Been thinking seriously of a big old 'shake up' in my system.
I hardly use the CD player even though it is superb. So that could go.
The tuner (Naim NAT05) is fantastic but FM only has 6 years left (maybe a little more) and I tend to listen to a lot of 'bespoke' BBC radio from BBC iPlayer and also Freeview radio (for BBC R7 etc) via the DAC. So that could go. Whilst there is still a market for it.
The amplifier will have nothing left in the system to visually match it or to benefit from Naim synergy. So yeah that could go too.
The NSats are fantastic little speakers and have proved to me that small, sealed box 'monitors' really work for me. They have converted me. Trouble is that they really belong in a Naim system AND are a staging post to what I really want. So (altogether now) they could go.
All being well - and with a favourable 'wind' - I would only have a Beresford DAC and some speaker stands left over, and enough cash to buy a pair of Harbeth P3ESRs (£1350) and a decent amp like the Yamaha A-S700 (about £400 ish).
Hopefully enough change left over for a Denon TU1800DAB FM/DAB tuner (£200 from Richer sounds) and getting a bloke on the roof to install a little DAB dipole on the antenna mast. That way I am covered all possible ways for 'radio' however it is delivered.
I have not totally fallen off my perch so none of this will happen until I have heard the Harbeths and found them to my complete satisfaction. (Especially after my Spendor S3/5R experience a couple of weeks ago!)
I have re-read the WHF and Techradar (Hifi choice?) reviews of the Yamaha A-S700 amplifier and satisfied myself that everything WHF liked about the amp I would like (and everything they disliked appealed to me too.) Yamaha also tend to make the best tone-controls and I fully intend to use them.
The A-S700 also looks like my idea of what an amp should look like and seems to have more than enough power for what I will need. (Although I could be tempted by the Yamaha A-S1000 for its wooden end 'cheeks' especially if they came anywhere near matching the Harbeth veneer! Haha.)
Anyway an amp is an amp, and Yamaha are hardly known for getting theirs wrong, and they are built to last. (Boy do they last!)
So until I have heard the Harbeths that is it really. An idea. One that hinges entirely on the speakers. This is how it should be in my opinion. A very 1970s idea to go with what will resemble (cosmetically at least) a very 1970s system! (Including the QED 79 strand speaker cable.)
Whatever I need from CD will get ripped at 256k AAC to iTunes but most of my listening is 'radio' of some kind so CD is not a big concern.
I hardly use the CD player even though it is superb. So that could go.
The tuner (Naim NAT05) is fantastic but FM only has 6 years left (maybe a little more) and I tend to listen to a lot of 'bespoke' BBC radio from BBC iPlayer and also Freeview radio (for BBC R7 etc) via the DAC. So that could go. Whilst there is still a market for it.
The amplifier will have nothing left in the system to visually match it or to benefit from Naim synergy. So yeah that could go too.
The NSats are fantastic little speakers and have proved to me that small, sealed box 'monitors' really work for me. They have converted me. Trouble is that they really belong in a Naim system AND are a staging post to what I really want. So (altogether now) they could go.
All being well - and with a favourable 'wind' - I would only have a Beresford DAC and some speaker stands left over, and enough cash to buy a pair of Harbeth P3ESRs (£1350) and a decent amp like the Yamaha A-S700 (about £400 ish).
Hopefully enough change left over for a Denon TU1800DAB FM/DAB tuner (£200 from Richer sounds) and getting a bloke on the roof to install a little DAB dipole on the antenna mast. That way I am covered all possible ways for 'radio' however it is delivered.
I have not totally fallen off my perch so none of this will happen until I have heard the Harbeths and found them to my complete satisfaction. (Especially after my Spendor S3/5R experience a couple of weeks ago!)
I have re-read the WHF and Techradar (Hifi choice?) reviews of the Yamaha A-S700 amplifier and satisfied myself that everything WHF liked about the amp I would like (and everything they disliked appealed to me too.) Yamaha also tend to make the best tone-controls and I fully intend to use them.
The A-S700 also looks like my idea of what an amp should look like and seems to have more than enough power for what I will need. (Although I could be tempted by the Yamaha A-S1000 for its wooden end 'cheeks' especially if they came anywhere near matching the Harbeth veneer! Haha.)
Anyway an amp is an amp, and Yamaha are hardly known for getting theirs wrong, and they are built to last. (Boy do they last!)
So until I have heard the Harbeths that is it really. An idea. One that hinges entirely on the speakers. This is how it should be in my opinion. A very 1970s idea to go with what will resemble (cosmetically at least) a very 1970s system! (Including the QED 79 strand speaker cable.)
Whatever I need from CD will get ripped at 256k AAC to iTunes but most of my listening is 'radio' of some kind so CD is not a big concern.