Creek Evolution – 50A vs Marantz PM6005

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gasolin

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I have a marantz PM6005 and it's good.

Just don't get one if you like ultra deep,punchy bass, the PM6005 has a clear open sound, it's just not a bass heavy amp on the other hand it's not boomy,moddy bass and feels very natural,unintrusive with my system
 

Blacksabbath25

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Right I probably going to get hammered for this but I still think the Marantz pm6005 would be a good choice as it warm , detailed , and not mad on bass plus it will work well with the arcam dac that he has and if he got Dali 3s speakers to go with it as well as they work nicely with this amp . He will be under his budget too . Now the arcam a19 the bit were I will be hammered for saying this but I found that this amp for £600 sounded boring and dull yes it had some detail but did not sound warm but cold sounding now maybe it sounds good when your spending £1000 on speakers but when I had a demo with is I tried 4 kinds of speakers with it I did not like it at all and I have had arcam amps in the 1990s and they sounded better but this is just my opinion. . Now the next model up is a lot better but then your paying a lot more .
 

CnoEvil

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Blacksabbath25 said:
Right I probably going to get hammered for this but I still think the Marantz pm6005 would be a good choice as it warm , detailed  , and not mad on bass plus it will work well with the arcam dac that he has and if he got Dali 3s speakers to go with it as well as they work nicely with this amp . He will be under his budget too .    Now the arcam a19 the bit were I will be hammered for saying this but I found that this amp for £600 sounded boring and dull yes it had some detail but did not sound warm but cold sounding now maybe it sounds good when your spending £1000 on speakers but when I had a demo with is I tried 4 kinds of speakers with it I did not like it at all and I have had arcam amps in the 1990s and they sounded better but this is just my opinion. . Now the next model up is a lot better but then your paying a lot more .
Nobody should be hammered for having an opinion, which is both personal and subjective....and is determined by what system it was matched with, how it was set up and what room it was in....and the taste of the person listening.
 

friendly_ghost

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Blacksabbath25 said:
Right I probably going to get hammered for this but I still think the Marantz pm6005 would be a good choice as it warm , detailed , and not mad on bass plus it will work well with the arcam dac that he has and if he got Dali 3s speakers to go with it as well as they work nicely with this amp . He will be under his budget too . Now the arcam a19 the bit were I will be hammered for saying this but I found that this amp for £600 sounded boring and dull yes it had some detail but did not sound warm but cold sounding now maybe it sounds good when your spending £1000 on speakers but when I had a demo with is I tried 4 kinds of speakers with it I did not like it at all and I have had arcam amps in the 1990s and they sounded better but this is just my opinion. . Now the next model up is a lot better but then your paying a lot more .

While I agree that the PM-6005 is a great amp and I'm really glad to own it, I think it's also about what the OP really wants. Is he looking to upgrade speakers later, than it will be likely that once he gets his 1000 pound speakers, he'll feel that he needs more headroom for his speakers to perform at the best of their capability. I bought the Focals 5 months ago now and love them to bits, but from my auditions I also know that there still is room for an upgrade switching to a more powerful amp.

If I would have known this, I wold have saved some money buying the PM-8005 or similar from day 1 and be done with it.
 

Blacksabbath25

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friendly_ghost said:
Blacksabbath25 said:
Right I probably going to get hammered for this but I still think the Marantz pm6005 would be a good choice as it warm , detailed , and not mad on bass plus it will work well with the arcam dac that he has and if he got Dali 3s speakers to go with it as well as they work nicely with this amp . He will be under his budget too . Now the arcam a19 the bit were I will be hammered for saying this but I found that this amp for £600 sounded boring and dull yes it had some detail but did not sound warm but cold sounding now maybe it sounds good when your spending £1000 on speakers but when I had a demo with is I tried 4 kinds of speakers with it I did not like it at all and I have had arcam amps in the 1990s and they sounded better but this is just my opinion. . Now the next model up is a lot better but then your paying a lot more .

While I agree that the PM-6005 is a great amp and I'm really glad to own it, I think it's also about what the OP really wants. Is he looking to upgrade speakers later, than it will be likely that once he gets his 1000 pound speakers, he'll feel that he needs more headroom for his speakers to perform at the best of their capability. I bought the Focals 5 months ago now and love them to bits, but from my auditions I also know that there still is room for an upgrade switching to a more powerful amp.

