Anyone owned any of these?

[bretty]

Hi,

 Today, while walking around my home town, I found a second hand hi-fi store. I spoke to the owner, who said he completely refurbs all the gear he gets in, including upgrading all the soldering. It looked like an Aladins cave in there, with rows and rows of gear that looked almost without exception, brand new. 

Some of the kit caught my eye and I wonder if any of the forumsters (new word. nice.) had owned any of them and could pass on their experiences to me.

Here comes the list.

CD PLAYERS

1. Musical Fidelity Elektra E600

2. Kenwood DP7090 (this is a bohemoth, similar size to most A/V amps!)

3. Orelle CD100E

4. Marantz CD6000 OSE (original special edition)

5. Rotel RC6991

AMPLIFIERS

1. 2 x Cyrus 2 (each with psx)

2. Audiolab 8000A

3.Marantz PM6010 OSE KI SIGNATURE.

Many Thanks everyone who responds. 

 

[Dougal1331]

Hi Bretty,

Due my sad, anorak anally-retentive lust for hifi, (and a five-foot high pile of what hi-fis going back to 1988) I can recall some basic characteristics of some of the kit you mentioned, so here goes:

Electra E600- smooth, enjoyable, refined. Not the last word in bass but sweet mid and treble.

DP7090- smooth, robust sound, big bass- best with brighter kit- built like a brick s**thouse.

Orelle CD100E- smooth, jazz-oriented sound, only got three stars if memory serves- good, but too expensive at the time.

CD6000 OSE- awesome player, you can't go wrong really. Great all rounder!

Rotel- unknown quantity to me, but Rotel players tend to be sweet and fairly neutral sounding, though not especially exciting.

Cyrus 2/PSX- BUY THEM!!!!!!!!!! Nuff said. You wouldn't regret it.

Audiolab 8000A- awesome- detailed and analytical, but avoid bright sounding kit! Unforgiving of poor partners!

PM6010 - powerhouse, well worth owning, full blooded, balanced sound with plenty of grunt yet still neutral and refined.

Hope this helps!

Jon.

 

[bretty]

Thanks for the qick response, Jon. I'm going for a days demoing next week. What i didn't say in the post was that all the items i listed are less than £200. I'm half way through saving for a Cyrus set up, But if i'm impressed with any of these i'll go down the second hand route and save a couple of grand! you're a big fan of the Cyrus? The 2's and psx's are in black. Honestly, I think they're ugly as sin, but it's all about the sound to me!

 

[mcjwalters]

Hi,

Owed the Cyrus 2 amp and they where wow well worth it, especially with the psx. Remember Cyrus still offer servicing etc for these classics. Now thats what you call looking after the customer.

Also had a PM6010 Signiture, also great sound and as stated by Jon a real power house, but I had problems with internal fuses blowing many times,not a hugh issue but still a pain and expense to replace.

And finally the Audiolab 8000A what a classic true but as Jon,again,stated they need careful partnering as bright sounding gear will harm there beautiful detail. Again Audiolab will still offer service and spares for this amp.

Enjoy

Mark

 

[Dougal1331]

The Cyrus kit was class leading in it's day- the modern Cyrus kit will certainly beat it in terms of dynamics and sheer grunt, but it comes down to price. I agree they aren't the most attractive boxes ever produced, but for £200, personally I'd snap them up. It's an amazing price, and you'd probably make all your money back (I would think you'll make reasonable profit!) if you were to sell them on at a later date. The PSXs alone were about three ton each when new!

That said, if the newer Cyrus kit is within your grasp, by all means go for it!

I envy you- we had a shop like that in Bath once, but the police shut it down as most of it was nicked!

Good luck with the system building.

Jon

 

[the record spot]

I owned the Kenwood DP7090 for almost ten years until replacing it with a Linn Mimik. A stunning player - highly rated by WHF back in 1997/8, it wasn't shamed by the Linn either. Lovely clear unit, not warm at all as I recall, but a good bass. Build was superb. One of the best used buys you'll find. Put it with a good DAC and it'll go for years; try it without first though as it's very listenable.

