Advice For a Useless Novice Please!

[admin_exported]

Hi all.

Apologies for ANOTHER thread like this but I could really do with a few pointers.

I purchased a Fatman itube Carbon about a year or so ago and due to getting a cracking deal on MA RS6s I just went ahead and bought them. Keeping things short, my ipod broke, I got an iPhone and the Carbon was effectively useless as a result and is now being sold. Im needing some advice on what sort of set up to replace the Carbon with. I have a budget of about £1000-£1000 but would ideally like a portion of that to be used on a good iPhone compatable cable or dock and also on a wireless music server such as the squeezebox so at a guess Id have £800 max for an amp and cd.

My music tastes tend to be firmly within the indie/electronic and alternative genres (think Super Furry Animals/Glasvegas/Klaxons types) and the source of my music will be split evenly between cds, ipod (usually 320kbps) and services such as Spotify Premium and LastFM.

Now, believe me I have done plenty research on these forums and elsewhere and I think my shortlist (so far) is between a NAD C326BEE/C545BEE combo (good write ups but might struggle to do my speakers justice?), Audiolab 8000s/CD combo (good price online), Rotel RA-04 (perhaps the RA-06 or even going for pre amp) plus a cd player (not sure on good match but I understand the Rotel cd player isnt as good as I could buy), and Arcam Solo Mini (lacking upgrade options?).

I havent discounted Marantz or Cambridge Audio but I had read more negative comments in relation to MA speakers than positive. Other suggestions would be great. Id rather buy new due to umpteen bad experiences with ebay and the likes and I will find it difficult to audition.

Apologies again for another noob post wasted forum space but I get the sense that some of you lot love helping us novies out with getting on the hi fi ladder. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[lordmortlock]

Hey JOn35y

Just to really mix it up... do you really need a cd player?

If you're using itunes/ipod/spotify why not think about a better quality DAC, aiport express (which you can then plug into the dac, play through your hifi and control with your iphone with remote app) and a better amp?

If you still want the option to play cds then maybe have a listen to the new marantz cdp/integrated amp - it got good reviews a month or two ago. I had nad and cambridge audio before upgrading but I'm afraid I haven't heard either with MA RS6s - maybe choosing NAD might be putting bassy with bassy? Others will be able to tell you more about this combo. New Audiolab kit doesn't seem as well received as the first time round. Maybe try and have a listen - find a sevenoaks or similar close by that stock MA and see what amps they have in your price range. Important to get it right so buying blinds never ideal.

Good luck!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice.

I actually got my RS6s from Sevenoaks in Edinburgh when it was closing down last summer! I think there is still a store in Glasgow though which might be worth a try but I might be a bit limited in places to check within about a 40 or 50 mile radius.

I do like the idea of ditching the cd player but I own 500 cds or so and while I love listening to a whole album I only ever really seem to do it when I listen to a cd. Something about Spotify/ipod/itunes just encourages me to skip tracks or primarily use playlists. That probably makes no sense, its just something Ive found over the past 4 or 5 years!

You're right though, it is important to get things right! I guess in short Im ultimately looking for a Naimuniti type system just with less expensive amp and cd player!

 

[lordmortlock]

J0n35y:
I do like the idea of ditching the cd player but I own 500 cds or so and while I love listening to a whole album I only ever really seem to do it when I listen to a cd. Something about Spotify/ipod/itunes just encourages me to skip tracks or primarily use playlists. That probably makes no sense, its just something Ive found over the past 4 or 5 years!

Same as me. Most CDs only get used once here - ripped straight to PC. I even open them at the other end and keep the sticker intact... then up on the shelf box fresh forever!

 

[the record spot]

J0n35y:
Thanks for the advice.

I actually got my RS6s from Sevenoaks in Edinburgh when it was closing down last summer! I think there is still a store in Glasgow though which might be worth a try but I might be a bit limited in places to check within about a 40 or 50 mile radius.

I do like the idea of ditching the cd player but I own 500 cds or so and while I love listening to a whole album I only ever really seem to do it when I listen to a cd. Something about Spotify/ipod/itunes just encourages me to skip tracks or primarily use playlists. That probably makes no sense, its just something Ive found over the past 4 or 5 years!

You're right though, it is important to get things right! I guess in short Im ultimately looking for a Naimuniti type system just with less expensive amp and cd player!

Definitely not limited in the Central Belt for hifi shops:-

Edinburgh - Loud and Clear (new and used kit), Retro Reproduction - tons of used kit and you can try out at home, prices aren't bad either (no warranties, but he's very good to trade with), James Morrow (reminds me of a smaller Sevenoaks in terms of product lines, also carries Sonos kit, Hi Fi Corner in Rose Street and Elm Row (or just across the road from which means a near obligatory visit to Vinyl Villains as well).

Glasgow - not so familiar there but Audio Merchants (excellent shop, great staff), Stereo Stereo, Glasgow Hi Fi and of course, there are Richer Sounds in both cities.

Falkirk - Hi Fi Corner

Glentrothes - Jordan Acoustics (high end stuff, but the occasional item goes for less than £500 and they get kit in great nick too, warranties on all their used stuff as well).

I reckon you could make a good day out covering some or all of those!

 

[Anonymous]

I actually didnt realise there were so many nearby. I live im Falkirk (well, Stenhousemuir) and a day visit to either of the cities would be nice!

Im actually warming to the expensive amp and streaming/dac idea now. My friend has gone off to Africa for 6 months and left me his old Tachnics cd player so I would be able to use that as a stop gap in any case or to at least see if Id miss or use a cd player. I think Im in the wrong forum to ask but would something like the Rotel RA-1520 and streamer such as the Squeezebox Duet be good or would it be a waste of the amp and speakers? I could even stretch to the Roksan Kandy 2 I think. Some options and ideas would be useful.

I also quite like a possible route of Rotel RA-05 or 06 coupled with the pre amp but that could be a bit of a waste of time if Im going down the CD-less route.

At least a higher spec amp without the cd player would give me an obvious upgrade when funds become available in the future.

Thanks again for all the help so far. Hope I can get some more!

 

[lordmortlock]

That rotel does look the business! Personally I'd budget for a dac as well as a streamer ... so maybe a beresford, musical fidelity vdac or a cambridge audio dac magic to sit between a squeezebox and the rotel. You'll really hear the difference imo - the onboard dac in a streamer won't be the last word in musicality.

Given your itunes base don't discount the apple airport. It may look like a posh plug but it costs about £50 and with an optical lead, wireless network and an iphone with remote app it becomes a bit of a sonos beater given the outlay. Add more airports later to have multi room music controlled from your iphone!

 

[Anonymous]

I really like the look of the Rotel but obviously it comes down to how the music sounds! Will need to find somewhere to audition them soon I think, hopefully somewhere listed above stocks them. Not sure how Rotel, Roksan, Naim (Nait 5i) all sound in general with the RS6s though, guess I can only take peoples opinions so far on that.

A big attraction with the Squeezebox Duet is its compatability with Last.FM and also the 3rd party Spotify software that has been developed. The Airport and iPhone remote route is interesting though. The only downside at the mo though is that Id have to sort my music collection out. I do have quite a lot of MP3s ripped years ago on my first iPod. time to go lossless on them all!

The Rotel 1520 (£700), DAC Magic (£220is) and Squeezebox (£230) is stretching the budget to the max but sounds like a very intruiging option to take.

Any thoughts on the amps would be great though.