set up advice

[BLEDSOM]

I am hoping to upgrade my HIFI in the new year and want a system that is flexible and simple for playing rock/metal/singer song writer music, but will give a better sound than my Brenna JB7, Denon amp and cd, wharfdale, set up. The playback through the Brennan is really inferior when compared to CD play back on Denon CD player.

Does anyone see any problems with the combination below? I want to use the Cocktail audio 30 X for ripping and storing my CD collection and as a way to access internet radio and my network, but is it any good as a CD player or should I buy a seperate Yamaha cd player? Most of the reviews talk about the Cocktails ripping ability, but there is little about its straight CD playback. Give me your thoughts.

Amplifier; Yamaha A - 501

Source; Cocktail Audio X30 With 2TB HDD

Speakers; Q Acoustics 2050i Speakers

 

[davedotco]

The Cocktail X30 is just a better Brennan, an all in one system with decent performance and a host of features.

Add a decent pair of budget speakers and you have a one box solution that does everything and costs well under £1k. For someone who does not want to mess with computers and hard drives it is a nice solution. Adding another amp and more revealing speakers is not going to do that much, you will be limited by the X30's overall capability.

As far as it's use as a CD player is concerned, why would you? Rips will be better anyway assuming the ripping software is up to the job, the quality of that software would be the only concern for me if I were contemplating such a unit.