Moving on from an all in one?

[antontech]

Hi folks,

I currently have the Marantz mcr603 which I've had for 6 years. I'm noticing that when playing CDs the sound can only be described as dull. Its almost as if there's something holding it back. The dab function is terrible too. The only redeeming thing is the internet radio. Playing CDs through my pioneer BDP 140 improves the situation.

I was looking at the marantz pm5005, and the na6005 as replacments, but I'm unsure where they sit in comparison to my 603. Or would something like the marantz mcr511 be something to look at.

My speakers at MA bronze b2s.

Any advice appreciated.

Anthony

 

[insider9]

Demo would be necessary to avoid disappointment. Is circa £200 your budget?

Luckily demo using the new MA Bronze 2 would be sufficient to say if you're likely to enjoy your new amp. I had a pair of B2 and their decent speakers so keep them. I'd suggest Onkyo A9010 (currently selling at £195) as opposed to Marantz PM5005. In my opinion it is a far better amp. This could be complimented by Chromecast Audio (£25) for your streaming needs since if you so desire. Your Pioneer should be plenty for CD/SACD playback. That's £220 and would be a good match.

 

[muljao]

I think insider9 is pretty much putting you the right direction.

I would however consider an amp that had a built in DAC also, such as a Yamaha as301 or as501 or a marantz pm6005/6006 if you think going fwd that you might want to add other digital sources

 

[antontech]

Hi,

Thank you for your reply.

Looking around the net, I've found the pioneer sx-s30dab which is around £450, and has what I'm looking for, but there is nowhere in Glasgow that stocks it, and I'm finding it hard to temp myself away from marantz brand.

So my budget is around the 450 mark

 

[antontech]

Hi,

I do like the pm6005, but the only place to find one I think is eBay, which I'm not to sure about. I hope the pm6006 drops in price.

 

[muljao]

Well the pm6006 is only 279 now which is probably good considering what you get connectivity wise

 

[insider9]

That's a good budget that should just about cover all your needs.

Yamaha WXA-50 £369 (which is an amplified verison of preamp/streamer I'm using) should give a run for their money to most solutions. All depends if you're likely to keep your MA for a while. As long as you don't need any other features than it should be a great but. With 70W per channel into 6 ohm (I believe B2's are 6 ohm) should have plenty of power. Mind, I've not heard it but it's really well speced and I can vouch for WXC-50 which I'm using.

If you're thinking about future upgrades (speakers, dac, streamer, etc.) then I'd invest in best amp you can get.

 

[Leeps]

With a budget of £450 I'd be looking at the Arcam A19 (they're being heavily discounted to around £360-£400, but stocks are limited) or the Cambridge CXA60. The Arcam would match tonally better. The Cambridge might be a little forward with the B2's but it would depend on your taste and the types of music you listen to most.

I'd spend as much of your budget as possible on a quality amp that can make your Bronze's sing. You can add bells & whistles later.

 

[seemorebtts]

With a budget of £450 I'd be looking at the Arcam A19 (they're being heavily discounted to around £360-£400, but stocks are limited) or the Cambridge CXA60.  The Arcam would match tonally better.  The Cambridge might be a little forward with the B2's but it would depend on your taste and the types of music you listen to most.

 

I'd spend as much of your budget as possible on a quality amp that can make your Bronze's sing.  You can add bells & whistles later.

I'm with you all the way couldn't of said it better

 

[drummerman]

That Yamaha WXA-50 looks like a lot of functionality for the money. I love the design.

The WXC-50 seems good value too.

No idea how either sounds. A Cambridge CXA-60 paired with something like a CCA will perhaps sound better but you do loose the small form factor.

A Quad Vena is around £170 more, looks good and according to chebby and others, sounds very good too.

I can't think of too many products that match the Yamaha for value, on paper at least. Cambridge (Audio's) Minx Xi is a similar product now available for the same price or less and Denon's CEOL Piccolo is now under £200.

Separates will probably up performance but will cost more and don't look as neat. Whether lowest entry separates will be a big improvement (or improvement) I am not sure.

 

[lindsayt]

Antontech, buy a CD player 2nd hand for £20. Use that as a bencmark for comparing against any other digital source that you fancy.

It's quite possible that you'll find that £400 CD players simply aren't worth the money.

You might also find the Lampizator archive pages interesting reading, including his thoughts on the Phillips TDA1541A DAC chip.

 

[drummerman]

A Nad C316BEE is also a good little amp with lot's power

+ 1

 

[antontech]

Hi,

Thank you for all the replys, you have been very helpful. I do like the idea of the Arcam, but, and I know it's not the most popular thing to think about, but the power consumption on some amps concerns me. The onkyo, and Marantz top out at around 155w, but the CA and Arcams are around double, and with roughly the same o/p, which I find weird.

My budget was to include some form of tuner/internet radio too. The problem is that in Glasgow, I only know of three dealers, Loud and Clear, which is a great shop, but deals with higer end, Glasgow audio, who I don't think have a varied budget range, and Richer Sounds, which is OK, but doesn't have the space for a wider range. Thats why I'm sticking with brands I know.

How is the NAD for sq compared to a similar Marantz?

Anthony

 

[insider9]

There's nothing wrong being environmentally friendly. I'd suggest looking at Class D amps for their efficiency. Many "standard" amplifiers and I believe all suggestions above are class AB, which is not as efficient.

