New hi-fi with £1000-1200

[admin_exported]

First post, so hi to everyone. I would really appreciate any help you could provide me with my choices.

I'm new to hi-fi, I've had a couple of cheap all-in-one systems before but am looking for something a little more special. I've recently got married and want to use some cash I got as wedding gifts on a new system.

My musical taste is quite varied but I'll mostly be listening to dire straits/pink Floyd/peter Gabriel/Clapton etc.

I'll be listening in a medium sized room 4x5m I guess, so perhaps stand mounts are most suitable.

First thoughts,

Amp - Roksan Kandy LIII (£450-£500) or the Creek Evolution 2 ($550 @ Superfi)

Speakers - Dynaudio 2/7 (if I can find them and get a good price) B&W 685 or something similar for around £400

DAC - CA DACMagic (£220) or the Beresford (£?)

I would like to play music through my laptop but it doesn't have a good soundcard and only a headphone socket, hence the DAC which can be connected via USB

any thoughts?

 

[John Duncan]

I'm not usually a big fan of having all your eggs in one basket, but a pair of AVI ADM9.1s may be up your street, since it covers all the things your looking for. Many on here have had great results...

Personally though I'd favour the DAC/Amp/Speakers route, and you're on the right lines with the ones you mention. I may be tempted however to go slightly mean on the speakers and spend a bit more on the amp. Pair of Dali Lektor 2s and a Beresford would leave you almost £800 for the amp, which gets you into Naim Nait 5i and Cyrus territory (I'm not a huge fan of Cyrus but you may very well be).

 

[Anonymous]

This also looks interesting...

 

[sthomas048]

Hello there and welcome to the forum,

Im not experienced enough in hifi to offer you the advice others will no doubt offer you here. But looking at the kit you have mentioned you are on the right path, its all good stuff you have highlighted. For that price you could buy a full setup with a cd player if you like. If you went that route then i would start with simply heading to your local hifi dealer and listening to a bunch of different kit. I started reading reviews and found a cd player that suited my music tastes and was well rated and i went from there looking and listening to different amps and speakers. It can be quite confusing there is so much kit to choose from and so many different views out there, but by going to your local dealer you will get a lot of support and the choice will be much simpler for you.

Good luck anyway and i wish you luck !

 

[Anonymous]

Yeh I understand, I'm abroad right now so just wanted some ideas on what to audition when I get back home in a couple of months.

I thought about a cheap CD player like the CD6003 from Marantz which also has a usb input i think and for not much more money than a DACMagic.

 

[d_a_n1979]

I think you could do very well with the Roksan Kandy LIII amp and B&W 685 speakers plus the laptop/DAC combo.

Remember though that you'll need decent stands to get the best out of the B&W's and I'd say that minimum for this would be the Partington Super Dreadnoughts so that's another c£150 you'd be looking at!

IMO the Dali Lektor 2's would be good as well; not as big and loud (bang for your buck) as the B&W's but still very good and can sit on smaller, lighter stands (Soundstyle/Atacama's etc...)

As above the Cyrus 6v2 can be bought for the same money as the Roksan LIII currently (via eBay) and that's a very good amp so shouldnt be discounted.

Have you considerd the NAD C326BEE amp; it's very good and would suit the B&W speakers well as well as the Monitor Audio range and the Dali's.

 

[chebby]

A different suggestion. (I am tired of reading about Roksan blooming Kandys lately

)

Rega RS1 standmount speakers (£390), Rega Mira 3 amplifier (£586), Beresford TC-7520 or CA DacMagic DAC (£180 or £230)

(The Beresford has a decent headphone amp built in which will be handy as the Rega amp has none.)

Total around £1200 or just under depending on DAC purchased.

Simples.

Actually not quite 'simples'. The Rega RS1's will need stands but perfectly good ones can be picked up from £75 upwards. (Atacama Nexus 6 for instance.)

If you could find an extra £200 then there are two choices...

(1) Get a top notch pair of stands like the Partington Dreadnoughts

or...

(2) Get the Rega RS3 compact floor standing speakers (£684) instead of the Rega RS1's.

Both speakers are superb and not at all fussy about positioning.

PS Don't worry about the Rega amp and Beresford DAC clashing in colour. The Rega Mira 3 can be ordered in black. The Rega RS1 and RS3 speakers are also available (special order) in piano gloss black for a little extra £ if black is your thing.

 

[Anonymous]

yeh I noticed the Rega was missing a headphone socket.

The stands can really bump up the price, is it just better to spend the extra on floorstanders? just concerned how they will work in a medium sized room, I heard they were more suited to large spaces?

