New Home, New Hi Fi

[admin_exported]

Hi posters,

Having recently moved to a new home with more space I can now afford to buy a new Hi Fi (something which I haven't done for a long time) Having shopped around on the internet I see that I could get quite a good deal on ex-demo / old stock Cyrus equipment, so I've outlined the following

Cyrus 8vs2 Amp - £599

Cyrus 6SE - £599

MA RS6 - £399

Having trawled through the pages of this forum, there's a fair bit going against this set up as most people tend to think that this will sound tiring and shrill. The demo room is booked for this coming weekend so I guess the proof will be in the pudding when I sit infront of the aforementioned boxes.Can any of you recommend anything else along this sort of budget which might help, or help tweek my list?

The room available in the new house is I guess 4m x 3m and carpeted

Many thanks in advance

Rob

 

[Anonymous]

id spend more on the speakers something like proac or spendor

 

[Frank Harvey]

With that sort of budget, I'd compare Naim's Nait 5i and CD5i - it may cost you a little more, but it'll open up your speaker choice. Yes that combination can be on the brighter side - some of it will be down to cable choice - which means you'd normally need to choose smoother speakers, which are hard to come by! The Naim combination would mean that you might still go for the RS6's, which are available cheaper then £399, which'll help your budget. I'd go this route even if I had to go for the RS1's! The 'brightness' issue is a personal thing, as one person might find a system perfectly listenable, and someone else might find the same system bright. Personal preference.

You could also try the Rega Brio and Rega Apollo CD/amp combination. That and the Naim are among the two most musical 'entry level' matching systems around. The Rega combination is a little less than the Cyrus one at the moment and would be the perfect choice if you think the Cyrus is not to your liking. This might even allow you to go for RS8's if you preferred them

 

[Anonymous]

david why spend so little on speakers and so much on the electrics

 

[Anonymous]

I would suggest you to try the Naim 5i combo! I have just received my new CDP and powersupply and it is absolutely stunning!! Go to audition and than decide.

 

[Frank Harvey]

The CD player has to read the signal, convert to analogue, then send on to the amp. The amp then has to receive the signal, pass on to the speakers whilst changing it as little as possible. The amp has to control the speaker, tell it what to do - when to start and when to stop - put a cheap amp on an expensive speaker and this just goes to pot. It's surprising how good a budget speaker (although the RS1's are normally £380) can sound on electronics you'd think would outclass them. A budget speaker will certainly sound better driven by expensive electronics rather than a more expensive speaker drven by a budget amp. I've heard £200-300 speakers sound phenominal to the point you'd swear they were £1,000 speakers.

 

[Anonymous]

so i shouldnt worry about my yba 300 going into my Tannoy 631s then

 

[Anonymous]

you have a healthy budget (£1600) ... I fancy older gear .... here is one system I would consider:

Rotel RA 2030 amp ... 459 euros

http://www.audioscope.net/rotel-ra-1210-amplifier-p-523.html

-----------------------------------------

Yamaha NS-655 speakers ... 699 euros

http://www.audioscope.net/yamaha-ns655-mint-p-1112.html

-----------------------------

Marantz CD 17 Reference CD-Player ... 799 euros

http://www.audioscope.net/marantz-cd-17-reference-cdplayer-p-1389.html

-------------------------

so in total: 1948 euros ( £1791.40 at todays exchange rate) ... buy all 3 from the seller and am sure he will discount to your £1600 budget (inclusive of shipping)

you will have a pretty good system IMHO and have heard that this seller can be trusted

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for everyone's sound advice...

FrankHarveyHiFi - Thanks for your alternative systems, I do like the look of Naim it was my original starting point, but am concerned with stretching my budget, if I chose to go down this route how do you think it'd fair with a pair of MA BR5s? The reason I'm asking is that I think the other half would be against speaker stands and I'm looking at reasonable floorstanders - suggestions?

I had also considered the Rega too, but decided against it as I thought I'd get more 'bang for my buck' with the older Cyrus gear...Thoughts? Also wasn't sure about a toploading CD

dim_span - I'm a bit nervous about parting with my cash without some sort of warranty, so at this moment in time I'd be happier with a dealer, thanks for your thoughts though

 

[Anonymous]

no probs robster ... but remember that if you pay via credit card and things do go sour, you have your bank on your side ... never bought from this guy, but have heard that he has a good reputation

this was just an example of what can be bought 2nd hand and you will most prob find similar gear for cheaper on ebay ... pay via paypal and you have no probs (for a month at least)

I have the same attitide with cars ... will rather drive a good 2md hand BMW 540i than a brand new ford fiesta for the same price (if that makes sense)

 

[Frank Harvey]

robster_180: FrankHarveyHiFi - Thanks for your alternative systems, I do like the look of Naim it was my original starting point, but am concerned with stretching my budget, if I chose to go down this route how do you think it'd fair with a pair of MA BR5s? The reason I'm asking is that I think the other half would be against speaker stands and I'm looking at reasonable floorstanders - suggestions?Well you can get RS8's for the price f BR5's at the moment, and RS6's even cheaper! These would be far better with eiher the Naim or the Rega setup.

