New amp for set up based around Rega P3?

[admin_exported]

Hi guys,

I recently bought a Rega P3-24 turntable and now looking to replace my amp. Currently I'm running a Fatman Carbon, through Diamond 10.1 speakers (which I changed from Kef iQ1s which sounded too bright and fatiguing to me).

I live in a flat, so the amp should sound good a relatively low volume. In mind I have the Creek Evolution 2 and Rega Mira, but am struggling to audition these together anywhere. The Mira is now available on promotion at £450 which makes it more tempting, but this upgrade will have to last me a long time so money, although important, is not the main priority here. I also have a Graham Slee phono stage, which I presume is better than the inbuilt stage in the Mira anyway, so this puts my mind back towards the Creek.

Sound-wise, I'm looking for a natural, musical presentation - I suppose I want to get as close to it sounding like a live band as possible (don't we all!)

Look forward to your thoughts. Cheers, James

 

[Anonymous]

my local hi-fi store have the Rega Mira3 Integrated Amplifier BRAND NEW Was £598.99 Now £330.00 Limited Stock and the Rega Brio3 Integrated Amplifier BRAND NEW Was £328.00 Now £248.00 at these prices its a no brainer.

These prices are due to new rega amps on the horizon.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow that is a no brainer. How do you get on with your Mira, does it sound good at low volumes or do you need to crank it?

 

[Anonymous]

it sounds superb at any level hoarse

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, I see you're running it through some very nice speakers. I'll certainly be looking to upgrade mine at some point. I wonder, does anyone have any experience of using the Mira with entry level speakers (or ideally, the Diamond 10.1s)?

 

[Anonymous]

I bought a Mira 3 and Saturn CDP 6 weeks ago and am using them with Diamond 10.1s. I think the sound is superb and although I will probably upgrade the speakers at some time in the future I am in no rush.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi guys,

I bought the Rega Mira in the end, just set it up this evening. It sounds great, very detailed, however also quite bright, which surprised me as I thought it was renowned as a neutral/warm amp. Did you find this with yours when you bought it, does it lose a bit of brightness once it's run in?

 

[Cold Roses]

Hoarse - may seem like a silly question, but how do you define "bright"?

 

[Anonymous]

Give it time to run in! It`s too early to judge!!

 

[Anonymous]

Slightly harsh treble

 

[Anonymous]

Hmm I've just removed the (£150!) phono stage from the chain and linked up directly with the amp (and internal phono stage.) Could be in my mind but I'm sure it's cured some of the harshness in the treble.

What does everyone else think? Could it have been a (very expensive) cause of treble over-brightness?

 

[Anonymous]

Hoarse:

Hi guys,

I bought the Rega Mira in the end, just set it up this evening. It sounds great, very detailed, however also quite bright, which surprised me as I thought it was renowned as a neutral/warm amp. Did you find this with yours when you bought it, does it lose a bit of brightness once it's run in?

Didn't really notice - however I would say the sound from my system was warm from day 1 - which was just what I was looking for

 

[Anonymous]

That's lucky! Do you mind me asking which speaker cable and interconnects you use?

 

[Anonymous]

No problem - Black Rhodium Jive and Chord Crimson Plus.

 

[Cold Roses]

James - I was intending to post a proper response sooner, but didn't get the chance. I see from your other thread that you've now decided to take the Mira back and are looking for another amp, so I guess the horse has bolted already. Though, here goes anyway.

I get the feeling the Mira (and for that matter most other mid-level integrateds) was always likely to feel a little cold and clinical at first, after coming from a small valve amp.

That said, like you, I only recently upgraded to the Mira (but from a Brio3). Interestingly, my initial reaction was pretty similar to yours - I too found the treble a little too forward and fatiguing. This really surprised me, because I thought I was pretty familiar with the sound of the Mira. I'd heard it a fair number of times prior to buying one (including back to back with a Brio), and had always percieved it to be pretty similar in sonic signature to the Brio, but just with a little more control, dynamic range and detail. However, that's not what I found in my home environment - at least not at first.

When I originally set the Mira up, I left the rest of my set up untouched. Thinking that the best placement for the Brio would also be the best placement for the Mira. Though, on initial set-up, I really wasn't enjoying the new sound. I then started playing with speaker positioning. With the Brio the RS3's had been set up with side ports firing outwards, which I found gave the most balanced sound (having tried both). With the Mira this just didn't work. However, when I switched the RS3's around, so that the side ports fired inwards it was like night and day. The harshness in the treble disappeared, the bass and mid-range filled out and the whole sound signature became much warmer. Indeed, much closer to the sound of the Brio, just with the extra elements I'd previously expected. Obviously, we're talking a different listening environment and different sources and different speakers. Though, I thought you might find my experience interesting.

Your earlier post actually also encouraged me to get my old Wharfdale Diamond 9.1s out and hook them up to the Mira. OK, they're not the 10.1s, which I haven't heard yet, and so I'm not sure how good a comparator they are. Though, I have to say that they proved a pretty good match with the Mira. Set up on my partington stands and having played around with positioning, they delivered a nice balanced sound across the range, with no harshness in treble at all, and a decent enough sound-stage. This little experiment was a real reminder of the deminishing returns of hi fi. Are the RS3's better than the 9.1s? Unequivically, yes. However, are they 7x as good - I'm not so sure. Anyway, I digress.