Any thoughts on which amp would be most suitable of the ones mentioned, Naim 5i is a real stretch I think and would the speakers I'd be able to buy with the remaining money do it justice?

 

[chebby]

If you want to keep the total nearer £1200 then consider the Rega Brio 3 amplifier for £322 instead of the Mira 3.

Incredible value for money and pefect for the Rega RS1's.

 

[chebby]

rosscos30:The stands can really bump up the price, is it just better to spend the extra on floorstanders? just concerned how they will work in a medium sized room, I heard they were more suited to large spaces?

That is true of large floorstanders but the Rega RS3's are quite compact and I use my Rega R3's in a 13' x 20' room with 8.5' ceilings. (Not sure what all that is in metric.)

 

[jaxwired]

I've vote for the Dynaudio 2/7s. Definately try them out before you buy anything else. I love my Dyn Excites. To my ears they have all the benefits of the B&W 685s, but sound less boxy and more detailed. You could also try the Dyn 2/8s which have a bigger sound.

I also second the idea of trying a NAD C326bee. You will save some money if you like it over the Roksan. It's a fabulous amp and you might be surprised how very good it is. Plus it's very common so should be easy to demo.

 

[chebby]

jaxwired:I also second the idea of trying a NAD C326bee.

Doesn't it have the oversensitive volume control that necessitates using attenuators?

 

[SteveR750]

chebby:

A different suggestion. (I am tired of reading about Roksan blooming Kandys lately

)

Rega RS1 standmount speakers (£390), Rega Mira 3 amplifier (£586), Beresford TC-7520 or CA DacMagic DAC (£180 or £230)

(The Beresford has a decent headphone amp built in which will be handy as the Rega amp has none.)

Total around £1200 or just under depending on DAC purchased.

Simples.

Actually not quite 'simples'. The Rega RS1's will need stands but perfectly good ones can be picked up from £75 upwards. (Atacama Nexus 6 for instance.)

If you could find an extra £200 then there are two choices...

(1) Get a top notch pair of stands like the Partington Dreadnoughts

or...

(2) Get the Rega RS3 compact floor standing speakers (£684) instead of the Rega RS1's.

Both speakers are superb and not at all fussy about positioning.

PS Don't worry about the Rega amp and Beresford DAC clashing in colour. The Rega Mira 3 can be ordered in black. The Rega RS1 and RS3 speakers are also available (special order) in piano gloss black for a little extra £ if black is your thing.

However, it's worth bearing in mind: I auditioned the R3's about 4 years ago, and I found that the side firing port made them too fussy for me, as my speakers simply had to go close to a side wall. Having them fire inwards against a dining room dresser was even worse! I ended up getting the DM602 S3's as they are front ported.

 

[Cypher]

jaxwired:
I've vote for the Dynaudio 2/7s. Definately try them out before you buy anything else. I love my Dyn Excites. To my ears they have all the benefits of the B&W 685s, but sound less boxy and more detailed. You could also try the Dyn 2/8s which have a bigger sound.

I also second the idea of trying a NAD C326bee. You will save some money if you like it over the Roksan. It's a fabulous amp and you might be surprised how very good it is. Plus it's very common so should be easy to demo.

I also had the Dynaudio X12 for a while. Great little speakers and definitely better than the B&W 685. They can sound a bit polite with aggressive music but overall a nice warm sound. Then I heard the Lektor 2's and the X12 could not compete IMO.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

rosscos30:
yeh I noticed the Rega was missing a headphone socket.

The stands can really bump up the price, is it just better to spend the extra on floorstanders? just concerned how they will work in a medium sized room, I heard they were more suited to large spaces?

Any thoughts on which amp would be most suitable of the ones mentioned, Naim 5i is a real stretch I think and would the speakers I'd be able to buy with the remaining money do it justice?

I would imagine that any of the suggestions offered would make you smile and hear a proper system compared to what you are used to. Personally I would go the other way to JD and get as good a deal as you can for an amp (the original Creek Evo £300ish is great or second hand/ex demo route) which would leave you more for your speakers. I would go for floorstanders too. The DAC to computer route is definitely the way forward with your budget.

 

[Anonymous]

Great, thanks for all your imput.

The Creek Evo looks the part and has had some good reviews. I'm totally clueless when it comes to speakers i'm afraid, could you point me in the right direction of some nice floorstanders, apart from the RS3's mentioned earlier?

http://www.hifix.co.uk/sku2.lasso?DALI-CONCEPT 6&item=3b6c8add236d645158f0befceb241d515d3967f809d63369

http://www.hifix.co.uk/sku2.lasso?KEF-IQ50&item=5bdc45496a8d47f7784517e3fe1ecdc1

http://www.hifix.co.uk/sku2.lasso?MORDAUNT SHORT-MEZZO 6&item=df9e02774c65d3d51801f2e534e81b10

 

[method man]

Hi Ross.you might like to take a look at what i did. in your position a few short weeks ago.

