Suggested Hi-Fi system for a near-midlife crisis!

[Macspur]

How about this as an alternative, I know it's not through a dealer, but at the price wouldn't be much of a risk and Electro can vouch for it's quality;

http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?81314-For-Sale-Electrocompaniet-EC-4-7-Preamplifier-Immaculate-Condition!&p=1471636#post1471636

Mac

 

[BigH]

If you are spending that much you may go a bit further and get some room sound treatment, like bass traps in the corners, they are not that expensive, about £50 each.

 

[megatombomb]

Oh and i now own the Bryston 4B BTW :cheers:

 

[Electro]

How about this as an alternative, I know it's not through a dealer, but at the price wouldn't be much of a risk and Electro can vouch for it's quality;

http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?81314-For-Sale-Electrocompaniet-EC-4-7-Preamplifier-Immaculate-Condition!&p=1471636#post1471636

Mac

Good find Mac :cheers: .

megatombomb,

This will work perfectly with the 4BSST and reduce the budget quite substantially .

In fact I think the EC4.7 preamp sounds slightly better than the more expensive EC4.8 .

The EC4.8 has more connection options and is more complex but at a higher price, so if you don't need the extra sophistication of the EC4.8 then the EC4.7 would be a better bet especially at the price in Mac's link .

 

[megatombomb]

Good find indeed represents fine value will mail the seller!

 

[CnoEvil]

I think you are getting good advice......and really hope this game of "Pin the tail on the Donkey" works out for you.

 

[Electro]

I think you are getting good advice......and really hope this game of "Pin the tail on the Donkey" works out for you.

I guess whatever he ends up with from the equipment mentioned it's unlikely to sound like eeyore

 

[Macspur]

You might want to look at this too on the same site;

http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?82755-FS-Electrocompaniet-AW-250-power-amplifier

Best to PM the seller rather than display personal Email... it will get forwarded straight to their inbox, more likely to get a prompter reply.

Mac

 

[Electro]

You might want to look at this too on the same site;

http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?82755-FS-Electrocompaniet-AW-250-power-amplifier

Best to PM the seller rather than display personal Email... it will get forwarded straight to their inbox, more likely to get a prompter reply.

Mac

Another good find Mac

You will be putting me out of a job at this rate :O

If funds allow I think megatombomb should buy this AW250 and then he can do a direct comparison at home with the 4BSST2 and sell on the looser with no loss .

If he does not buy it I may even be tempted myself

 

[Macspur]

You might want to look at this too on the same site;

http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?82755-FS-Electrocompaniet-AW-250-power-amplifier

Best to PM the seller rather than display personal Email... it will get forwarded straight to their inbox, more likely to get a prompter reply.

Mac

Another good find Mac

You will be putting me out of a job at this rate :O

If funds allow I think megatombomb should buy this AW250 and then he can do a direct comparison at home with the 4BSST2 and sell on the looser with no loss .

If he does not buy it I may even be tempted myself

LOL! go for it!

Mac

 

[Macspur]

You won't believe this... must be fate

http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?84623-Electrocompaniet-EMC1-up-IC

It's an absolute must!

Mac

 

[Electro]

You won't believe this... must be fate

http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?84623-Electrocompaniet-EMC1-up-IC

It's an absolute must!

Mac

Wow , I think you are right but it has already sold :O .It was put on at 2 this morning and has sold before 9 it must be a record , but I suppose at £1100 is was sold at half its value .

£1100 is not bad for one of the best sounding Cd players ever made

 

[megatombomb]

Guys,

I am massively disappointed to report that the family who were selling me their PMC EB1 and Bryston have pulled the plug on the deal. The dealer i put a deposit down on them with has told me they are not moving to the smaller house so they wish to keep their system for now. I dont know how much truth is in it all now it all seems abit suspect to me now... wonder if the dealer had a better offer as seemed to me there wasnt much in it for the dealer at the prices the units were up for.

So i am back to square one! It a good job i didnt buy the 4.7 pre amp. I should obviously tread carefully.

Also gutted to have missed out on the 1up at 1100gbp that was never going to be around long lol. :doh:

So i now turn my attentions to the other speakers ive found both ex demo PMC PB1 at £5500 and the MA PL300 at £3750. Obviously if i could get a warm sound out of the MA (and with careful chosen components i suspect i could now) these are much more within my budget.

Thanks once again for all your contributions i feel i owe you all an apology for wasting everyones time over the last week! :wall:

 

[Macspur]

Didn't the Electrocompaniet power amp interest you?

Mac

 

[Electro]

Guys,

I am massively disappointed to report that the family who were selling me their PMC EB1 and Bryston have pulled the plug on the deal. The dealer i put a deposit down on them with has told me they are not moving to the smaller house so they wish to keep their system for now. I dont know how much truth is in it all now it all seems abit suspect to me now... wonder if the dealer had a better offer as seemed to me there wasnt much in it for the dealer at the prices the units were up for.

