Dads New Set Up

[DarkWhisper]

After Many years of happy listening my dads looking to up graded his hole hifi.

Hifi at the mo

Arcam alpha 7 amp and cd player with mission 771 speakers and qed silver spiral cables

Dad budget is upto 3.5k but his looking for some thing special that will really make his music collection of over 400 cds really shine.

heres some of his fav tracks to give you a taste of what his into.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYkg6styqfM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KpNzalFKPo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZZ5t6Igqbs

His very hard to please and whats to here every little bit out the music.

Hifi needed

Amp

CD Player

Speakers

All cables.

 

[richardw42]

I'm an AVI owner, so I would say this.

http://www.avihifi.co.uk/

System matching is a thing of the past. ADM9 stand mount + sub, or ADM40. Just add a modest but quality CD Player (Marantz CD6004), and connect it with the optical cable that comes with the speakers.

Are you in or near Gloucestershire ? If so can go along to the factory for a listen.

 

[chebby]

NaimUniti 2 (amp, CD player, DAC, streaming, FM + DAB tuner) £2800

ATC SCM7 bookshelf/stand mount speakers. £612 (Bass/midrange driver about the same size as those in the 771s and the dimensions very similar, but able to be used from up against a wall due to having sealed cabinets.)

If a dealer won't give you some decent speaker cable with soldered banana plugs and Naim connectors (if applicable) after spending almost £3.5K, then find another dealer who has a better grasp of modern financial realities.

If your dad would like a pair of compact floorstanders - that are almost within budget - I can vouch personally for Rega RS3s (£778 ) with Naim after hearing them together many times. (Nait 5i, Nait XS, NaimUniti).

 

[drummerman]

... Dad budget is upto 3.5k but his looking for some thing special that will really make his music collection of over 400 cds really shine.

regards

 

[DarkWhisper]

... Dad budget is upto 3.5k but his looking for some thing special that will really make his music collection of over 400 cds really shine.

regards

I think you better get your coat....

 

[DarkWhisper]

He really like naim stuff. But will that offer him the WOW factor his after. He needs to feel the money was worth it.

 

[Lost Angeles]

... Dad budget is upto 3.5k but his looking for some thing special that will really make his music collection of over 400 cds really shine.

regards

I think you better get your coat....

I think he's after auditioning for the Ladyboys looking at his pic.

 

[DarkWhisper]

What differents does it make, that ive not yet loaded a pic?

 

[Lost Angeles]

What differents does it make, that ive not yet loaded a pic?

I was on about Drummerman and I shouldn't have hijacked your thread.

Hope you get a few more sensible answers ray:

 

[DarkWhisper]

No worrys

 

[Frank Harvey]

Plenty of choice!

The Primare CD22 and I22 CD and amp - this combination has the option of adding a media board for Internet radio and music streaming, should he want to take that route later on (assuming he doesn't at the moment).

Naim Nait XS and either CD5SI or CD5xs CD players. This would be my preference to an all-in-one Uniti, if streaming isn't wanted. If it is, the Uniti is a great one box solution. If he wants to take the streaming route and do away with a CD player, the NAC-N172xs pre-amp/streamer would be a good choice to pair up with a NAP155xs.

An Audiolab 8200CDQ CD player/pre-amp is a good front end to add an 8200P to to give a simple, flexible, powerful system. A Sonos Connect can be added to give the system streaming capabilities.

To keep things compact, a Leema Elements CD player and amplifier are top quality little boxes that allow the option of an onboard DAC to the amplifier, again, allowing something like a Sonos Connect to add streaming abilities to the system. Their streamer (with a built in pre-amp) may be with us by the end of the year, and this can be connected directly into their upcoming Elements power amplifier.

Cyrus also keep things small. Their 8QX DAC is a compact amplifier with a built in DAC, and all you need to add is the CDT transport to complete the system.

