New Job, New Hi-fi

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Current system - Marantz CD6003 CD player , NAD C320BEE Amp, Mordaunt-Short 904 Floorstanders. Chord cables.

Now that I've got a full time job again after a long lay off I've decided that the time is ripe to save for a new system.

I've settled on the Audiolab 8200CD and Cyrus 6XP ( in black) but really would like a cracking set of floorstanders to go with them. I was thinking of stcking with Mordaunt-Short using their Mezzo 6 speakers or trying the Monitor Audio Silver RX6's.

This will most likely be done a component at a time so with CD player being only a year old I'll be doing either Amp or Speakers first but which way round would be best?

Any advice or indeed ramblings would be welcome and thought about.

Cheers guys.
 

roger06

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Well done - that must be a huge relief!

I would just wonder whether buying a CD player is worth it - the way streaming media is going I certainly wouldn't replace my Naim CD5i should it die, and I'm even thinking of selling it...
 
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Anonymous

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Well done on the job.

Don't know enough about hi-fi to help (very un-useful reply I know).
 

eternaloptimist

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Great to be in a position to go crazy!

Just a thought... I'm not sure the Cyrus 6XP has enough grunt for a lot of floorstanders - would have to be sensitive speakers. Would you consider good standmounts or even the 8XP?

Just my 2 cents.
 
Not too sure about eternaloptomist's remarks as you will generally find floorstanders have a better dB rating than standmounts and are in fact easier to drive. Stick with the 6XP and also try to audition some Dali Icon 6's or Rega RS5
 
T

the record spot

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I've heard good things of the new Castle Knight 5 which is around the £700 mark, also the KEF Q500.
 

eternaloptimist

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Alears:Not too sure about eternaloptomist's remarks as you will generally find floorstanders have a better dB rating than standmounts and are in fact easier to drive. Stick with the 6XP and also try to audition some Dali Icon 6's or Rega RS5

As you could probably guess by the sig, I have auditioned a lot of Cyrus electronics with lots of speakers... and I stand my comment that I would be concerned about the grunt of the Cyrus 6XP into a lot of floorstanders - especially those popular with Cyrus electronics, such as Dynaudio, ATC etc... If you do audition floorstanders, watch out for flabby, "indistinct" base...

I suggest heading over to cyrusunofficial.co.uk to see what others pair the Cyrus electronics with. Dynaudio, Spendor, ATC, PMC, ProAc and Audiovector are all popular. Can't remember the last time I saw someone on cyrusunofficial with Dali or Rega speakers.... doesn't mean they are a mismatch, though - as always, trust your ears rather than forums!
 

neiltwy

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Hi,

Congrats on the job.

Just bought a CD6se and 8XPD to go with Spendor S5e speakers. Listened to the Audiolab 8200CD and the difference between that and the Cyrus was so negligible to my ears that the Mrs decided on aesthetics!

The Spendors sound great with the Cyrus amplification, at first after migrating from a Marantz PM 7200 it sounded very lean but now they sound great together. I went for the 8xpd (6 xpd) because of the digital inputs - Tried these with a Denon TU 1800 tuner, logitec squeezebox and a laptop (Lossless files) and they all sound really good.

If I was buying in stages I would go for the amp first and leave it a while to see if the streaming kit comes down in price and negates the need to purchase a dedicated CD over and above your Marantz.

The biggest plus at the moment was going into a shop with cash to spend as all retailers are gagging for your cash and you can get some great deals!
 

audioaffair

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Congrats - enjoy the new hi-fi in good health
emotion-21.gif


You didn't mention overall budget for amp or speakers although the models mentioned give a good indication. KEF IQ50 or Mission 794s come well within budget and are a good match for the NAD amp. The Quad 22L2 and Dali Ikon 5 speakers are worth a listen too. All things considered, the greatest variable difference will be with the speakers so its worth upgrading these first and changing the amp later if its an either/or decision.
 

