Amplifier and CD player for PMC 20.21 speakers

[charlesrichardson]

I am looking to change the amplifier and cd i currently use with a pair of PMC 20.21 speakers. I don't want Naim as I don't want to get into the cycle of improvement etc that such a brand can get you into. My budget would be circa £1600 to incluee interconnects but not speaker cable.

All comments would be appreciated, I listen mainly to rock.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Ok,I know you said you don't want Naim,but my nait xs and 21's sound fantastic together,I'm sure the xs2 would be even better,and the only upgrade you need to bother about would be a s/h flatcap xs(which is a good thing)imo.

 

[Electro]

This is an easy one *smile* .

An Abrahamsen V1.0UP Cd player with a V2.0UP integrated amplifier for £1500 the pair that leaves £100 for cables for which I would recommend a pair of 1 meter Van Damme Starquad balanced XLR interconnects for £13.91 and Van Damme 4mm HiFi speaker cables for £6.28 per meter .

There is little or nothing that will drive those PMC's better than this combo for the price and nothing that will sound better imo . *biggrin*

They are buit to a very high spec that is not normally not seen until three times the asking price, a real taste of high end for mid range money .

http://www.iqspeakers.co.uk/#!abrahamsen-audio/ckbj

 

[matthewpiano]

Rega Elex-R amplifier with Apollo-R CD player. As long as you are OK with the CD player being half the width of the amp, you'll struggle to find a more musical and involving combination for the budget, and Rega amplifiers work beautifully with PMC speakers.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi charlesrichardson

What amp and cdp are you currently using please?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Rega Elex-R amplifier with Apollo-R CD player. Rega amplifiers work beautifully with PMC speakers.

Hi Matt

+1

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Al ears]

This is an easy one *smile* .

An Abrahamsen V1.0UP Cd player with a V2.0UP integrated amplifier for £1500 the pair that leaves £100 for cables for which I would recommend a pair of 1 meter Van Damme Starquad balanced XLR interconnects for £13.91 and Van Damme 4mm HiFi speaker cables for £6.28 per meter .

There is little or nothing that will drive those PMC's better than this combo for the price and nothing that will sound better imo . *biggrin*

They are buit to a very high spec that is not normally not seen until three times the asking price, a real taste of high end for mid range money .

http://www.iqspeakers.co.uk/#!abrahamsen-audio/ckbj

Good suggestion, it will however leave him nothing to buy a CD player with.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

The thing about the pmc's is they really crave an amp with plenty of drive,not so much big watts,but a hefty power supply to really start getting to what these little monitors are capable of.I know you're also looking for a cd player for your money,but I reckon most of it is gonni have to go to the amp section.folks all say source first,but in this case you got to get the amplification sorted or the speakers are going to fall short of expectations.Rega,Abrahamsen and Naim should all be on the audition list and anything else would be above you're budget.

 

[Electro]

This is an easy one *smile* .

An Abrahamsen V1.0UP Cd player with a V2.0UP integrated amplifier for £1500 the pair that leaves £100 for cables for which I would recommend a pair of 1 meter Van Damme Starquad balanced XLR interconnects for £13.91 and Van Damme 4mm HiFi speaker cables for £6.28 per meter .

There is little or nothing that will drive those PMC's better than this combo for the price and nothing that will sound better imo . *biggrin*

They are buit to a very high spec that is not normally not seen until three times the asking price, a real taste of high end for mid range money .

http://www.iqspeakers.co.uk/#!abrahamsen-audio/ckbj

Good suggestion, it will however leave him nothing to buy a CD player with.

You missed the V1.0UP Cd player which is included in the price at £599 plus the amp at £899 *smile*

 

[ErwinC]

I have a Naim UnitiLite in combination with a pair of PMC Twenty.22 and the sound is fantastic imo.

 

[Al ears]

This is an easy one *smile* .

An Abrahamsen V1.0UP Cd player with a V2.0UP integrated amplifier for £1500 the pair that leaves £100 for cables for which I would recommend a pair of 1 meter Van Damme Starquad balanced XLR interconnects for £13.91 and Van Damme 4mm HiFi speaker cables for £6.28 per meter .

There is little or nothing that will drive those PMC's better than this combo for the price and nothing that will sound better imo . *biggrin*

They are buit to a very high spec that is not normally not seen until three times the asking price, a real taste of high end for mid range money .

http://www.iqspeakers.co.uk/#!abrahamsen-audio/ckbj

Good suggestion, it will however leave him nothing to buy a CD player with.

You missed the V1.0UP Cd player which is included in the price at £599 plus the amp at £899 *smile*

I did indeed, apologies.

Make that an excellent suggestion then.

 

[lindsayt]

This is an easy one *smile* .

An Abrahamsen V1.0UP Cd player with a V2.0UP integrated amplifier for £1500 the pair that leaves £100 for cables for which I would recommend a pair of 1 meter Van Damme Starquad balanced XLR interconnects for £13.91 and Van Damme 4mm HiFi speaker cables for £6.28 per meter .

There is little or nothing that will drive those PMC's better than this combo for the price and nothing that will sound better imo . *biggrin*

They are buit to a very high spec that is not normally not seen until three times the asking price, a real taste of high end for mid range money .

http://www.iqspeakers.co.uk/#!abrahamsen-audio/ckbj

Really?

So a Yamaha B2x or M2 wouldn't drive PMC's better?

http://www.ebay.de/sch/i.html?_odkw=sony&_sop=3&_udhi=2000&LH_ItemCondition=3000&_mPrRngCbx=1&_osacat=14970&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xyamaha.TRS0&_nkw=yamaha&_sacat=14970

Nor a Pioneer SM-100, SC-100 or an SA 9800?

http://www.ebay.de/sch/i.html?_odkw=yamaha&_sop=3&_udhi=2000&_mPrRngCbx=1&_osacat=14970&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xpioneer.TRS0&_nkw=pioneer&_sacat=14970

Nor a pair of Kenwood / Trio L-07M's?

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Kenwood-L-07MI-/130447349453?hash=item1e5f4496cd

Not to mention any of these lovely Accuphase amplifiers?

http://www.ebay.de/sch/i.html?_odkw=kenwood&_sop=3&_udhi=2000&_mPrRngCbx=1&_osacat=14970&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xasccuphase.TRS0&_nkw=asccuphase&_sacat=14970

And when it comes to CD players, I find them pretty much of a muchness. I'd recommend the OP uses his existing CD player as a benchmark to compare any challengers against it. Unless it's not working properly any more, in which case I'd recommend he buys a decent 2nd hand CD player for £100 or less and use that as a benchmark.

 

[SteveR750]

This is an easy one *smile* .

An Abrahamsen V1.0UP Cd player with a V2.0UP integrated amplifier for £1500 the pair that leaves £100 for cables for which I would recommend a pair of 1 meter Van Damme Starquad balanced XLR interconnects for £13.91  and  Van Damme 4mm HiFi speaker cables for £6.28 per meter .

There is little or nothing that will drive those PMC's better than this combo for the price and nothing that will sound better imo . *biggrin*

They are buit to a very high spec that is not normally not seen until three times the asking price, a real taste of high end for mid range money .

http://www.iqspeakers.co.uk/#!abrahamsen-audio/ckbj

+ lots. Can't comment on the CD player, but the amp is a giant killer. If you want more connectivity, and power have a look at the hegel H160, though it's above your budget it does include a DAC, headphone amp, network connectivity and double the power.

 

[Electro]

This is an easy one *smile* .

An Abrahamsen V1.0UP Cd player with a V2.0UP integrated amplifier for £1500 the pair that leaves £100 for cables for which I would recommend a pair of 1 meter Van Damme Starquad balanced XLR interconnects for £13.91 and Van Damme 4mm HiFi speaker cables for £6.28 per meter .

There is little or nothing that will drive those PMC's better than this combo for the price and nothing that will sound better imo . *biggrin*

They are buit to a very high spec that is not normally not seen until three times the asking price, a real taste of high end for mid range money .

http://www.iqspeakers.co.uk/#!abrahamsen-audio/ckbj

Really?

So a Yamaha B2x or M2 wouldn't drive PMC's better?

http://www.ebay.de/sch/i.html?_odkw=sony&_sop=3&_udhi=2000&LH_ItemCondit...

Nor a Pioneer SM-100, SC-100 or an SA 9800?

http://www.ebay.de/sch/i.html?_odkw=yamaha&_sop=3&_udhi=2000&_mPrRngCbx=...

Nor a pair of Kenwood / Trio L-07M's?

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Kenwood-L-07MI-/130447349453?hash=item1e5f4496cd

Not to mention any of these lovely Accuphase amplifiers?

http://www.ebay.de/sch/i.html?_odkw=kenwood&_sop=3&_udhi=2000&_mPrRngCbx...

And when it comes to CD players, I find them pretty much of a muchness. I'd recommend the OP uses his existing CD player as a benchmark to compare any challengers against it. Unless it's not working properly any more, in which case I'd recommend he buys a decent 2nd hand CD player for £100 or less and use that as a benchmark.

You're right *smile* they are all good suggestions if you want a vintage Jap monster then all of the ones you mention will do a very good job , they certainly produce more watts than the Abrahamsen but probably not as much current , they also may need a service on top of the purchase cost and of course no warranty. *smile*

 

[Andrewjvt]

This is an easy one *smile* .

An Abrahamsen V1.0UP Cd player with a V2.0UP integrated amplifier for £1500 the pair that leaves £100 for cables for which I would recommend a pair of 1 meter Van Damme Starquad balanced XLR interconnects for £13.91  and  Van Damme 4mm HiFi speaker cables for £6.28 per meter .

There is little or nothing that will drive those PMC's better than this combo for the price and nothing that will sound better imo . *biggrin*

They are buit to a very high spec that is not normally not seen until three times the asking price, a real taste of high end for mid range money .

http://www.iqspeakers.co.uk/#!abrahamsen-audio/ckbj

+ lots. Can't comment on the CD player, but the amp is a giant killer. If you want more connectivity, and power have a look at the hegel H160, though it's above your budget it does include a DAC, headphone amp, network connectivity and double the power.

+2 and to add coupd get the hegel h80 with a built in dac for £1200

 

[radiorog]

This is an easy one *smile* .

An Abrahamsen V1.0UP Cd player with a V2.0UP integrated amplifier for £1500 the pair that leaves £100 for cables for which I would recommend a pair of 1 meter Van Damme Starquad balanced XLR interconnects for £13.91 and Van Damme 4mm HiFi speaker cables for £6.28 per meter .

There is little or nothing that will drive those PMC's better than this combo for the price and nothing that will sound better imo . *biggrin*

They are buit to a very high spec that is not normally not seen until three times the asking price, a real taste of high end for mid range money .

http://www.iqspeakers.co.uk/#!abrahamsen-audio/ckbj

Hi electro, I'm just wandering if you have got to hear an abrahmsen amp yet? You recommend them a lot but a few months back I'm sure you were yet to hear one?

 

[charlesrichardson]

Sorry not to reply sooner. I had naim XS system currntly used elsewhere. I am using a old Technics amp with an old Cambridge Audio Cd player.

As stated I do not want to consider Naim. What do you suggest.