Question Suggestions for foundational parts of a longer term vinyl setup

[RTHerringbone]

Thanks guys. I have a loose plan now which will be spread over (at least) several months - more likely a couple of years.

I'm going to demo some speakers at the local Richer Sounds in the coming weeks. I'm setting myself a budget of ~£1,000 per component now as that feels like it should be enough of a jump from my current kit and if that extra spend doesn't produce audible results, then I'll stick with what I have. Taking on board the above, I need to move on from reading about and watching reviews, to plonking myself down in front of stuff and listening to it.

I'm going speakers first largely from a political perspective - my wife won't be as annoyed if I replace kit that she knows is 15+ years old. I've earmarked the KEF LS50 Meta and B&W 707 S3's as my two contenders, having read and watched about a number of options roughly around that price point. My amp should just about have enough grunt to drive them and IF there's an audible improvement then that leaves the door open for me to upgrade to a more powerful amp when the dust settles. I notice that Sevenoaks bundle my amp with these speakers so hopefully that implies they're not a woeful mismatch.

Happy for any suggestions about other speakers to audition, and any feedback as to whether or not the general plan is in the wrong order etc.

 

[Al ears]

Thanks guys. I have a loose plan now which will be spread over (at least) several months - more likely a couple of years.

I'm going to demo some speakers at the local Richer Sounds in the coming weeks. I'm setting myself a budget of ~£1,000 per component now as that feels like it should be enough of a jump from my current kit and if that extra spend doesn't produce audible results, then I'll stick with what I have. Taking on board the above, I need to move on from reading about and watching reviews, to plonking myself down in front of stuff and listening to it.

I'm going speakers first largely from a political perspective - my wife won't be as annoyed if I replace kit that she knows is 15+ years old. I've earmarked the KEF LS50 Meta and B&W 707 S3's as my two contenders, having read and watched about a number of options roughly around that price point. My amp should just about have enough grunt to drive them and IF there's an audible improvement then that leaves the door open for me to upgrade to a more powerful amp when the dust settles. I notice that Sevenoaks bundle my amp with these speakers so hopefully that implies they're not a woeful mismatch.

Happy for any suggestions about other speakers to audition, and any feedback as to whether or not the general plan is in the wrong order etc.

Sounds like a plan. There are other speakers I could suggest but it all depends on whether or not you can actually audition them, and that's the problem for many.

 

[RTHerringbone]

When I audition stuff at Richer Sounds, I have an issue - they don't stock Rega at all and they don't stock the WiiM Mini either. I'm not lugging my stuff there as I'll be going on the train.

I am now intending to audition speakers AND amps because I'm like that. Is it too simplistic to hope / assume that if I audition those components alongside a budget CD player as a source, that I'll be hearing the combined influence of the amp / speakers rather more than any flavour the CD player might add (it seems unlikely to add much influence?), and that those sound characteristics should be retained if / when I buy these components and get them home to my sources?

 

[Al ears]

When I audition stuff at Richer Sounds, I have an issue - they don't stock Rega at all and they don't stock the WiiM Mini either. I'm not lugging my stuff there as I'll be going on the train.

I am now intending to audition speakers AND amps because I'm like that. Is it too simplistic to hope / assume that if I audition those components alongside a budget CD player as a source, that I'll be hearing the combined influence of the amp / speakers rather more than any flavour the CD player might add (it seems unlikely to add much influence?), and that those sound characteristics should be retained if / when I buy these components and get them home to my sources?

Ultimately, when you audition a system, the main components you really need to audition, preferably at home, are the source and the speakers. The amplifier assuming it has sufficient power to drive the speakers, is not critical.

 

[RTHerringbone]

This would have been a very long post if I'd posted the original, but nobody needs that

Auditioning day was Saturday and the conclusion on amp was: either the Arcam A5 or A15 sounded "better" to me than the Audiolab 7000A. There wasn't much in it and I suspect my previous Arcam experience (I had an A18 FMJ 15-20 years ago) and the aesthetics played a part. I felt that maybe to my ears the Arcam's were more coherent and musical, whereas the Audiolab was a bit clinical and perfunctory. It was splitting hairs really.

Speakers were perhaps easier to judge. The B&W 707s and KEF LS50 Meta's are both similar in stature to my RX-1s and both sounded markedly better than my RX-1s (though that's through superior amps to my PM6007). Obviously the demo room played a part as it isn't a kitchen and doesn't have a kitchen island where the optimum listening spot would be.

