new system advise - should I get an ipod/mp3 player or a new CD separate

[admin_exported]

Hello all

About 15 years ago when I bought my hifi seperates things were simple. You got a CD player, amp and speakers. Simple!

Now it seem that things have moved on and I'm so out of touch I'm after some general pointers to bring me up to speed.

I have a decent set of KEF Q35 speakers where have been very reliable and give a great sound. I have a Marantz PM-66SE amp which was okay for about 6 years but now has had so many repairs and requires constant "nudging" to make it work. I also have a Marantz 63 Mk 2 CD player which is okay.

I'm thinking about getting a new amp and unit to play my CDs. I don't really have a budget but a do want a good system which is reliable.

My main questions are these;

Is there any point in buying a decent CD player such as an Arcam or is an mp3 player/ipod just as good?

Is there any point in buying a new amplifier? Could I just connect my laptop to my KEF speakers?

Please go easy on me. I may apear very ignorant to you experts but I want to make sure I make some wise buying decisions and I thought this forum would be a good place to start.

Best regards, Andrew

 

[matthewpiano]

First of all, I still believe CD is the best way, but I also think its worth building your system so that you have a choice of approaches.

To that end I would suggest buying a good quality CD player and amplifier now, and then adding a decent external DAC with USB connection to your laptop for exploring lossless downloads in the future.

So that we can help, it would be useful if you could answer the following:

1. What budget do you have?
2. What music do you listen to?
3. What do you like about your current system?
4. What do you dislike about your current system?

 

[nads]

oh fun.

did you ever have a walkman? do you miss the days spend in your own world of music?

do you want to have access to your music in other parts of the home?

sorry house ot flat etcetc..

if the amp is on the way out replace it. CDP can wait a bit.

archive your discs onto a NAS or PC/Server and then enjoy Ipod music. but also consider a media player that can access the music archived either with a wired connection or wirelessly.

Not use my CDP for some time now as i use a Squeeze box and a dac to listen to my "tunes"

 

[bay24]

Or you could get a Cambridge Audio 740 or 840C which has optical connections so you can use its DAC (same as the DAC magic) to stream music through. I am a touch biased as this is what I am in the process of doing!

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for replies so far

well thats one thing decided! a new amp. that's easy I undertand that!

Not too fussed about listening to music in other parts of the house as we have a kitchen/diner/living room which is where we spend most of our time relaxing.

Like the idea of keeping a music archive on a PC and playing that though an amp via a DAC. Will the sound be as good as that from a decent CD player though?

cheers, andrew