Help with a new system.

[Gonepostal]

Hello to anyone reading....My wife and i have just moved into a new home and are therefore looking to add some music to our lives.Over the last 2/3 weeks ive been reading various forums and must say that i am feling dizzy with all the advice etc. Our room is 15ft by 12 ft and our budget is 600 to 800 pounds....Our source will be my laptop and my wifes i pad,im interested in the new NAD amp due to its Bluetooth features and was thinking of the QA2020i or 2050i speakers.Has anyone heard this set up or could any of you learned Gents or Ladies suggest an alternative way to spend said amount so we can turn the TV off in the evening and relax to some good tunes....Thank you in advance

 

[CarlDW]

The NAD D3020 with some Q Acoustic 2020i's or Dali Zensor 1's would be a good place to start. It has a USB input for the laptop, you could then either stream via Bluetooth from the iPad or get an Apple Airport Express and connect that to the amp to stream over Airplay.

 

[Gonepostal]

Thanks for the reply Carl,would that amp be able to drive the 2050 speakers,the wife likes floorstanding speakers,myself im not fussed. was thinking Dali Zensors 5 or maybee MA bx5.Also was thinking The Marantz pm6005 and adding a bluetooth reciever because maybee that amp has more power,i must hold my hands up to being a bit of a novice in all things HIFI. Should also mention that we would like to use the speakers for when we watch movies..

 

[CarlDW]

Both the NAD and the Marantz will be able to drive any of the speakers that you mention, so long as you don't intend to listen at silly volume levels (which could damage both speakers and amp). Personally I would listen to the Q's and Dali's over the MA's. Both amps are highly regarded, go for whichever sounds best to you!

 

[Gonepostal]

Nice one,cheers dude....thanks for your help.

 

[davedotco]

Hello to anyone reading....My wife and i have just moved into a new home and are therefore looking to add some music to our lives.Over the last 2/3 weeks ive been reading various forums and must say that i am feling dizzy with all the advice etc. Our room is 15ft by 12 ft and our budget is 600 to 800 pounds....Our source will be my laptop and my wifes i pad,im interested in the new NAD amp due to its Bluetooth features and was thinking of the QA2020i or 2050i speakers.Has anyone heard this set up or could any of you learned Gents or Ladies suggest an alternative way to spend said amount so we can turn the TV off in the evening and relax to some good tunes....Thank you in advance

Out of interest, why are you not using Airplay?

Could make things quite a lot simpler....... :?

 

[Gonepostal]

Hi Dave,im currently working under the assumption that Airplay is exclusive to Apple products and my laptop is windows based. Running on empty,good album.

 

[davedotco]

Hi Dave,im currently working under the assumption that Airplay is exclusive to Apple products and my laptop is windows based. Running on empty,good album.

That is kind of what I was thinking......

The more different technologies you want the more expensive and complicated it tends to get, cuts down on options too. For example, assuming you have or can get Bluetooth AptX on your laptop, that should work nicely, Bluetooth on the iPad on the other hand is not great.

You can get an Airport Express for the iPad but I have no experience integrating that with a non Apple network. A wired dock would work too, a Pure i20 perhaps, depending on connector compatibility.

The combination of the D3020 and the 2050i should work nicely, providing you can give the speakers space, too close to walls etc, they will boom. The Dali Zenzor 5 is a more controlled but less expansive alternative at comparable cost.

 

[Gonepostal]

Thanks for the heads up.there should be plenty of space,approx 1.5 ft from the walls. We just need to find somewhere to listen to both speakers. Will probably end up coming away with completely different speakers lol.

 

[Gonepostal]

Following on from this,has anyone heard the MCR 510 partnered with the Zensor 5 speakers?

 

[davedotco]

Following on from this,has anyone heard the MCR 510 partnered with the Zensor 5 speakers?

If you are in the uk, Richer Sounds have both Marantz and Dali, give them a go.

Try the Marantz NR1504 reciever as an althernative, same price, more powerful and more flexible. (But does it sound as good?)

 

[Gonepostal]

I do live quite close to a R sounds,so will try to listen to some speakers. And i have also been reading your posts re the NR1504. Lots to think about :?

 

[davedotco]

Talk to them, we are talking just 4 peices of kit, the 2 Marantz, Dali Zensor 5 and Q Acoustics 2050i.

The 2050i do need some space, so the Dali speakers are probably easier to site. Get them to play you both and choose. The NR1504 has greater functionality, if you need it.

If you read the other thread, you will know that I am rather partial to active speakers, using the pre-outs on the NR1504, I would love to try a pair of Adam Artist6.

These in fact...

 

[Gonepostal]

Im not sure if i need the functionality of the ncr 1504. Those speakers do look good,i was looking at the Kef x300 range for a while. How do the Adam 6 speakers work,how would i get music from my laptop to play through them. I do also feel that things are starting to get a bit confusing lol.

 

[davedotco]

Im not sure if i need the functionality of the ncr 1504. Those speakers do look good,i was looking at the Kef x300 range for a while. How do the Adam 6 speakers work,how would i get music from my laptop to play through them. I do also feel that things are starting to get a bit confusing lol.

The Adam speakers are fully active, elegant and very controlled. they are over budget at about £900 but really rather good. Think of them as a bigger, floor standing equivilent to the X300. Like all active speakers, input is at line level, with a choice of XLR, Jack or rca connectors.

A simple starting point would be a usb dac, which can be had from as little as £25. Build from there, the sound will be excellent, just buy a better and more functional dac down the line.

 

[Gonepostal]

Those speakers do look interesting,would of been even more so if they were using aptx b/tooth. If i had the money i would probably look into the Dynaudio xeo range. But for right now i will go down the more trafitional hifi route,i do feel that active speakers are the future,hopefully in a few years the costs will drop.