Creek Evolution 2 Amplifier

[admin_exported]

Hello,

Does anyone know if this amp is any good, please? Having pretty much ruled out the Roksan Kandy K2 (which is now pushing £900 in some places), I am looking for an amp in the £500-600 region.

I would use the amp with WMA Lossless files, a CA DACMagic and B&W 685 speakers, so could anyone comment on the compatibility of these components?

Cheers in advance for any help,

Stringo

 

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know if Creek products are any good in general? I'm struggling to find anywhere that stocks an Evolution 2 to demo.

Cheers.

 

[Anonymous]

http://audioaffair.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=2439 They sell the previous version here. I haven't heard a Creek myself, but they are regarded as high end.

 

[plastic penguin]

A week or so ago I asked whether the MKII version is going to be tested over the coming months. Andrew said they are waiting on Creek to send a test sample.

heard the MKI version (very briefly) and it sounded good. For the life of me I can't remember what speakers were used. I gatecrashed someone elses demo. Sorry.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

stringo:
Does anyone know if Creek products are any good in general? I'm struggling to find anywhere that stocks an Evolution 2 to demo.

Cheers.

Superfi stock Creek. I bought the original Evo there. Fantastic amp. Superb build. The remote control looks and feels worthy of a £2k amp and the lump itself is very heavy as it's quite sleek and sounds excellent.

 

[d_a_n1979]

stringo:
Hello,

Does anyone know if this amp is any good, please? Having pretty much ruled out the Roksan Kandy K2 (which is now pushing £900 in some places), I am looking for an amp in the £500-600 region.

I would use the amp with WMA Lossless files, a CA DACMagic and B&W 685 speakers, so could anyone comment on the compatibility of these components?

Cheers in advance for any help,

Stringo

Have you considered a 2nd hand Roksan Kandy LIII via eBay or a new Cyrus 8vs2 integrated via eBay as well?

Both work very well with the B&W 685 speakers. If you're lucky enough you could find a decent example of the Arcam FMJ A32 integrated amp as well; thats a stunning amp and suit the 685's to a tee.

What would be handy to know is what kind of music do you listen to?

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all for your replies. It's encouraging that Creek generally enjoys a decent reputation, but I'll have a look at the other models mentioned too.

I need an amp with the 'guts' to complement an Onkyo TX-SR875 receiver for TV/films and the versatility to make a decent fist of musical genres including rock, instrumental, orchestral, electronica and jazz. The Evo 2 caught my eye because it's relatively small and light. I believe its output is 80w per channel - would that be enough to drive the B&Ws properly?

Thanks again.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

stringo:
Thanks to all for your replies. It's encouraging that Creek generally enjoys a decent reputation, but I'll have a look at the other models mentioned too.

I need an amp with the 'guts' to complement an Onkyo TX-SR875 receiver for TV/films and the versatility to make a decent fist of musical genres including rock, instrumental, orchestral, electronica and jazz. The Evo 2 caught my eye because it's relatively small and light. I believe its output is 80w per channel - would that be enough to drive the B&Ws properly?

Thanks again.

The original Evo is surprisingly powerful. BUT, if you were planning to connect it to your 875's pre outs, you might have a problem. This is the reason why I sold mine. The Evo 2 might be different but the original couldn't separate the pre from the power and wouldn't allow me to just use the power for my front left and right channels. I spoke to Mike Creek on the phone as I thought it might be a unit flaw. He confirmed that the Creek Evo amp wasn't made to hook up to AV receivers.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the 'heads up'. However, judging by the following excerpts from the Creek website, I think they may have remedied that with the new version:

* " ...including a new feature Direct AV, which bypasses the pre-amplifier and
volume control to allow the power amplifier to be used in a 5.1 surround system."

* "...Functionality - the pre-amplifier now provides a separate AV input.
Selecting AV switches the input signal direct to the power amplifier.
This allows the front channel of a 5.1 Receiver to be amplified by the
EVOLTION 2 conveniently."