If I would have known this, I wold have saved some money buying the PM-8005 or similar from day 1 and be done with it.
at the end of the day it does come down to what you can afford at the time . I think the op wants amp and speakers with a budget of £700 but got a chance to get his hands on a creek amp or a pm6005 at a good price which people have already pointed out that the creek amp is much better then the pm6005 . He already has a arcam dac which works really well with the pm6005 amp so I was just trying to save him money but totally understand if the creek is a much better amp but not sure in what CD player he is using ? And what dac that has in side of it .
 

rainsoothe

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Well again, if you can't afford a trip to Bucharest, or that money could go to the budget of the amp, then the Arcam A38 all the way. The other two don't even compare :)

Use it with the new Chord Clearway or DNM Reson and add a pair of neutral speakers.
 

bmf

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I bought the Q Acoustics 3050 at black friday promo, for £330. I belive that they are best buy's at that price.

Now what amp is best for them, creek Evo 50A or arcam A19? I don't think i can get the A38.

ps: I did not make it to Bucharest to lisen to any of them, yet.
 

BigH

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I heard many amps upto £1,000 the Creek 50A was my favourite and I would have bought it if I did not go down the active route. The Arcam A19 I did not like, sounded over processed and dull to me, like listening to hifi not music. I don't know those speakers but would have thought the Creek would not have any problems. My advise is buy the best system you can afford and then keep it for years, don't waste money changing/upgrading all the time.
 

bmf

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I found the Rega Elex R for ~ £600. Any thoughts? thx!

I don't like that there is no headphone out :(

I was talking to a colleague, and he said that tha lack of tone controls is a very bad thing. I did not consider this before, is it a must??
 
bmf said:
I found the Rega Elex R for ~ £600. Any thoughts? thx!

I don't like that there is no headphone out :(

I was talking to a colleague, and he said that tha lack of tone controls is a very bad thing. I did not consider this before, is it a must??

If you listen a lot via headphones then it's not for you unless you buy a separate headphone amplifier.

Tone controls can be useful in certain situations but they are, by no means, a must.

That's a very good price, is it ex demo?
 

bmf

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I don't know if the Rega was a demo unit. It's on sale (flack friday).
Will the speakers benefit from the extra power (90 W into 6 ohms (Rega) vs 60-65W (?! not sure what is the exact value for 6 ohms), for Creek). Will they "open" more, better bass? anything?
 

rainsoothe

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Hi. I'd look at the Rega Elex R or Naim Nait 5si if it fits your budget. The A19 might sound too warm/dull with the Q acoustics - A19 needs more neutral speakers, like Focal Aria (or even slightly bright ones - think MA Bronze, Dali). Elex R for 3000 lei is a very good price indeed.

EDIT: After some reading, it appears that the 3050 is not as veiled as the 2050i, so Arcam A19 could be a great match as well.
 

Audio Maniac

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bmf said:
Hi,

I'm new in the hifi waters, i'm just starting to wet my toes.

i want to build a new hifi sistem. So far i'we got a Arcam IRDAC

There is a sale in my country for the following amps

Creek Evolution – 50A - £430

Marantz PM6005 - £250

What to buy.. ? is the Creek worth the extra money? In the site review they said that it lacks bass

i don't have a big budget £700 for amp and speakers

I haven't got any speakers, i'm open to suggestions.

Thx

The mentioned products are not even in the same league. If you can afford, Creek is far better.

If you are worried about bass, you should avoid entry level Marantz's amplifiers like PM600X.

If I were you, I'd spend a bit more on amplificatio and get something like Creek's Evolution 100A, Roksan Caspian M2 or Exposure 3010S2D. Amplifier designs don't develop as fast as digital sources. A high-end mid 80's solid state amp is still very good for todays standard. So it's worth spending on a good integrated amp to avoid near future upgrades.

If you wish a Marantz amp, go for a PM-15S3 at least.
 

bmf

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Sry for the late reply.

I got the Rega Elex R.

I'm very happy... deep full bass, clear sound, great resolution, details (i think the dac has a good say in this matter).

The speakers are also great.

thx for your thoughts
 

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