Next upgrade, amp og speaker

[Lars C]

Hi all.

Im new to this forum, but have been reading whathifi for many years.

So i figured that you perhaps could help me with a little problem.

My setup now is NAD t747 amp and a pair of Dali Ikon 2 MK2 speakers. I love music and i love to hear all the little details ind music. I listen to many sorts of music, but almost only instrumental and almost never electronic music. I fell like im ready for a step up i gear. But i dont know what to upgrade. I have a slight feeling that i could get more out of my speakers with a better amp, like hooking up a NAD c275bee to my t747. Then again, would i gain more with new speakers? I have been looking at Monitor Audio gx100, bx 5 and bx6.

Bass is not important to me, but i do still want it there. I do have bass in my Dali, but theese speakers has to play loud before comming into action.

What would be the best upgrade to do?

Kind Regards Lars.

ps. Sorry for my spelling, im from Denmark

 

[JamesMellor]

Hiya Lars ,

I am guessing you are using the 747 as a stereo amp , I notice from a quick scan of the manual you can bi-amp the front pair and the Dalis are bi-ampable , maybe try that for the few quids worth of cable you'd need.

If that gets you no where I'd dem the NAD power amp , that should be able to control any spekers you have , and any upgrade you buy , as always you need to listen for yourself

James

 

[Al ears]

Hiya Lars ,

I am guessing you are using the 747 as a stereo amp , I notice from a quick scan of the manual you can bi-amp the front pair and the Dalis are bi-ampable , maybe try that for the few quids worth of cable you'd need.

If that gets you no where I'd dem the NAD power amp , that should be able to control any spekers you have , and any upgrade you buy , as always you need to listen for yourself

James

What you are suggesting (in bold) is bi-wiring not bi-amping.

Apologies, just re-read the OP's thread and I see what you are suggesting. Using a second amp that the OP suggests would indeed be bi-amping.

(Missed the part about the second amp)

 

[JamesMellor]

Al ears ,

It's an AV amp so he can try bi-amping them for the cost of two more cable runs , I think thats a worthwhile low cost experiment , if that doesn't work then just dem the power amp as a straight forward pre/power

james

 

[Lars C]

Thanks for repleys guys:-D

Im a bit confussed now. When you say bi-amp, is that as in 2 amp´s or....? That dosent seam like a cheap try-or-fail?

My speakers do support bi-wire, but im preatty sure my amp dossent. I need 4 front output for that right? Just as we are clear;-)

My amp is hooked up for 5.1 but i use it for 90% music and 10% movies.

Kind regards

Lars

 

[Thompsonuxb]

If you have 2 sets of front speakers terminals on your amp - i.e A & B then you could run a 2nd set of cables to your speakers from the unused terminals B for example to the unused terminals on your speakers.

 

[Lars C]

ok, im sure i dont have.

It just confussed e for a sec that the suggestion was made, since i dont have the "A-B" speaker setting.

 

[davedotco]

As far as I can tell the 747 does not support passive bi-amping, there being no obvious way to switch the amp to duplicate the two front channels which is what you would need to do.

Bi-wiring is largely a waste of time, not worth the effort.

If you can manage without all the A/V gubbins then just buy the best stereo amplifier you can afford. The Dali's are capable speakers, you have barely heard them yet.

 

[Lars C]

i have also heard that bi-wire isent worth the effort. My amp has pre-out on all channels, så that way i coud go for the NAD c275bee and provide more power to the speakers. As i said, i had a feeling that my speakers could so more then ive heard so far.

But the question in generel is, would it give me more sound to go with som new speakers or is it better with the c275bee? I know that if i go with the c275bee i can upgrade my speakers later and dont worry about if my amp is powerfull enough.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys :clap:

 

[davedotco]

There is more to a good amplifier than just more power.

The pre-amplifier sections can have a great effect on the quality of what you hear and in many cases this section is the limiting factor in an amplifiers ability. It is however a difficult 'sell', much easier to sell bigger power amplifiers, more watts = better sound, easy....!

My advice remains the same, buy the best two channel amp you can afford.

 

[Lars C]

im not sure i understand what you advice is, sorry!! (my crappy english)

Do you advise to go with my t747 and the c275bee or bye a whole new stereo amp and use only that? In that case, that wont be an option for me as im still using sourround and a htcp so i need the hdmi interface from the t747.

 

[davedotco]

Better than my Danish lars........

You are correct. I would suggest a two channel amplifier only, for music.

You will get different views but I do not find that really capable music playback and surround sound / home theatre playback can exist in the same system, not at this price level anywhere.

