Wharfedale 10.1 w/ Cambridge Audo AM10 & a few queries

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Hi, I've been trying to get my head around the whole audio industry for a long time now, (much longer than other industries I've tried to understand, but that's to be expected considering the decades this industry has been around!), and I think I'm finally getting there with this one, and I've whittled my questions down to the ones I can't find any answers to through googling..

So basically I've been looking for a set-up that would cost in total around £400. I've got my eyes set on the Wharfedale 10.1's (and what better time to get them than when they've been out for months and are starting to be reduced before the new season of speakers, whenever that may be..), and my only concern is an amp. I had a browse round Richer Sounds the other day and the guy recommended the Cambridge Audio AM10, and it's the same price as the speakers so I guess that's a good place to start. My only concern is that all the impedance listings for amps say they're meant for powering/'driving'(?) 8ohm speakers, but the Wharfedale's are 6ohm nominal, and from my research this doesn't seem to be a huge problem unless you're playing music at a consistently high volume - which I am planning to do quite a lot. My main use for this system is for my new student house, house party's and such. So I don't want to overheat the amp everytime I do that, or risk destroying my speakers.. Another concern is that I read it's best to get an amp that is double the RMS power rating of the speakers.. for what reason I do not understand, but I read it off a linked article on wikipedia and will happily find it again if anyone is that bothered, but I assume that 35W/channel for 100W speakers is perfectly fine, or they wouldn't have been recommended to me..

My other issue is how I'm going to actually get my music to play on the system.. The perfect option would just be to plug my laptop into the amp, but I've read headphone-out sockets can be 'noisy', and there's no line-out socket on this budget laptop, so I don't know what to do, unless there's some way of connecting a USB cable directly into the amp, would be a digital signal directly from the laptop to the amp then so no analogue conversions (another plus).. I guess there isn't any point in having such an expensive system if I'm just going to be using a headphone-out... This leads me to a compromise of an iPod dock - which while nowhere near as practical - would be a solution, if it can provide a better sound..

So really it would be great if I could just have some comments on my 'questions', more my thoughts than questions, but all the same, would be great for some feedback! Absolutely cannot wait any longer to get my first system up and running, very excited!

Cheers
 

Craig M.

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unless you buy an amp with onboard dac and usb input, you are limited to headphone out. the other option is a seperate dac with usb input.

something like this.
 

basshead

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hii too am a student and use my system in my student house for parties, at loud volumes. i mainly use it for mixing DnB, min tech and dubstep.

i originally had the wharfedale 9.1's with a CA azur 540a v2 amp.... as good as this was, the bass was lacking and i blew one of the tweeters through constant exessive volume :(

i now use a pair of 2nd hand B&W 601 s2 speakers with a nad c325bee amp.... far better for parties, better bass, can handle the loud volumes without taking a battering and generally is a great set up for your situation.

so my advice...... by 2nd hand off ebay, get a nad amp and b&w speakers, either 601's or 602's (even more bass :) )....... at least that way if you do break them, they were only 2nd hand and cheaper to replace! my set up cost under £200

oh and i use a beresford DAC, cost around £100.
 

theo12

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Agree with Basshead, I have a pair of DM602 S3's and they don't need much pushing to rock the house.

You can pick a pair up from E-bay for £150 or less, believe me you will party your heads off with a pair of these.
 
A

Anonymous

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Hey,

I've run a Cambridge Audio A1 amp for a long time and it served me really well; it did also worked fine when changed the speakers to Monitor Audio Platinum - we actually thought we would have set the amp on fire...it still drove enough power to reach a very good volume level
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I'd suggest to go and listen to it and just pick the one that sounds the way you like..
 

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