Grow my system to greatness

[admin_exported]

Hello all, I've built up a reasonable but slightly unbalanced system which I want to progressively invest in over the next 12-24 months, to make into a lovely system to keep for many years. Could I have some advice please?

Current setup:

Cambridge 640C Azur CD Player

Naim Nait 5i Amplifier

B&W 685 Speakers

Soundstyle Z2 stands

NACA5 Speaker cables / QED Silver interconnect / QED Qonduit mains cables / Tacima CS929 Mains filter.

I bought the Naim amp for it's gutsy dynamics and the fact that it got my foot tappping to everything I played. It made songs sound not necessarily super realistic but friendly/musical. I listen to a lot of music like violin concertos, folk guitar, heavy rock, where I find the strings and cymbals can be over-harsh on these speakers sometimes. It sounds good, dynamic and quick, but I want much more realism and separation now - a 3D sound. I would like this midrange beautifully rendered and room fill better. Bass needs to be low reaching rather than heavy.

I lisened to the Spendor A5 and loved their sweet softened treble wonderful on classical music and vocals, but the bass was plodding. I really fancy the Spendor A6s but then the comparable kit may run to £6K which is too much for me. Dynaudios Focus 140s sounded better the more I listened and nicely transparent, but occasionally a bit bright still (may go after run-in).

I didn't like the clear but slightly robotic/unnatural quality of the Cyrus 6 amp I demo'd against the Naim (the only Cyrus i've heard admittedly)

Clearly the CD is the weakest part of the system. I could buy a nice CD player but they are surely on the way out to hard drives soon?

What is your approach to building a system when there so many
variables? i.e. I can find a pair of speakers which matches my amp but
if I upgrade the amp, something entirely different may sound good.

Where to go from here?

 

[Ajani]

In your position, I'd audition as many speakers that work well with Naim as possible... If you find one that does what you want with a Naim Nait 5i, then that would be the best way to go...

If you can't find any compatible speakers that do it for you, then maybe the Naim is the problem and you should start looking at different amps...

You can always add a good DAC later on and move to a music server if you wish...

 

[Anonymous]

worth asking on the naim forum but i know two favourites with naim are totem and neat

id also buy a dacmagic v-dac or beresford which you can use with the cd player and later a hdd setup

the dacmagic has greater detail top and bottom than the vdac to my ears but is also a bit brighter where the v-dac is richer havent heard the beresford

edit its the speakers that need upgrading in my opinion not the amp which works happily with speakers twice the price heard one last weekend driving some sonus fabers totems dynaudios and paradigms and it held up well

 

[jaxwired]

Just a quick comment about the Dynaudio Focus 140s. Based on your post, I would say the 140s are a very good fit. They image supremely well and would be a step up in every way from the B&Ws. They are not known for being at all bright once run in. In fact, many people comment on a darker top end character.

I also agree with the previous post that a logical next step for you is to buy a quality DAC. You might consider splurging on a Benchmark or Bryston. These could be fed by your current CDP or streaming devices. Either would be a big improvement over your CA 640.

 

[True Blue]

Right, if it was me I would upgrade in the following order:-

1. Interconnects, Chord Chameleon Silver Plus (£130 New £70 ish on fleabay) will instantly give your current system a bit more oomph.

2. Invest in a good quality Mains cable for your CDP (Chord power chord is personally recommended), and check that the CD is plugged into the first socket on the tacima (£130 New, £70 ish on fleadbay)

3. Plug your amp into a different (non tacima) socket. (Free)

4. Run a dedicated cable (6mm) from its own independant MCB (32a) to your hifi socket. Electrician Part P required £150 ish

4. Audition some Rega RS3's or RS5's as well as Neat as these work really well with Naim

5. Look at trading in the 5i towards an XS as this will give you the 3d soundstage that is missing on the 5i and also allows you to upgrade later with external power supplies or additional power amps, and the XS has a subwoofer out

Good luck.

 

[unbridled_id]

Jax, don't mean to hi-jack this thread but you are one of the few people who I have seen who owns the NAD c165bee. I am very interested in the unit. Can you tell me how you feel about the unit: in hindsight are you pleased you purchased it, strong points, weak points.

Thanks!

 

[jaxwired]

The only thing I don't like about it is the remote control (horrible in function and feel). Everything else, I love. The C165 is a true HiFi bargain. It uses class A gain modules. Extremely low noise floor. The C165 has much of the technology from the NAD masters series intergrated amp. It's gotten rave reviews from stereophile ("performs way, way out of price class"), and hifi news ("outstanding product award"). It also has a sub-woofer out AND 2 pre-outs, 1 of which is variable for level matching. I highly recommend it.

 

[unbridled_id]

Thank you very much for the prompt response. I have a passive pre but really want to have more functionality/flexibility and that is what the 165bee offers. Not to mention I own the 275bee (very nice), c425, and c545 (so far so good after the repairs!). With the c165bee I can utilize the sense circuit on the 275bee and the 165bee's 12v trigger to really have complete control of my system from a remote. I also will have all the units looking the same. Now if someone on audiogon would be kind enough to buy my passive, then I can get the 165. I cannot have both and need the funds from the passive for the NAD!

 

[jaxwired]

The C275 also rocks. Very high vfm.

I also have the C545, but I'm switching it out due to quality issues. Fantastic sounding CDP though (when it works...).