amp dilemma

[admin_exported]

Amp saga continues........

The insurance company has now told me that they cant source a replacement Kandy Liii so they are going to send me money to replace it with a K2. They're sending me a cheque for the retail price less the excess so £850. The problem I have now is this opens up a whole host of avenues. As I now have the money in place to get my speakers also, I was thinking SCM 11 / K2 but having looked at eBay i'm now totally confused. I could get an 8vs2 integrated plus an 8 power for not much more than a new K2 from ebay, does anyone know how an 8vs2 / 8 power bi-amped would compare to the K2 on its own?? I appreciate that this would probably also need a different direction on the speakers but there's also some PMC gb1i's on ebay at the moment which may not go for much more than SCM 11's would be. What are your thoughts guys, am I thinking too much??

Jamie

 

[Frank Harvey]

The Cyrus would be a more 'up front', leaner sound, whereas the Roksan much smoother and laid back - it depends on what you prefer. Oh, and if you go for a two box Cyrus, go for a dedicated pre-amplifier rather than an integrated amplifier, it'll sound so much better.

 

[Anonymous]

The pre vs2??? even cheaper still!! The leaner sound was the reason I think i'd need to change my speaker direction. The reason I thought about the 8vs2 was to allow me to bi-amp, the dedicated pre will sound better I assume then?

 

[Frank Harvey]

When you move into Cyrus pre/power combinations, they become smoother, but still retain the Cyrus energy.

Yeah, the PreVS2 was the cheapest, around £650, so picking one of these up fairly cheap shouldn't be too hard.

 

[Anonymous]

No, Sevenoaks have one in there clearance for £349, I can probably get an 8 power for £500 of ebay so it would be the same price as the K2. I don't know anything about Cyrus to be honest but i'm just thinking it's £1500 quids worth of 5 stars for £850.

I need to listen.

I listen to absoluely every kind of music you can think of so it needs to be an allrounder.

What speakers tend to pair up well with the Cyrus sound? It may be worth noting that my current cdp is an Arcam

 

[Frank Harvey]

I would try and get listen to the Cyrus first. I'd prefer it, but seeing as you're used to Arcam, you'd probably get on better with the Roksan. You could also look at the Naim Nait 5i, which is the amp most of our customers tend to pick in A/B demo's in our store. This may also fit in with what you're used to, but a a little livelier than the Roksan.

Spendor, ProAc and Dynaudio go very well with Cyrus, but we find people also choose KEF and ATC.

 

[plastic penguin]

I would also look at the Rotel http://whathifi.com/Review/Rotel-RA-1520/.

Speakers, depends how much you want to spend, but PMC DB1's would be a good match.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your help chaps, My local Sevenoaks has a Pre vs2 for £349 in it's clearance, I have found some ATC SCM 11's for £699 so this is the diection i'm headed. All I need now is to find an 8 power on the cheap

 

[Anonymous]

Shevchunko

i have the roksan kandy k2 amp & ATC SCM11s with arcam cd73 and all i can say is that every time i listen to a cd the sound seems to get better & better ive only had this combo for a few weeks now my previous speakers were b&w 685 whtch i thought were very good until i got the atcs.

also my previous amp was a arcam amp, i did listen to cyrus amps but i preffered the roksan amp also preffered the remote that comes with the roksan amp, not that it helps you when it comes the sound but it helps to know that roksan really have made the effort to think of the remote instead of just using any old remote also 5 years guarantee great manufacture.

regards 80s boy

 

[Anonymous]

80s boy,

Thanks for your post, which Cyrus amps did you listen to? While i'm leaning towards the pre vs2 / 8 power combo, there is a nagging in my head, that it is using up my budget and will then need a phono stage and two extra interconnects as well

 

[Anonymous]

shevchunko

i listened to cyrus 6xp & the 8xp and personnly preffered the roksan if you get the chance i would try to demo the cyrus combo because you might like it for me the cyrus intergrated amps were to lean they didn't do it for me not bassy enough and the top end to much.

any ideas on the speakers you might buy? as the atcs will blend in with what ever choice of amp you go for.

hope this helps

80s boy

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, the SCM 11's. A Dealer has offered to do me a pair for £699 which (IMO) is a no-brainer. Will def try to listen to the Cyrus but it's not easy as Sevenoaks (that have the pre vs2 for clearance) do not sell ATC's

 

[Anonymous]

shevchunko

I bought my amp from sevenoaks as well, but i had the same problem when buying the atcs no dealer where i live sell them so i was going to buy them on the web at full price without listing to them, which a lot people say no to do.but i got lucky and a mint pair on fleabay were for sale put a bid & won them.(£549 inc p&p) and they are only 4 months old

its the best purchase/bargain iv'e ever spent on hifi equipment.

regards 80s boy