Cambridge Audio Aeromax 6 or Q Acoustics 3050?

[Led Head]

Hello everyone,

I'm a bit new to the Hi-Fi world, I've always been quite passionate about getting the best possible sound I could, but only recently have been able to afford proper Hi-Fi equipment.

Anyways, I'm looking at getting some floor standing speakers. I was looking at getting either the Cambridge Audio Aeromax 6 or the Q Acoustics 3050. So I was wondering what everyone thinks of these two products and which they think produces the better sound quality.

 

[Al ears]

Welcome to the forum.

This is one of those questions that is going to get a whole range of answers, none of which are going to be particularly useful to you as, apart from the fact that there will be very few forumees I guess that have actually heard both of these, none will have an identical listening room. Many will offer even more suggestions guaranteed to confuse you even further.

My advice to you is go and find a dealer that stocks either / or (you will need a RicherSounds which stocks both as the Cambridge Audio is their own brand so to speak) and audition them yourself, always assuming you live in the UK. Also try and get a home demo. Also whilst you are there you might like to demo the Tannoy Revolution DC6T SE's.

I'd also be very interested in how you came up with this pair as both are quite different speakers in different price brackets. The Aeromax is £300 dearer for a reason 🙂

 

[rainsoothe]

Hi. What's your room size, prefered music type, source, listening preferences (loud, medium, warm sound or clinical) amp etc.

The answers will be better tailored for you. Also, based on your roomsize, you might find out floorstanders are not suited. I thought floorstanders would be the way for me, but I found out later they weren't. Ofc noone could've talked me out of it, and I had to learn the hard, moneylosing way, but one can only try 🙂

 

[Led Head]

Welcome to the forum.

thank you! I came up with the two pairs because I'm quite a fan of the Cambridge audio brand, and the reviews of their aeromax seem to be exactly what I'm looking for. I also read very positive reviews of the Q Acoustics on this site, which is why they got added for consideration. Booking some auditions seems to be the best way to test which speaker is better suited for what I'm looking for.


I like to listen fairly loud, but not earth shatteringly loud. But I also like it to be warm and have good low end or bass response. I would be listening from a turntable and iPod primarily. I listen to all sorts of music but rock, and blues are the two main genres. My room is fairly large. It's about 20'x10'. I was thinking of using a Cambridge Audio Azur 751R V2 as the amp.

 

[rainsoothe]

Is music the main purpose (as in stereo)? Otherwise why are you considering a reciever instead of a stereo amp, if you only plan on using stereo speakers in the first place?

 

[Led Head]

I'm planning to use it about 50/50 for both music and for video.

 

[rainsoothe]

I'm planning to use it about 50/50 for both music and for video.

Well, two points - the way I look at it: 1. If you're not doing a 5.1 or 7.1 or Atmos or whatever surround setup, going for a AV reciever is rather pointless, since you could get a lot more from your money by going for a better stereo amplifier - which brings me to point numero 2. I looked up the CA, and I understand it's around 3000$ - I would defenately shift some of that money towards the speakers.

Oh, and a bonus point - when spending this kind of money, you should take your time (and enjoy it 🙂 ) and audition equipment as much as possible. It WILL sound different in your room, but you'll get a rough idea on how stuff sounds. I'll assume a total budget of 2500 - 3000 pounds, although I might overshoot it 😛 .

As for the room, I don't know whether floorstanders are a must, but if you can accomodate them (give them space from back - 50cm roughly - and sidewalls - 100-150 cm) you could give them a go. Imo good standmounts will do.

The way I would go about it is get either a DAC (to plug your TV/Blu-ray player into, provided they have optical/coaxial digital outputs) or a Streamer with digital inputs (with the same purpose as the dac, but you could also use it to stream instead of having to keep the bluray/TV on and use them to play your music etc). The DACs I would recommend, if you go for an amp that doesn't have an integrated DAC, would be Arcam iRdac (warm-ish) or NAD D1050 (on the detailed side) - each of these DACs costs 400 pounds. Alternatively, the streamer to consider is the Pioneer N-50A (500 pounds), 'cause it has digital inputs.

For amp+speaker combos, these would be my suggestions (in parantheses will be the standmount version of the floorstanders - remember you also have to budget for proper stands if you chose to go for standmounts, such as Atacama Nexus 6i - 80 pounds-ish - for example):

(I will underline my prefered partner for the amp in question)

- Arcam A39 (although even the A19 might be enough for your room) + Focal Aria 926 (or 906) / B&W 683 s2 (or 685 s2) / Martin Logan Motion 20 (or 35XT).

- Naim Nait XS2 + Focal Aria 926 (or 906) / Sonus Faber Toy Tower (or Toy) / Martin Logan Motion 20 (or 35XT) / Harbeth P3ESR.

- Hegel H80 + Harbeth P3ESR / ATC SCM 19 or 11 / Sonus Faber Toy Tower (or Toy) (NOTE: the Hegel has an integrated DAC, which is very capable; also, all speakers suggested here are standmounts).

- Rega Elicit R (or Elex R) + Harbeth P3ESR / Focal Aria 926 (or 906).

Final notes: these are just guidelines - personally, I'm so inlove with my budget Arcam A19 and Focal Aria 906, that I wouldn't hesitate to strongly recommend it, and I would even say it is enough for your room, with it's big sound. Pair it with Pioneer N50A and maybe replace the Focals with B&W 685 S2 for a more lively set of speakers to balance the Arcam's warmth better, and you have yourself a cracking little system. BUT everyone has different preferences, which is why it's paramount you audition the gear yourself. ALSO, if you find a nice dealer you get along with, let them make suggestions as well, you might be surprised of how good some underrated (and even cheaper) components sound.

Happy auditioning.

 

[drummerman]

Well, the CA has a clever mid/tweeter which, in theory at least, makes a lot of sense.

Other than that, dunno.

As R/S sells both of the speakers mentioned, there should be no problem with trying both at home.

 

[Led Head]

Thanks so much Rainsoothe for your advise. I was also thinking of the Cambridge receiver because, if I understand correctly, it has a built in DAC, and 2 zone capability. So I was thinking of plugging in my computer into the DAC on the receiver to process my computers sound and then power some speakers as well.

I was thinking by using the Cambridge receiver I could kind of kill a few birds with one stone, so to speak. But I will setup a few auditions and see how they sound. There's a pretty good store near by me, I'll ask the associates for their opinions too.

 

[rainsoothe]

Oh, by the way, I forgot 2 very important amps: Roksan K3 and Croft Phono Integrated. The latter seems to be somewhat of a bargain and, while I have no experience with the former, it's very well regarded, and has very good specs. Again, the Croft is thought to be a gem and to punch well above its price. Pair it with Kef LS50 or Sonus Faber Toy/Venere range, maybe even Martin Logan Motion 40/20. The croft is only 1000 pounds, which means you can get 1000-1500 pound speakers and still have 500 left for DAC/Streamer. Actually, auditioning the Croft should defenately be on your to-do list. If you can't find a dealer, there's the option of buying online from the river website, as I noticed the store has a 7 day return policy. If you do that, you can take it with you to the store and audition the speakers of your choice with it.