I have the below gear while it sound great with movie i am after better two channel sound. thinking of adding a power amp to my av amp to drive my fronts, then at a later date changing the amp, so matching av amp later will be required. main reason is brightness, most of my music sounds great but newer cds sound harsh at the top end (e.g. Florence and the machine hurts my ears}. love the look of rotels new kit but not great with MA RS8 or so i am told. budget is around £1.000 any comments welcome and help with a list to audition would be grateful.
help needed matching power amp into my set up
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dont know much about av but monitor audio are bright so maybe a change of speaker like spendor or harbeth but as i said dont knpw av
Not sure that a power amp will be your best bet, although I'm happy to be corrected by those with more experience. You could take the front preouts on your AVR and feed them into a dedicated stereo integrated which would then power your RS8s. Having recently changed from a Roksan Kandy K2 to a Cyrus 8vs2, I can strongly recommend the Cyrus, which Sevenoaks are doing on the cheap at the moment. You may get warned off using Cyrus with Monitor Audio, particularly if brightness is your current problem, but I have to say that having paired it with GS10s in my 2 channel setup I have no complaints. I found the Roksan dull after prolonged listening, with loose bass and a lack of ability to drive the GS10s. The Cyrus, on the other hand, blows the doors off with the volume knob down at 7 o'clock, without sacrificing detail and control. Also the bass is much grippier.
What is your musical taste and what source are you feeding the AVR? I have the same AVR hooked up to much cheaper speakers, Q Acoustics 1050s at the front, and it sounds fine for occasional lossless ipod listening.
What is your musical taste and what source are you feeding the AVR? I have the same AVR hooked up to much cheaper speakers, Q Acoustics 1050s at the front, and it sounds fine for occasional lossless ipod listening.
cheers for the response unfortunatly thats not an option, the puzzling thing is with older cds the speakers are fine (not finding them bright)
It may be that you are experiencing the problem of modern mastering styles, very compressed with less dynamic subtlety than older recordings. Not familiar with the particular album you mention, but lots of people on the forums have commented on similar themes. Seems to be more of an issue with more revealing systems, so perhaps the Cyrus is not the best solution for you.
When you say not an option, do you mean Cyrus or an integrated amp per se?
If you are using your DVD player as a CDP, have you considered an external DAC?
When you say not an option, do you mean Cyrus or an integrated amp per se?
If you are using your DVD player as a CDP, have you considered an external DAC?
thanks shuggieb the pre out option is the way im thinking of going, my music consists mainly of rock/pop the source is the dvd player hooked up with the i link, tryed all conections but this i find the best as i have scad and dvd-a in my collection, when you say you found the roksan dull what was ment by this?
Hi smmee,
I think I mistook your response about changing speakers for a response to my first post, sorry
I got the Roksan last year, on an impulse, and after an overly short test. At the time I had an Arcam A65+, and I felt I was lacking power in the bass department. The Roksan solved this, but needed to be cranked right up to get a sensible volume. After a few months, I noticed I was spending less time listening to my music, and when I did some critical listening, I felt the bass didn't sound crisp and controlled. It was there alright, unlike my older system, but the attack and finish of notes merged into each other. I got the 8vs2 on sale or return from Sevenoaks in Bristol (highly recommended), for a prolonged home test, and found that I was spending hours each evening listening to CDs with a grin on my face. The retrieval of detail is amazing, with notes across the frequency range well defined and instrument separation better than I have heard in this pricerange.
My taste includes Blues, Jazz, Opera, Classical, Baroque, Bob Marley, Loudon Wainwright III, Kate Rusby, Pink Floyd, Queen and Scottish Folk Music, so a fairly wide range of styles, each of which tests different aspects of playback, and all sound great.
You obviously need your DVD player for SACD and DVD-A, but you still have a few options to improve CD playback. Within your budget you could get a good integrated (I'm obviously currently cheerleading for Cyrus, but other quality integrated amps exist), and something like a DAC Magic to go with it. The other option would be a dedicated CDP with or without an integrated amp. You have a great set of speakers, and I'm sure with the right combination feeding them, you will get a great 2 channel sound.
I think I mistook your response about changing speakers for a response to my first post, sorry
I got the Roksan last year, on an impulse, and after an overly short test. At the time I had an Arcam A65+, and I felt I was lacking power in the bass department. The Roksan solved this, but needed to be cranked right up to get a sensible volume. After a few months, I noticed I was spending less time listening to my music, and when I did some critical listening, I felt the bass didn't sound crisp and controlled. It was there alright, unlike my older system, but the attack and finish of notes merged into each other. I got the 8vs2 on sale or return from Sevenoaks in Bristol (highly recommended), for a prolonged home test, and found that I was spending hours each evening listening to CDs with a grin on my face. The retrieval of detail is amazing, with notes across the frequency range well defined and instrument separation better than I have heard in this pricerange.
My taste includes Blues, Jazz, Opera, Classical, Baroque, Bob Marley, Loudon Wainwright III, Kate Rusby, Pink Floyd, Queen and Scottish Folk Music, so a fairly wide range of styles, each of which tests different aspects of playback, and all sound great.
You obviously need your DVD player for SACD and DVD-A, but you still have a few options to improve CD playback. Within your budget you could get a good integrated (I'm obviously currently cheerleading for Cyrus, but other quality integrated amps exist), and something like a DAC Magic to go with it. The other option would be a dedicated CDP with or without an integrated amp. You have a great set of speakers, and I'm sure with the right combination feeding them, you will get a great 2 channel sound.
thanks again shuggieb. pink floyd, queen, rem, seal all in my collection, dvd player would still be needed, but that would not rule out a dedicated cdp, will be goning the amp route first and i will put cyrus on my list to audition.
Your main problems are using the AV amp and DVD player for music. Movie and music amps are set up in a completely different way and your movie bias will be the cause of the shrill nastiness you hear. Get a 2 channel amp and a DAC, try second hand from eBay and if you don;t like what you hear just sell on. If you do then you can think about buying some new kit.
The obvious DAC would be a Cambridge Audio DACMagic. As for an amp, I particularly like Arcam and they work very well with your kind of music. You could do a lot worse than £250 or so on a second hand A85.
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