amp upgrade, or maybe speakers.

[SteveR750]

Am thinking that the K2 is probably the weak linki in my system, and I am considering upgrading it. Budget is circa £1500

I have drawn up a shortlist for listening:

Leema Pulse

Caspian M2

Nait XS

Supernait

Primare i-30

I have not included the Cyrus 8XP as I have already had that over a weekend home demo, and preferred the K2. I have included the supernait to benchmark the gains I could expect if I increased my budget significantly. I have reservations about the Pulse, given my experience of the Cyrus. The two most interesting options currently appear to be the M2 and the i-30 for no other reason than the reviews that I have read of them.

Is there anything I have left off this list that is a must listen? (moon??)

 

[AL13N]

Don't know about must listen, as I've not heard it, but the XTZ Class-A100D3 would make an interesting addition to your list. Especially with the DAC inputs and your current setup.

They also offer a home demo. The website has links to various reviews.

Happy hunting

 

[plastic penguin]

SteveR750:

Am thinking that the K2 is probably the weak linki in my system, and I am considering upgrading it. Budget is circa £1500

I have drawn up a shortlist for listening:

Leema Pulse

Caspian M2

Nait XS

Supernait

Primare i-30

I have not included the Cyrus 8XP as I have already had that over a weekend home demo, and preferred the K2. I have included the supernait to benchmark the gains I could expect if I increased my budget significantly. I have reservations about the Pulse, given my experience of the Cyrus. The two most interesting options currently appear to be the M2 and the i-30 for no other reason than the reviews that I have read of them.

Is there anything I have left off this list that is a must listen? (moon??)

Heard the Caspian M1, Nait XS and, obviously, the Leema and all would make a noticeable difference. In saying that, you clearly love the K2s presentation so why not bi-amp it with the Kandy power amp and save some money?

 

[SteveR750]

plastic penguin:

Heard the Caspian M1, Nait XS and, obviously, the Leema and all would make a noticeable difference. In saying that, you clearly love the K2s presentation so why not bi-amp it with the Kandy power amp and save some money?

I have thought about this, but I am a little sceptical about bi-amping. I am a convert of bridgeing (as in cyrus monoblocs) which made a noticeable improvement, but bi-amping wasn't so obvious as I recall.

I am sure I asked this Q about bi-amping the K2 some time ago, and it seems no one on the forum (who responded) has tried this set up. Time for a home demo I think.

 

[plastic penguin]

SteveR750:plastic penguin:

Heard the Caspian M1, Nait XS and, obviously, the Leema and all would make a noticeable difference. In saying that, you clearly love the K2s presentation so why not bi-amp it with the Kandy power amp and save some money?

I have thought about this, but I am a little sceptical about bi-amping. I am a convert of bridgeing (as in cyrus monoblocs) which made a noticeable improvement, but bi-amping wasn't so obvious as I recall.

I am sure I asked this Q about bi-amping the K2 some time ago, and it seems no one on the forum (who responded) has tried this set up. Time for a home demo I think.

I think the bi-amp route could be the answer as it gives the K2 a purer current.

Obviously, I would strongly recommend the Pulse; one of my initial reservations was the reviews by WHFI which stated that it could be bright. After a couple of dems I found [brightness] to be fairly nondescript, and overall presentation organic, albeit detailed and insightful.

 

[Cold Roses]

I noticed the other day that Sevenoaks Hi Fi in Brighton are expecting some further stock of the Leema Pulse II at £749. I was very tempted by this myself when the offer came up earlier in the year, but by the time I decided to pull the trigger on a new amp they'd run out of stock. In the meantime, I ended up buying the Mira. Would definitely have gone for the Leema had it been available. At half your budget (and pretty much half the price of the other amps on your list), the Pulse II has to be a real contender (at least for an audition).

Haven't heard the Pulse III yet, not sure if this is the one you're considering, though the reviews of the newer version don't seem to be as glowing.