The KEFs seemed more versatile in the sense that the presentation felt more consistent regardless of where I moved in the room and that's important with how our Hi-Fi is positioned. The B&W's seemed to create spots in the room where they felt a little muted and less "full". In my head, I had visions of a sort of sweeping 3D arc of sound from the KEFs and more rigid columns of sound coming from the B&W. I did also feel that the B&W were struggling a bit with high frequencies. I can't put a finger on it but they seemed like they'd possibly be a bit of a challenge to listen to for a prolonged period.

So the KEFs won my vote here and in spite of personally thinking that the A5s worked fine with them at the volumes I listened at (lots of online blather cites how hard they are to drive and you MUST HAVE MORE POWER), I am pretty much decided on getting the A15 with the LS50 Meta, which no doubt was influenced by the fact that I know Peter Tyson bundle them on budget. The A15 theoretically gives me a more versatile platform that the A5 moving forwards and I *think* there's some argument that it'll push "cleaner" power to the speakers than the smaller sibling.

It's a flawed audition and many factors inevitably mean it couldn't be like-for-like with our home environment, but you have to draw a line somewhere. I'm set to take the plunge tomorrow (just waiting on a guitar sale to take the edge off this splurge) - are there any observations, similar experiences, words of warning or other recommendations that I should consider before dusting off the wallet?

 

[RTHerringbone]

The guitar sale is being held up by 24 hours so that means more procrastination. Make me stop.

Is there any sensible reason why I would get an Arcam A25 over the A15 given the relatively small listening room (really it's 5m x 4.5m, but as it's open plan it could be viewed as 10m x 4.5)? I'm conscious that I'm tying size and power together and could be wrong to do so.

We'll never want to play loud but are there other benefits to more power that I'll get? I'm just falling for the way Peter Tyson bundles work. It's basically £100 more than the A15 bundle with LS50 Meta and the price difference between the amps is £400, so it feels like there's some level of value there - but is it value that will translate to my circumstances?

A15 puts out 80w at 8Ω and 120w at 4Ω, compared to 100w and 165w respectively on the A25. The A25 bizarrely is in a smaller shell than the A15 and weighs 1kg less. The A25 is a Class G compared to the A/B of the A5 and A15 and has a slightly "better" DAC.

Is it an extra £100 well spent or a totally insignificant upgrade given the constraints of the room?

 

[Al ears]

The guitar sale is being held up by 24 hours so that means more procrastination. Make me stop.

Is there any sensible reason why I would get an Arcam A25 over the A15 given the relatively small listening room (really it's 5m x 4.5m, but as it's open plan it could be viewed as 10m x 4.5)? I'm conscious that I'm tying size and power together and could be wrong to do so.

We'll never want to play loud but are there other benefits to more power that I'll get? I'm just falling for the way Peter Tyson bundles work. It's basically £100 more than the A15 bundle with LS50 Meta and the price difference between the amps is £400, so it feels like there's some level of value there - but is it value that will translate to my circumstances?

A15 puts out 80w at 8Ω and 120w at 4Ω, compared to 100w and 165w respectively on the A25. The A25 bizarrely is in a smaller shell than the A15 and weighs 1kg less. The A25 is a Class G compared to the A/B of the A5 and A15 and has a slightly "better" DAC.

Is it an extra £100 well spent or a totally insignificant upgrade given the constraints of the room?

I would say yes, if you can afford it go for the A25.
Class G amps can be constructed in smaller boxes, as you note, down to the other components necessary to create an amplifier per se.
More power doesn't mean you can simply play louder but that the speakers are more easily driven and controlled, the power into a 4ohm load can be important. Some amplifiers can deliver twice their 8ohm figure into 4ohm load.
Get a pair of less efficient speakers in the future and you might regret not going for the A25.

 

[RTHerringbone]

Bad news and good news.

The guitar sale fell through 😥

But I just ordered the A25 and LS50 Meta's anyway 🥳

I can afford it and just wanted the minor offset of the guitar proceeds to make me feel marginally less extravagant, but really I don't care and figured that life's too short to dawdle. I've bumped the length of the free supplied cable up to the length I need, and really these items plus the Rega Planar 1 should largely be it for me for a long time.

Having said that.....I'll always leave the door open for options to replace the WiiM in future, and I need a dedicated bit of furniture to house this kit and our record collection. Any recommendations welcome there too.

EDIT: I've discovered Lägom Studio online and their furniture seems very flexible and reasonably priced.

EDIT2: I like that Lägom Studio stuff so much I've enquired about a small bit of bespoking to their Solna cabinet:

Solna - ISO Tower Vinyl Storage Cabinet With Amp Shelf

Organize your vinyl collection with the Solna Iso Tower LP storage unit. This vinyl record cabinet features an amp shelf for a stylish, functional setup.

lagom-studio.co.uk