Struggling making my mind up after audition PM1, CM9 with Roksan Caspian M2 and Niam NS help me.

Leehallam

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I have spent 4 hrs today listening to different speakers and amps.

Listened too 684,683,pm1 & cm9 with a range of amps. My favourite 2 amps where the naim ns and the Roksan Caspian m2 and my favourite speakers pm1 and cm9 problem is I am struggling making my mind up.

The niam was very fast punchy clear sounding and nice sounding, the Roksan was nice better with bass control very natural sounding and I liked it how do I decide????

Speakers PM1 very clear sounding great soundstage and you cannot believe ther so small when you turned them up they were still sounding fantastic, my wife hates the looks of them and cannot believe the price for the size. CM9 looked fantastic my wife gave me the thumbs up they sounded great plenty of range great bass, tall a lot for your money and sounded very complete great upgrade from my 685's.

So nett I am very happy with all of these items so how do I decide now is there any advice out there from anyone who have had the same dilemma with the same kit.

Thanks Lee
 
If it's that close then can't offer much in the way of advice. When it comes amps and they sound equally as good, which one has the most appropriate inputs? which one looks nicer? Which set-up puts the biggest smile on your face?

I quite often bang on about 'gut feeling' or 'inclination', more often than not, along with sound, that's the definitive answer: The clincher.

Which of the set-ups are you gravitating towards?
 

SteveR750

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I agre with P, if it's that close, then choose the one that makes you feel good about owning it; be it looks, name whatever it is that "special" thing is! Alternatiovely, a more practical approach might be to try both with upgraded source and speakers, and then see how they cope with upgrades.
 

Leehallam

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I have decided on the amp I am going with the Roksan Caspian m2. I cannot decide on the speakers. PM 1 sound great very clear and cannot believe you can get that sound from such a small box but my wife thinks their not very good looking. CM9 bigger more for your money and look nice. A full sound good range but clarity not as good as the PM1. This is driving me crazy. Lee
 

Leehallam

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Thanks for that SteveR. I had some free vouchers for Peter Tyson from my last purchase so got £150 off getting it for £1450 new plus I get another £150 voucher so like getting it for £1300 really. On the speakers do you think CM9`s in a room 4 x 4.5 meters will be overkill, v`s the smaller PM1 anybody. Lee
 

Shanka

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Hi,

Have done quite a lot of listening with the Caspian and speakers including B&W CM8 and 9's also the latter with the new power amp and the CM9's sounded great, you will get more bass at lower volumes.

I have some B&W CDM1NT speakers and I have to crank up the voulme to get the bass I require but I don't want to always listen at that level, maybe worth considering your normal listening levels instead of demo levels.

Personally after demoing the CM8's and many others I decided to go the Proac route with my amp, loved the sound ,sounded more refined than the CM range and less muddled.

If you and your wife are both happy with the CM9's I would go for them, you could always look to add the power amp at a later stage which will drive the speakers better but a small upgrade in sound for the cash imo.

I have had my amp and cd for 18 months and still very happy I am sure you will be as well.

Good Luck
 

CnoEvil

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Shanka said:
Hi,

Have done quite a lot of listening with the Caspian and speakers including B&W CM8 and 9's also the latter with the new power amp and the CM9's sounded great, you will get more bass at lower volumes.

I have some B&W CDM1NT speakers and I have to crank up the voulme to get the bass I require but I don't want to always listen at that level, maybe worth considering your normal listening levels instead of demo levels.

Personally after demoing the CM8's and many others I decided to go the Proac route with my amp, loved the sound ,sounded more refined than the CM range and less muddled.

If you and your wife are both happy with the CM9's I would go for them, you could always look to add the power amp at a later stage which will drive the speakers better but a small upgrade in sound for the cash imo.

I have had my amp and cd for 18 months and still very happy I am sure you will be as well.

Good Luck

This is sort of my advice.....ie look outside your current short list, and you might hit on a combination that is comfortably better.....eg. Speakers from PMC, Proac, Focal, Totem and Spendor; Amps from Musical Fidelity, Electrocompaniet, Leema, Creek and Sugden.

IMO. Buying decisions are often made without listening to a broad enough short list.
 

SteveR750

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Shanka, slightly OT sorry, but how do you find the M2 with the ProAcs? I considered them about 18 months, never got to listen to them, but plenty of recommendations to liven things up as at the time I wasn't sure about the spendors.
 

Shanka

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Hi,

sorry for delay, personally I am very happy with the Proac,s, I listened to many speakers spendor, wharfedale, pmc, ma, b&w, dynaudio etc...... to find what was right for me.

I like a lot of bass so these were a great option for me , I thought they also had a very smooth sound, great with voices esp. compared with my previous b&w's.

IMO I thought the other contendors were audio vector if you can find them and pmc but too bass light but a lovely sound and would say the same for spendor A6.

I think speakers are hugely subjective and would suggest listening to as many as you can, the right ones will find you and you do have to be patient.

I would also say from your original post that I did not find b&w work well with Naim equipment whereas pmc and proac may match better.

