Speaker Upgrade Advice

[admin_exported]

I have an ageing system - the CD player was replaced about 18 months ago to a Quad 99 CDP-2 after my Alpha 5 plus died. That leaves me with Mission 752 speakers bi-amped with Delta 290P and Alpha 9 amps. A dealer recommended the biggest improvement could be made by changing speakers and I plan to audition some ProAc speakers and the Spendor A5 and A6. If the Spendors sound as good as the reviews they look very tempting - but my concern is that they are not bi-wirable so presumably not bi-ampable.

Will the benefit I get from better speakers be reduced by having to rely solely on the Delta 290P for amplification?

Would welcome any thoughts

 

[Lost Angeles]

Penfold64:

I have an ageing system - the CD player was replaced about 18 months ago to a Quad 99 CDP-2 after my Alpha 5 plus died. That leaves me with Mission 752 speakers bi-amped with Delta 290P and Alpha 9 amps. A dealer recommended the biggest improvement could be made by changing speakers and I plan to audition some ProAc speakers and the Spendor A5 and A6. If the Spendors sound as good as the reviews they look very tempting - but my concern is that they are not bi-wirable so presumably not bi-ampable.

Will the benefit I get from better speakers be reduced by having to rely solely on the Delta 290P for amplification?

Would welcome any thoughts

I dont know how heavy your amp is but I would take it with you when you listen to the Spendors and see what you think.You can then compare it to another amp that the dealer has and see what you think.

 

[Bodfish]

I can certainly vouch for the quality of the A6s but I think you may find yourself hankering for an amp upgrade fairly soon after. I would agree with the previous post that you should take your amp(s) with you for the audition but use the integrated to run any single wired speakers rather than using it as a pre amp with the 290p as a power.

I don't think you should necessarily be 'concerned' that speakers aren't bi-wireable or bi-ampable (outside the fact that part of your set up would become redundant). Many high end speaker designs only offer single wired connections. If the Spendor sounds works well for you and the Arcam amps, why not try their S5e or S8e designs which do offer biwired/biamped capability?

 

[Anonymous]

I agree about taking your amp - it makes all the difference and was the reason I chose the A6's. You could always try a shotgun set-up for your speaker cable to see if that makes any difference.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your reply and I certainly do intend to take the amps with me when I do dem them but I remember what a big difference it made when adding the Alpha 9 power amp to the Delta 290P and bi-amping the Missions and can't help feeling something will be lost if I have to fall back solely on the integrated. Will the Delta 290P do justice to speakers up to £2k such as Spendor A6? of course I need to dem this - but I am interested in other opinions becuase if not there are other choices to think about before arranging a dem -

1) Would the Delta 290P/ Alpha 9 combination be good enough to drive another speaker of that calibre that can be bi-amped? If so are there any recommendations or anyone who has a similar setup?

2) If the amp will be a weak link can I make a significant improvement on my current system with a £2k budget choosing a less expensive speaker and better integrated?

3) Even if the 290P is ultimately a weak link - will it show enough benefit from a good speaker upgrade to live with until I can address the amp at a later date and should I use all the budget on the speakers now?

Cheers

 

[the record spot]

Penfold64:
I have an ageing system - the CD player was replaced about 18 months ago to a Quad 99 CDP-2 after my Alpha 5 plus died. That leaves me with Mission 752 speakers bi-amped with Delta 290P and Alpha 9 amps. A dealer recommended the biggest improvement could be made by changing speakers and I plan to audition some ProAc speakers and the Spendor A5 and A6. If the Spendors sound as good as the reviews they look very tempting - but my concern is that they are not bi-wirable so presumably not bi-ampable.

Will the benefit I get from better speakers be reduced by having to rely solely on the Delta 290P for amplification?

Would welcome any thoughts

What's the problem with the 752? And are you basing this planned change on the (misguided) view that "changing the speakers makes the biggest difference to your hifi" blah, blah...?

Trust me, it doesn't.

Unless you have an issue with the 752s - I have them, they are superb boxes still and Hi Fi World rates them in their Classics listing every other month and that puts them in some pretty esteemed company - then I would strongly counsel ditching this guy's idea until you've considered other options as well.

The 752s enjoy a very benign load, so if you've ever thought about the valve amp option, this is a good speaker to stick with for now. How is the balance between the Alpha 9 and Delta 290? Both are/were good amps in their day, but would you look at getting hold of a better (perhaps used) pre/power combination? The 752 is more than capable.

I'm not baning on about the Mission speaker simply because I think it's good (plenty of others did too, including this magazine) and both in the original as well as the Freedom version, but simply because your salesman has given duff advice IMO. Or at least, imbalanced. I'd talk to a few other dealers and get some opinions and listen to some other options.

At least then, if you do go down the new speakers route, you're doing it for the right reasons that you've researched and not that one dealer thinks is the best way to go.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that. As I said, the speakers definately punched above their weight when I bought them and bust the budget at the time. I went to audition some £200 speakers (can't even remember which), then asked to hear the next level up (about £350) - when I heard that I asked what the next level would be and a pair of 752's was whipped out at £500 - as soon as I hear them, they knocked my socks off and the dealer reduced the price by £80 for a pair that had a slight scratch so I was away.

When I bought the Quad CD player, I did listen to alot of machines including Arcam, the Roksan, the Rega and even the Naim CD5 which was £500 more but the Quad came across to me as the best all rounder, involving and not too critical of rougher old recordings - but I did make the mistake of not auditioning any of them with my amps and speakers (I know, I know) and whilst the system does still sound good I can't quite settle with it and I am not sure it shows any great improvement over the old Alpha 5 plus which had died beyond economic repair.

I have tried some minor upgrades - Atacama Equinox rack, rumour 2 cables etc - but to no avail.

It just occasionally shows a bit of harshness and thinness in the sound that I definitely did not find auditioning the Quad and would not expect to be the fault of the amps as the Arcams are thought to be leaning on the warm side.

Any suggestions would be appreciated