Recommended Amp and Bass for Mission E34

[admin_exported]

Hi Guys,

This is my first post. I've been kitting out my new house with home cinema stuff, and feel I made all the right decisions by reading the material in both the reviews and these forums, so thanks.

I have come across a pair of Mission E34 floorstanding speakers extremely cheap, and my ebay trigger finger promptly snapped them up. I wasn't sure what I was going to use them for, but I would like to have a music setup in my study. Could these be paired with a budget amp for a half decent music sound? I have read some reviews saying that these Mission speakers have a good sound, but there is not much bass. How about using them with an amp that has a pre-out and then a sub like the Wharfedale Diamond SW150? Perhaps an amp like one of the Cambridge Audio range? They seem to be cheap with good reviews.

I dont really want to spend more than another £500-£600 on the system as I'm in the doghouse already for kitting out the lounge! (But i'm open to suggestion if the quality would be far greater going slight over budget)

Thanks for your advice,

Chris

 

[Anonymous]

Chris don't delay snap it up now that's a bargain of a price http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Nad-c352_W0QQitemZ250473173718QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers?hash=item3a515d52d6&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1683|293%3A1|294%3A50

 

[Anonymous]

I just hope your study is big though because those are going to produce A LOT of bass lol

 

[Anonymous]

Also what's your source?

 

[Anonymous]

Source will be one of two things, a PC or a Home Theatre PC. So two PC's I'll make sure they have good sound cards. What cable/connector would be best for stereo from a PC? Before now I've always used analog 5.1 or spdif.

Just been reading about that Amp. I'd like to Bi-wire if i can. I think you can do this with the Cambridge Audios as they have 4 speaker outs.

I'm looking for the house brochure with the dimensions of the rooms in but cant find it anywhere. The room will be carpeted, and is probably the same as one of the other rooms that I know is 14'6''x10'7''.

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Chris firstly biwiring makes little or no difference, secondly as you are using a PC, I would highly recommend you purchase an external Dac, like a Beresford, a V Dac, or the Dac Magic. The Beresford has the advantage of being a headphone amp also though. Therefore if you connection an SPDIF between the PC and the dac, then the sound will bypass the onboard PC sound card and go straight to the external dac, thus no need for an expensive sound card. It will make the world of difference to if you can rip your cds to a lossless format i.e. wav before playing them to.

 

[Anonymous]

I should also point out the NAD C352 received many awards including what hi fi best amp under 500.00 in 2004. I have also noticed a Cambridge Audio 840A on ebay for 399.99 but it's pick up from Birmingham only. I think the first recommendation along with a dac fits the bill perfectly

 

[Anonymous]

Good advice, I will look into that. I have heard only good things about the Dac Magic as well. I have a lot of mp3's which I will listen to, but I'm now considering encoding all my CD's in flac format.

edit: You think no need for the sub then, or will that help meget the bass I am after? The beresford DAC is almost half the price of the Cambridge one! You think the Beresford will do the job? Its the TC-7510 i've just been reading about.

 

[Anonymous]

The same is true for the Beresford to Chris and as far as I am aware the V Dac to, all seem to gain high praise. Personally I have the Beresford and I think it's a fantastic addition.

 

[d_a_n1979]

Good choice on the NAD C352 integrated but TBH I would say it'd be over kill with those speakers in your study.

Save yourself some £££ and go for a decent example of a NAD C320BEE integrated (also a WHFI 5 star winner) and buy a Beresford DAC as well so that you will have decent sound via your laptop!

Dont forget to budget for some good cable as well (Chord Carnival Silverscreen would be spot on)

 

[Anonymous]

Dan the reason I didn't mention the NAD C320 is because those speakers have a minium amp requirement of 50 watts per channel. Therefore it will surely allow more headroom if you go for a more powerful amp

 

[d_a_n1979]

Na; the C320BEE will drive them spot on, believe me (past experience).

 

[Anonymous]

Just been looking at those cables (Chord Carnival Silver Screen) on here

When ordering the terminations, what does it mean by "Termination 2-2 Stereo Pair" and "Termination 2-2 Single Cable". The Bi-wiring one has 2-2 and 2-4 in the description, what does that mean?

Thanks

 

[d_a_n1979]

genfish:
Just been looking at those cables (Chord Carnival Silver Screen) on here

When ordering the terminations, what does it mean by "Termination 2-2 Stereo Pair" and "Termination 2-2 Single Cable". The Bi-wiring one has 2-2 and 2-4 in the description, what does that mean?

Thanks

2-2 means that its one set of cables for one speakers (ie 2 plugs at the amp end and 2 plugs at the speaker end) so you need 2 sets of 2-2 cable.

TBH I wouldnt bother with 2-4 (that means you're bi-wiring the speakers from the amp) but instead stick to the 2-2 cable format and get yourself (or make yourself) some speaker jumper cables to replace the cacky brass jumper bars that usually are on the speakers

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for clearing that up.

The Cambridge Audio website says about their amps, "2 x sets of speaker outputs allowing bi-wiring".

Does this mean you have 4 speaker connectors, and would bi-wire this amp with each speaker by using 2 of those 2-2 cables?

I'm just curious about it as I am probably going totake your advice and just run one cable to each.

Thanks again,

 

[Anonymous]

hi fi newbie:Chris firstly biwiring makes little or no difference,

Some would say otherwise...........If you are not spending silly money on expensive cable then its always worth a try....you never know.....

 

[d_a_n1979]

genfish:
Thanks for clearing that up.

The Cambridge Audio website says about their amps, "2 x sets of speaker outputs allowing bi-wiring".

Does this mean you have 4 speaker connectors, and would bi-wire this amp with each speaker by using 2 of those 2-2 cables?

I'm just curious about it as I am probably going totake your advice and just run one cable to each.

Thanks again,

Hi Chris

Yes it does; If you have 2 sets of speaker terminals on your amp (i.e. A & B) and your speakers have 2 sets of speaker terminals then you can bi-wire (i.e. splitting the amps amplification to power the treble/midrange and bass separately).

I am always in massive support of bi-amping where/when you can (i.e. 2 amps; one for treble/midrange and one amp for bass) but with bi-wiring, IMO, it's not a biggy. As I suggested before; it's worthwhile just running a single length of speaker cable and using home-made or aftermarket speaker jumper cables replacing the cheap/nasty bars provided