Only thin is my speakers wont take usb. has to be coax or optical digital. i use the squeezebox. link below.

http://community.whathifi.com/forums/1/272669/ShowThread.aspx

 

[chebby]

SteveR750:However, it's worth bearing in mind: I auditioned the R3's about 4 years ago, and I found that the side firing port made them too fussy for me, as my speakers simply had to go close to a side wall. Having them fire inwards against a dining room dresser was even worse! I ended up getting the DM602 S3's as they are front ported.

My R3's are front ported.

The bass drivers are side mounted which gives an excellent spread of sound.

 

[Anonymous]

rosscos30:

Yeh I understand, I'm abroad right now so just wanted some ideas on what to audition when I get back home in a couple of months.

I thought about a cheap CD player like the CD6003 from Marantz which also has a usb input i think and for not much more money than a DACMagic.

Rosscos,

The Marantz CD6003 USB Input is for USB Mass Storage Devices (and iPods) only. Unlike the Beresford, DACMagic DACs, and AVI 9.1 speakers, this cannot be connected to your Laptop.

You will not be able to 'stream' your music to the player. The Marantz works by 'pulling' the music from a usb hard-drive and navigation is by the CD remote or iPod controls. Thus this is not such a useful option unless you have all your music on an external USB Hard drive and don't mind clumsy navigation.

From the Marantz CD6003 User Guide:
"ABOUT USB MEDIA Music files cannot be played by connecting this unit to a personal computer with a USB cable. This is a device that belongs to a class of USB mass storage such as USB memory (FAT16, FAT32 format supported), which this unit supports."

Neon - K

 

[SteveR750]

chebby:

SteveR750:However, it's worth bearing in mind: I auditioned the R3's about 4 years ago, and I found that the side firing port made them too fussy for me, as my speakers simply had to go close to a side wall. Having them fire inwards against a dining room dresser was even worse! I ended up getting the DM602 S3's as they are front ported.

My R3's are front ported.

The bass drivers are side mounted which gives an excellent spread of sound.

Ooops....I knew something fired sideways. However, the observations I made still stand.

 

[Anonymous]

Neon K:

The Marantz CD6003 USB Input is for USB Mass Storage Devices (and iPods) only. Unlike the Beresford, DACMagic DACs, and AVI 9.1 speakers, this cannot be connected to your Laptop.

You will not be able to 'stream' your music to the player. The Marantz works by 'pulling' the music from a usb hard-drive and navigation is by the CD remote or iPod controls. Thus this is not such a useful option unless you have all your music on an external USB Hard drive and don't mind clumsy navigation.

From the Marantz CD6003 User Guide:
"ABOUT USB MEDIA Music files cannot be played by connecting this unit to a personal computer with a USB cable. This is a device that belongs to a class of USB mass storage such as USB memory (FAT16, FAT32 format supported), which this unit supports."

Neon - K

Ah, that's good to know!

looking at the squeezebox, I assume there's a DAC inside, can anyone comment on the quality of that V Beresford/DACMagic?

 

[Anonymous]

what are your opinions on the Marantz pm7001 ki?

http://www.sightandsounduk.com/catalogue/p7415/s1_c100/Hi-Fi/Marantz-PM-7001Ki/Amplifiers.aspx

 

[d_a_n1979]

Where are you from Rosscos30?

Also; have you decided on how you want your system (i.e. speakers, amp and CDp or are you really after wireless/squeezebox style system etc...)?

 

[Anonymous]

I'm English but have been living in Israel for the last 3 years. I'm coming back in September so I plan to demo and buy when I'm back home.

I looked around at the squeezebox and the powered speaker setup mentioned earlier but I think I'd rather go for the speakers, amp and DAC route.

 

[d_a_n1979]

No worries

Only asked because there's a Sight & Sound UK shop near to me in Preston and although the guys there are good to deal with and very knowledgable; their prices are always OTT IMO.

Also; IMO I still think one of the best routes you could go down is a Cyrus 6vs2 integrated amp; Dali Lektor 2 speakers along with Chord Carnival Silverscreen speaker cable; Chord Crimson interconnect and Partington Super Dreadnought speaker stands (if you can afford them) but if not the Soundstyle stands would suffice as long as you mass-load them (i.e. Atacama Atabites).

With your tastes in music the Roksan amp and B&W speakers would be great but I feel that the Dali's would just have that bit more agility and also easier to drive. The B&W 685's really need to be cranked up to get the best out of them!