Frank Harvey

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I agree with eternaloptimist's comments about the 6xp and it's current capability. I'd suggest trying it with the KEF Q series as they're a very easy load - the Q900's are 91dB! Otherwise, I'd highly recommend the 8xp, or looking at the matching 8200A - or for only a little more than the 6xp, you could even look at Audiolab's pre/power. If this is a possibility, I'd wait a little longer for the 8200CDQ, which is the same as the CD but with a high quality pre_amp built in - this is tipped to be even better than the 8200CD, and the pre-amp section has had more tweaking done to it to bring it's performance above the 8200 pre-amp! Add to this an 8200P, and you'd have a two box system with far more current on tap, better sound quality, and with the same usability as far as the DAC is concerned. With more power and current on tap, you'll have far more choice of compatible speakers.

I'd leave your speakers until last and sort the electronics first.
 
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Anonymous

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FrankHarveyHiFi: I'd leave your speakers until last and sort the electronics first.I don't understand the logic of this. Without speakers, how can you have a clue what the electronics are like?

Surely it's best to hear all three together, and, if that isn't possible, buy the bit that makes the sound first.
 
Grottyash:

FrankHarveyHiFi: I'd leave your speakers until last and sort the electronics first.I don't understand the logic of this. Without speakers, how can you have a clue what the electronics are like?

Surely it's best to hear all three together, and, if that isn't possible, buy the bit that makes the sound first.

Hi Grottyash,

I agree with your attempting to listen to a complete system is the way to go, also bearing in mind that the system in the dealers room may end up sounding completely different in your own.

If you cannot do this then the front end first logic comes into play because:-

If you can get a front end which sounds great through any old cheap speaker initially then it will always sound better again if you later add a better speaker. If you first go out and get a speaker that you have been told is good any future pairing with poor front end is always going to sound terrible even though you are playing it through a 'good speaker'.

Hence always worth spending that little bit more and taking a little longer to get the front end right - worry about your speakers later!

There are those that support the speakers first method but I personally cannot see the point of this.
 

Frank Harvey

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Grottyash:
FrankHarveyHiFi: I'd leave your speakers until last and sort the electronics first.I don't understand the logic of this. Without speakers, how can you have a clue what the electronics are like?

Surely it's best to hear all three together, and, if that isn't possible, buy the bit that makes the sound first.

The system should be auditioned as a whole, but as the OP states, they'll be updated one by one. Speakers can only sound as good as the system, so leave those until last and update the front end first.
 
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Anonymous

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FrankHarveyHiFi:Grottyash:
FrankHarveyHiFi: I'd leave your speakers until last and sort the electronics first.I don't understand the logic of this. Without speakers, how can you have a clue what the electronics are like?

Surely it's best to hear all three together, and, if that isn't possible, buy the bit that makes the sound first.
The system should be auditioned as a whole, but as the OP states, they'll be updated one by one. Speakers can only sound as good as the system, so leave those until last and update the front end first.Then how do you know you have a good source if you can't listen to it before you buy? I'm still trying to follow the logic of this, that's all.
 

Frank Harvey

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Duran hasn't mentioned anything about not being able to demo components - so I don't see the point youre trying to make.

You know when you have a good source as the system sounds good. If it doesn't sound good, one of two things are wrong - the source isn't up to scratch, or the amp speaker synergy is completely wrong.

Or I suppose the music could be rubbish.
 

Helmut80

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It's hard enough to find a place that have combinations of amp + speakers that I am interested in. Add DAC and swap amp for pre+power combo and it's damn near impossible.
 
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Anonymous

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I prefer the get speakers at the end approach myself. That way, you can lug around your source+amp stack around with you to various dealers and try out different speakers. You can't lug your speakers around to the dealers.

On the other hand, if you have the speakers at home already, it's easier to borrow equipment from dealers to try out at home.

Depends on what constitutes less hassle for you.

If you have crazy acoustics at home, then it probably makes sense to get a speaker you like, leave it home and borrow the source to try out (So I've just contradicted my first statement). But if you're acoustics are crazy, you don't really know if any stack will work with the speakers at home, so it's kind of a lost cause.
 

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