Upgrade...streamer or Cds....help please.

Womaz

New member
Dec 27, 2011
88
0
0
Visit site
I have had my system around 9 years now.

Arcam Diva A85 AMP

Arcam Diva CD82

Quad 22L speakers

Black Rhodium symphony interconnect

Black Rodium AST speaker cable bi wired

Arcam Ir DOCK FOR I pod

I am looking to spend around 2.5k to replace the existing kit.

I thought that by spending this amount that with the improvement in technology that I would get a much better system, but on visiting my local hifi shop I am now not convinced.

I mainly used the Cd player and I pod for convenience, the I pod will however not be used through the hi fi after listening to the difference lately….yes I got lazy for a little while ;-)

My local shop is very keen to push streamers and suggested the Naim Uniti, or the Linn Majik. Both sounded excellent I have to admit. I am still not sure though that a streamer is the way t go for me. The two mentioned are very expensive on my budget, and I also feel that I would need new speakers too if I went down this route.

Also the Naim Uniti is a one unit affair and I have always had it drummed into me that separates are the way to go.

I considered the cheaper NP30, but of course they scoffed at this as its only £400.

So now I am very confused……any suggestions or help will be greatly appreciated.
 
T

the record spot

Guest
They "scoffed" eh? I wouldn't give them the time of day. Take your money elsewhere where they'll let you express an opinion without fear of ridicule. As for streamers, also check out Sony's SMP-200 which supersedes last year's -100. It's around £120. There are so many options, it's hard to give you a concrete list, but I'd suggest you don't need to blow that amount. Your amps and speakers are still good, so don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Technology is changing as is how we access music. Twelve months ago, I probably wouldn't have looked at the Onkyo I'm using just now (it hadn't been released for one thing, doh!), but I get music from so many sources a bog standard amp didn't cut it. Far too limiting. A one box solution (which the Onkyo is) let me achieve what I needed. I still have a CD player and a turntable, but the Western Digital hard drive holds hundreds of albums in WAV file format, but also 192 and 320 kbps MP3 too. Everything sounds good. There's no reason why you shouldn't go for something similar, moreso if you feel the need to downsize the boxcount.

You absolutely do not need to spend that amount, to get good sound, but of course, by all means do. Just go to a dealer who'll let you come to the decision you feel is right for you without pressure.
 

Womaz

New member
Dec 27, 2011
88
0
0
Visit site
Thanks for the prompt reply. I have 2.5k to spend but after visiting the store I am not sure that I need to, or want to now.

I thought that for say £600 to £800 per bit of kit that I would be able to get a much superior system.

I am tempted to stick with what I have and maybe replace the CD player, or look at a cheaper streamer as I am a little confused by what this will offer me.

The Naim Uniti sounded amazing in the store but it was paired with a £1500 pair of speakers. It really is difficult to get advice these days as I felt that a streamer was all he was interestd in pushing. I am still not comvinced this will give me better sound quality than my current CD player.
 

Womaz

New member
Dec 27, 2011
88
0
0
Visit site
Thanks for the prompt reply. I have 2.5k to spend but after visiting the store I am not sure that I need to, or want to now.

I thought that for say £600 to £800 per bit of kit that I would be able to get a much superior system.

I am tempted to stick with what I have and maybe replace the CD player, or look at a cheaper streamer as I am a little confused by what this will offer me.

The Naim Uniti sounded amazing in the store but it was paired with a £1500 pair of speakers. It really is difficult to get advice these days as I felt that a streamer was all he was interestd in pushing. I am still not comvinced this will give me better sound quality than my current CD player.
 

DandyCobalt

New member
Oct 8, 2010
203
0
0
Visit site
A streamer is only as good as the stream - a poor wifi connection will make you think you have bought a broken CD player.

I've tried Airplay via apple tv, and the stream keeps breaking - music was not create to be listened to like that.

Spotify via Virgin isn't really streaming as TiVo has a dedicated 10mb cable feed.

Perhaps you should dip a toe in the water with a cheap streaming solution, and then see whether it really is for you, or not?

Streamers seem to be flavour of the month/year in the way 3d tvs were last year - something to do with increasing/creating markets, but not necessarily in the best interests of the creative content that they are the vehicles for.

Have you considered a turntable ? >)
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Womaz said:
It really is difficult to get advice these days as I felt that a streamer was all he was interestd in pushing. I am still not comvinced this will give me better sound quality than my current CD player.

Two solutions that I looked at which allows you to "dip your toe" so to speak are (a) SONOS and (b) Squeezebox Touch.

The SONOS will also require a NAS or networked drive, the Squeezebox will require a beefier NAS or PC/laptop from which to store your ripped music files. Both devices have a built in DAC, there are plenty of threaeds regarding the Squeezebox and its a great little player with lots of functionality, good sound quality and great UI.
 