I am sure you will also be advised esp. with speakers to get a home demo as this can make a difference from what you hear in a demo room. Good luck
 

jiggyjoe

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Tell your wife size is not everything!!!

I think the cm9 is a bit to big for your room, try the cm8 but for absolute sound quality I think the pm's are the ones to beat.
 
A

Anonymous

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Personally with that list that you've demo'd I'd be going for the Caspian amp with the CM9's or the PM1's

I know what you mean re decisions as I couldnt decide between the PM1's and the M/A GX100's for my Cyrus set-up.

To throw a spanner into the mix a bit; have you demo'd the M/A GX100's or the GX200's? If not I'd highly recommend it
 

Sliced Bread

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Well as you like all optukns, I think this is what you call a high class problem ;)
Is approach this differently. As you've chosen your amp, take the pm1 and cm9s home for a demo. Speakers are very room dependant, and they are two very different speakers.
 

Leehallam

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Been back to my dealer today in the smaller audition room closer to the size of my room and I took some of the great advice on board. I listened to the Pmc, spendors and tried the music fidelity m3 & m6 amps. This help both of thes speakers where better to my ears than the CM9s so these quickly got discounted and I thought the Pmc had the edge over the spendors, so it was great I was down to the Pmc or the B&W pm1 s. tried them both with the roksan and and the MF m6. All combinations where very good indeed to my ears. I decided on the best combination for me and it was the B&W PM1 Witt he Roksan Caspian M2 amp that won me over. Now just got to break the news to my wife she described the PM1 as the ugly ones with the microphone stuck on the top what does she know she will get used to them.

Next questions I could do with some help on

What cable would you recommend for this set up?

What phone stage should you recommend to go with my turn table and this set up?

What DAC would go well for this set up for my sonons?

I will get some input for the short list and back to my very patient dealer when I pick the PM 1 s up on Thursday.

Thanks a lot for all your help so far
 

Leehallam

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Been back to my dealer today in the smaller audition room closer to the size of my room and I took some of the great advice on board. I listened to the Pmc, spendors and tried the music fidelity m3 & m6 amps. This help both of thes speakers where better to my ears than the CM9s so these quickly got discounted and I thought the Pmc had the edge over the spendors, so it was great I was down to the Pmc or the B&W pm1 s. tried them both with the roksan and and the MF m6. All combinations where very good indeed to my ears. I decided on the best combination for me and it was the B&W PM1 Witt he Roksan Caspian M2 amp that won me over. Now just got to break the news to my wife she described the PM1 as the ugly ones with the microphone stuck on the top what does she know she will get used to them.

Next questions I could do with some help on

What cable would you recommend for this set up?

What phone stage should you recommend to go with my turn table and this set up?

What DAC would go well for this set up for my sonons?

I will get some input for the short list and back to my very patient dealer when I pick the PM 1 s up on Thursday.

Thanks a lot for all your help so far
 

Charlie Jefferson

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Hi Lee,

I've been following your shopping/listening/auditioning with some interest. As you can see I'm a member of the Roksan/B&W camp too. Various B&Ws for twenty years and only 18 months ago with the Roksan amps.

Though I love, (at least on most days) this speaker/amp combo sometimes I'm a tad overwhlemed by the power on offer, and with a new room move for the HiFi imminent I'm considering downsizing my three Roks boxes to one M2 integrated. So I'll be interested to hear what you make of your new components. My B&Ws are second hand, and any money I accrue from the Roksan sale could probably fund a new pair of the B&W PM1s.

Let us all know what you think of the new sounds.

Cheers.
 

CnoEvil

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I'm glad you had a successful day....and by listening to a greater variety of kit, the surer you can be of getting it right.

Cables:
Check what the dealer stocks and try and score a discount...avoid silver coated copper which imo are too bright. Look at brands like Atlas, Audioquest and Telurium Q.

DAC:
Given your taste, probably the MF M1 Dac, but let the dealer lend you some of the usual suspects to try when you get set up eg From Arcam and Rega.

Phono Stage:
I'm out of the loop here, but maybe look again to MF....M1 Vinl
 

Dan Turner

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Charlie - if you don't mind me saying, if you downsize rooms then downsizing speakers makes sense, but i'm not sure i'd downsize anything else if the size of the room it's being used in is the only consideration. After all higher-end amps are merely about offering greater power to fill bigger spaces.
 

Charlie Jefferson

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Dan Turner said:
Charlie - if you don't mind me saying, if you downsize rooms then downsizing speakers makes sense, but i'm not sure i'd downsize anything else if the size of the room it's being used in is the only consideration. After all higher-end amps are merely about offering greater power to fill bigger spaces.

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the insight. It's certainly a consideration, and it's always good to take on board others' thoughts.

I'll listen to my existing kit in the new room and make a decision accordingly.

Cheers.
 

Leehallam

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I have collected my PM1's today and the Caspian m2 got it all in place waiting for the speaker cable arriving tomorrow and I can get them on. I require a little more advice when I connect my av receiver to the Caspian do I have this correct from the av use the left and right preamp outputs and in to the Caspian connect it to any input cd, tape, video any. Do I have this correct I would hate to screw up my nex gear.

Thanks Lee
 

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