Hi-Fi: Resurrect or start afresh

[rob.exley]

Dear all forum members,

I'm looking to take advantage of the collective wisdom of you all. I have a rather old separates system and I'm looking for advice as to whether I would be best looking to resurrect and extend the lives of some of these components of whether at this stage I should start afresh. I bought into the Sonos ecosystem about two years ago and now have all my music ripped in Apple Lossless on a NAS. In the lounge I have a ZP90 hooked up to my existing system and going forward I expect to use my Sonos for the most part but I may also use CDs from time to time (if there was an appreciable difference in quality). I also want to hook my AV kit into some form of system and as I'm not too bothered about surround sound, I'd be happy to get stereo or 2.1 sound by joining into the same hi-fi amp etc.

Current system was built mainly whilst I was a student with the amp being the most recent purchase in about 98-99.

• Hi-FI Kit:
• Arcam Alpha 8R Amp
• Technics CD SL-PS900
• Denon TU-560L Tuner
• Kenwood KX-5530 Cassette Deck
• Linn Basik Turntable
• Pinnacle AC 850 Speakers
• AV Kit:
• Panasonic TH37PX80 Plasma TV
• Playstation 3 (used for games and DVD/Blu-Ray)
• Topfield TF5800 PVR

Lounge is about 3.4m x 5.5m with the TV currently in the corner.

My better-half doesn't like the existing speakers and they are far from ideally situated being shoved in the corner at one end of the room.

If the answer was to start again, I've been reading about the Arcam A19 amp and the Cyrus amps but I don't yet have a fixed candidate list of a firm budget. Speakers I have been reading about are things such as the B&W 685/684 and the Monitor Audio speakers. For this sized room, would people recommend floor-standers or bookshelf speakers on mounts?

Thanks for any advice in advance.

 

[altruistic.lemon]

I'd think your amp is fine so it is the speakers I'd be attacking. I'd be looking at Neat Motives as floorstanders of the Petite SX as standmounts, or the Spendor quivalents. Heard Totems the other day and can see why people like them, though the model I heard was a bit polite for my taste.

 

[altruistic.lemon]

...but not so great for turntables, phono preamps and tuners!

Do they have enough inputs? I know the Xeos does. Personally I'd keep the Arcam, as it as good as many modern equivalents.

 

[BigH]

I know people use TTs with the AVIs, is the tuner a main source any more?

 

[BigH]

In that room I would not have floorstanders, esp near corners.

The amp is OK but the Arcam 9 is better. First thing to do is demo some new gear and see if it much better. I dont know your cd player maybe adding a DAC would make a difference. You could also look into active speakers like AVI 9RS which about £1,250, that included speakers, amp, pre-amp and DAC, good for hooking up Sonus/itunes/TV/DVD.

 

[altruistic.lemon]

There's only one RCA input, which could be a problem if he wants to use CD player, Tuner, and phono preamp.

 

[rob.exley]

I'm finding I'm not using the tuner since the Sonos arrived as it was never hooked up to a proper FM arial. To be fair, I haven't used the turntable for years as it needs a new cartridge but equally I'm loathed to get rid of it altogether (I will be looking into how much a replacement cartridge costs). My main sources for consideration are Sonos for ripped music and internet radio, CD and TV (Apple TV, Blu-Ray/DVD etc).

Listening tastes range across the spectrum from Nirvana to choral music/classical etc.

 

[Baldrick1]

Your CD player was TOTL back when you bought it and uses 1Bit 8 DAC MASH technology...correct? Well, I have just upgraded my system amp, tuner, speakers, etc., but kept my Technics SL-P333 which also uses MASH technology...but as a lesser model only 16Bit 4 DAC.

The amp I settled on (Rotel RA-11) has an onboard DAC; obviously more modern/different generation to the one in the CDP. And what I have found is that depending on the music I am listening to I sometimes prefer to route the CDP output, via optical, to the onboard DAC, whilst at other times I listen to the music from the CDP via the RCA analogue inputs, i.e., using the CDP DAC. Basically; Rock/Pop = amp DAC & Jazz/Clasical = CDP DAC.

What I am saying is that for me the CDP with it's own DAC still have currency in terms of some of my listening preferences and so I would keep that in mind/consider that a new amp with onboard DAC or amp and standoalone DAC may be a useful approach.

I would suggest that when you audition kit you see if you can take your CDP with you and get that playing with the kit you are trying out to see how it works with that.

The SL-PS900 was a fine piece of kit and it would be a shame to dispense with it if (i) it has more life in it & (ii) it still suits your listening tastes.

I personally will be in the market for a new CDP but only when my SL-P333 no longer works.