Newbie, advice please - Amp + CD + Speakers, budget £2500-3000

[admin_exported]

Hi all..

Currently have a NAD C320BEE + C541i + B&W DM601 S3's. she is getting a bit long in the tooth and sounding a bit fuzzy, we're moving to a new place and so a good excuse to upgrade.

Music tastes are varied, room is concrete floored, 4.5m x 5m, speakers can be floorstanders (but the smaller the better), or standmounts, will be used for stereo TV sound as well...

Have narrowed it down to Naim 5i's, or Roksan Kandy K2's,

Speakers, Neat Motive 2's, possibly Tannoy DC6T's (getting a bit big though), Accoustic Energy Radiance 2's, Monitor audio Silver RS6's...

would be interested to hear about compatible partnerships

Thanks in advance

James

 

[chebby]

How loud do you like your music?

What sort of music?

What sort of programming on TV/DVDs etc?

I use my Naim 5i system at fairly moderate/reasonable/neighbour friendly levels, dont like 'Boom-Crash' movies, don't like heavy metal etc. I value a system's abilities with mids/vocals/speech (great presence & clarity) and rhythm/timing rather than all-out slam and volume or earth-moving bass. (Hence my choice of speakers.)

If you have similar tastes then you are just in the ballpark (give or take £50) for a Spendor SA1 (£1350 a pair) based system leaving £1650 for CD and amp. (Just enough for the Naim 5i combi especially if you can swing a 'pre-April price rise' deal with the shop you are going to drop £3k on).

Given a 'clean slate' and £2.5K - £3K - in your postion - I would probably opt for a NaimUniti (£2100 after April price-rise I think) and spend either £400 on a pair of Rega RS1s or £895 on a pair of PMC DB1i depending on which end of the budget you want to stick to.

(My compact floorstander recommendation would be Rega RS3s at £698 they sing with 'budget' Naim gear.)

The Naimuniti will give you FM and DAB and internet tuners, amp, CD player and DAC and wireless streaming all based around the Naim 5i core electronics.

The Nait 5i + CD5i will be a bit cheaper than the naimuniti at a total of £1720 (post April price rise) and that £380 difference could go towards something like Spendor SA1s.

I could mention how great Naim N-Sats are with the 5i stuff but then I would just be recommending my own system!

I can't say anything about Roksan stuff. Not done that, been there, heard it or want to hear it. Sorry.

 

[Anonymous]

If you look on the Superfi site they are doing an offer for the K2 amp, cd and speakers, well worth an audition imo...

 

[Anonymous]

Hmmm...

Thanks for the replies, music volume, not too loud, reasonably sociable levels, I like a bit of richness in the playback and reasonable base levels, something entertaining..

Been thinking about the Uniti, but probably stick with separates for now, gives be more choice in the future...

The speakers will likely be quite close to the wall, I see that would suit the Rega RS3's?

I figure if I go for floorstanders I won't have to worry about what stands to get!! although the Spendor SA1's do look fantastic!

How about something like the Monitor Audio RX6 or Spendor A5, although I realise there is a significant price difference there..

Cheers

 

[d_a_n1979]

Something along the lines of the Rega Mira amp, Rega Apollo CDP and the Rega RS5 speakers would go down very well indeed. I think the M/A RX6 speakers would work very well to as would the B&W CM7's.

You could also look to go for the Naim Nait 5i integrated instead of the Rega Mira amp if you want a little bit more 'oomph'.

I'm currently looking for a new system around the £2k to £2.5k mark; I'm demo'ing the Naim Nait 5i amp, Rega Apollo CDP, Arcam A18 integrated amp and the Arcam CD17 CDP later this week with the B&W CM7, 684 and 683 speakers. The following week I'm going to demo the Naim Nait 5i amp with the Rega Apollo CDP and the Rega RS5 and Neat Motive 2 speakers.

I'll let you know how I get on

 

[Anonymous]

I would suggest you try Moon amps with Sonus Faber speakers - they work very well together.

I'm not sure if you could get the Moon CD in your budget too, but I am sure you could build a great combo off the i1 amp

 

[plastic penguin]

Given you've mentioned the speakers need to be quite close to the wall, I would seriously look at ATC SCM11s. I heard them with Roksan Kandy K2 and the Naim systems. I have to say, the Naim Nait 5i produced the best results, although if you don't object to mix 'n' match, the Naim 5i and Cyrus 6SE + ATCs would be fantastic sounding. Beware, though: the ATCs sound at their best when driven hard. If lower volumes are required I would suggest Naim/Cyrus with PMC DB1S.

Good luck.