An opportunity to upgrade

Covenanter

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With Stock Markets doing so well I'm pleased to say my pension fund is booming so I can think about a major upgrade to my system - Marantz PM6004/CD6004 with Kef Q500s. Now I actually love the system so it would have to be a big step up and as I think what I have is well balanced I think I'd have to replace everything. Here are the criteria:

- Mainly classical from early polyphony through to 20th century

- Lots of solo voice and solo instrument so clarity is of paramount importance

- I like what I think of as an analytical sound, every instrument clearly identified and placed

- Live in an apartment so most listening is at relatively low levels, certainly don't need anything that would shake the windows!

- I'm not into streaming or vinyl so the source will be a CD player

- Budget £3500

Chris
 

tomlinscote

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"I like what I think of as an analytical sound, every instrument clearly identified and placed"

maybe Cyrus kit then, you should be able to get a decent 8 based system for your budget, no idea what speakers suit cyrus stuff but someone will know.....

Tommo
 

gregvet

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I would second the cyrus option, based on what you have said you like.

A cyrus transport, the CDT for £650 new for eg, plus a second hand Dac XP+ (available for less than £1000 relatively commonly from eBay or the cyrus unofficial forum), and either a second hand x power or pair of mono x's (at £500 or £1000 respectively).

For speakers you would be strongly advised to at least hear the Kef LS50's, as they are very detailed without being bright or tiring, and so may give you exactly what you need. However, if you need more/deeper bass then the R500's may be more to your liking.

Depending on which options you went for, this would come to between £2850 and £4150 at the book prices, not including any discounts you haggle :)

Edit: your CD player has optical out, so can be used as transport only. Save some money initially and only get the cyrus transport if you can't cope without all the boxes looking similar :)

This would bring the overall cost down to between £2250 and £3500 depending on which power amp and speakers you went with.
 

Phileas

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Covenanter said:
With Stock Markets doing so well I'm pleased to say my pension fund is booming so I can think about a major upgrade to my system - Marantz PM6004/CD6004 with Kef Q500s. Now I actually love the system so it would have to be a big step up and as I think what I have is well balanced I think I'd have to replace everything. Here are the criteria:

- Mainly classical from early polyphony through to 20th century

- Lots of solo voice and solo instrument so clarity is of paramount importance

- I like what I think of as an analytical sound, every instrument clearly identified and placed

- Live in an apartment so most listening is at relatively low levels, certainly don't need anything that would shake the windows!

- I'm not into streaming or vinyl so the source will be a CD player

- Budget £3500

Chris

Apologies in advance but your requirements suggest you're an ideal candidate for AVI ADM40s.
 

pauln

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Covenanter said:
With Stock Markets doing so well I'm pleased to say my pension fund is booming so I can think about a major upgrade to my system - Marantz PM6004/CD6004 with Kef Q500s. Now I actually love the system so it would have to be a big step up and as I think what I have is well balanced I think I'd have to replace everything. Here are the criteria:

- Mainly classical from early polyphony through to 20th century

- Lots of solo voice and solo instrument so clarity is of paramount importance

- I like what I think of as an analytical sound, every instrument clearly identified and placed

- Live in an apartment so most listening is at relatively low levels, certainly don't need anything that would shake the windows!

- I'm not into streaming or vinyl so the source will be a CD player

- Budget £3500

Chris

Seems to me that Harbeths, with whatever source and amp takes your fancy, would be perfect. I'd suggest you take a look on the Harbeth User Group forum.
 

altruistic.lemon

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Magnepan or Martin Logan for me. Both are brilliant with classical, and, in fact, that's why I bought mine. I use a 70W amp with mine, but Ashley of AVI on another forum suggested something more powerful would be far better, so I'd probably suggest the M3i (130 watts into 4 ohm) from Musical Fidelity, one of the Quad amps, the HK 990 or the NAD375.
 

CnoEvil

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As a lover of classical music, you might like to consider the following:

AMPS

- Sugden A21

- Pathos Classic 1 Mk 111

- Electrcompaniet ECI-3

SPEAKERS

- Harbeth

- Spendor

- Kef R Series (possibly LS50)

- Proac
 

Electro

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I would add PMC twenty 21 or 22 speakers to CNO's excellent list of speakers and amplifiers , I think they would suit your list of requirements very well :)
 

DocG

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What is your room like, Chris?

Personally, I love panel speakers (and Magnepans in particular), and I understand very well why AL estimates them so highly for classical music. But they need space, say one metre behind them - you can place them relatively close to the side walls though.

Besides space, Maggies also need current (lots of it!). The Pathos Classic CNo mentioned, maybe?
 

DocG

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Covenanter said:
I couldn't have speakers 1m from the walls I'm afraid.

Chris

Then my vote goes to Harbeth. And if you ever have the opportunity to hear Magnepans: don't do it (ignorance is bliss :)).

On a different note: I would spend the money on speakers and amp, and keep the CDP; upgrading your source would probably have least effect on the overall sound.
 

Covenanter

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Many thanks for all the suggestions. I live in Birmingham, the UK's second largest city, and this is the result of my first trawl looking for dealers of the kit you variously recommend:

Arcam – Ok

Sugden – No dealers in West Midlands

Creek – Ok

Cyrus – Ok

Electrcompaniet – No dealers in West Midlands

Harbeth – No dealers in West Midlands

Kef - Ok

Musical Fidelity – Ok

Naim – Ok

Pathos – No dealers in West Midlands

ProAc – Ok

Quad – Ok

Spendor – No dealers in Birmingham

I fear this is going to be a frustrating exercise!

Chris
 

BigH

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Covenanter said:
Many thanks for all the suggestions. I live in Birmingham, the UK's second largest city, and this is the result of my first trawl looking for dealers of the kit you variously recommend:

Arcam – Ok

Sugden – No dealers in West Midlands

Creek – Ok

Cyrus – Ok

Electrcompaniet – No dealers in West Midlands

Harbeth – No dealers in West Midlands

Kef - Ok

Musical Fidelity – Ok

Naim – Ok

Pathos – No dealers in West Midlands

ProAc – Ok

Quad – Ok

Spendor – No dealers in Birmingham

I fear this is going to be a frustrating exercise!

Chris

Looks like you may have to go to Coventry, haha. At least you have most nearby.

I think the nearest Sugden is Huntingdon.

As you are in Birmingham you could pop into Fiveways and hear some AVI 9RSs.
 

Macspur

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Chris,

If you do fancy giving Sugden and Harbeth a go, drop Patrick at Sugden and Alan Shaw from Harbeth an Email. Both will gladly sort something out for you.

Mac
 

CnoEvil

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Macspur said:
Chris,

If you do fancy giving Sugden and Harbeth a go, drop Patrick at Sugden and Alan Shaw from Harbeth an Email. Both will gladly sort something out for you.

Mac

IMO. It will be well worth the effort.
 

Phileas

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Craig M. said:
With that budget this is an easy one. ADM40.

My thought exactly. It would be a shame not to hear a pair before making a final decision, but the next best thing would be to listen to ADM9RSs to get a sense of what they're about.

As a classical music enthusiast myself, I particularly recommend them to Covenanter.
 

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