Gerrardasnails, how was the sound of the Evo anyway? Was it decent with most types of music? Not too bright or anything like that?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

stringo:
Thanks for the 'heads up'. However, judging by the following excerpts from the Creek website, I think they may have remedied that with the new version:

* " ...including a new feature Direct AV, which bypasses the pre-amplifier and
volume control to allow the power amplifier to be used in a 5.1 surround system."

* "...Functionality - the pre-amplifier now provides a separate AV input.
Selecting AV switches the input signal direct to the power amplifier.
This allows the front channel of a 5.1 Receiver to be amplified by the
EVOLTION 2 conveniently."

Gerrardasnails, how was the sound of the Evo anyway? Was it decent with most types of music? Not too bright or anything like that?

I'd like to think my many rants on here and my chat with Mr Creek might have contributed somewhat to them changing that!! Yes, that was the very problem I had and so you will have no issues.

The original was a great amp for the money. I would still be owning it now as I loved the sound (although my 840 is even better!). You get plenty of oomph, great tight bass and a very accurate presentation of the music. I would not describe it as bright at all - but then again, I don't find my RS6s bright and many do. I like most music apart from Metal and I don't have much classical. Radiohead, Weller, Kings of Leon, Killers, John Legend, Winehouse, Alicia Keys, Stone Roses, Noisettes, Marley, Arctic Monkeys to name a bunch.

I've read a group review of amps under £1k and the old Evo only got beat by the new 840A and trumped all the others. I would be surprised if you weren't happy with it but I would head to a local Superfi for a demo.

 

[DarkstarR]

I bought a Creek Evo 2 Amp about two months ago and am very pleased with it. I demoed it along with the Naim Nait 5i, and prefered the Creek (demoed it at Grahams Hifi, London BTW - great shop!). It doesn't come with a phono stage, because you would need to choose between MM and MC cartidges. These cartridges are about 50 quid each. I fitted a MM phono stage - dead easy, and vinyl sounds sweet on it 🙂

The ONLY thing I would change would be to have the TAPE input selectable from the supplied remote. It's a small point, and not really worth worrying about at all on such a great sounding, fantastically built bit of kit.

Bizzare that no reviews are on What Hifi - but I would certainly recommend this bit of kit 🙂

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks very much, chaps; it's always handy to hear from those with first-hand experience of a product. I'll look into arranging a demo. If it does Radiohead justice, I reckon I'm onto a winner.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

DarkstarR:
I bought a Creek Evo 2 Amp about two months ago and am very pleased with it. I demoed it along with the Naim Nait 5i, and prefered the Creek (demoed it at Grahams Hifi, London BTW - great shop!). It doesn't come with a phono stage, because you would need to choose between MM and MC cartidges. These cartridges are about 50 quid each. I fitted a MM phono stage - dead easy, and vinyl sounds sweet on it 🙂

The ONLY thing I would change would be to have the TAPE input selectable from the supplied remote. It's a small point, and not really worth worrying about at all on such a great sounding, fantastically built bit of kit.

Bizzare that no reviews are on What Hifi - but I would certainly recommend this bit of kit 🙂

Does the mark 2 have the same quality remote control?

 

[plastic penguin]

Gerrardasnails:stringo:

Thanks to all for your replies. It's encouraging that Creek generally enjoys a decent reputation, but I'll have a look at the other models mentioned too.

I need an amp with the 'guts' to complement an Onkyo TX-SR875 receiver for TV/films and the versatility to make a decent fist of musical genres including rock, instrumental, orchestral, electronica and jazz. The Evo 2 caught my eye because it's relatively small and light. I believe its output is 80w per channel - would that be enough to drive the B&Ws properly?

Thanks again.

The original Evo is surprisingly powerful. BUT, if you were planning to connect it to your 875's pre outs, you might have a problem. This is the reason why I sold mine. The Evo 2 might be different but the original couldn't separate the pre from the power and wouldn't allow me to just use the power for my front left and right channels. I spoke to Mike Creek on the phone as I thought it might be a unit flaw. He confirmed that the Creek Evo amp wasn't made to hook up to AV receivers.

have a word with him about sending an amp to 'The Towers.' (just joking).

