floor standers.

I enjoy a wide range of music, from thumping bass to classical. I am listening to Portishead on my headphones atm, just on the PC and the bass is completely overwhelming the headphones

how is that set up likely to handle that sort of massive base? I like leftism by leftfield and alot of techno and electric kinds of music, but at times i might also want to listen to jeff waynes war of the worlds, or perhaps Pavarotti live at Caracalla or even early sting albums like dream of the blue turtles, so i am looking for a system that will comfortably handle all kinds. My listening room is a long rectangle, and i was planning to have the speakers against one of the long sides, how do they do out in a little space ? I was using a NAD 208 power amp on my old system, and i enjoyed the effortless power of that amp, i know the cyrus isnt rated anywhere near that, but will i be happy with the cyrus? Also i see that the cyrus hifi stand is around £500, which feels over priced tbh so any suggestions for a stand would be welcome. I would, of course, like to buy the 8 series, but i must keep my spending under control

I have some old cabletalk broadcast 2 interconnects which i was very happy with, will these be good for that set up or should i consider something else?

Advice is greatly appreciated, cheers

Edit: i will also need a tuner and the cyrus one seems expensive - suggestions?

 

[JoelSim]

I would definitely audition before spending, I have a feeling Cyrus/MA may be too harsh/bright for words and come be fatiguing.

 

[Anonymous]

Hmm. I am not fond of massive treble either.

 

[plastic penguin]

Imagawa99:Hmm. I am not fond of massive treble either.

Joel is correct, Cyrus + MA = migraine.

If you're not keenon treble, why pick out Cyrus?

I would go for Arcam Alpha 7 or 8 with Monitor Audio BR5 - or maybe Focal which errs towards the relaxing. The 714s should do the trick nicely.

 

[Anonymous]

"If you're not keenon treble, why pick out Cyrus?"

I had no idea they what they sound like which is why i am asking advice on here

Its not that i am against treble, but in the right amounts and in the right place. I havent listened to any new hi fi for over 10 years now. It took me a very long time to pick out my last system and many of the speakers i listened to did sound overly bright, however i did find that when i asked for a a different pair they were either not worn in properly or even fresh out of the box and it made choosing difficult.

Thx for your suggestions tho, i do feel i might be able to spend a little more if i can hear where my cash went.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Imagawa

Funnily enough, I hd a demo today where a customer tried out the 6xp and 6se, but it was with the RX8's. He liked the system, and said it would be particularly good for classical. The only problem was that to assess the system properly, he needed some reference point - so was advised to bring his speakers in.

The prominent treble of Monitor Audio's Silver RS and Gold GS series is quite well known, but the new Silver RX series is quite different. It is now much smoother, almost akin to the Alpha components Penguin mentions. Personally I think they've smoothed m off a little too much, but that's my personal taste - I like to be fed the information, not to have to work for it, if you know what I mean. A customer on Saturday dismissed the RX1's because they were too dull and flat - quite different to that of the RS series that many are familiar with - a quick audition will confirm this.

Oh, and the RX8's were working very well with the Cyrus, much to my surprise, as I've only heard them on Naim and Roksan so far.

 

[plastic penguin]

Imagawa99:

"If you're not keenon treble, why pick out Cyrus?"

I had no idea they what they sound like which is why i am asking advice on here

Its not that i am against treble, but in the right amounts and in the right place. I havent listened to any new hi fi for over 10 years now. It took me a very long time to pick out my last system and many of the speakers i listened to did sound overly bright, however i did find that when i asked for a a different pair they were either not worn in properly or even fresh out of the box and it made choosing difficult.

Thx for your suggestions tho, i do feel i might be able to spend a little more if i can hear where my cash went.

I know from experience Cyrus amp partnered with a more forgiving CDP, like Arcam, Nad, Rega or Exposure works well with MA speakers. When I tested Cyrus 8VS2 with my Arcam CD73T and RS6 speakers sounded pukker. Great for classical, vocals etc.

 

[drummerman]

I have never found treble playback from modern cyrus systems to be anything other than clean, clear and extended. Neither bright or harsh. I can't say the same for MA's lower ranges of speakers which, imo, used some of the worst tweeters known to hifi. I have not heard their latest products though so can't comment on those.

 

[plarge]

Try the electrocompaniet pairing - PC1 / PL1 - Sounds fantastic with the Monitor Audio Rx6 - It's fully balanced, and there is a real synergy between components. Stunning depth, clarity, really beautiful tome to instruments. Awesome.