Womaz

New member
Dec 27, 2011
88
0
0
Visit site
My old vinyl was all sold off.

I was told that the broadband speed did not matter if I was using a streamer if all of the music was on NAS drive.

To be honest I am now even more convinced to stick with my Cd Player, or upgrade it.

I might try the Cambridge NP30 as an experiment, but will this sound better than my Cd player?...

My CD player still sounds awesome, I just thoght that with the above budget that I would get a much superior system to what I currently have. I am now not so sure.

I am not really up on all the streaming/Nas drive technology and what it can do for my music. I never listen to radio, and always play my own music so would not use Spotify or any other source yet....who knows in the future though.

Thanks for all the help.
 

Womaz

New member
Dec 27, 2011
88
0
0
Visit site
Two solutions that I looked at which allows you to "dip your toe" so to speak are (a) SONOS and (b) Squeezebox Touch.

The SONOS will also require a NAS or networked drive, the Squeezebox will require a beefier NAS or PC/laptop from which to store your ripped music files. Both devices have a built in DAC, there are plenty of threaeds regarding the Squeezebox and its a great little player with lots of functionality, good sound quality and great UI.

Will this give superior sound quality to my CD player?
 

AlmaataKZ

New member
Jan 7, 2009
295
1
0
Visit site
havng recently gone through a system overhaul and havnig researched and auditioned a lot, my advice remains:

- streamer (e.g. SB Touch, Sonos or similar)

- active sepakers (e.g. AVI adm9T (includes preamp), Adam Artist or similar)

- sub (if budget still allows)

- storage and mgt on computer and/or NAS, control from smartphone/ipad app

This way your budget gets you modern sustem with excellent sound and conveniece that are hard to beat at 5 times the budget.
 
T

the record spot

Guest
If it's of any help, I use WAV files in the main, though on the WD hard drive connected to the Onkyo, there's a mix of 192, 320 kbps MP3s too. I'm currently listening to Peter Gabriel's albums, most of which were original issues, or very early if not. Sound quality is as good as the CDP I use (the Marantz) and I'm delighted with it.

The thing is to manage your level of expectation I think. If you think you're going to be "blown away" by a major step-up, that's maybe not the best platform to start off with, though many of us do. You do have a good amp, source and speakers. Your CDP probably won't be bettered in a hurry by anything new either, so you might be spending for the sake of it.

Do some reading up on this stuff; I was baboozled at first too, so you're not alone! In the end, I went for Exact Audio Copy (which is more commonly known as EAC), a free application downloaded to my laptop. I rip everything to WAV and store it on the laptop and then to the external hard drive. Once you get used to it, it's a nice easy process. Other services are available (iTunes, dbpoweramp, Media Monkey and so on) and many are free. Find the one you like and take it from there.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Womaz said:
Will this give superior sound quality to my CD player?

I can't answer that since I have no idea how your CD82 sounds, however the Squeezebox Touch has a good DAC in it, so I would think it would sound at least as good. And you can easily upgrade the SBT by adding a superior DAC, so using the Touch as a digital streamning transport.

There again, you could just buy a better DAC and use your CD player as a transport since it has digital outputs :) It all depends on what you want...good sound quality, convenience, upgradability, ease of use etc.
 

Womaz

New member
Dec 27, 2011
88
0
0
Visit site
I really appreciate all the replies, been a great help........to answer the question....sound quality is what I am looking for.

I got lazy for a year or so and purchased from I tunes. Last month i listened to my CD player for the first time in months and the quality was excellent. I then replaced all of the stuff I had purchaed on I tunes with CDs......costly but I thought it was worth it.

To me, and I am no expert the Streamers look like its all about convenience, and nice flashy control pads. None of that bothers me. For now I have decided to buy CDs again.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Sounds like you should stick with your existing setup then, and if you have money to spend, spend it on upgrading your CD player/amp/speakers etc. :cheers:
 

Womaz

New member
Dec 27, 2011
88
0
0
Visit site
@ Dr Lodge

That is what I originally thought until my visit to the shop. Thank you for all the help. Much appreciated.
 

Womaz

New member
Dec 27, 2011
88
0
0
Visit site
I suppose that brings me back to square one.

With a budget of 2.5k will I better my exising set up?..............or will it not be worth spending that much as I wont see a significant improvement?.

To be honest I thought with the advances in technology that it would be worth is as 2.5k buys decent kit.

Yes it is all about the sound quality for me.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Womaz said:
I really appreciate all the replies, been a great help........to answer the question....sound quality is what I am looking for.

I got lazy for a year or so and purchased from I tunes. Last month i listened to my CD player for the first time in months and the quality was excellent. I then replaced all of the stuff I had purchaed on I tunes with CDs......costly but I thought it was worth it.

To me, and I am no expert the Streamers look like its all about convenience, and nice flashy control pads. None of that bothers me. For now I have decided to buy CDs again.