I had also considered the Rega too, but decided against it as I thought I'd get more 'bang for my buck' with the older Cyrus gear...Thoughts? Also wasn't sure about a toploading CDSome of the best CD players in the world have been top loaders. The Cyrus will give you a more lively sound, but it won't be as musical as the Rega system.

 

[Anonymous]

...David, I can't find the great bargains which you seem to be able to on speakers..any tips? I'll arrange an audition of the Naim and the Rega set up as well...my reservations on a Toploading CD was just the aesthetics of it really rather than anything else. Just to stay on budget as well how would mixing the Rega Apollo and the Nait 5i work out?

 

[matthewpiano]

I have auditioned the Apollo/Nait 5i combination at length and thought it worked brilliantly. The Apollo is a stunning piece of kit - I still think its one of the most musical CD players you can buy, alongside the Naim CD5i, Rega Saturn, and the Yamahas.

 

[chebby]

Exactly what matthew just said.

 

[True Blue]

May I suggest with that budget that you try out the following combo.

Rega Apollo CDP £498

Naim Nait 5i amp £725

Rega R3's £349

That, in my opinion is one of the nicest systems I have heard around that price. Go and have a listen if you can

 

[chebby]

True Blue:May I suggest with that budget that you try out the following combo.
Rega Apollo CDP £498

Naim Nait 5i amp £725

Rega R3's £349

That, in my opinion is one of the nicest systems I have heard around that price. Go and have a listen if you can

Slight revision on that.

Naim Nait 5i £765 (April 2009 pricelist)

Rega Apollo £475 (Sept 2009 pricelist)

And the place that True Blue got his Rega R3's for £349 are not currently offering any more so may have sold out of them. (R3's are a discontinued speaker so stocks are limited.)

http://www.badaweb.co.uk/show.php?site=acoustica

 

[True Blue]

Chebby, thanks for that

They do however have a maple set of R5's for £398, damn my lack of patience.

The new rega RS range is definately worth a listen, but as it is new it will take you over budget.

 

[chebby]

True Blue:
They do however have a maple set of R5's for £398, damn my lack of patience.

The new rega RS range is definately worth a listen, but as it is new it will take you over budget.

I think that £398 is probably a typo (all of the R5's regardless of finish have been sold for £498 by Acoustica so far) worth checking first before getting a nasty £100 suprise.

 

[respe]

I would suggest that you also stock a all rega system in the listen to list, start with a apollo/brio/rs3, and swap the brio for mira, then Naim. You may very well find that the Brio does all you need, especially with the RS3's on the end.

 

[plastic penguin]

robster_180:

Hi posters,

Having recently moved to a new home with more space I can now afford to buy a new Hi Fi (something which I haven't done for a long time) Having shopped around on the internet I see that I could get quite a good deal on ex-demo / old stock Cyrus equipment, so I've outlined the following

Cyrus 8vs2 Amp - £599

Cyrus 6SE - £599

MA RS6 - £399

Having trawled through the pages of this forum, there's a fair bit going against this set up as most people tend to think that this will sound tiring and shrill. The demo room is booked for this coming weekend so I guess the proof will be in the pudding when I sit infront of the aforementioned boxes.Can any of you recommend anything else along this sort of budget which might help, or help tweek my list?

The room available in the new house is I guess 4m x 3m and carpeted

Many thanks in advance

Rob

I haven't read all your replies, so apologies if I've duplicated someone.

I love the RS6's, they are as musical as you could get for the [discounted] money, however, connected to an all Cyrus rack I would be ooooo so wary. If you are really taken by Cyrus then look at the other suggestions.

Although seeing you carpet it would be an interesting test to see whether that can tame the combo's edginess.

Good luck

 

[Frank Harvey]

robster_180:...David, I can't find the great bargains which you seem to be able to on speakers..any tips? Unfortunately, I can't say

 

[gpi]

I take the point made about budget speakers that can sound very good when partnered with more expensive components but personally I would still spend slightly more on the speakers than on the other items because ultimately speakers define the character of a system more so than the other components.

It could also be argued that the amplifier lies at the heart of any system and that that component should take the lion's share of the budget and other components (such as source components) can be selected to suit and upgraded in the future around the amplifier at the core.

 

[Anonymous]

Try Sevenoaks for RS speakers at discounted prices, there are bound to be others too, maybe cheaper than Sevenoaks.

 

[Crossie]

Hi Robster,

I have just bought the same Cyrus kit and am very impressed. I have Spendor A5 floorstenders which I obtained from Moorgate Acoustics for £1100 as the cabinets are not perfect (although it is virtually impossible to see any defects and they are sonically perfect) I would get better speakers or you are not going to appreciate the full ability of the cyrus kit

Cheers

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Crossie

Unfortunately the Spendor A5s are well out of my budget range, the point of this excercise is that I take advantage of the phasing out of models from suppliers, which is why I'm gunning for items slightly higher up on the food chain than I'd normally be able to get.

Anyhow the Cyrus demo is booked for this friday and the Rega & Naim demo's next week

I'll keep you all updated on how I get on