Paul

 

[Anonymous]

I had not heard of them, they do look nice tho but they add £700 to the price which is a bit painful. Ill certainly give them a listen tho if i can find them.

I have been looking around the naim 5i pair looks nice and i like the look of the Roksan Kandy CD&amp pair, even if they are ugly

, but the review of the CD on this site worries me a little. I am also finding that it can be hard to actually find a shop that sells all the parts i want, maybe they sell the amp and the CD but not the speakers etc.

I am trying to stick with a single make for the CD and the amp. What would you all buy if you had £2500 to spend of just the CD, amp and speakers? based on the sort of music i like? (which is everything)

 

[JoelSim]

I personally would audition Arcam, Cyrus, Rega, Naim and speakers from Dali, Spendor, PMC, ProAc, ATC and AVI.

 

[Craig M.]

i can't speak for older cyrus components, but imo the se players are not at all bright. not heard the new amps though.

 

[Dougal1331]

Amplifier: Roksan Kandy K2- no real problem there- should suit your needs down to the ground.

CD player: Stick with the Cyrus or even the Roksan Kandy. The Roksan will give a fuller sound than the Cyrus, and should pair well with the MAs.

Also check out Mordaunt-Short's Mezzo 6. Cracking speakers, but possibly pushing the budget a little!

 

[JoelSim]

Dougal1331:

Amplifier: Roksan Kandy K2- no real problem there- should suit your needs down to the ground.

CD player: Stick with the Cyrus or even the Roksan Kandy. The Roksan will give a fuller sound than the Cyrus, and should pair well with the MAs.

Also check out Mordaunt-Short's Mezzo 6. Cracking speakers, but possibly pushing the budget a little!

There has been much criticism on this forum of the Roksan components, and coupled with MA I imagine (but don't know) that it may be a touch bright for some tastes. Don't buy without trying.

The list in my earlier post will cover many parts of the sound spectrum, and although you need to bear in mind that the most 'stunning' sound in a demo may not be the best for long periods of listening, there should be enough good components there to give you a feel for what you like best.

If you're thinking of spending £2,500 you must audition unless you know the sound you want intimately.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers,

Would definitely not recommend Densen.

You could have a look at Bel Canto, but the price may be a bit too high (excellent combi of sound and features, though)! Another option is Rotel; the latter models are actually pretty good, even though the design is a bit boring/old fashioned.

As for loudspeakers I am not too fond of treble myself, but I have found the Dynaudio range of speakers to be very good (mind you: I am Danish so I may be biased ;-)

Happy hunting!

 

[chebby]

Starting with £2500 I would go for a naimuniti (£1995) and a pair of £500 - £1000 speakers.

You will not lack for sources (CD, FM & DAB tuner, built in DAC and wireless streaming and powered input for Naim Stageline phono preamp if you want to get into vinyl and an iPod connection that completely bypasses all the 'nasty' bits of the iPod giving control to the naimuniti.)

I would not worry too much about floorstanders personally. (Although Neat Motive 2 are highly favoured by many and I know the Rega RS3's work superbly with Naim.)

WHF suggest EB Acoustics EB1 (£470 + decent stands) go well with Naim at this level.

If you could save up a little more then I can vouch for an incredible sound from the PMC GB1i floorstanders with the naimuniti (Naim's own speaker selection at a recent demonstration day at my local dealer.)

A one box system like the uniti should get high approval from your partner and will avoid the expense of dedicated racks (and all those expensive interconnects you won't need.)

No more 'spaghetti' at the back of the system either. (Just one mains lead and 2 speaker cables).

 

[JoelSim]

chebby:

Starting with £2500 I would go for a naimuniti (£1995) and a pair of £500 - £1000 speakers.

You will not lack for sources (CD, FM & DAB tuner, built in DAC and wireless streaming and powered input for Naim Stageline phono preamp if you want to get into vinyl and an iPod connection that completely bypasses all the 'nasty' bits of the iPod giving control to the naimuniti.)

I would not worry too much about floorstanders personally. (Although Neat Motive 2 are highly favoured by many and I know the Rega RS3's work superbly with Naim.)

WHF suggest EB Acoustics EB1 (£470 + decent stands) go well with Naim at this level.

