advice please

[admin_exported]

im trying to setup a hifi for under £800 and would like some advice as i know little about whats out there. im focusing on speakers and amp leaving cd player and cables for later. heres what ive checked out in the past few days

SPEAKERS:ive listened to BR2s, 685s but prefered KEF iQ3 and iQ5 se. i think the iQ5 se are my favourites

AMPS: didnt like RA04, cambridge 640a v2, 740a, thought Marantz 6002 was ok but so far preffer the arcam A70

any comments on the iq5se with the a70? what are they like when you get them home?

this combo leaves me well over budget anything a little cheaper i should investigate?

thanks music listeners

 

[Anonymous]

what sort of music do you listen to? I recently heard the arcam A70 and, no exaggeration, thought it was possibly one of the worst amps i have ever heard. It was absolutely gutless and all mid and top end. No power or clout and would have difficulty driving anything but the easiest of speakers to drive. It would only be good for easy listening music in my opinion as it lacks the bottom end punchand dynamics for anything else. There are plenty of amps about that can do that AND rock out when necessary. You mentioned most of them at your budget point. I know hi fi is subjective but i heard the cambridge 640 a and thought it absolutely killed the arcam.In fact the guys working in the shop i demo'd it in said they dont understand why anyone would buy an A70 given the competition, and they are trying to sell them! If you listen to any electronic, rock, classical, hip hop, rnb i would not touch the A70 with a barge pole.The amps you mentioned that you did not like are probably all the class leaders, or close to it, in their price bracket so i dont really know what else to recommend bar the nad c352 (which would be my choice) which is a cracker. Hopefully some other people can come up with something.

Did you demo Monitor audio RS1's? they are excellent too.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks, thats all helpful. i havent been able to try all combos of speakers and amps so far. finding working through all the options a bit hard work really.

so far ive been listening more to the speaker differences than the amps. now im semi-fixed on the iq5se i can focus on the amps. id like to listen to the ra04 with the iq5se speakers, only tried that one with the br2 and 685. much prefer the iq5se to the iq5 but the place i went to listen to the cambridge amps only had the iq5. plus their demo room was pants.

any kef people got advice out there?

i listen to jazz mostly, classical too and some drum n bass. no rock.

im off to google RS1s

 

[gregory]

with the type of music you listen to i would have thought the a70 and iq5 to be a good match,drum and bass is what it is and should sound like it is so you can guess from that,that i dont much care for it but then again some of the music i listen to might not float your boat but that's music for you.another make you should consider is rega.the brio amp and r3 come in at just over £800.00 or the r1 at under £800.00,very nice with classical and jazz or the creek evo with epos speakers,which if you look at the superfi website they are doing a deal on the cd and amp and you may be able to afford the speakers as well,that's the route i would take.good luck,gregory.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks gregory. im off to demo RS1 speakers and ask about the NAD amp, ive written down your suggestions and will see what they have for me to play with there aso.

its hard work matching up speakers and amps! alot of the time they just sound different, not better, and my preferences are changing depending on the type of music im listening to.

im now reconsidering the 685 if i can add a subwoofer. any thoughts? if im adding a sub would the 686 be a better choice?

id be interested in hearing from anyone with iq5se speakers

off to the demo room!

 

[Anonymous]

The 686's are superb but could be tricky to drive due to their low sensitivity. The arcam would not work well with them.They are fantastic speakers if your amp has enough oomph.the rotel, nad and probably the cambridge should have enough.I have a cambridge and i am going to demo the 686's again with my amp just to make sure. try and avoid adding a sub unless absolutely necessary. i know some people would go down that route but i feel its the last option to look at and only then if you have sound issues you just cant solve.

 

[Anonymous]

im very very pleased

went in today and asked for the new models suggested above. none were in the shop so instead i listened to the iQ5se using the Marantz 6002 and also another marantz 7001 which i thought sounded better than the 6002, but still found myself feeling happier with the overall sound of the Arcam A70.

checking the speakers again i listened again to the iQ3 and the iQ5se on the A70 and was happier with the 5s.

THEN i was told that the shop had just stared their sales so i had another look around the room for speakers and found exdemo iQ7 and got the price down to less than half! making them cheaper than the se speakers which were not in the sale. with the discount on the A70 as well this speaker amp combo came in under budget at just over £750

the sub i have is a celestion A6s. we'll see if i plug it in or not when the amp arrives.

so i now have Kef iQ7 speakers, Arcam A70 amp. anyone out there have any suggestions for CD players? should i try to stick with Arcam?

thanks