Theres a lot of speakers out there. From compact ones like PMC's DB1i's, Monitor Audio GX50's, Dynaudio Excite X12's or 16's, and KEF's LS50 to larger floorstanders like the Tannoy DC6Tse's, KEF R500's, B&W CM8's, Monitor Audio RX6's or 8's, and an interesting upcoming model from Acoustic Energy. It's a case of getting to hear some to decide what sort of sound he's after - especially if he want to be wowed by this system, and almost certainly if this is to be a long term purchase.

I suppose the first thing to ascertain is whether he is only after a CD player or if he's interested in taking the streaming route - if its a yes, his budget can be spread a little more effectively, or even save a bit of cash.

 

[DarkWhisper]

What would a good streaming set up look like. how would he go about sorting this out. I or he has never gone down this route before. Best ive had delings with is my ipod/headphone setup.

 

[Frank Harvey]

For about £100 he could buy a NAS drive which plugs into his home network, store all his music on. Adding a Sonos Connect (a little white box) for £280 which also plugs into his network and streams the music from the NAS drive, then plugs into the hi-fi system. £140 gets you an iPod Touch, which is then your interface/remote control. So for about £500 you have a quality source, which will save you anywhere between £100 and £750 based on the CD players I've already mentioned. Of course, some people do find the streaming thing a little daunting, so prefer to stick with a conventional CD player.

 

[matthewpiano]

A few ideas I'd consider:

Sugden Mystro CD + Amp + Focal Chorus 806v

Roksan Kandy K2 CD + Amp + B&W CM5 (or Roksan's own K2 speakers)

Arcam CD37, A38 and PMC DB1i

Creek Destiny 2 CD + Amp + Epos Elan 10

Naim CD5i, Nait 5i and PMC DB1i

Rega Apollo-R, Brio-r and RS3 (leaving budget for the excellent Rega DAC perhaps)

 

[lindsayt]

Primare CD22 available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1250.

Primare I22 available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1250.

Naim Nait XS available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1525.

Naim CD 5Si available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £995.

Naim CD5xs available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1995.

Naim NAC-N172xs available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1650.

Naim NAP 155xs available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1150.

Audiolab 8200DQ available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £999.

Audiolab 8200P available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £649.

Sonos Connect Zoneplayer available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £279.

Leema Elements CD player available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1195.

Leema Elements amplifier available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1195.

Cyrus 8QX DAC available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1699.

Cyrus CD transport available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £599.

PMC DB1i’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1050.

Monitor Audio GX50’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £949.

Dynaudio Excite X12 available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £639.95.

Dynaudio Excite X16’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £899.95.

KEF LS50’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £800.

Tannoy DC6Tse’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £549.

KEF R500’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1499.

B&W CM8’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1249.

Monitor Audio RX6’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £799.

Monitor Audio RX8’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1049.

:rofl:

 

[DarkWhisper]

There web sites down. :?

 

[altruistic.lemon]

Wow factor = Magnepan.

Have a listen to the MG12. There's no speaker that comes close at the price, £1495. They need a bit of space, and an amp that can supply sufficent current - NAD 326 and up, Naim 5i or Pioneer A30 and up etc, but worth it for the experience.

 

[drummerman]

I would add a good Audio/Video Receiver to the (long) list. The better ones have plenty of power, soundquality and lack no facilities, some stream.

regards

 

[Frank Harvey]

Primare CD22 available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1250.

Primare I22 available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1250.

Naim Nait XS available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1525.

Naim CD 5Si available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £995.

Naim CD5xs available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1995.

Naim NAC-N172xs available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1650.

Naim NAP 155xs available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1150.

Audiolab 8200DQ available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £999.

Audiolab 8200P available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £649.

Sonos Connect Zoneplayer available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £279.

Leema Elements CD player available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1195.

Leema Elements amplifier available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1195.

Cyrus 8QX DAC available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1699.

Cyrus CD transport available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £599.

PMC DB1i’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1050.