I do not like to use A/V recievers for music even if they are set up for conventional stereo, but then I am very picky. My opinions obviously, you will get others.....

 

[Lars C]

Hehe, thanks

Ok, hmm i appriciate your advice but i can miss out my sourround sound or my hdmi interfaces. Could you explain to me why the c275bee is a bad idea? I was to understand that when i pre-out the sound into another amp. The reciving amp would take care of the sound and therefor do a better job then a avr? I know an avr fails in comparrision to a dedicated stereo amp. But the c275bee is a stereo amp, or?

tak for hjælpen / thank you for the help

Now you know a little danish to:-D

 

[iceman16]

I agree with DDC. Keep your speakers and get a 2 ch. dedicated stereo amp within your budget. I think your speakers are not that difficult to drive at 92db and 6 ohms

 

[the record spot]

A very happy AV amp owner that chucked two channel amps and didn't lose out on sound quality. Opinions differ, but a lot of the "AV amps don't do music" is a tired old line that's on its way out. Thankfully...

...and incidentally, they do.

 

[JamesMellor]

The book says you can set the rear back surrounds to Bi-amp , page 27 , after that it dosen't mention it at all , nor in the description on the speaker terminals does it mention using the rear surrond back terminals for bi-amping .The online manuel has no lay out drawing so .

I think this is a pretty common option on 7.1 amps but I guess an email to NAD or a dealer vist to double check

James

 

[plastic penguin]

A very happy AV amp owner that chucked two channel amps and didn't lose out on sound quality. Opinions differ, but a lot of the "AV amps don't do music" is a tired old line that's on its way out. Thankfully...

...and incidentally, they do.

Don't think anyone has said that "AV amps don't do music", but agree with the others that a better amp is preferable, regardless of whether it's dedicated two-channel or multi-channel.

FWIW, the Ikon IIs are the only Dali boxes I've heard. This was a a hi-fi show a few years ago, powered by Arcam A90. They sounded very balanced and quite punchy.

 

[Lars C]

Ok, i think i have come to a conclusiuon. My pair of Dali speakers are indeed not a bad speaker. They deliver air and the detail in instrumental music is great. But i think i need a bit more power before they really come in to action. They deliver alot of punch when i turn my amp up, but it has to be a level where the volume is simply to loud to enjoy. So i guess i´ll go for the pre-amp solution. The NAD dealer in Denmark has a great service, if you leave him a deposit and fill out a form you can borrow preatty mutch anything in the shop to take home over a weekend. And if your not happy with the product, simply deliver it back to the store and get your deposit back. Great service.

But again, thank you so mutch for all the advice guys. Its been great to get so many solid arguments and thoughts from you.

Have a nice day

kind regerds

Lars

 

[the record spot]

A very happy AV amp owner that chucked two channel amps and didn't lose out on sound quality. Opinions differ, but a lot of the "AV amps don't do music" is a tired old line that's on its way out. Thankfully...

...and incidentally, they do.

Don't think anyone has said that "AV amps don't do music", but agree with the others that a better amp is preferable, regardless of whether it's dedicated two-channel or multi-channel.

FWIW, the Ikon IIs are the only Dali boxes I've heard. This was a a hi-fi show a few years ago, powered by Arcam A90. They sounded very balanced and quite punchy.

Not explicitly PP but clearly implied.

 

[davedotco]

The book says you can set the rear back surrounds to Bi-amp , page 27 , after that it dosen't mention it at all , nor in the description on the speaker terminals does it mention using the rear surrond back terminals for bi-amping .The online manuel has no lay out drawing so .

I think this is a pretty common option on 7.1 amps but I guess an email to NAD or a dealer vist to double check

James

You are most definitely correct james, my error, though it is not exactly prominent.

Lars, go to Amplifier Setup > Back amp > Bi-amp. They will then provide exactly the same output as your main left and right outputs, so by removing the links from your speakers and running two separate sets of speaker cables you are (passive) biamping. Set it up so that the main left and right are driving the bass drivers and the 'Back' left and right are driving the tweeters.

You then select 5.1, 7.1 being unavailable.

See if it makes a difference. Opinions vary on this subject, try it and see what you think.

 

[Lars C]

I will try that, i didnt even know my amp had the option to do so. I know its a religion about bi-wire, but its a cheap try. I´ll try it out when i get some more cable and tell you if it helped or not.

 

[JamesMellor]

not exactly prominent ? , more like well hidden and not another word on it .

I've read your comments on bi-amping before , which is why I didn't bid £200 for another 216 on ebay acouple of weeks back figured it was too high for the improvements I could expect , that and the age of the amp . But if you've already got it I figure you'd try it for the cost of cable .

James