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pauladamss:one of the things that impressed with the pulse is its ability to sound good at low volumes .my nad was a nightmare untill you went above 1/4 volume . how big is a medium sized living room ?

That is a huge plus point - most of the time I have it on as background music. Not much point in cranking it up while little'un tells me about her day at school or what they want for dinner. That was the big pull for me when I heard it against the Caspian; it wipes the floor with the Roksan when it comes to idling levels.

That was what my A65 was immense at...
 

crusaderlord

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Well you are down to 4 really good amps so it probably depends which version of the sound presentation you like the best.

From the 4 you chose i would pick between the Leema and the Arcam A32 from what i have heard from them but would throw the Caspian into the mix rather than the Kandy.
 

shooter

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PP if you do a lot of low level listening you should strike the Caspian off your list. Why, because it likes to rock out, its a beast of an amp and to produce its best likes to be pushed. Personally i would go with the Leema, plenty of power in reserve to control the PMC's (they like that) and when the house is empty good enough to enjoy at louder volumes, and we all like to do that don't we!
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Leema/PMC/Arcam
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shooter69:PP if you do a lot of low level listening you should strike the Caspian off your list. Why, because it likes to rock out, its a beast of an amp and to produce its best likes to be pushed. Personally i would go with the Leema, plenty of power in reserve to control the PMC's (they like that) and when the house is empty good enough to enjoy at louder volumes, and we all like to do that don't we!
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Leema/PMC/Arcam
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Logical
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. I loved the Leema when I heard it, but I'm scared of making a 'ricket'.

"A faint heart never won a fair lady", so the saying goes.

It certainly ticks all the right boxes apart from the synergy and system matching malarky...
 
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go on you know you want to. i dont think the arcam leema combo is a problem for synergy i think it all comes down to your speaker choice the final piece of the jigsaw
 

shooter

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plastic penguin:
It certainly ticks all the right boxes apart from the synergy and system matching malarky...

Cant see a problem with the combo. If you were partnering the Leema with bright or forward speakers and source you could have some issues.
 

Sorreltiger

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Thanks for the CD192/Saturn comparison. It gives me food for thought. As for the Leema Pulse, I agree completely with the idea that it sounds great with quiet music. When the kids are in bed, it has to be something subtle for me too! Jazz vocals, string quartets and a trip back to the renaissance are the order of the day. I've found that the immediacy of these recordings is outstanding and (IMO) has also dramatically improved over the week or so since the amp first arrived.
 
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Anonymous

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As for the cdp upgrade my previous player was the cd72 and found that the pulse was a considerable sound quality increase over my nad however the 192 was not as big a jump, i think the cd72 has a little more attack than the 192 but what the 192 has is detail and seperation and just a more refined sound.
 
shooter69:plastic penguin:

It certainly ticks all the right boxes apart from the synergy and system matching malarky...

Cant see a problem with the combo. If you were partnering the Leema with bright or forward speakers and source you could have some issues.

My mind is now made up...
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drummerman

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Why not go active or all-in-one ala chebby? Reduced 'malarky' and hifi tends to go that way anyway. You'll accept the 'limitations' and probably won't swap and change ... because you can't easily! I'm sure you'll enjoy many benefits too such as less cable 'malarky' and ugly box count etc
 
Allo, DM. Long time no write?
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Thought about the 'Active' route but it's evolution rather than revolution. I am a self-confessed "creature of habit" when it comes to hi-fis.

I usually only change a component when it croaks, so to change while everything is healthy is new ground for me, hence my hesitancy.
 

shooter

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plastic penguin:
My mind is now made up...
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Excellant news PP [Y}

Regarding the stands, PMC make their own 'TubeStand 104' for the TB2 but alas nothing for the DB1. They seem quite expensive and i'm not sure how they compare sonically to other speaker stands.
Igglebert only recently bought some Spendor stands to partner his SA1's he may give you an insight of the benefits of the matching stand/speaker set up.
Personally i use Partington and i have done for as long as i can remember, i think in the end its how they perform and whats pleasing on the eye in some cases. You have a varied choice and ideally you want a stand that leaves the tweeter around ear hight when in your favourite listening position.

Looking forward to some feedback on the new set up, enjoy.
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A

Anonymous

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I have some Dynaudio stands which seem better, as in the speaker mounting part (spikes), than the Targets I had before.
 
shooter69:plastic penguin:

My mind is now made up...
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Excellant news PP [Y} Regarding the stands, PMC make their own 'TubeStand 104' for the TB2 but alas nothing for the DB1. They seem quite expensive and i'm not sure how they compare sonically to other speaker stands. Igglebert only recently bought some Spendor stands to partner his SA1's he may give you an insight of the benefits of the matching stand/speaker set up. Personally i use Partington and i have done for as long as i can remember, i think in the end its how they perform and whats pleasing on the eye in some cases. You have a varied choice and ideally you want a stand that leaves the tweeter around ear hight when in your favourite listening position. Looking forward to some feedback on the new set up, enjoy.
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Going for dedicated PMC stands maybe a good, if rather expensive, way but the Partingtons look quite industrial although good value for money. I'll browsw the WHFI mag and check a few reviews.
 
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Anonymous

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The PMC TB2 is a stand mounter that's like a sawn off FB1 floorstander. The DB1 is like such against the GB1. Sorry if this is an obvious and useless post!
 

shooter

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Sorry, i should of elaborated.
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It represented a financial statement (for god's sake don't put me in charge of the Treasury), the cost of the TB2's and the Tubestands equals the cost of the GB1i's, or there abouts. Obviously they are a different speaker, differing drivers,cabinets etc and i kind of agree with David on the PMC 'sound' but i thought that applied more to the original GB1 not the 'i' model with its new tweeter (SEAS) and cabinet design.
The frequency range on the GB1i is greater, going down to an impressive 29hz so plenty of low end 'welly' and if the speakers need to be placed near a wall this will reinforce the bottom end so ideal for a close to wall set up. The TB2 are rear ported and need a bit of room to work properly and at low volumes you don't want to be hearing any bass notes bouncing off wall's,you want a nice even frequency range at all volumes.

Plenty to chew on (hopefully not a cat's leg!)
 
shooter69:Sorry, i should of elaborated.
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It represented a financial statement (for god's sake don't put me in charge of the Treasury), the cost of the TB2's and the Tubestands equals the cost of the GB1i's, or there abouts. Obviously they are a different speaker, differing drivers,cabinets etc and i kind of agree with David on the PMC 'sound' but i thought that applied more to the original GB1 not the 'i' model with its new tweeter (SEAS) and cabinet design. The frequency range on the GB1i is greater, going down to an impressive 29hz so plenty of low end 'welly' and if the speakers need to be placed near a wall this will reinforce the bottom end so ideal for a close to wall set up. The TB2 are rear ported and need a bit of room to work properly and at low volumes you don't want to be hearing any bass notes bouncing off wall's,you want a nice even frequency range at all volumes. Plenty to chew on (hopefully not a cat's leg!)

Understood: When I tried the DB1s they worked brilliantly about 12" from the wall, so will the TB2s need to be further out or will they work well @ 12"?
 

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