Happy but I want a bit more

gregory

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MarantzPM PM 5004 Rega RP3 with Dynavector 10X5 and Tannoy V4, all sounds nice and I have the odd dabble on Spotify to hear new stuff but I feel the amp and speakers are letting the side down, I have a small listening area, speakers about 9 feet away and spaced 7 feet apart, I sometimes listen to them a bit closer when the good wife is out but she will not have them closer when she's at home, she likes films and I like music so a compromise is needed, anyhow amp and speakers needed, I like classic rock and progressive music but also listen to the radio so most music really, but I would like a bit more bass and midrange to bring out the vocals, amps I thought about are Yamaha as501 or Marantz PM 8005 but speakers I really don't know, ideally the smaller the better but of course with more bass than I have now, my budget can't go above £900.00, might stretch a bit more but ideally a bit less, appreciate your thoughts.
 

lpv

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yamaha hs8.. wife will love them for movies and you'll have plenty of bass and clarity you're after.. get them second hand and safe some money from your budget..
 

drummerman

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Thats quite a difference in price between your two choices of amplifiers ... .

Personally, I'd get a cyrus 8a plus a pair of QAcoustic 3020 and add a Rega Fono.

If you like your (non-internet) radio you can pick up a superb cyrus FM7 or for a little more FM7.5 at a later stage plus upgrade the amplifier with PSX-R.
 
Second hand Arcam a85 and a set of b&w cm1's2 should give you a fantastic new sound to your system.Don't be fooled by the b&w's diminutive size they're way better than the 685s2's that seem to get much praise but personally I think they're over rated.Keep an eye on flee bay for arcams a85,you can usually find it for around 300 quid great amp for that money,and if you're lucky it might have the built in phono stage.
 

gregory

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lpv said:
yamaha hs8.. wife will love them for movies and you'll have plenty of bass and clarity you're after.. get them second hand and safe some money from your budget..
actives not possible unless I get a preamp, thanks for suggestion
 

gregory

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drummerman said:
Thats quite a difference in price between your two choices of amplifiers ... .

Personally, I'd get a cyrus 8a plus a pair of QAcoustic 3020 and add a Rega Fono.

If you like your (non-internet) radio you can pick up a superb cyrus FM7 or for a little more FM7.5 at a later stage plus upgrade the amplifier with PSX-R.
nice amps, had a cyrus 1 many moons ago but need to keep the box count down so separate phono stage is a non starter, had q acoustics in the past, didn't much care for them, thanks anyway.
 

drummerman

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Usher S520 have good bass for such a small speaker and high WAF, depending on color!

BigH mentioned Rega amps. Rega Brio-R has I think a built in phono stage.

Would be a cute little system :)
 

BigH

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I thought B&W CM1s were awful, bass does not sound right at all, the mid and high range seemed OK, sounded very disjointed to me, seem to cater for the trend of more bass. Depends what you want, one speaker designer described as the bass as being too slow. As you have Rega TT I would look at Rega amp, Creek and Croft also, Marantz 8005, speakers you really need to hear yourself. Maybe a better amp and phono is all you need? Smaller and more bass is going against physics, bigger = more bass usually.
 

gregory

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drummerman said:
Usher S520 have good bass for such a small speaker and high WAF, depending on color!

BigH mentioned Rega amps. Rega Brio-R has I think a built in phono stage.

Would be a cute little system :)
have heard ushers but they need a bit of welly behind them, maybe a more powerful amp is what I need and leave the speakers till later, good call on the ushers.
 

BigH

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gregory said:
Good thinking, might go that route and keep the speakers for the time being.

I would change 1 part, get the best you can then upgrade the other part later when you can afford it.

Of the amps I heard the Creek 50A I liked the most, the Rega Brio R is good at lower/mid volumes.I did not hear the Croft which may suit your system. Think Marantz is pretty good, I heard the Pearl Lite. If you really want more bass then consider the Roksan Kandy K2 still a few knocking about for about £450 new.
 
K

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Sorry your dead against secondhand? If you weren't i would suggest acoustic energy ae1mk3 they are fairly diminutive and are reference speakers..bout £500 ish secondhand..keep your present system..with these speakers on board you may be quite surprised?
 

lpv

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gregory said:
lpv said:
yamaha hs8.. wife will love them for movies and you'll have plenty of bass and clarity you're after.. get them second hand and safe some money from your budget..
actives not possible unless I get a preamp, thanks for suggestion

fair enough but don't quite get it.. thought you wanted to change speakers and amp.. anyway, if small size, clarity and good bass you're after then AVI DM5.. you want get any better than that... why I say so? because I have them right now in front of me and I had many expensive boxes in the same room.. check ebay as right now you have a black, 3 months old pair for sale.
 

Gazzip

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I would spend every last penny of my budget on new speakers as this is where I reckon you get your bang for buck.

If buying new is an absolute must then a pair of PMC DB1 Gold would be right at the top of my audition list. Kef LS50's would also have to be on the list also purely out of curiosity. I am not really a huge fan of Kefs but the LS50's are reviewed universally so well that I would have to give them a spin if I were in the market...
 

Andrewjvt

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lpv said:
gregory said:
lpv said:
yamaha hs8.. wife will love them for movies and you'll have plenty of bass and clarity you're after.. get them second hand and safe some money from your budget..
actives not possible unless I get a preamp, thanks for suggestion

fair enough but don't quite get it.. thought you wanted to change speakers and amp.. anyway, if small size, clarity and good bass you're after then AVI DM5.. you want get any better than that... why I say so? because I have them right now in front of me and I had many expensive boxes in the same room.. check ebay as right now you have a black, 3 months old pair for sale. 

