Rotel Cm8 boo boo

[denontillidie]

Hi,

Its been a while but I am back, off on another stop of my endless quest for pefection lol

I have a set of B&W CM8 speakers and until recently had the pre-outs from a rotel ra-1062 feeding a rotel rb1070 power amp. This had started to sound fatiguing and a bit too bright, so I invested in some chord vee 3 interconnects to connect the dennon dbp2012ud player to my 1062.

The difference the new cables made over the old merlin mozarts was so big that I decided to do away with the power amp and feed the speakers directly from the 1062, and sold the power amp.

I am starting to regret this decision as the overall sound is now a bit limp and lifeless, guess the speakers are not being driven properly, and whereas sacds before sounded powerful and strong they now sound weak and confused.

The 1062 has been a good servant over the years but i am reluctant to go down the power amp route again. Can anyone recommend a good step up from the 1062 for these speakers that will sound strong but bring out the joy in the music.

Thanks in advance,

Rob Owen

 

[Frank Harvey]

If you really don't want a power amp, you could look at the upcoming Classe Sigma 2200i integrated amplifier, which will be 200wpc, and despite there being no details other than power at the moment, I'm presuming it will have the same DAC on board as the Sigma SSP - if so, this could be quite a killer integrated amplifier, based on the quality of the existing Sigma stuff. This should be appearing around the £3.5k mark, but that's the sort of level you'll be looking at as the next major step up for an integrated with power amp spec and quality. Otherwise I'd look at something like the Primare I32 integrated amp. If that's too much, try the Rotel RA1570.

I've covered all bases there as you don't mention a budget. Ultimately, you need to try some out to see how close you can get to what you had before.

 

[Al ears]

On a slightly cheaper note the Hegel H260 might be worth a look.

 

[Jota180]

On a slightly cheaper note the Hegel H260 might be worth a look.

H160?

 

[rainsoothe]

Yup, most likely the Classe will cost quite a bit (Classe is an expensive brand). Give Hegel H160 or Naim Supernait 2 a go.

 

[Al ears]

On a slightly cheaper note the Hegel H260 might be worth a look.

H160?

Yep, excuse the typo

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi Rob

As has already been suggested Hegel amplification is also worth a look. We've got clients using 3, 6, CM, PM and 800 series speakers with their amplification. Even a H80 with its low distortion and high damping factor will help energise speakers very effectively. The boo boo should in turn be replaced with Hegel fluidity which also boogies particularly with grippy bass which has drive and punch to boot. Fwiw, one our clients powering his CM8S2's had the following to say about the H160 amp/DAC - "I am very pleased. The best he's ever heard"

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft