Budget £2-2.5k, pointers, thoughts etc

[admin_exported]

Greetings!
Will try and keep this brief but at the same time throw in a bit of background on myself so any helpers can see where I'm coming from. Many moons ago I set out on the 'proper' hi-fi road to perfection, or at least better than high street midi-type systems anyway. Thanks to a good friend already institutionalised by listening to music through quality gear, I ended up with a nice little budget system - Kef Coda bookshelfs on Atacama stands, a rotel amp and a Systemdek turntable.
Years later and due to a house move I veered more into surround sound as space prevented me from having two dedicated systems - until now.
Moved again and this is probably the last time - conditions are ideal with lounge location etc and the surround systen is now dedicated just to the Kef Eggs, so its time to get back into hi-fi for audio only!
Having browsed WHF over the last few months, I want to set myself up with:
A new ampA new CD Player (Still have my old Marantz CD-83!!)Some floorstanders
I still have, and never really want to part with, my Systemdek IIX900 turntable.
my thinking is this: 
To possibly spend the most on floorstanders, approx  1- 1.5k.Amp, spend approx 500CD player - having read WHF Awards 2010, am thinking to base the system around the Audiolab 8200 CD Player. Obviously will need to audition it for myself, but need to know if the above budgets would line up with this £700 unit?
And what will I be listening to? Well, I've mellowed out over the years, expect me to be reaching for Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan etc. That won't stop me from throwing on all the classic stuff I like from 67-75... Zeppelin, Sabbath, Hendrix, CCR, classic rock all the way. As a grunge kid there'll be Pearl Jam, Soundgarden etc, right up to modern day bands such as the Mars Volta - quite a dynamic demand then!
Any suggestions gratefully welcome

 

[the record spot]

Would reduce the speaker budget, unless you're buying some good active ones (Genelec, AVI, Acoustic Energy...to name but three) and put more on the amp budget. I'd also look at, as hinted, active speakers - at your budget, they're a serious option.

 

[Anonymous]

if it was my money I would be auditioning the audiolab 8200 cd with its matching amp, and some kudos X2 or Neat motive 2se or Rega RS5 speakers. dun.

 

[6th.replicant]

Snow Bike:... audiolab 8200 cd ...
The 8200's DAC inputs also make it very handy for computer-based music.

Shame it's only available in silver, though

Maybe consider B&W's 684 (c. £700) speaker, which should suit your jazz and acoustic music but not strangle 'Zep and co?

Or maybe some crispy 2nd-hand/ex-demo speakers. The RS will have plenty of advice re sources...

 

[Frank Harvey]

6th.replicant:The 8200's DAC inputs also make it very handy for computer-based music.

Shame it's only available in silver, though

We have a black one on demo...

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies, will certainly consider all options mentioned. one thing though - was looking at the Audiolab 8200A amp, no phono stage! Will need a good one on whatever amp I get to do the Systemdek justice. Had a scout around and the Roksan K2 got a mention as ÿhaving a great phono stage - but would it be best suited with its comparison CD player as opposed to the Audiolab?

These will get demo'd, just trying to work out some good partnerships at the moment!

 

[Frank Harvey]

I wouldn't ignore an amp just because it had no phono stage - you might be better with an offboard one anyway, as it has the ability to sound better as it's removed from the amp and away from large transformers etc. Plus, you can choose the one you like, not limited by one that's 'bundled' with an amplifier.

 

[pwiles1968]

I would be tempted to spend most money on Amp/Speakers as recommended above, any chance you going to want use other inputs in to your system such as PC or a Media Server?? The reason I ask is you could consider spending a few hundred pounds on a DAC for the other sources, feed your CD-83 in to that for now which will leave you around Grand each for Amp and speakers which would give you a nice sounding system, Just an idea.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Do you want to consider: streamers (squeezebox touch, sonos, naim unitiqute, linn ds, olive or any others - more and more come out), dacs (rdac, dacmagic, chordette gem etc), computer playback, active speakers (e.g. avi). You can build a cracking system with excellen sq, flexibility, spec, compactness, looks and future-proofness.

If you are not considering these - why?

 

[Anonymous]

AlmaataKZ:
Do you want to consider: streamers (squeezebox touch, sonos, naim unitiqute, linn ds, olive or any others - more and more come out), dacs (rdac, dacmagic, chordette gem etc), computer playback, active speakers (e.g. avi). You can build a cracking system with excellen sq, flexibility, spec, compactness, looks and future-proofness.

If you are not considering these - why?

Hadn't given any consideration whatsoever to take further options other than already listed. Have no desire to incorporate my iPod, for instance, into a system, radio for the most part in my opinion is tiresome to listen to, I spend all day on a computer for my profession and want to keep it that way. Don't get me wrong - I embrace the future and what technology will bring as much as the next man, but I was brought up during the vinyl years and there's just something about that format that strikes right into my soul. My iPod is used purely at work to shut out the inane ramblings of X-Factor/Big Brother/Celebrity conversations, but in the comfort of my home - get the vinyl and CD's out!

 

[shado]

If you want matching components you could try the Cyrus 6 CD and 6 XP Amp with Monitor Audio Silver RX6 Floorstanders currently on offer for £2199 at Sevenoakes. The beauty with Cyrus you can upgrade them at any time - like add a digital card to your existing amp in case you do decide to try MP3. Upgrade the CD player to 8 etc, add power amps. The list is endless.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Caffer:AlmaataKZ:

Do you want to consider: streamers (squeezebox touch, sonos, naim unitiqute, linn ds, olive or any others - more and more come out), dacs (rdac, dacmagic, chordette gem etc), computer playback, active speakers (e.g. avi). You can build a cracking system with excellen sq, flexibility, spec, compactness, looks and future-proofness.

