Primare I21?

[admin_exported]

Having had my CA 540A V2 for around 5 months (great budget amp - purchased on WHF review) and now having more cash to spend I have been looking into a new amplifier and speakers. I mainly listen to rock music and alternative (Muse, Avenged Sevenfold, Metallica, Bloc Party, Kings of Leon, RATM etc) wirelessly streamed from my Mac to an Airport Express then fed into the DACMagics digital in. I like to have a good soundstage from what I am listening to and also a good punchy sound at low level volume as well as higher. I demo'd the Primare I21 with the B&W 685s and also the Cyrus 8VS2; and although I liked both outcomes, the Primare sounded a tad better (to my ears). Do you guys, the experts, think this is a good pairing? The review of the Primare stated it needed to be paired with suitable speakers, would you class the 685s as a good match? Also - I read good things about Naim but my dealer doesn't stock Naim, how do you think the Naim Nait 5i would fare with my music taste?

One more thing is speaker cable - I would probably replace my QED SA XT speaker cable with something a bit more classy, any suggestions?

The DACMagic will also be upgraded when budget allows (not yet)!

Cheeeers

 

[John Duncan]

I have the older version (the A20 mk2) into - variously - AVI Neutron Vs, PMC DB1s, Wharfedale Diamond 9.1s and even KEF Coda 7s, and they all sound great in their various ways. Whilst I don't know the 685 terribly well, I'd say that it would be a good match, though you might like to try it with the AVIs, if only to hear a soft dome tweeter with the Primare for the same sort of price.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks JD, I'm going to have a look into the Neutrons to see how they compare with the 685s, I really liked the sound of the Primare amp though, I'm surprised at not many people on here owning them, well that I have seen in sigs etc anyway.. D'ya have any speaker cable recommendations?

Cheers again John

 

[Anonymous]

Bump

 

[Anonymous]

I recently purchased a second hand Primare I21 to replace my CA 540a v2 amp. I'm matching it with a pair of Dyns and have to say it is a major improvement in terms of soundstage, drive, separation and clarity (treble is sweet). And even though my speakers is pretty hard to drive (85db, 4 ohms), the amp still powers it effortlessly. It also works very well with all genres of music.

I have auditioned the B&W 685's numerous times before and it doesn't suit me cause the treble is a bit too bright for my taste and doesn't have the warmness that my Dyns give me. There has also been some reviews that the Primare can be bright at times so this pairing may not be that good based on my opinion. Unless you really love the sound signature of the B&W's, you may want to consider auditioning less bright speakers from Spendor, Dynaudio or other soft dome tweeter speakers (as suggested by JD) to pair it with the primare amp given it's still within your budget.

Oh...thanks JD for your previous advise on the Primare amp...I'm loving the sound!

 

[John Duncan]

sound_wave:I'm loving the sound!

And the knobs......

No probs.