Cyrus, Arcam, KEF Set up

[kmlav]

Well after some serious saving up I am almost finished with my set up. The challenge was to have a great 2 channel set up for music and a good AV set up for films which I think I have achieved. I do need a slightly bigger / better TV but that will need to wait until latter this year when I have the cash.

One of the other challenges was to keep it all as tidy as possible. There is no getting away from the fact that there is a lot of Hi Fi kit in the front room but I have tried to keep the cables as out of sight as I could. In time I will create cable runs under the floor but again its a time and cash thing.

In the beginning everything was on the Hi Fi Racks stand but as the Cyrus element of the system grew I had the choice of getting some more shelves or a dedicated Cyrus stand so after much deliberation I got the Hark stand and put the TV and Centre on part of the Hi Fi Racks stand. This looks nice but if I had not got the rack already I would not have done it this way as its a very expensive solution.

 

[Supreme]

Nice and tidy!

 

[CnoEvil]

Like it. Like it a lot. :dance:

 

[plastic penguin]

Looks a neat set-up. Those speakers, however, look a bit close to the wall...

 

[markiedee]

Thats a real nice setup bet it sounds amazing.

 

[kmlav]

Looks a neat set-up. Those speakers, however, look a bit close to the wall...

I would agree on the speakers being to close to the wall but my very understanding girlfriend has put her foot down on that. For the most it's fine but with some tracks I use the bungs to calm the bass down bit.

The next only thing that I want to upgrade now is the speaker cable for the front L&R. They are already running on decent cables but I'm going to get some chord signature on home demo to see if that offers a marked improvement

 

[kmlav]

Thats a real nice setup bet it sounds amazing.

many thanks , those r100's are awesome a bet they are real nice with the A19.

The only real down side of this set up is its really transparent and if the music is poorly produced or a bad recording it really shows up. I Have been getting into the Studio Master recordings that you can get from the likes of linn records which are truly amazing, just a shame there is not more choice.

 

[p_m_brown]

Looks a neat set-up. Those speakers, however, look a bit close to the wall...

Alright Chebby?!

 

[p_m_brown]

That looks like a real nice set up.

Is there much of a difference between the R300 and R100 other than scale? Richer midrange for example?

Cheers

PMB

 

[steve_1979]

That looks sweeet! 8)

 

[markiedee]

Thats a real nice setup bet it sounds amazing.

many thanks , those r100's are awesome a bet they are real nice with the A19.

The only real down side of this set up is its really transparent and if the music is poorly produced or a bad recording it really shows up. I Have been getting into the Studio Master recordings that you can get from the likes of linn records which are truly amazing, just a shame there is not more choice.

yeah I love them i find them to be really clear and punchy speakers, the only thing i think i might do next is try some different speaker cable to see if it brings anything else to the tabłe.

 

[plastic penguin]

Looks a neat set-up. Those speakers, however, look a bit close to the wall...

Alright Chebby?!

Having seen the R300s up close recently they are deceptively big. They're almost twice as deep as my RS6s and bass/midrange driver looks like dirty great dinner plate. I would love to hear them but pointless unless I can reconfigure the room.

 

[kmlav]

Looks a neat set-up. Those speakers, however, look a bit close to the wall...

Alright Chebby?!

Having seen the R300s up close recently they are deceptively big. They're almost twice as deep as my RS6s and bass/midrange driver looks like dirty great dinner plate. I would love to hear them but pointless unless I can reconfigure the room.

Yeah they are really deep , as are the 100's. Out of all the stand-mounts I tried out around this price they are easily the biggest.

 

[CnoEvil]

Did you go for a better distribution block, or are you happy as you are?

 

[kmlav]

That looks like a real nice set up.

Is there much of a difference between the R300 and R100 other than scale? Richer midrange for example?

Cheers

PMB

the 100's are a truly amazing speaker for the money, the LS50 are awesome but they are £200 more expensive. I think both speakers display the same sonic signature in particular the vocals are amazing. Also both speakers seem to have a larger sweet listening spot than others I have had so its not just the one chair that gets benefit of the sound. So I think all of the things that make the r series great are shared in the 2 speakers but the 300's have a fuller sound stage and much greater bass.

 

[kmlav]

Did you go for a better distribution block, or are you happy as you are?

I'm saving up ....

My local store has one of these they said they woud lend me.

 

[plastic penguin]

Looks a neat set-up. Those speakers, however, look a bit close to the wall...

Alright Chebby?!

Having seen the R300s up close recently they are deceptively big. They're almost twice as deep as my RS6s and bass/midrange driver looks like dirty great dinner plate. I would love to hear them but pointless unless I can reconfigure the room.

Yeah they are really deep , as are the 100's. Out of all the stand-mounts I tried out around this price they are easily the biggest.

Personally I think the size goes against the concept of standmounts. Surely they should be designed for smaller rooms? With their proportions the average small room can't accommodate them. Add in the not so pretty metal stands and you're better off IMO with compact floorstanders such as Totem Arros, PMC GBs or even MA RS or RX6s.

 

[CnoEvil]

Did you go for a better distribution block, or are you happy as you are?

I'm saving up ....

My local store has one of these they said they woud lend me.

I once borrowed an Isol8 power re generator, which made the sound too "clean and shiny" for my taste......but it's always worth experimenting, as every situation is different.

 

[kmlav]

Well there have been a few changes over the past months.

1. The denon bluray has been replaced with a arcam bdp300 , much better sound and picture quality. Really great for watching live concerts.

2. Speaker cables have been changed to chord signature, massive improvement.

3. The speakers have been moved much further into the room.

Looking ahead I think I'm going to get the cyrus units upgraded to

X powers to signature mono x 300

pre dac Xp QX to signature pre dac Xp

 

[CnoEvil]

Looking ahead I think I'm going to get the cyrus units upgraded to

X powers to signature mono x 300

pre dac Xp QX to signature pre dac Xp

My only advise would be to listen to a couple of different alternatives (eg. Bel Canto) before committing, in order to make sure that Cyrus is still the best option for you (which it probably will). It's all too easy to just upgrade within the same brand, without looking about first.

 

[kmlav]

yeah , even with getting the units upgraded over buying new units its still the best part of £5,000 for new pre power , and im sure I could get around £1,500 for my x powers and Pre Dac QX so around £6,500 is a lot of budget for new pre and power amps and there are a load off really good contenders around that price.

 

[CnoEvil]

yeah , even with getting the units upgraded over buying new units its still the best part of £5,000 for new pre power , and im sure I could get around £1,500 for my x powers and Pre Dac QX so around £6,500 is a lot of budget for new pre and power amps and there are a load off really good contenders around that price.

Exactly.

If you listen to some good alternatives and they don't match up, you can then buy with confidence. IME. Tunnel vision in hifi is often counterproductive.

 

[kmlav]

Here are some photo up dates of the PMC Twenty21's in the office and the Chord Signature cables in place

I do want to get some desk stands for the PMC's but we are hoping to move in this year so hopefully we will get somewhere big enough for them to have their own stands.






http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/keith385/media/IMG_0324_zpsf1e1ad31.jpg.html

 

[kmlav]

Well the Arcam AVR400 has just lost the centre channel so back to the shop.

 

[kmlav]

Arcam is now back and fixed.

i have been working a lot recently so have been listening to the office set up a lot an I have fallen in love with the pmc speakers so I have had a bit of a swap around.

i have been using the pmc twenty 21's in the main set up and they are jolly good. Amazing in fact. I have some twenty 22's on home demo next week and I'm thinking of swapping my kef set up for pmc.