Yamaha WXA-50 is Class D. Richer Sounds should be able to demo and although they currently sell it at £429 they would usually price match £369 seen elsewhere.

 

[muljao]

Adding a tuner is probably not necessary. If you added a chromecast audio at 30 pounds tunein would cover most radio needs.

I bought a Jongo A2 off Amazon for 20 pounds (they released at 100). It's a difficult unit to get going but once you do the pure connect radio app is brilliant (much better than tunein in my opinion). The jongo also doubles as a bluetooth receiver. I don't use mine at the moment (as I had a CCA and Jongo going to one unit and the CCA does radio as well as spotify, though not as nice as the pure app so for astetic reasons and wires one had to go) but can honestly say it's one of the hifi world bargains at 20 pounds, sound is great and it has RCA, optical and co-ax out

 

[slice]

Hello

A view

Your initial aim was to decisively upgrade the amp, then gradually your your use of budget has changed to include a tuner and cd source. You probably don't need a tuner. If you got a marantz pm 6006 for £270, which includes a dac you could use the freeview on your tv via an optical lead to the marantz dac -bit rates via freeview are as high as dab according to previous threads. You can also play cds via an old dvd or blu ray player via optical/coaxial lead or buy a cheapish cd player (eg marantz cd5005 but NOT a cambridge topaz) and use conventional leads. Concentrate on the amp - you are trying to cram too much into the budget which could lead to you not making a proper improvement.

 

[plastic penguin]

Hi folks,

I currently have the Marantz mcr603 which I've had for 6 years. I'm noticing that when playing CDs the sound can only be described as dull. Its almost as if there's something holding it back. The dab function is terrible too. The only redeeming thing is the internet radio. Playing CDs through my pioneer BDP 140 improves the situation.

I was looking at the marantz pm5005, and the na6005 as replacments, but I'm unsure where they sit in comparison to my 603. Or would something like the marantz mcr511 be something to look at.

My speakers at MA bronze b2s.

Any advice appreciated.

Anthony

I'm going to go against the grain of most views. I would look at better speakers. VFM terms you are going to be hard pushed to find a better all-rounder.

According to our old esteemed Andrew, the 603 is capable of driving much better speakers than your current MAs. I've heard the 603 with Q Acoustic speakers and it sounded very good indeed.

Personally I would dem some better speakers, such as Focal Aria, MA Silver range, Dalis. For your budget you could also obtain PMC DB1is. The only drawback is you can't dem these anymore.

Here's Andrew's review.

 

[antontech]

Hello

A view

Your initial aim was to decisively upgrade the amp, then gradually your your use of budget has changed to include a tuner and cd source. You probably don't need a tuner. If you got a marantz pm 6006 for £270, which includes a dac you could use the freeview on your tv via an optical lead to the marantz dac -bit rates via freeview are as high as dab according to previous threads. You can also play cds via an old dvd or blu ray player via optical/coaxial lead or buy a cheapish cd player (eg marantz cd5005 but NOT a cambridge topaz) and use conventional leads. Concentrate on the amp - you are trying to cram too much into the budget which could lead to you not making a proper improvement.

Sorry I probably didn't explain it that well. I already have the Pioneer bdp-140, and Im happy to play cds through it. As for the radio, I mentioned the MCR511 as it has internet radio, but I should have explained that's one of the things I want.

 

[antontech]

I'm going to go against the grain of most views. I would look at better speakers. VFM terms you are going to be hard pushed to find a better all-rounder.

According to our old esteemed Andrew, the 603 is capable of driving much better speakers than your current MAs. I've heard the 603 with Q Acoustic speakers and it sounded very good indeed.

Personally I would dem some better speakers, such as Focal Aria, MA Silver range, Dalis. For your budget you could also obtain PMC DB1is. The only drawback is you can't dem these anymore.

Here's Andrew's review.

[/quote] I appreciate that better speakers would improve performance, but I can hear a difference with the 603 compared to my pioneer blu ray. You mentioned Q Acoustics, and I did look at them but thought they didn't have the range of the MA's. Is it more of a question of partnering rather than getting something with the better frequency range and/or sensitivity? Anthony

 

[lindsayt]

There's always plenty of used amplifiers / receivers on ebay for £5 to £30. Buy one of them and use it as your amplifier benchmark. Also look in your local thrift / pawn shop.

In a starter system: digital source, amplifier, cables, stands. None of them are worth spending much money on.

Speakers on the other hand are worth spending a bit of dough on - to pave the way to getting a pair that are right for you.

 

[gasolin]

A Nad C316BEE is also a good little amp with lot's of power

 

[nick8858]

How about Pioneer NC-50 DAB. Does EVERYTHING!. In built CD player, FM tuner and DAB if you want it but DAB is pretty dire quality wise. Internet radio. Will stream from Spotify and Tidal. You can hook a mini usb Hard disk with umpteen gigabytes of music and play music from that (it will power the USB so you can hide it round the back). Also has a 40 + 40 w amplifier. Brilliant app for tablet or phone. Does everything and bottom line sounds great too. Put a pair of Neat IOTA speakers on the end and you have a serious system.

 

[chunky70]

How about the Yamaha R-N301. Has everything you need and only £220! I have one in my bedroom set up and it's brilliant!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yamaha-R-N301-Network-Receiver-Black/dp/B00OBM43I8/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1486144706&sr=1-3&keywords=yamaha+receiver