The Kenwood 6010 KI-Signature is my current amp and it's an outright winner; detailed, clear, very open. I used it with the Kenwood and it made for a fine partnership; worked well with Mission speakers too. A good pairing that makes for a very enjoyable listen. Both highly recommended.

 

[Tony_R]

bretty:
Hi,

Today, while walking around my home town, I found a second hand hi-fi store.

Bretty, you missed the most vital piece of information - where is your home town??

Tony.

 

[bretty]

Ha Ha, i know your game! I'll tell ya once i've i've bought my gear! Can't have you lot coming to town and nicking it all!

 

[bretty]

Can I also ask: what was the price of the Kenwood ÿDP7090 when new? it seems like one hell of a machine, it's immaculate and up for £175, which seems like a steal, to me.

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[Tony_R]

lol!

Well I wouldn't say no to that DP 7090 .....

Word is they're quite good, even in comparison to some of today's players...

Tony.

 

[Tony_R]

bretty:
Can I also ask: what was the price of the Kenwood DP7090 when new? it seems like one hell of a machine, it's immaculate and up for £175, which seems like a steal, to me.

Google it - also look in diyaudio.com / tntaudio.com ( Am I allowed to post URL's ? )

 

[the record spot]

£400 when new. I got mine for £149 on the best Richer Sounds deal I ever saw I think...brand new boxed. A total steal!

EDIT: For £175 it ought to be mint. That's quite a keenprice for the player, but that said, it's worth it IMO. £135-£150 would be nearer the mark IMO, but it's justifiable (just!). Bombproof build, eight Burr-Brown PCM-1705 - I think - DACs inside too, from memory.

 

[Dougal1331]

Sounds like a fair price, I'd be seriously thinking about it. Try a few different CDs in it before you buy, though...

The record spot's stats were almost there- it's got PCM-1702 dacs- but fair play, that's pretty close! And I did have to Google it find out myself. Sad git that I am.

 

[Thaiman]

Only Orelle CD100E stood out from that cd list and even that it wasn't that good (for the price). I do like PM6010 Ki though.

 

[matthewpiano]

My guess is that we are talking about Steve's Hi-Fi in this thread. Am I correct???

 

[Tony_R]

matthewpiano:My guess is that we are talking about Steve's Hi-Fi in this thread. Am I correct???

As Google and "Steve's Hi-Fi" crash under the pressure....

[edit] And by jove, the man was right.

 

[bretty]

you are a psychic young gent, have an apple.

 

[lonely boy]

I have owned the Marantz CD6000 OSE in the past. I initially enjoyed its lively sound, but it soon became tiresome. I find that It possesses a brittle, harsh sound with no depth, it wasn't my cup of tea.

Also I still own my Cyrus 2 that I bought many years ago, I will never sell of it! Must be partnered with a smooth source and bass is not the greatest, but they were lovely amps.

 

[bretty]

thanks, everyone.

Does anybody know if the cyrus 2 can be switched to mono? I'd imagine if they can, they'd sound great one for each channel.ÿ

 

[lonely boy]

I was thinking the same thing. Unfortunately no mono switch I'm afraid

 

[bretty]

******.

 

[Tony_R]

bretty:
Does anybody know if the cyrus 2 can be switched to mono? I'd imagine if they can, they'd sound great one for each channel.

Yes but surely now you're talking about bridging them.. Which if they don't have the neccessary circuitry, will need additional external bridging circuitry?

Failing that, you could still use one for each channel, and bi amp them using one channel for treble the other for bass... All you would need to do is split the single RCA connector in to the two channels an away you go...

Tony.

 

[bretty]

cheers, Tony. I'm still dunce-like when it gets technical, but i got that. top tip.