 

 

Tell me about this exciting news
 

drummerman

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Gazzip said:
I would spend every last penny of my budget on new speakers as this is where I reckon you get your bang for buck.

If buying new is an absolute must then a pair of PMC DB1 Gold would be right at the top of my audition list. Kef LS50's would also have to be on the list also purely out of curiosity. I am not really a huge fan of Kefs but the LS50's are reviewed universally so well that I would have to give them a spin if I were in the market...

I think until fairly recently I would have totally agreed with you and even now this seems to ring true to an extent.

However, reports/observations from folks from recent shows such as the Bristol and Scalford seem to repeatedly have pointed out top systems that have it completely the other way round.

For example Arcams A49 powering some lowly QAcoustics, Cyrus plus QAcoustics, the new cheap as chips baby Elac's driven by Simaudio/Moon etc.
 

lpv

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the review is coming andrew.. I'll post it here.. I make sure it's objective and informative and that's why I did not post it yet.. but to keep you interested I can tell you this: whatever you can find about these speakers elsewhere it's true*dirol*
 

BigH

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Gazzip said:
I would spend every last penny of my budget on new speakers as this is where I reckon you get your bang for buck.

If buying new is an absolute must then a pair of PMC DB1 Gold would be right at the top of my audition list. Kef LS50's would also have to be on the list also purely out of curiosity. I am not really a huge fan of Kefs but the LS50's are reviewed universally so well that I would have to give them a spin if I were in the market...

I think both of those speakers need careful matching and benefit from high quality amps. So I would be inclined to change the amp first. Don't think LS50s would give you more bass either.
 

Gazzip

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drummerman said:
Gazzip said:
I would spend every last penny of my budget on new speakers as this is where I reckon you get your bang for buck.

If buying new is an absolute must then a pair of PMC DB1 Gold would be right at the top of my audition list. Kef LS50's would also have to be on the list also purely out of curiosity. I am not really a huge fan of Kefs but the LS50's are reviewed universally so well that I would have to give them a spin if I were in the market...

I think until fairly recently I would have totally agreed with you and even now this seems to ring true to an extent.

However, reports/observations from folks from recent shows such as the Bristol and Scalford seem to repeatedly have pointed out top systems that have it completely the other way round.

For example Arcams A49 powering some lowly QAcoustics, Cyrus plus QAcoustics, the new cheap as chips baby Elac's driven by Simaudio/Moon etc.

Interesting... I had a pair of Q Acoustics 2020i's in a second system a few years ago that I was selling. The rest of the system (Cyrus One and Squeezebox) had already sold so when the buyer of the 2020i's turned up I had to demo them using my main system (at the time) Bryston mono amps, an ARC Reference 3 and a Bryston CDP. I posted on here at the time that they sounded mint so perhaps there is something in this. Hmmm...
 

Gazzip

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BigH said:
Gazzip said:
I would spend every last penny of my budget on new speakers as this is where I reckon you get your bang for buck.

If buying new is an absolute must then a pair of PMC DB1 Gold would be right at the top of my audition list. Kef LS50's would also have to be on the list also purely out of curiosity. I am not really a huge fan of Kefs but the LS50's are reviewed universally so well that I would have to give them a spin if I were in the market...

I think both of those speakers need careful matching and benefit from high quality amps. So I would be inclined to change the amp first. Don't think LS50s would give you more bass either.

Missed the bit about the bass so quite right about the Kefs. DB1's are not difficult to partner so sure they would be fine.
 

Gazzip

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Gazzip said:
drummerman said:
Gazzip said:
I would spend every last penny of my budget on new speakers as this is where I reckon you get your bang for buck.

If buying new is an absolute must then a pair of PMC DB1 Gold would be right at the top of my audition list. Kef LS50's would also have to be on the list also purely out of curiosity. I am not really a huge fan of Kefs but the LS50's are reviewed universally so well that I would have to give them a spin if I were in the market...

I think until fairly recently I would have totally agreed with you and even now this seems to ring true to an extent.

However, reports/observations from folks from recent shows such as the Bristol and Scalford seem to repeatedly have pointed out top systems that have it completely the other way round.

For example Arcams A49 powering some lowly QAcoustics, Cyrus plus QAcoustics, the new cheap as chips baby Elac's driven by Simaudio/Moon etc.

Interesting... I had a pair of Q Acoustics 2020i's in a second system a few years ago that I was selling. The rest of the system (Cyrus One and Squeezebox) had already sold so when the buyer of the 2020i's turned up I had to demo them using my main system (at the time) Bryston mono amps, an ARC Reference 3 and a Bryston CDP. I posted on here at the time that they sounded mint so perhaps there is something in this. Hmmm...

ALTHOUGH... I am sure that putting them on proper stands, well placed, in an acoustically treated room had a great deal to do with the sudden sonic magic that emanated from the 2020i's, something that they are not always treated to...
 
K

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If anyone thinks having a cheap pair of speakers at the end of quality hifi? They live in cloud cuckoo land! I have never heard such nonsense...the speakers should be the best you can afford..if not new? Then secondhand.
 

lpv

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true.. decent speakers and decent amp about £1000 each new so nowhere near OP max budget, hence my suggestions.
 

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