HiFi system upgrade - Total over-haul...

d_a_n1979

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Right... Well... It's soon to be Jan 08 and i promised myself that before the end of Feb 08 arrives i will have a new hi-fi system set up and will have sold all my seperates via ebay/hi-fi forums etc... What i've got is listed below and will sell all ok on Ebay but obviously the hard part is deciding what route to go down to replace it al! A few ideas have been - Roksan Kandy LIII amp along with B&W 684/683 or B&W CM7 speakers and the Rega Apollo CD player (and maybe a month or so after then, the matching Roksan power amp) OR Cyrus 8v2 Amp, 8CDSE CD player and B&W 684/CM7 speakers (again with a look at the Cyrus 8 / X-Power power amp a bit later on) The other Cyrus set-up i could go for the is the Cyrus Pre vs2 pre-amp along with the 8 / X-Power power amp and the B&W CM7 speakers and get the PSX-R power source the month later etc... OR Audiolab 8000S along with the 8000P and will keep my Arcam Alpha 9 CD player or go for the CD192 off Ebay. I havent auditioned the Audiolab stuff so would go to Superfi in Manchester to audition it. Just wanted to hear opinions on this stuff as i see it gets mentioned a fair bit. I have already auditioned the Cyrus 8v2 and 8CD player with both the B&W 684 and CM7 speakers as well as the Roksan LIII amp and B&W CM7 / 684 speakers but with the Roksa MIII CDp player as the Sevenoaks didnt have the Rega CD player. I absolutely adore B&W speakers, they suit my music tastes down to a tee. The Acoustic Energy AESprit 309 speakers i have currently are very, very good but they somehow dont quite match upto the quality i hear in B&W speakers. I am even prepared to say that to my ears, theyre not as good as the B&W 602 S2 speakers that i sold before i got the AE's! Dangerouse thing to say i know... I may go down the Ebay route for a CD player as i am watching an Arcam CD192 as we speak OR keep the Arcam 9 CD player i currently have as i have been troubled lately to find one better. I auditioned it against the Roksan CD player and could hardly tell any difference! I mainly listen to Rock, US style house music and alot of Electronica music (Daft Punk, Leftfield, Underworld, Fischerspooner, Air, Layo & Bushwacker) which is all quite fast paced and fairly bassy but can be fairly mellow too at times with a lot of vocals. I also listen to a fair bit of jazz, chill-out music and metal (when the mood takes me). Be great to see/hear some opinions. Ta
 
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Anonymous

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I've got a cracking Rotel RA03 amp for sale that should do it ;-)

If it sounds right, go the Cyrus route. The upgrade path is undeniably good and will ensure you never have any money. Once you get to monoblocs you might need to reinforce the floorboards...

More seriously, I believe that you'd be better off putting your money into the speakers and amp. The Alpha 9, as you have suggested, is still a very good player and you could really open up the soundstage with a good pre/power combo from Cyrus. Have you considered the Quad 909/99? Keeps itself quiet in the hifi circles but is stunningly good. Anyway, enjoy...
 
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Anonymous

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Apparently the alpha 9 is the same internally as the cd92.is the cd192 the cd92's replacement? i think you would have to spend seriously big bucks to get a significantly better player than an alpha 9. A friend has one hooked up to a set of £800 mon audio speakers and a hybrid valve amp.It sounds superb. i would hang onto the alpha 9 unless you are really fussed about looks.
 
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Anonymous

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[quote user="d_a_n1979"]
OR

Audiolab 8000S along with the 8000P and will keep my Arcam Alpha 9 CD player or go for the CD192 off Ebay. I havent auditioned the Audiolab stuff so would go to Superfi in Manchester to audition it. Just wanted to hear opinions on this stuff as i see it gets mentioned a fair bit.

snip

I mainly listen to Rock, US style house music and alot of Electronica music (Daft Punk, Leftfield, Underworld, Fischerspooner, Air, Layo & Bushwacker) which is all quite fast paced and fairly bassy but can be fairly mellow too at times with a lot of vocals. I also listen to a fair bit of jazz, chill-out music and metal (when the mood takes me).

Be great to see/hear some opinions.

Ta[/quote]

Well why buy the integrated 8000S to use with a poweramp when you can get the 8000Q dedicated pre-amp? I use the older 8000C with the P, and yeah, it's awesome;) They pair well with my monitor audios, so if you do go the audiolab route I would suggest checking out their gold signature range (or the platinums if your feeling wanton lol).
 
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Anonymous

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[quote user="d_a_n1979"]

I may go down the Ebay route for a CD player as i am watching an Arcam CD192 as we speak OR keep the Arcam 9 CD player i currently have as i have been troubled lately to find one better. I auditioned it against the Roksan CD player and could hardly tell any difference!
[/quote]

The problem with the CD192 is that i'm not quite sure it is worth the price premium over the CD73. Okay it might have a better d/a converter, but many people I know say that the CD73's sampling system is one of the best around for under £1,000...
 

Andrew Everard

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[quote user="Mr_Poletski"]
Well why buy the integrated 8000S to use with a poweramp when you can get the 8000Q dedicated pre-amp?[/quote]

Presumably to biamp the speakers...
 
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Anonymous

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Ah, captain obvious sneaked past me that time. But if bi-amping, why not another 8000P?
 

Andrew Everard

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Well yes you could use a C and two Ps, or indeed four Ms - as I used to -, but that would be more expensive than an S and a P, not to mention taking up more space.
 
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Anonymous

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[quote user="Hughes123"][quote user="d_a_n1979"] I may go down the Ebay route for a CD player as i am watching an Arcam CD192 as we speak OR keep the Arcam 9 CD player i currently have as i have been troubled lately to find one better. I auditioned it against the Roksan CD player and could hardly tell any difference!

[/quote] The problem with the CD192 is that i'm not quite sure it is worth the price premium over the CD73. Okay it might have a better d/a converter, but many people I know say that the CD73's sampling system is one of the best around for under £1,000...
[/quote]

i have demo'd the cd73 against the cd92 and the 92 was miles better.As it should have been at twice the price. The 192 replaced the 73 and although i have not heard it i would bet my house that it kills the cd73, good sampling system or not.
 

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