 

[DarkstarR]

Yep, the remote is a thing of beauty..

 

[Anonymous]

Hi all - just wondering if anyone else here has recently got into the Creek Evolution 2. I want to go for it given the current price (less than £600 on sale); I cannot justify spending £900 on a Cyrus or Roksan. One thing that mystifies me is why there is a special button on the front for "TAPE". I certainly don't know anyone who uses a tape player. Am I missing something?

Cheers

 

[chebby]

leonardng:One thing that mystifies me is why there is a special button on the front for "TAPE". I certainly don't know anyone who uses a tape player. Am I missing something?

Some people might still be using a tape in/out for headphone amps (I used to for my old Rega EAR) others have have found a new use for 'tape out' to rip to computer from their analogue sources like vinyl. Some - of course - do still use tape like this chap here yesterday, and some manufacturers still make cassette decks (Pioneer and Sony for instance) and some still make the blank tapes.

 

[Anonymous]

Interesting point Chebby, but I still wonder why there is a specific button on the front just for Tape; it just kinda stands out.

 

[Anonymous]

DarkstarR:

I bought a Creek Evo 2 Amp about two months ago and am very pleased with it. I demoed it along with the Naim Nait 5i, and prefered the Creek (demoed it at Grahams Hifi, London BTW - great shop!).

How did you find the creep amp compared to the nait? What speakers were you auditioning the creek amp with while demoing?

thanks

 

[chebby]

leonardng:
Interesting point Chebby, but I still wonder why there is a specific button on the front just for Tape; it just kinda stands out.

Traditionally the extra 'tape' button was called 'tape monitor'.

It is for monitoring what you have just recorded (if using a 3 head cassette deck or open reel) straight from the tape itself.

 

[lordthistle]

How does the Evo 2 compare to the NAD C326BEE? Do you think that moving from that NAD to the EVO 2 would be much of an improvement?

The EVO 2 is more powerful, but the NAD has plenty of dynamic power: I cannot find any information on the EVO 2 capability in fast music transients...

Thanks.

 

[Al ears]

How does the Evo 2 compare to the NAD C326BEE? Do you think that moving from that NAD to the EVO 2 would be much of an improvement?

The EVO 2 is more powerful, but the NAD has plenty of dynamic power: I cannot find any information on the EVO 2 capability in fast music transients...

Thanks.

This thread is over six years old. If you want to ask a specific question then best to start a new one.

The answer to your question is currently pointless as we have no idea as to which speakers you are trying to drive with said amp.

Anyway it's the Creek every time for me, but that's just my opinion.

 

[plastic penguin]

How does the Evo 2 compare to the NAD C326BEE? Do you think that moving from that NAD to the EVO 2 would be much of an improvement?

The EVO 2 is more powerful, but the NAD has plenty of dynamic power: I cannot find any information on the EVO 2 capability in fast music transients...

Thanks.

As Al said, it'll be Creek all the way. Different class from budget Nads. I had one on home dem a few years ago, and it was cracking for the money -- one of my favourite sub-£1000 integrateds.

 

[lordthistle]

Thank you Al. What speakers would not make the Creek any better than the NAD? I cannot find much information about the amplifier.

However: currently I have DALI Zensor 3, very easy to drive. I am planning to purchase Dynaudio Emit M20, which are harder to drive.

 

[drummerman]

Thank you Al. What speakers would not make the Creek any better than the NAD? I cannot find much information about the amplifier. 

However: currently I have DALI Zensor 3, very easy to drive. I am planning to purchase Dynaudio Emit M20, which are harder to drive.

Creeks newer designs are quite load tolerant. Examples can be found at HifiNews & RR (PM test bench).

They're often quoted as having a very smooth sound if perhaps a little pedestrian.

I've not heard one but like the idea of modules but they're not cheap!