So i am back to square one! It a good job i didnt buy the 4.7 pre amp. I should obviously tread carefully.

Also gutted to have missed out on the 1up at 1100gbp that was never going to be around long lol. :doh:

So i now turn my attentions to the other speakers ive found both ex demo PMC PB1 at £5500 and the MA PL300 at £3750. Obviously if i could get a warm sound out of the MA (and with careful chosen components i suspect i could now) these are much more within my budget.

Thanks once again for all your contributions i feel i owe you all an apology for wasting everyones time over the last week! :wall:

That is a real shame , but onwards and upwards

Here is a brand new pair of PB1i's in walnut for £5000 or make an offer.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PMC-PB1i-Floorstanding-Speakers-Walnut-Pair-/321077259299?pt=UK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item4ac1b22c23

If you were to buy the EC4.7 and the AW250 that Mac found and stick those PB1i's on the end you will have more than you could ever want , believe me I know .

 

[megatombomb]

Guys,

I am massively disappointed to report that the family who were selling me their PMC EB1 and Bryston have pulled the plug on the deal. The dealer i put a deposit down on them with has told me they are not moving to the smaller house so they wish to keep their system for now. I dont know how much truth is in it all now it all seems abit suspect to me now... wonder if the dealer had a better offer as seemed to me there wasnt much in it for the dealer at the prices the units were up for.

So i am back to square one! It a good job i didnt buy the 4.7 pre amp. I should obviously tread carefully.

Also gutted to have missed out on the 1up at 1100gbp that was never going to be around long lol. :doh:

So i now turn my attentions to the other speakers ive found both ex demo PMC PB1 at £5500 and the MA PL300 at £3750. Obviously if i could get a warm sound out of the MA (and with careful chosen components i suspect i could now) these are much more within my budget.

Thanks once again for all your contributions i feel i owe you all an apology for wasting everyones time over the last week! :wall:

That is a real shame , but onwards and upwards

Here is a brand new pair of PB1i's in walnut for £5000 or make an offer.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PMC-PB1i-Floorstanding-Speakers-Walnut-Pair-/321077259299?pt=UK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item4ac1b22c23

If you were to buy the EC4.7 and the AW250 that Mac found and stick those PB1i's on the end you will have more than you could ever want , believe me I know .

Missed out on those PB1i's, a good buy for someone again there!

Still reeling at missing out on the EB1 and Bryston 4B :boohoo:

However as one door closes another one opens so i will go back to look at a pair of Tannoy Kensington SE's having now found a 1 year old pair of Icon Audio MB845 Mk2 valve power amps. These will be fed by a brand new Icon audio LA3 pre-amp and then i shall look to find a CD player for around £1k max to last me however long until i feel the need to upgrade it.

Sounds to me like the basis of another nice system!

Or am i on the rebound lol

 

[CnoEvil]

Missed out on those PB1i's, a good buy for someone again there!

Still reeling at missing out on the EB1 and Bryston 4B :boohoo:

However as one door closes another one opens so i will go back to look at a pair of Tannoy Kensington SE's having now found a 1 year old pair of Icon Audio MB845 Mk2 valve power amps. These will be fed by a brand new Icon audio LA3 pre-amp

Sounds to me like the basis of another nice system!

Or am i on the rebound lol

Personally, I'd take this system.

 

[Electro]

Missed out on those PB1i's, a good buy for someone again there!

Still reeling at missing out on the EB1 and Bryston 4B :boohoo:

However as one door closes another one opens so i will go back to look at a pair of Tannoy Kensington SE's having now found a 1 year old pair of Icon Audio MB845 Mk2 valve power amps. These will be fed by a brand new Icon audio LA3 pre-amp and then i shall look to find a CD player for around £1k max to last me however long until i feel the need to upgrade it.

Sounds to me like the basis of another nice system!

Or am i on the rebound lol

Sounds good to me but it will have quite a different sound balance to the Bryston / PMC system :O .

Have you listened to the Icon / Tannoy system or something similar to guage if it is the sound you are looking for ?

 

[megatombomb]

First off thanks for bearing with me so far again folks and continueing to assist me in my search :cheers: . I have now two choices/systems to focus on that i can just about stretch my budget to albeit though i am slightly compromising on the CDP until one day i can afford a better one. They comprise of...

1. Marantz SA-15S2 LE - Icon Audio LA4 mk3 - Icon Audio MB845 mk2 pair - Tannoy Kensington SE = £11350

or

2. Marantz SA-15S2 LE - Musical Fidelity M6PRE - Musical Fidelity M6PWR - PMC PB1i = £10800

I would expect these systems to be on the warm side of neutral based on my research of all components. Both the speaker choices are revealing but this doesnt have to mean forward or bright or harsh or fatiguing!. The Tannoy are extremely sensitive (92db) and 8ohm nominal so maybe dont require a full pre/power setup like the PMC's will surely benefit from. Also considered swapping speakers between systems

SA-15S2 LE

So chaps.... discuss :type:

 

[Electro]

First off thanks for bearing with me so far again folks and continueing to assist me in my search :cheers: . I have now two choices/systems to focus on that i can just about stretch my budget to albeit though i am slightly compromising on the CDP until one day i can afford a better one. They comprise of...

1. Marantz SA-15S2 LE - Icon Audio LA4 mk3 - Icon Audio MB845 mk2 pair - Tannoy Kensington SE = £11350

or

2. Marantz SA-15S2 LE - Musical Fidelity M6PRE - Musical Fidelity M6PWR - PMC PB1i = £10800

I would expect these systems to be on the warm side of neutral based on my research of all components. Both the speaker choices are revealing but this doesnt have to mean forward or bright or harsh or fatiguing!. The Tannoy are extremely sensitive (92db) and 8ohm nominal so maybe dont require a full pre/power setup like the PMC's will surely benefit from. Also considered swapping speakers between systems




So chaps.... discuss :type:

Where to start with these two very different systems :?

I will start by saying that I have not heard any Tannoy speakers for many years but from memory they do have a Tannoy sound that you will either like or disslike so this is the first thing that you should check out .

The PMC PB1i's are quite different being quite neutral in other words you only hear what you put into them , they will not add warmth or colour so care is needed when choosing the source and amplifiers to use with them because they will not make anything sound better than it is .

I have not heard any of the components in the Tannoy system you list but from general experience I would expect it to sound very detailed and dynamic with a lovely sweet sounding midrange , vocals should be wonderfully smooth and silky with well recorded music .

To my ear this type of system has a flavour that is present all the time and if you like that flavour then it will be perfect for you and you will love it

The MF / PMC system should sound quite different , I would expect it to sound very large with an extremely powerful and dynamic sound with a detailed and explicit midrange that is not harsh but you do hear absolutely everything .

The bass depth and power and realness :shifty: with all the natural textures will astonish you and you will wonder how it is physically possible for a speaker the size of the PB1i .

I suppose the best way to describe the sound would be REAL just like live music .

Judging from you previous posts and the description of what you are looking for I would guess you may prefer the Icon / Tannoy system but you really need to get out and do some listening if you can .

Now if you were to stick an Electrocompaniet pre / power amp on the front of those PB1i's --------

 

[BigH]

You can get the Marantz cd upgraded by Fidelity Audio for about £550 or £890 depending on which level you choose.

 

[CnoEvil]

I pretty much agree with Electro.

IMO. I think you would be much happier with the Icon Audio amp, than the MF one (unless you can find an AMS 35i).

Speakers (as has been said) are a matter of taste, but I suspect the Tannoys will give you what you're after.

I look forward to what you decide......and try to get a listen if you can.

Cno

 

[megatombomb]

Good news folks...

I have ordered the Icon audio pre and power amp combo of the LA4mk3 and MB845's (mk2 signature).

To accompany them i will use a Marantz SA15s2 LE for cd/sacd.

I am now looking for speakers. The Tannoys are still high priority but i have heard that they are abit closed in and slow sounding from the dealer i bought the amps off. This seems to be at odds with what ive read and of course he doesnt sell these speakers so perhaps my cynical side isnt surprised about what he said.

However he is overwhelmingly enthusiastic about a brand of speaker called ART. They are fully handmade in Scotland and they have a new speaker about to launch a full 1 metre 3 way floorstander with 8in bass, mid and tweeter by SEAS. The suggestion has been made for him to send a demo pair with the icon audios in about 2 weeks so i can try them and return them if i dont like them which is fair enough.

So all in all i am very excited but must contain myself after the last disappointment. I dont anticipate any problems this time around so keep watching this space. If anyone else has speaker suggestions for valve power amps i'd love to hear them!

 

[Macspur]

Excellent news... CJSF has Icon amps and enjoying them very much.

ART are supposed to be a superb speaker, but not cheap! do you know much this new model will be?

Mac

 

[CnoEvil]

ART have a very good reputation, though I haven't heard them.

You have a great amp, so make sure you only buy speakers if you can hear them on the end of it.

Hi-Fi World matched the 845s with Kef R500s in it's review in their December edition to great effect......they found it worked really well, but needed the outer bung of the Kefs in place, to tame the bass.

I also think you should consider Kef Refs, as these mono blocks have considerable power on tap, and would (sonically) work well with them (imo).