My First Hi-Fi System

[Lemon]

Yep. Final decision has to be made by me. Thanks for your opinion!

 

[Esra]

Did you consider the Peachtree combo with the Kef?Why do you not consider the 220SE anyway.It is the newer device and 1 box less.I would demo it with the Kef R700 as R-Series really sound good with some d-amps (newer B&0 icepower like the 220SE,NAD M2,Devialet and some DIY amps).

 

[Lemon]

Thanks Esra. Yes I will try to test 220SE tomorrow. The problem is that KEFs and Hegel is distributed by one HiFi shop and B&W with Peachtree by the other one. If I want to make a good deal than from a financial perspective it makes more sense to buy everything in the one shop. KEF and Hegel H80 (BTW I need integra) sounds pretty good but still I have some doubts. B&W sounds simply different.

 

[CnoEvil]

If I had to choose without listening, that's the choice I'd make, but your ears are not mine! I suspect (I don't know for sure) that the Hegel + KEF is the more accurate combination of the two.

Me too.

I am familiar with the R700s but not the Hagel.....but from what I've read (and Steve's description), I think it would be a spectacular combination. The R Series like a clean sounding amp with control.

 

[assault]

Thank you all!

Today I'll finally do my final choices. The problem is that my dealer offered me two great DAC at incredible (and same) price.

Final setup: Marantz PM6004 + Dali Zensor 3.

DAC: Cambridge DacMagic 100 or Arcam rDAC Wireless?

Which one of this two DAC sounds better with the combo Marantz+Dali? I know that both of them are good DAC and I'm only interested about the USB input, not the wireless (whereas the optical and coaxial are a good plus). I've heard that the rDAC is quite better, but I'm afraid that with the Zensor 3 my system will be too bass-oriented... am I wrong?

Let me know. Thanks.

 

[Gazzip]

Asynchronous USB is no guarantee of low jitter. Many cheaper versions of the asynchronous USB input do not use a fixed oscillator and instead use a frequency synthesizer and therefore have worse jitter. Be careful what you buy. A good SPDIF will blow a bad asynchronous USB input in to next week.

 

[assault]

Thanks for the advice.

Anyway both Cambridge and Arcam seems to be good DAC, isn't it? The problem is that I have a lot of dubt:

- Arcam seems better than Cambridge, but is too bass-oriented for Zensor? Or is it a good match?

- I read that the Wireless version of Arcam rDac has a low quality USB input, and also it supports "only" 96KHz through USB... Cambridge seems to be more flexible beneath this point of view

 

[assault]

It's done, the dealer did me a great price for the DacMagic 100.

Thank you all for the support!

 

[assault]

BIG PROBLEM!

Inside the box there isn't the power chord. In my house I've only three prong plug, but the Marantz need a two prong. I know that the third (central) prong is for earth, but I don't know if I can damage the amp by using a three prong (from an old PC).

It's a temporary solution, but I need to try it right now hope you can understand me.