slimline cd players and matching amp

[admin_exported]

im lookin for a cd player and 2 ch amp. however i need to fit it on the middle shelf of my equinox av rack. i have a monitor audiobronze centre on that shelf so pushed for space either side. does anyone know if anything decent could fit. my budget is £400 each. would cyrus be small enough and has anyone seen cyrus on the cheap??? cheers

 

[nads]

so what is the available height? 215mm

 

[John Duncan]

Creek Evo. Matching, slim, silver or black. Superfi have the pair for 829 (down from a grand).

 

[John Duncan]

D'oh, just realised what you're *actually* asking. No wonder I can't parallel park.

I can't speak for the Cyrus, but I can recommend a second-hand Musical Fidelity X-Series (v3) setup. X-Ray CD Player 400-ish on eBay, X-80 or X-150 Amp for 200/250 respectively - patience required to get them both as they don't come up that often, but the best sound I've owned (sadly downgraded since).

 

[nads]

DO'h so have I. not slim narrow. so what width is available each side?

 

[Anonymous]

240mm pretty much max. that will be very close to the centre speaker. doyou think that will be dodgy due to vibration or do you think it doesnt matter on a top notch stand (dont mean to brag) like my atacama equinox av. maybe i should just fork out on the hifi stand. its just i need to link my stereo ampand multi channel av amp as they will share front mains.

 

[John Duncan]

Yeah but from the way you describe it neither the stereo amp nor CD player would be on at the same time as the centre? Or are you using the stereo amp as the two front channels via the AV amp pre-outs?

 

[Anonymous]

do you know what. your only right. ha silly me. however if i decide on a sacd player then i guess i would be using the av amp. hmmm.do you know if i leave the speakers connected to the av amp and connect analogue leads going from cd player to 2 ch amp then to av amp. or leads from av amp to 2 ch amp and speakers to 2 ch amp with cd player to 2 ch amp? do you use this kind of setup. it will be knew to me as i have never used a stereo amp especially when integrating it into a surround sound for front speakers only.

 

[John Duncan]

There is an answer here:

http://whathifi.com/forums/t/6008.aspx

Basically, take the pre-outs from your AV amp for the front two channels into 'aux' (for example) on your stereo amp. Then when you're using AV, you have both amps on, stereo amp set on Aux, the AV amp drives all other speakers, the stereo amp drives the front pair. Note the comments on the compromises this creates.

 

[Anonymous]

cheers jd. thats a good post you headed me to. ive made a decision now as andy kerrs chat pursuaded me against a stereo amp. im gonna get a cd player anyway and leave it on top of my v+ box on the bottom rack. which sits next to my large yamaha amp. ill spend about 400 quid on a cd player and instead of spending 400 on an amp, ill wait untill i upgrade my surround amp and get one with really good stereo quality. i have a yamaha rxv640 rds. cost about £400. i will upgrade to about a £1000 amp in time. does anyone know if my yam is any good in stereo compared to similar priced models?

 

[John Duncan]

Don't have experience of the 640, but I have the 620 and it's really rather good in stereo - Yamaha have (or certainly had round the time these came out) of being reasonable stereo amps, though not on a par with a similarly priced dedicated stereo amp, obviously.

 

[Anonymous]

yes i do enjoy the stereo too. however its hard to compare on my system how good it is as its my first setup.

 

[nads]

if you are going to spend that much on a CDP why not look at a Mulit disc player, One that will play DVD,DVD-A SACD,HDCD and CD? it could even upscale the DVDs!

 

[Anonymous]

to be honest im moving totally away from dvd now so no need for a dvd upscaler really. id like to think my ps3 or sony recorder would suffice for my small dvd collection. however an interesting point on the sacd dvd-a front. id be very happy to take that route but i just dont see any sacd dvd-a in my genre of music. im more into the soft rock, modern american punk scene. think 30 seconds to mars, plus 44, chilli peppers, green day, fall out boy etc. i have never seen better than cd here. i do like my classical music but i dont by it enough. i would love to see high def audio take off but theres not enough of us hi fi nuts to fill the market. a lot of people are content playing poor recordings on their asda cd player unfortunately. A point id like to note on your recomendation. i have always thought that something with the least functions possible will do what it does very well, however a multi task piece of kit sees a lot of the cost going to various functions when id rather listen at the best sounds as they should be with no compromise. which is why my cd recorder is sayin goodbye...