If you are not considering these - why?

Hadn't given any consideration whatsoever to take further options other than already listed. Have no desire to incorporate my iPod, for instance, into a system, radio for the most part in my opinion is tiresome to listen to, I spend all day on a computer for my profession and want to keep it that way. Don't get me wrong - I embrace the future and what technology will bring as much as the next man, but I was brought up during the vinyl years and there's just something about that format that strikes right into my soul. My iPod is used purely at work to shut out the inane ramblings of X-Factor/Big Brother/Celebrity conversations, but in the comfort of my home - get the vinyl and CD's out!

OK, you don't fancy computer or even streamer as a sorce. Fair enough. I get the point of putting a CD in vs fiddling with menues on screens.

But why wouldn't you still try a CD + DAC + active speakers approach? It is worth looking into. And with your budget you can get a very high quality sound. For example:

CD - your existing CD player - 0GBP

DAC/Pre/active crossover/Amp/Speaekers - AVI ADM 9T - 1125GBP http://www.avihifi.co.uk/adm9.html

Subwoofer optional. You even have money left for a new CD player or the new macmini (which would paly CDs as a Cd palyer (and looks lien one, too), will do 24/96 streaming for you if you ever want and do whatever else a computer will do (but you do not have to do it)!

Just a consideration. Give it a though - or better a try.

 

[Anonymous]

Just thought I'd bump my own thread to announce that I've got myself sorted at last, very, very happy with what I've ended up with from the demo room, still awaiting delivery of all items. I'd like to extend my thanks to all those who offered pointers to get me going.
As originally mentioned my main problem here was that although I was essentially after an upgrade, I needed to purchase all three components of the system at the same time, so it was like starting from scratch but on a bigger budget. With that in mind I didn't really want to be visiting different hi-fi shops based on what they stocked, as not all of them will have all the brands available for head to-head battles.
So, having based a search on who stocked B&W, Rega and Neat, I found my hi-fi shop. I'll not mention it here as I don't want this to look like a deliberate endorsement, but due to time constraints and a busy pre-Christmas work schedule, I decided to email them with my plan. I got a reply within 24 hours and a shortlist to work to, and booked my room for last Wednesday between Christmas and New Year.
The shop keeper had set me up basically on the premise that of all the components, we needed to focus on the CD player, so the initial set up was this:
Rega Saturn v Naim CD5i, playing out of
Rega RS3 SpeakersRega Brio amp
This worked out at roughly £1950, well within budget
First impressions, based on listening to Bat for Lashes and various others, was that there wasn't much to seperate them, although Rega had the edge. This continued until I had a great big beam going across my face when we blasted Sin City by AC/DC - the Rega trounced the Naim, it just drove the aggression right on through - I nearly leapt off my seat for the air guitar!
This was a defining moment - the Rega just seemed to push everything through brilliantly - it seems strange though to put down a £900 CD player, so I offer no disrespect to any CD5i owners, but the Saturn was winning handsomely.
At this point I have to say I was very impressed with what the Brio was doing, for £250 it was packing some serious punch and easily making good work at a high volume.
Just to hopefully confirm or add another dimension, we then pitched the Saturn up against a Densen B110. Set at £1100 rrp, this was another finely built unit. However, there didn't seem to be much to seperate the two, not enough to justify the extra £150, so we finally settled on the Saturn.
Next up was a quick trial of various other speakers... B&W 684, Rega RS5, Neat Motive 2SE. Of these, the RS5 was proving the best, although to be fair, the Neats were more suited once the volume got cranked up even more - to put it bluntly, the only way I'd be able to enjoy the Neats would be to pack off the neighbours on holiday every time I wanted a session, so they respectfully got put back into the showroom.
This increased the budget as the RS5s were an extra £150 to the RS3s.
Finally, an extra bonus for us was the sop owner wanted to demo the Rega Mira, however his only shop demo unit had been taken away that morning by a potential customer. Thnakfully though, he'd returned it while we were demo-ing the various speakers so we replaced the Brio for some testing.
This just seemed to perfect the set-up nicely. Now coupled with RS5's, the Mira and the Saturn in particular just lifted everything up a few notches from the already very enjoyable day's listening, and the decision was made.
Rega Saturn £900Rega RS5s £900Rega Mira £450
Total, £2250
Our final test was to push a turntable through the system. The shop owner picked up the Rega P5. I was assured that it was a relative match to my Systemdek 11X900. Apparently, a general rule is to double retail prices every 10 years. I bought the systemdek maybe 12/13 years ago, ex display, for £450. the P5 I think was set at £700 RRP without cartridge, so this was to act as abnecmark to what I can expect from my Systemdek, and, well, it sounded magnificent, even on a badly recorded, old secondhand vinyl copy of Black Sabbath's first album. 200gram re-issues like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, though, were quite simply as good as it gets listening to music, on what I feel is still the best way to appreciate the creativity within it's grooves - black vinyl - the future!
The shop have a policy of helping with installation if required, and when I asked about adding on the cabling and interconnects, I was told 'we throw them in to the overall cost'. Fantastic!
I also realise that this might look like a Rega endorsement - it certainly wasn't my motivation, that's just the way it worked out for me. I'm now sat with baited breath waiting for the call to say the goods are in and can be collected. Once again, thanks to everyone involved for re-invigorating my love for well produced, well crafted music.

 

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the (unofficial) Rega fan club