US HiFi for British Ears

[AlanS]

Hi

I moved to the US a few years back and have been trying to build up a decent bit of kit for listening to CDs. Trouble is the majority of the equipment here is either pretty dire stuff from the big box stores, or massively overpriced. Some of the stuff from the UK is available (Cyrus, Monitor Audio, Wharfdale, Epos, etc.) but not in my area and only by mail order which limits the pre-listening choices.

I managed to pick up a Cambridge Azur 640 Mk2 CD player and amp from a local store before it went out of business, and have a pair of Mission m71s that I brought over from the UK, and while the sound is better than anything else for that price point that I've heard I think its still missing something, and sounds a lot more aggressive than I'm used to. The kit is on stands with decent cabling.

So, any recommendations for upgrading, given the limited supply available here? I was thinking of upgrading the speakers first, with B&W and Epos as the first choices given supply. Any advice ?

Thanks,

Alan.

 

[Anonymous]

If I was you, I would look on Ebay for second-hand items.

Late 70s and earlish 80s were a good time for the US. They were importing plenty of products from Japan such as JVC, Pioneer and Technics. An unmolested or even rebuilt Pioneer SA-9800 is a fantastic amplifier from '79. This will give you a more relaxed sound but, with 100w/ch at 8ohms, is still amazingly powerful. My JVC, which I will recommend time and time again is absolutly fantastic and I prefer it to modern Rotels and Arcams and defiently the Cambridge because of its very upfront and somehow uninvolving sound. It is a JVC A-X400 from around '85. It provides 70 watts per channel and has a seven-band equaliser. Absolutly fantastic piece of kit which I got for £40.00, detailed, musical and yet more relaxed...Great news if your not playing Pantera or Metallica all the time!

You should be able to pick up a very similar amp in the US for around $60-100. Also try the JVC A-X(one digit) number like the A-X7.

I did a quick search for you on ebay US regarding speakers, there is a very wide choice of B&W speakers from places ranging from California to Maryland...and everywhere inbetween! Perhaps you should look at the B&W 800-series, or the 600 series. I'm sure you could get some fantastic boxes for around $600!

To summerise - stick to ebay and you will find a brilliant set of speakers and amp. I'm going to try my new speakers out on xmas day (not allowed to try them before), they are Wharfedale EVO2 30s...they might be what your looking for. I'll get back to you on how they sound!

Merry Christmas!

 

[Anonymous]

I suggest making a short trip somewhere. Here in the US you can find whatever you want. Low, medium, or HiFi and at all prices if you just know where to go.

What area are you in?

 

[Anonymous]

Definitely upgrade you speakers first.The speakers are not good enough for the rest of your set up.those speakers can also sound a little harsh at times. the canbridge set up should be aggressive when required but not overly so and not all the time. I had a set of monitor audio S1's which i have just sold and am now going to demo the Epos m5( if i can find anywhere with a set to demo), Monitor audio RS1 and B&w 686. You could do a lot worse than to try those 3 out. I have already heard the RS1's and 686's.Both were superb but it wason the end of a roksan kandy amp.The original S1's were good though,

 

[AlanS]

Thanks for the suggestions, that gives me something to take a look at.

For the other posters, thanks. I'm in Southern California and there are a few dealers here but they're pretty spread out and not many carry British stuff. I had a Cyrus 2 system in the UK and before I get on a plane to try that or any other stuff I'd like to get some suggestions from my peers as to what sounds good before I waste a trip. Ebay is an option but I've been burned by bad equipment in the past.

Has anyone tried the Epos 12.2 or the B&W 685's with a Cambridge setup?