Pairing a laptop with separate amp and speakers

[admin_exported]

I've got a macbook pro with itunes and wanted a good quality amp and speaker set to use with it. Most of my music is ripped at 256 kbps AAC. My room is quite small so I'm not looking for overall power, more detail.  Want to keep the price around £300 to £400, and at the moment i'm thinking of a Cambridge Audio Azur 340A amp with a pair of Mordaunt Short 902i speakers. I was also wondering whether the amp and speakers were a good match, I read on this site that the speakers have an over enthusiastic treble and needed to be carefully matched.

Thanks for any help. 

 

[John Duncan]

Marantz PM6002 and Tannoy Mercury F1 for £330 all-in from Richer Sounds......

 

[fatboyslimfast]

2nd that. Damn good amp, with fine speakers. all for a song...(sorry...)

 

[chebby]

Don't forget a DAC.

 

[John Duncan]

Not with that budget. Next week maybe

And it will still sound good - the audio from a Mac is quite reasonable.

 

[John Duncan]

One other thing. Can't speak for the power supply in a MBP but the one in my Vaio is incredibly noisy, and if I use an analogue connection (headphone socket to 2xRCA) the noise when it's plugged into the mains is horrendous (on battery it's fine).

If you find that this is an issue for you, it could be countered by using battery power (at least a MBP will last longer than my Vaio) or segregating the laptop from audio by using Airport Express (65 quid) or a DAC (more).

 

[Anonymous]

Re-rip CDs losslessly.

Get a DAC.