The last 25 years I have owned a lot of expensive ‘high-end’ stereo equipment till about 4 months ago I decided to see how much musical pleasure a stereo set costing less than £1000, cables not included, would provide me. The reason for this experiment is that I have noticed that the last 2-3 year very good speakers have been produced for a low price.
To give you an idea on the components I owned during the last 25 years, this is the (not complete ) list:
Speakers: B&W Matrix 802 series 3, Audio Physic Virgo, Dunlavy SC-IV and Aletha, B&W Nautilus 805/804/803, ATC SCM-12, Dynaudio Contour S3.4 and Focus 110, Dali Mentor Menuet, Proac Tablette Reference 8 Signature, …
Amplifiers: Rotel RMB-1095, Spectron Musician, Lexicon MC-8, Audio Synthesis Passion, Nelson Pass Aleph 3, Chord SPM-600, Arcam FMJ P35/3, Yamaha A-S1000 and A-S2000, Vincent SV-234 and SV-236, Cyrus 8XPdqx, …
CD players: can not remember the model numbers anymore but owned the more expensive Marantz, Denon and Sony players, various DACs and anti-jitter devices, Lexicon MC-8 used as DAC, and currently the best player I owned, the Vincent CD-S6 tube cd player.
So, about 4 months ago I sold my speakers and amplifier and started my quest for a stereo setup (with standmount speakers) costing less than £1000. After reading a lot of audio magazines and testing a lot of equipment in stores and at home my setup currently exist of:
Speakers: Q Acoustics 2020i (new £250 in Belgium) and Monitor Audio BX2 (new £250)
Amplifier: Cyrus 6XP amplifier (used £350)
CD player: still my Vincent CD-S6 but looking for a used Cyrus CD-8x to replace the Vincent. Should cost about £400.
Total: about £1000 once I find a Cyrus CD-8x.
How does this setup sound? In one word: fantastic !!! This setup gives me at least as much musical pleasure as the more expensive sets I owned before. I find this new setup very musical, with good imaging, impressive timing and a lot of detail. Bass goes deep enough and is tight and detailed. The sound is also still good at low volume settings. Ok, it does not produce the lowest frequencies like my Dynaudio Contour S3.4 could, but due to room restrictions I can only use standmounts.
I hope that replacing the Vincent CD-S6 by a Cyrus CD-8x will not degrade the musical pleasure i get now. Otherwise i will need to look for another CD player costing less than £400.
The only thing I still have to do is to decide between the Q Acoustics 2020i and Monitor Audio BX2. At this moment the 2020i is my clear favorite but I really like the BX2 too.
To give you an idea on the components I owned during the last 25 years, this is the (not complete ) list:
Speakers: B&W Matrix 802 series 3, Audio Physic Virgo, Dunlavy SC-IV and Aletha, B&W Nautilus 805/804/803, ATC SCM-12, Dynaudio Contour S3.4 and Focus 110, Dali Mentor Menuet, Proac Tablette Reference 8 Signature, …
Amplifiers: Rotel RMB-1095, Spectron Musician, Lexicon MC-8, Audio Synthesis Passion, Nelson Pass Aleph 3, Chord SPM-600, Arcam FMJ P35/3, Yamaha A-S1000 and A-S2000, Vincent SV-234 and SV-236, Cyrus 8XPdqx, …
CD players: can not remember the model numbers anymore but owned the more expensive Marantz, Denon and Sony players, various DACs and anti-jitter devices, Lexicon MC-8 used as DAC, and currently the best player I owned, the Vincent CD-S6 tube cd player.
So, about 4 months ago I sold my speakers and amplifier and started my quest for a stereo setup (with standmount speakers) costing less than £1000. After reading a lot of audio magazines and testing a lot of equipment in stores and at home my setup currently exist of:
Speakers: Q Acoustics 2020i (new £250 in Belgium) and Monitor Audio BX2 (new £250)
Amplifier: Cyrus 6XP amplifier (used £350)
CD player: still my Vincent CD-S6 but looking for a used Cyrus CD-8x to replace the Vincent. Should cost about £400.
Total: about £1000 once I find a Cyrus CD-8x.
How does this setup sound? In one word: fantastic !!! This setup gives me at least as much musical pleasure as the more expensive sets I owned before. I find this new setup very musical, with good imaging, impressive timing and a lot of detail. Bass goes deep enough and is tight and detailed. The sound is also still good at low volume settings. Ok, it does not produce the lowest frequencies like my Dynaudio Contour S3.4 could, but due to room restrictions I can only use standmounts.
I hope that replacing the Vincent CD-S6 by a Cyrus CD-8x will not degrade the musical pleasure i get now. Otherwise i will need to look for another CD player costing less than £400.
The only thing I still have to do is to decide between the Q Acoustics 2020i and Monitor Audio BX2. At this moment the 2020i is my clear favorite but I really like the BX2 too.