If your really serious about sound quality and I mean serious, there is no substitute for CD. On my system the difference between all forms of music replay is laid bare and its obvious the things that either MP3 or streaming is diminishing in terms of life dynamics and in room prescence. Just how difficult is it to find and place a silver disc in a tray?
 

AlmaataKZ

New member
Jan 7, 2009
295
1
0
Visit site
Womaz, your budget *will* buy you a very significant improvement. Try this, you will be impressed:

sb touch into AVIs or Adam audio artist 3 (or 5). total cost is 800 to 1700 (assuming you have a pc - if not, 400 is added for a nas) - 200 for Sb touch, 1100 for avi, 600 for artist 3. add a sub for a grand you *will' be blown away by increase in sound quality.

sonons or any other streamer (pick on functinality and looks) will work as good.
 

Womaz

New member
Dec 27, 2011
88
0
0
Visit site
@ Spectre

I think thats what I have concluded too.....so why would the Hifi retailer who knew my budget not direct me to this route.

Frustrating!!

Thanks for the help.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Womaz said:
@ Spectre

I think thats what I have concluded too.....so why would the Hifi retailer who knew my budget not direct me to this route.

Frustrating!!

Thanks for the help.

I'm sure its because this is what a lot of customers are requesting, its where the current market trend is and the misguided beleif that this is the "future". Also there is an entire generation (my wife is 17 years younger) thats never heard the differences between formats on a system that exposes these newer music delivery systems for what they are. My wife is now a complete audiophile convert.
 

tino

Well-known member
Sep 29, 2011
135
10
18,595
Visit site
Spectre said:
Womaz said:
I really appreciate all the replies, been a great help........to answer the question....sound quality is what I am looking for.

I got lazy for a year or so and purchased from I tunes. Last month i listened to my CD player for the first time in months and the quality was excellent. I then replaced all of the stuff I had purchaed on I tunes with CDs......costly but I thought it was worth it.

To me, and I am no expert the Streamers look like its all about convenience, and nice flashy control pads. None of that bothers me. For now I have decided to buy CDs again.

If your really serious about sound quality and I mean serious, there is no substitute for CD. On my system the difference between all forms of music replay is laid bare and its obvious the things that either MP3 or streaming is diminishing in terms of life dynamics and in room prescence. Just how difficult is it to find and place a silver disc in a tray?

If I may be so brash ... I think you have both drawn the wrong conclusions. Streamers or network players are not all about convenience, although they do offer very versatile library management, selection and playback facilities. They are also capable of delivering excellent audio quality if the source material and subsequent processing and digital to analogue conversion is capable enough. A CD player is a optoelectronic / rotating mechanical streamer of digital information plus a DAC but all hidden in a one box solution. A streamer removes the mechanical aspect although you could argue that a hard disk drive amounts to the same thing.

Lossy MP3s or AACs from iTunes may not be the best source format. Buying CDs is a better solution, because it leaves you the option to play them directly, or rip them losslessly to hard disk to then play them via a streamer at some point in the future. So it's a win win situation assuming the same material was not available in digital format at a higher (possibly better) resolution.

I would say for the same money a streamer (or computer) + good DAC should be capable of sounding equivalent to or better than a CD player.

PS Don't overlook some of the value add features of streamers such as internet radio, random play selection of your entire library (not just what fits on a single CD), streaming from web services like Spotify, Last.fm etc. etc. My Squeezebox touch even acts as a digital photo frame!
 
T

the record spot

Guest
Spectre said:
Womaz said:
I really appreciate all the replies, been a great help........to answer the question....sound quality is what I am looking for.

I got lazy for a year or so and purchased from I tunes. Last month i listened to my CD player for the first time in months and the quality was excellent. I then replaced all of the stuff I had purchaed on I tunes with CDs......costly but I thought it was worth it.

To me, and I am no expert the Streamers look like its all about convenience, and nice flashy control pads. None of that bothers me. For now I have decided to buy CDs again.

If your really serious about sound quality and I mean serious, there is no substitute for CD. On my system the difference between all forms of music replay is laid bare and its obvious the things that either MP3 or streaming is diminishing in terms of life dynamics and in room prescence. Just how difficult is it to find and place a silver disc in a tray?

I couldn't disagree more. I use WAV files from the below Western Digital as well as my CDP, also WAV files from DLNA connectivity to my laptop wirelessly through the Onkyo. Lastly the WD HDD also has MP3 291 & 320 files thereon. They all sound good and the CDP is by no means the best of the bunch. Very good yes, but no better than the same files off the external hard drive going through the Onkyo's excellent DAC.

The resolution is excellent, the Tannoys are very revealing speakers and recordings are heard "as they are" which I enjoy. Not much in the way of a hiding place for recordings here and that's the critical thing IMO - the underlying recording quality which will sound good almost irrespective of the replay format.
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts