Just wondering what the options are out there. I'm rather impressed with the Philips I picked up the other night. Cracking line in the midrange and bass tones, a decent but occasionally boisterous treble (not excessivley so, but does lend a slightly harder edge to some pieces, which is noticeable depending on the track) but overall, it tracks like a winner for the most part. Lots of little details that don't seem to surface in some ways with the Marantz. Equally, the Marantz does stuff the Philips doesn't do in return. Another tale for another time... I had a couple of emails with Brent at Audio Upgrades today who could do a job on the Philips, which would be around £300 or thereabouts, maybe a tad more depending on what I want doing. I see Net Audio (of whom I think Igglebert has some amp upgrade experience) and Trichord also have upgrade services. Normally, I'd have opted for the Marantz of the two, the latter being such an elderly machine, but the 850 is in such good condition, it's not far off new by looking at it. No knackered buttons, nice easy drawer mechanism etc., so I think I might go with that. However, I'd like to garner some opinions...anyone have any experience with similar upgrades themselves? It's not as if I've a warranty to worry about either and it could be a very cost effective upgrade. (Just need to convince myself that the improvement would be worth the spend; I'm listening to "Yours Is No Disgrace" off The Yes Album, one of my reference discs and the 850 really is turning in a bit of a fine performance here...all the detail, lovely full but not overblown bass, quite nippy really but not lightweight and guitar and bass guitar is good enough to almost feel the tension on the plucked string - very respectable!)
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Hey RS, you mention Marantz there.
I have an 2215 with a channel down and it needs a good looking at and service, do you anyone who i could contact to get it looked at?
I have an 2215 with a channel down and it needs a good looking at and service, do you anyone who i could contact to get it looked at?
shooter69:Hey RS, you mention Marantz there.
I have an 2215 with a channel down and it needs a good looking at and service, do you anyone who i could contact to get it looked at?
I took my Sansui amp into a local place in Edinburgh, and I'd guess most towns or cities in the UK would have a similar service. Try and find someone one won't charge you just to take a peek under the lid, one guy up had a flat £35 charge, then the rest on top, so a clean cost me £50. Money wasted as he completely missed a bunch of rotted capacitors which the other place cleaned out and replaced with new.
Doesn't need to be a recognised Marantz dealer either, but you could always contact them to see what they recommend perhaps?
I have an 2215 with a channel down and it needs a good looking at and service, do you anyone who i could contact to get it looked at?
I took my Sansui amp into a local place in Edinburgh, and I'd guess most towns or cities in the UK would have a similar service. Try and find someone one won't charge you just to take a peek under the lid, one guy up had a flat £35 charge, then the rest on top, so a clean cost me £50. Money wasted as he completely missed a bunch of rotted capacitors which the other place cleaned out and replaced with new.
Doesn't need to be a recognised Marantz dealer either, but you could always contact them to see what they recommend perhaps?
MattSPL:
I am thinking of getting my Arcam cd33 modified by Audiocom International.
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the process
Audiocom? I'll have a look and see. I'm in the middle of working out who might be the best, for the price involved and how much I can spend on the exercise. Tricky business. Never done this before so I don't want to screw up what is a pretty impressive player already - you probably know more about this than I do!
I am thinking of getting my Arcam cd33 modified by Audiocom International.
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the process
Audiocom? I'll have a look and see. I'm in the middle of working out who might be the best, for the price involved and how much I can spend on the exercise. Tricky business. Never done this before so I don't want to screw up what is a pretty impressive player already - you probably know more about this than I do!
I had my CD93 modified by audiocom. There was a slight problem with the superclock 4, it wouldnt work, so i ended up with both level 1 and 2 mods, minus the suplerclock.
The difference was immediately apparent. I was actually standing in front of the left speaker when the music started (cant remember what it was now) but it was obvious there was more clarity, and a sweetness to the top end. i then sat down and listened properly and was blown away.
Everything seemed much better. the depth of the soundstage was the one thing i was really hoping to improve and whereas before it was very 2D it is now very 3D. its quite immense and now a bit too much for my small room with the missions i am using. the bass is rather massive, and treble very sweet and clear, and the midrange sounds rather lovely too!
A point to note is that it has reduced the amount of usable volume i have now, before i could turn it up to 11 or so, but the 9 o'clock position is as far as i like to go now.
But all in all, it has made the player seem so much more alive in every way. Best 350 quid i have ever spent on hifi. I just wish i could hear it with a superclock 4 as well, just out of curiosity.
hope that helps.
The difference was immediately apparent. I was actually standing in front of the left speaker when the music started (cant remember what it was now) but it was obvious there was more clarity, and a sweetness to the top end. i then sat down and listened properly and was blown away.
Everything seemed much better. the depth of the soundstage was the one thing i was really hoping to improve and whereas before it was very 2D it is now very 3D. its quite immense and now a bit too much for my small room with the missions i am using. the bass is rather massive, and treble very sweet and clear, and the midrange sounds rather lovely too!
A point to note is that it has reduced the amount of usable volume i have now, before i could turn it up to 11 or so, but the 9 o'clock position is as far as i like to go now.
But all in all, it has made the player seem so much more alive in every way. Best 350 quid i have ever spent on hifi. I just wish i could hear it with a superclock 4 as well, just out of curiosity.
hope that helps.
the record spot:Thanks for the feedback - appreciate the comments.
glad i could finally help someone on the forum. i read it all the time but my hifi experience is too limited to be of much help most of the time so i just enjoy the banter and 'occasional' bit of good advice 😉
and i think it was you, but you persuaded me to keep the missions a few months back. so i modified the arcam instead, and am very happy, and although as i said they are too big for the room, i will get some mini monitors of some sort, i will not be getting rid of the missions. they are too good, they will be safely stored until the day i can get a listenning room to do them justice.
glad i could finally help someone on the forum. i read it all the time but my hifi experience is too limited to be of much help most of the time so i just enjoy the banter and 'occasional' bit of good advice 😉
and i think it was you, but you persuaded me to keep the missions a few months back. so i modified the arcam instead, and am very happy, and although as i said they are too big for the room, i will get some mini monitors of some sort, i will not be getting rid of the missions. they are too good, they will be safely stored until the day i can get a listenning room to do them justice.
My Marantz cd 6000 OSE KI was fitted with superclock 4 by audiocom nealy two years ago.
It did improve the clarity and dynamics noticeably. Definitely worth the money.
It did improve the clarity and dynamics noticeably. Definitely worth the money.
the_dude2:
I had my CD93 modified by audiocom. There was a slight problem with the superclock 4, it wouldnt work, so i ended up with both level 1 and 2 mods, minus the suplerclock.
The difference was immediately apparent. I was actually standing in front of the left speaker when the music started (cant remember what it was now) but it was obvious there was more clarity, and a sweetness to the top end. i then sat down and listened properly and was blown away.
Everything seemed much better. the depth of the soundstage was the one thing i was really hoping to improve and whereas before it was very 2D it is now very 3D. its quite immense and now a bit too much for my small room with the missions i am using. the bass is rather massive, and treble very sweet and clear, and the midrange sounds rather lovely too!
A point to note is that it has reduced the amount of usable volume i have now, before i could turn it up to 11 or so, but the 9 o'clock position is as far as i like to go now.
But all in all, it has made the player seem so much more alive in every way. Best 350 quid i have ever spent on hifi. I just wish i could hear it with a superclock 4 as well, just out of curiosity.
hope that helps.
Thanks for the post
When you say your usable volume has been reduced, is this because the increase in bass gets too much and pushes the speakers too much? Or for other reasons?
Cheers
Matt
I had my CD93 modified by audiocom. There was a slight problem with the superclock 4, it wouldnt work, so i ended up with both level 1 and 2 mods, minus the suplerclock.
The difference was immediately apparent. I was actually standing in front of the left speaker when the music started (cant remember what it was now) but it was obvious there was more clarity, and a sweetness to the top end. i then sat down and listened properly and was blown away.
Everything seemed much better. the depth of the soundstage was the one thing i was really hoping to improve and whereas before it was very 2D it is now very 3D. its quite immense and now a bit too much for my small room with the missions i am using. the bass is rather massive, and treble very sweet and clear, and the midrange sounds rather lovely too!
A point to note is that it has reduced the amount of usable volume i have now, before i could turn it up to 11 or so, but the 9 o'clock position is as far as i like to go now.
But all in all, it has made the player seem so much more alive in every way. Best 350 quid i have ever spent on hifi. I just wish i could hear it with a superclock 4 as well, just out of curiosity.
hope that helps.
Thanks for the post
When you say your usable volume has been reduced, is this because the increase in bass gets too much and pushes the speakers too much? Or for other reasons?
Cheers
Matt
the record spot:Doesn't need to be a recognised Marantz dealer either, but you could always contact them to see what they recommend perhaps?
Cheers RS, just emailed Marantz Europe about query so hopefully i'll get a reply forthwith. If i get no joy at Marantz i'll find a local dealer who may be able to help.
I've had the 2215 for a long time and i'm not really sure why i haven't let it go. If i can get it up and running i'll get some speakers and set it up in the boys room as his midi system broke down some time ago. Not sure how he would like it though!
Cheers RS, just emailed Marantz Europe about query so hopefully i'll get a reply forthwith. If i get no joy at Marantz i'll find a local dealer who may be able to help.
I've had the 2215 for a long time and i'm not really sure why i haven't let it go. If i can get it up and running i'll get some speakers and set it up in the boys room as his midi system broke down some time ago. Not sure how he would like it though!
hi trichord do a great upgrade superclock 2 for £71 whats worth a thought is its very easy to fit and you can fit it to your next player and the next so its very cost effective, you dont just spend the money on one player but you can fit it to your next players hope this helps
MattSPL - no it doesnt push the speakers too much, they can handle it just fine. Plus i think the bass is amplified by the room a little, but after the mod the bass just has more presence and sheer oomph, so as it is a small room the sound pressure level gets a bit too much. i find turning the amp up opens up the sound, but the volume is just too high to stand for a long periods, the speakers produce to much sound for the room size. so while the volume was at 10 before the mod, or 9 now, im not sure how relevant that is, but i thought it a little detail worth mentioning.
and for what its worth, i was thinking about my original post and thought i could add more, the sound is much more natural, vocals, guitars, you know, kinda everything really do sound better. i cant find the words to properly express what i want without it sounding to much like hyperbole, but it really was a great improvement.
and for what its worth, i was thinking about my original post and thought i could add more, the sound is much more natural, vocals, guitars, you know, kinda everything really do sound better. i cant find the words to properly express what i want without it sounding to much like hyperbole, but it really was a great improvement.
Yes exactly, there is more of everything.
And while i havent actually heard any high end players (must get to a show at some point), i get the feeling mine has moved up a league in performance. It definitely has an assured touch with cd's now. Thats not to say it doesn't also convey subtleties and quiet details very well too!
The chap at Audiocom i spoke to was also very helpful, due to the problems with the superclock 4, which did mean the mod took nearly 2 months, but i was always in contact with him and he gave good updates on his progress trying to find solutions, and as he couldnt find one - the SC4 just wouldnt work in my machine for unknown reasons - he made the offer of adding all the level 2 mods instead. It was a pleasure doing business with him.
Im just wondering what sort of mini monitors i could go for now, what the ideal pricing range to look at would be? Im quite desperate to get them as i think the smaller speakers would do it much more justice in my room - 3m x 3m.
Do you have any suggestions of what speakers work well on a bookshelf?
And while i havent actually heard any high end players (must get to a show at some point), i get the feeling mine has moved up a league in performance. It definitely has an assured touch with cd's now. Thats not to say it doesn't also convey subtleties and quiet details very well too!
The chap at Audiocom i spoke to was also very helpful, due to the problems with the superclock 4, which did mean the mod took nearly 2 months, but i was always in contact with him and he gave good updates on his progress trying to find solutions, and as he couldnt find one - the SC4 just wouldnt work in my machine for unknown reasons - he made the offer of adding all the level 2 mods instead. It was a pleasure doing business with him.
Im just wondering what sort of mini monitors i could go for now, what the ideal pricing range to look at would be? Im quite desperate to get them as i think the smaller speakers would do it much more justice in my room - 3m x 3m.
Do you have any suggestions of what speakers work well on a bookshelf?
AVI Neutron IVs. Brilliant little speakers, or the III, but I hear the IV is the one to go for if not the current V model. Check them out, they've a fine pedigree. Expect to pay around £400 for the Vs and not sure what the older models go for.
thanks, i had considered the V's, they seem to be a bit of a bargain.
I wonder if i would get much more out of the system from something like the Dali Mentor Menuet's at twice the price (allowing for diminishing returns somewhat as i cant believe the Dali's will be twice as good as the AVI's).
Edit - sorry, gone way off topic here!
I wonder if i would get much more out of the system from something like the Dali Mentor Menuet's at twice the price (allowing for diminishing returns somewhat as i cant believe the Dali's will be twice as good as the AVI's).
Edit - sorry, gone way off topic here!
LOL, np - happens occasionally round here...!
I'd be very surprised that the Dalis would be twice as good as the Neutrons. £400s money well spent there IMO, but obviously well worth checking out the competition just in case!
I'd be very surprised that the Dalis would be twice as good as the Neutrons. £400s money well spent there IMO, but obviously well worth checking out the competition just in case!
shooter69:
I've had the 2215 for a long time and i'm not really sure why i haven't let it go. If i can get it up and running i'll get some speakers and set it up in the boys room as his midi system broke down some time ago. Not sure how he would like it though!
He'll be best thanking his dad for having the good sense to let him see how some decent kit works...! That 2215's good gear y'know.
(But then I'm probably bound to say that with my track record!)
I've had the 2215 for a long time and i'm not really sure why i haven't let it go. If i can get it up and running i'll get some speakers and set it up in the boys room as his midi system broke down some time ago. Not sure how he would like it though!
He'll be best thanking his dad for having the good sense to let him see how some decent kit works...! That 2215's good gear y'know.
(But then I'm probably bound to say that with my track record!)
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