 

[audioaffair]

The Caspian M2 and Primare I30 are exceptional amplifiers at their level - indeed Primare only just released its successor to the I30 the I32, which is priced a little higher so you might be able to get a good deal on the I30 around the price of the others.

Each would be an interesting match for your speakers. We've heard the I30 with Spendor A6's and it was a fantastic combination. At risk of sounding like a broken record it would be worth auditioning both since we've been listening to the M2 against the I30 since the former came out and it is quite a different beast.

 

[SteveR750]

audioaffair:
The Caspian M2 and Primare I30 are exceptional amplifiers at their level - indeed Primare only just released its successor to the I30 the I32, which is priced a little higher so you might be able to get a good deal on the I30 around the price of the others.

Each would be an interesting match for your speakers. We've heard the I30 with Spendor A6's and it was a fantastic combination. At risk of sounding like a broken record it would be worth auditioning both since we've been listening to the M2 against the I30 since the former came out and it is quite a different beast.

In what way?

 

[plastic penguin]

Cold Roses:

I noticed the other day that Sevenoaks Hi Fi in Brighton are expecting some further stock of the Leema Pulse II at £749. I was very tempted by this myself when the offer came up earlier in the year, but by the time I decided to pull the trigger on a new amp they'd run out of stock. In the meantime, I ended up buying the Mira. Would definitely have gone for the Leema had it been available. At half your budget (and pretty much half the price of the other amps on your list), the Pulse II has to be a real contender (at least for an audition).

Haven't heard the Pulse III yet, not sure if this is the one you're considering, though the reviews of the newer version don't seem to be as glowing.

It was me that took the last Pulse from the Brighton shop...sorry.

 

[plastic penguin]

SteveR750:audioaffair:

The Caspian M2 and Primare I30 are exceptional amplifiers at their level - indeed Primare only just released its successor to the I30 the I32, which is priced a little higher so you might be able to get a good deal on the I30 around the price of the others.

Each would be an interesting match for your speakers. We've heard the I30 with Spendor A6's and it was a fantastic combination. At risk of sounding like a broken record it would be worth auditioning both since we've been listening to the M2 against the I30 since the former came out and it is quite a different beast.

In what way?

Think a good audition is in order, steve.

 

[Craig M.]

i think you should read iggleberts thread...

 

[SteveR750]

Craig M.:i think you should read iggleberts thread...

where is it?

I *like* the idea of another great whopping power amp, if only the K2 could be bridged. If the Caspian has the same sonic signature as the Kandy, then maybe I should also listen to a Caspian pre - 2 x mono power. The again that's probably not a sensible approach. Im going to see if I can demo the Kandy in bi-amp mode.

 

[Anonymous]

SteveR750:
Craig M.:i think you should read iggleberts thread...

where is it?

I *like* the idea of another great whopping power amp, if only the K2 could be bridged. If the Caspian has the same sonic signature as the Kandy, then maybe I should also listen to a Caspian pre - 2 x mono power. The again that's probably not a sensible approach. Im going to see if I can demo the Kandy in bi-amp mode.
here

 

[Frank Harvey]

I too would disagree with the bi-amount route as results vary, but whatever the results, the quality of the pre-amp section remains the same, so no benefit is actually gained quality-wise.

All of those you have listed are all excellent amps, and all are worth auditioning before being discounted from your shortlist. My favourite to marry up with the Spendor's would be the Naim, but I haven't heard the Leema with the Spendors.

 

[Singslinger]

All great amps on your list, to which I would add the Musical Fidelity M3i or if funds permit, the M6i.

Especially the latter, a beast of an amp which to me looks like a serious challenger to Naim's SuperNait.

 

[eternaloptimist]

I would agree about Naim and Spendor - heard this combination recently and was lovely.

Although I am a Cyrus fan (see sig!) and Spendor is often said to go well with Cyrus, I was very disappointed when auditioning this combination earlier this year (when looking for speakes) - the Spendors sounded flat and somewhat boring. Naim was certainly more exciting! Therefore, doesn't surprise me that the 8XP and Spendor combo wasn't as enjoyable.