Dear All,
This is my first posting on the forum, but I've been an enthusiast for many years, gradually verging towards fanatic as the years take their toll on me. I now live in Switzerland, which is great place to live, but one limitation is that you can't get UK HiFi equipment at good prices. 'What HiFi' is the only UK mag I subscribe to (this should guarantee a grateful response from one of the top editorial guys!). As a result, I don't investigate non-UK equipment too much. I do note, however, that quite a lot of UK HiFi equipment is sold here, with some brands having more market penetration than others. There is no question that UK kit is highly regarded in this country.
I came here with an Arcam Solo Mini and a pair of Monitor Audio Silver RS1s, and would now like to upgrade this kit. I use an Asrock Vision 3D Home Theatre PC to get internet radio and I have a relatively new Arcam rDAC KW to feed the signal into my Solo. I want to improve the CD player, amplifier and to try another DAC.
Accordingly, I'm really keen to buy an Audiolab 8200CDQ, but I'm a loss as to what amp to use. I don't want much more than 40-60W (100W max), because the Swiss complain if you make too much noise!
I don't know whether to buy an integrated amp (such as the Cyrus 6a, Roksan Kandy K2 or Rotel RA1520) for future flexibility, or whether I should get a power amp (Cyrus 8 Power, Audiolab 8200P, etc.).
I would be interested to know if there is an integrated amp in which the preamp can be disabled so as to allow the use of 8200CDQ's preamp. Or perhaps that doesn't matter at all if I can disable the 8200CDQ's premap?
I'm sorry if this seems a lot of questions!
Can anyone please give me some advice?
Much appreciated,
Long John
This is my first posting on the forum, but I've been an enthusiast for many years, gradually verging towards fanatic as the years take their toll on me. I now live in Switzerland, which is great place to live, but one limitation is that you can't get UK HiFi equipment at good prices. 'What HiFi' is the only UK mag I subscribe to (this should guarantee a grateful response from one of the top editorial guys!). As a result, I don't investigate non-UK equipment too much. I do note, however, that quite a lot of UK HiFi equipment is sold here, with some brands having more market penetration than others. There is no question that UK kit is highly regarded in this country.
I came here with an Arcam Solo Mini and a pair of Monitor Audio Silver RS1s, and would now like to upgrade this kit. I use an Asrock Vision 3D Home Theatre PC to get internet radio and I have a relatively new Arcam rDAC KW to feed the signal into my Solo. I want to improve the CD player, amplifier and to try another DAC.
Accordingly, I'm really keen to buy an Audiolab 8200CDQ, but I'm a loss as to what amp to use. I don't want much more than 40-60W (100W max), because the Swiss complain if you make too much noise!
I don't know whether to buy an integrated amp (such as the Cyrus 6a, Roksan Kandy K2 or Rotel RA1520) for future flexibility, or whether I should get a power amp (Cyrus 8 Power, Audiolab 8200P, etc.).
I would be interested to know if there is an integrated amp in which the preamp can be disabled so as to allow the use of 8200CDQ's preamp. Or perhaps that doesn't matter at all if I can disable the 8200CDQ's premap?
I'm sorry if this seems a lot of questions!
Can anyone please give me some advice?
Much appreciated,
Long John