Stereo or Av Amp help

[BillDay66]

Hi, hope you may have some opinions to help me out!

I want to get a set up which will primarily be used as a stereo set up but with a tv running through it as well, dont particularly want 5.1 etc (at the moment) just want a good stereo with option to improve on the tvs crappy speakers.

I am an ex owner of an Arcam A85 / CD92 set up which had to go a couple of years back, if i still had these I would get a DACMagic for the telly (tv only has optical out) and that would be that, question is should I go this route again or get a an AV amp (therefore eliminating the need for a DAC) and use my PS3 as a player?

Ive got a rough idea of the pros / cons of each route but wondered if anyone had any opinions / experience or can reccomend an AV amp with dedicated stereo output? Dont want to go crazy on the budget (arcam av amps are out of my league at the mo!)

thanks for any help, Bill

 

[Anonymous]

ive currently got a yamaha rxv-765 avr and a yamaha as-500 stereo amp, connected to the avr's preouts. ive also got a sub connected to the avr..

it works well for movies and tv which are 2.1 stereo, and i can switch to the as-500 for stereo music, which does sound quite a bit better than if it was running direct from the avr..

whats your budget? a similar setup could be got for about £550-£600 if it interested you..

 

[True Blue]

Personally if your not bothered about 5.1 then dont.

As stated get a DAC (beresford Caiman) and feed both the TV optical into it as well as the PS 3 then into any stereo amp of yoiur choice.

Alterantively have a look at some of the new stereo amps that incorporate an inbuilt DAC (cyrus)

Remember a £900 reciever will give you the same performance in stereo of an amp around £300. So 2ch all the way.

 

[BillDay66]

Thanks for the replies, budget would be around £1500 - £2000 for amp, dac and speakers. Pretty much confirmed my thinking really, the set up is more for music than tv, so stereo is obvious really - just dont want to buy stuff thats gonna be obsolete in a year!

couple more questions,

Is the PS3 any good as a cd player and will a dac dramatically improve the mp3s that are stored on it (320 vbr) ?

As an alternative option, have seen Nad and cambridge audio cd players (not sure of models - sorry) which have optical inputs, are these any good or would a stand alone dac be better?

thanks again, Bill

 

[WishTree]

BillDay66:
Thanks for the replies, budget would be around £1500 - £2000 for amp, dac and speakers.

There is another Thread going on and the Amps that are discussed over there looks like fit your range

http://community.whathifi.com/forums/536694/ShowThread.aspx#536694
BillDay66:
Is the PS3 any good as a cd player and will a dac dramatically improve the mp3s that are stored on it (320 vbr) ?

As an alternative option, have seen Nad and cambridge audio cd players (not sure of models - sorry) which have optical inputs, are these any good or would a stand alone dac be better?

PS3 is alright as source but I would not rate it too high when compared to a standalone DAC. 320 VBR still sounds good but a lossless rip of the CDs sounds noticeably good in your budget.

The CD player with a built in DAC / Digital In sounds like a great Idea to let go but there are various factors that I considered before going for a dedicated DAC.

1. I have already Hard Disk'ed most of my collection at lossless rate and I like the convenience of song selection with Remote App from iPhone / iPad / iPod

2. If I could do the above point, then I might be paying a premium for the CD Mechanism where as in reality I am using the CD / SACD player only as a DAC. Most of the CD player DACs support / upscale only till 96KHZ unlike the standalone DACs which upscale to 192KHZ and the convert to Analogue which might sound better if the set up can take the advantage of the finer improvements.

However if your primary listening is only CDs or if there is joy factor like a Vinyl Player then ofcourse, it is the CD / SACD player route.

 

[the record spot]

If you're not interested in 5.1, but have the budget you do, check out the Harman Kardon HK990 amp - a serious contender and has an excellent onboard DAC. £900 or so, but prices now coming down. Great amp; heard it in the summer and was deeply impressed.

 

[BillDay66]

Harman Kardon HK990 looks very impressive, pretty much ticks all my boxes - be interested to hear if anyone else has one

 

[BillDay66]

Or am I back in av amp territory where the Harman Kardon HK990 isnt as good as a basic 2 channel amp?

 

[Anonymous]

The HK 990 is a 2 channel amp, so no problems there, plus it has a built-in DAC.

You might be better off doing some auditioning of speaker/amp combinations rather than deciding on an amp first. The HK990 is a powerful amp, but power isn't everything and a lot, if not most, depends on the speakers.

I'd spend some time at your local dealers having a listen to a decent variety of gear. Given you liked Arcam, and if its available in the UK, the Peachtree Audio Nova is worth a look. It has a valve pre-amp stage, and excellent DAC and a 80 wpc amplifier.

 

[the record spot]

Power indeed isn't everything, which is why I didn't pick something that's hopelessly powerfully specced and costs about £200. The HK990 won European amp of the year a couple of years back (EISA awards) while Hi Fi Choice nominated both it and its' partnering HD990 CDP as one of their systems of the year for 2009. Last but not least, I spent a happy hour with both this and the Leema Pulse earlier this year. The Leema had a bit more teeth to it, but looking back, the HK was the more neutral of the two; there's 150wpc but you wouldn't think it as it doesn't come across as a "muscle" amp (which you might expect).

Instead, it's a more refined piece of kit and the array of impressive functionality simply adds to its appeal. It's a dual mono design, with DAC, plus the means to take additional power amps and up to two subs. There are also room correction settings too, which you can of course bypass. For the full TSP it's worth it, but the deals are there. Best listen of course, if you can, but I'd buy this at the drop of hat if I was shopping for one in that price range tomorrow (and probably in preference to the Leema Pulse I'd previously selected). YMMV of course.

 

[BillDay66]

OK guys, thanks for all the info, guess I need to get out and listen to a few combinations - given me much food for thought. The HK seems to be what I'm after but still leaning towards a more straight forward (poss cheaper) amp and a separate DAC - more scope for future upgrades that way and the purist in me thinks a standalone DAC has to be better than an integrated one?

 

[the record spot]

Don't let "purist" thinking cloud your way - just be objective and rational. It didn't stop Audiolab calling their latest 8200 a DAC with a transport! An offboard DAC is an option of course, but I have a vague recollection from the HFC article that the HK990's is easily on a par with Cambridge's DACMagic 2 - not heard them side by side, so I can't compare, but if that's the case, then you're doing alright.

 

[BillDay66]

OK thanks again for all the input, have done my homework a bit more and am constructing a 'to listen to' list for next year. I am looking to get a high end amp with integrated dac and some speakers and currently like the look of the Cyrus range. It matters to me (and the wife!) what the system looks like as well what it sounds like and I like British components.

My last system was an Arcam a85 amp, Arcam CD92, Cyrus CLS50 speakers + gale mini monitors in 2nd room. I'd have to say I wasnt overwhelmed by the sound of this kit in the end and found it to be a bit plodding - I actually preferred the gale speakers because they seemed a bit livelier.

I know its been asked on here but any opinions on the 'cyrus sound' compared to my comments about the arcam system above. I know I've got to go and listen to it but would welcome any of your experiences along with speaker recommendations.

Any opinions on the merits of an integrated (8xpd) vs a Pre/Power set up (Pre xpd / X power) would be welcome, I like having an upgrade path available so the pre / power looks tempting. Might even be tempted to go the whole hog with the DAC XP Pre and a power amp or 2!

Plan to go and listen to the lot in January, but wouldnt mind some food for thought!

Thanks again, Bill