If you could save up a little more then I can vouch for an incredible sound from the PMC GB1i floorstanders with the naimuniti (Naim's own speaker selection at a recent demonstration day at my local dealer.)

A one box system like the uniti should get high approval from your partner and will avoid the expense of dedicated racks (and all those expensive interconnects you won't need.)

No more 'spaghetti' at the back of the system either. (Just one mains lead and 2 speaker cables).

As long as it's the Naim sound that he favours.

 

[Ant8519]

Hi

I'll second the above advice simply because the naim is the only component mentioned thus far which isn't hopelessly dated.

If you are buying new now then you have to consider future developments and realistically cd playing is likely to be a very small part of that. So if you alreay have a functioning cd player don't waste money on another.

I would suggest the cyrus 8xpd at £1500 (plus whatever speakers your ears and eyes love) as it has a dac and digital in to allow you to use your current cd as a source while utilising the cyrus dac (I believe the same dac as found in the cd 6?) or could be used to upgrade the dac from a source such as pc/mac etc.

Alternatively the avi neutron 5 2.1 system (£1300) has it all and with 5 digital in and an analogue in covers most bases, or the avi adm9.1 and sub (£1900ish?) does more or less the same.

Think about a mac or sonos/squeezebox as your main source, as they will give you future proof flexibilty and change the way you enjoy music, plus giving you internet radio, which in somecases stream at high enough bitrates for proper listening (and this is likely only to improve)

I honestly think that anyone buying new and spending big money needs to really open their minds to the new forms of technology and choose their system accordingly, otherwise you'll only need to spend big money again in a very short time.

good luck, Ant

 

[chebby]

JoelSim:
As long as it's the Naim sound that he favours.

Of course. I doubt the OP would buy anything he did not 'favour' after listening.

You personally recommended listening to Naim and PMC (amongst others) yourself earlier...

JoelSim:I personally would audition Arcam, Cyrus, Rega, Naim and speakers from Dali, Spendor, PMC, ProAc, ATC and AVI.

I am getting more hesitant about recommending Naim to people on the forum any more. There is a danger (possibly already realised) of me becoming the resident 'Naim bore' so - in this instance - I was not going to recommend the naimuniti at all.

But then joel posted his 'personal' audition list (above) and - encouraged and suprised at seeing Naim included - thought.. "why not?".

It (the naimuniti) is a serious recommendation based on a few fairly extensive listens now with PMC (DB1i/GB1i) and Rega RS3 speakers.

As for the.. 'Naim sound', well what can I say? WHF have made it a Product of the year for 2009 so it can't be that bad

 

[JoelSim]

chebby:JoelSim:

As long as it's the Naim sound that he favours.

Of course. I doubt the OP would buy anything he did not 'favour' after listening.

You personally recommended listening to Naim and PMC (amongst others) yourself earlier...

JoelSim:I personally would audition Arcam, Cyrus, Rega, Naim and speakers from Dali, Spendor, PMC, ProAc, ATC and AVI.

I am getting more hesitant about recommending Naim to people on the forum any more. There is a danger (possibly already realised) of me becoming the resident 'Naim bore' so - in this instance - I was not going to recommend the naimuniti at all.

But then joel posted his 'personal' audition list (above) and - encouraged and suprised at seeing Naim included - thought.. "why not?".

It (the naimuniti) is a serious recommendation based on a few fairly extensive listens now with PMC (DB1i/GB1i) and Rega RS3 speakers.

As for the.. 'Naim sound', well what can I say? WHF have made it a Product of the year for 2009 so it can't be that bad

Well the reason I did so is that those particular brands seem to be the best at the price level, with a decent distribution network and a plethora of different sounds. By listening to them all/selection of I believe the OP would be able to decide for themselves which they prefer. I have nothing at all against Naim, they always receive very good reviews, they just aren't for me personally as I prefer a more 'chocolatey-smooth' sound as you well know.

 

[Anonymous]

The naim5is, the Roksans k2s and the cyrus 6s are all on my listen list, but im still finding it difficult to find a shop that sells all of these aswell as a wide range of speakers to try them with. Atm it looks like im going to have to check out several shops and may well only have a liimted choice of speakers, any suggestions? i would prefer not to travel too far out of surrey.

Chebby i did consider the uniti, but tbh i think i would rather have the seperates

 

[JoelSim]

PJ HiFi - Guildford

Audio T - Epsom or Camberley