Monitor Audio GX50’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £949.

Dynaudio Excite X12 available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £639.95.

Dynaudio Excite X16’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £899.95.

KEF LS50’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £800.

Tannoy DC6Tse’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £549.

KEF R500’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1499.

B&W CM8’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1249.

Monitor Audio RX6’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £799.

Monitor Audio RX8’s available from Frank Harvey Hi-fi for £1049.

:rofl:

I can hardly recommend a product I've never heard can I?! Surely it stands to reason that I'm going to recommend something that I have heard and is a known quantity to me?

Anyway, that's a fair amount of choice from a single dealer (and not a comprehensive list either).

 

[Frank Harvey]

Oh, and you forgot the Uniti 2

 

[hoopsontoast]

Wow factor = Magnepan.

Have a listen to the MG12. There's no speaker that comes close at the price, £1495. They need a bit of space, and an amp that can supply sufficent current - NAD 326 and up, Naim 5i or Pioneer A30 and up etc, but worth it for the experience.

Yup, see if you can get a demo, I am chuffed with my 'budget' versions.

Most of all, thats an extremely healthy budget, get around dealers and hear as much as you can.

Or do as I do and take a punt on different S/H stuff, its a bit of fun!

 

[SpursGator]

At that kind of price I LOVE the Leema stuff, especially the amps. I am not keen on the looks but that company is on a roll with the sound.

I warn you about spending too much on speakers. Not because there aren't wonderful speakers at every price level but simply because the speakers in the mid-range have gotten so good. For 600 quid you could buy totally adequete speakers and move some more cash into the amp (I argue that a system with a 1200 amp and 600 speakers will sound much better than a system split 900+900). Look at KEF, Tannoy, MA Bronze maybe.

For the CD, is he hooked up to the telly? A more flexible arrangement might be to buy a good DAC - as you say - to get the most out of his CDs. Then he can buy a Blu-Ray player or if no video, a cheap CD transport. This way the good component - the DAC - has no moving parts and is flexible enough to use with just about any disc player, which tend to break after a few years anyway. Plus, all he needs to do to get into streaming is hook up a computer, or an AppleTV, or a Sonos, or a SqueezeBox, or an Airport Express - whatever the digital source, it will sound great. If you buy a high-end CD spinner, you are buying something which is already an outdated technology (unless you buy one in which the DAC can take other digital inputs).

Someone here put the Nait 5i and the NAD 326Bee in the same category. I (almost) own both - the Nait 5 circa 2002 and the NAD from last year. I actually like the NAD a lot and it costs a lot less than the Naim, so not trying to trash it in any way (and I am not a huge Naim fan), but it is in no way anywhere near in the same category as the Nait 5i - I have done A/B tests with the two amps where I now sit and the Nait 5 simply obliterates the NAD. It's like a fully optioned Nissan Note versus a somewhat stripped-down Audi A4. The Nissan is actually a great little car but they are just different classes of machine.

So why not this setup:

Amp: Leema Pulse II or Roksan M2 Caspian 1500

DAC: Benchmark DAC1 900

Disc transport: Marantz CD6004 (or other CD player) or Panasonic DMP-BDT-500 (or another Blu-Ray player) - all ~300

Speakers: ProAc Studio 110s 775 (or any one of a number of decorated products from KEF and Tannoy - I just thought the Studio 110s suited your Dad's music taste)

That's a pretty seriously good system for 3475...enough dealers will be able to sell you this that if you pay the retail prices you ought to be able to get some halfway decent cables included - shop around a bit. You need an optical or coax between the transport and the DAC, some good balanced XLR (for the Roksan) or RCA (for the Pulse) cables between the DAC and the amp, and some solid speaker cables.

 

[SpursGator]

^Pulse III, not II

 

[Frank Harvey]

ProAc Studio 110's are now the more spritely Studio 115's

 

[matthewpiano]

How funny. I have a NAD amp and a Nissan Note.