davedotco said:
Remember, a usb drive is essentially a 'dumb' device. For you to be able to access tracks the contents need to be 'catalogued' by the connected device, in this case the CD6005.
This can take some time and needs to be done every time you switch the CD6005 or the drive on or off, or disconnect the drive. It can get a little tedious. Some devices will simply not 'recognise' a large drive. Best to use smaller 'thumb' drives or smart devices like an iPad/Pod.
This is the main reason people buy more expensive NAS drives for their music.
hey, OP. That's a nice budget, and it's kind of bad that you can't audition.
But first tings first: Dave is right, you should be looking at geting a NAS (network attached storage) based streaming system. A very decent nas would be
Synology 214+, which you could equip with a couple of
Western Digital Red HDDs (
2 TB upwards, but each should be the same capacity). And if you're not computer savvy, you need to have someone install it for you, when you have the rest of your hi-fi. This will act like a sort of media server, and it will be connected to your router. You can store more then music, and can access from any LAN or wi-fi device in your home, such as smartphones, laptops, smart TVs or blu-ray players etc.
On to the hi-fi now. If you need both streaming capability and CD player, then some do it better then the others. For rock music especially, but not only, my favourite is Naim, and you should look at geting as little boxes as possible.
No. 1 recommendation:
- AMP:
Naim Uniti 2 - i'm recommending this because, frankly, it has everything you're looking for - only thing it can't do is act as a computer DAC, but other then that it has CD player, streaming, 2 optical and 2 coax digital inputs (for pairing with TV/Bluray player/whatever, and I think it even has a USB input for playing stuff from flash drives or external HDDs).
- SPEAKERS:
Sonus Faber Toy Tower,
Martin Logan Motion 20, or
Neat Motive SX2.
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2nd system: (if you can find ex-dem or a good deal to make this fit your budget).
- AMP:
Naim Nait XS2
- STREAMER:
Naim ND5XS
- CDP:
Sony BDP-S4200 (or 4200B) - this has a Coaxial digital out, which you can connect to one of the Naim ND5XS coaxial inputs, so basically the CDP will be spinning the disc, but the sound will be the Naim.
- SPEAKERS:
Neat Motive SX2,
Martin Logan Motion 20, or
Sonus Faber Toy Tower. I underlined the Neats here, because the Naim XS2/Naim ND5XS/Neat Motive SX2 is kind of like a system that's meant to work that way. I heard the Nait XS2 with Martin Logan Motion 40 and it rocked really hard, so the 20 should not be any worse.
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3rd system: (I haven't heard these particular components, but they should work well together, and seem to fit what you're looking for)
- AMP:
Arcam A39
- CDP/Streamer/DAC:
Arcam CDS27 - this can play CDs, stream and act as a computer DAC. Seems to tick all the boxes.
- SPEAKERS:
Martin Logan Motion 20,
XTZ 99.36 FLR, or
Sonus Faber Venere 2.5.
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4th system: this is cheaper, but it has the bennefit that most of the stuff is from an internet based company, so if you don't like how it sounds, you can send it back within 2 or 3 weeks (don't remember exactly). But I have heard them, and it's my go-to suggestion for their price range, and even more.
- AMP:
XTZ A100D3
- Streamer:
Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6 V2.
- CDP:
Sony BDP-S4200 (or S4200B) - again, you connect this to a coaxial digital input on the Stream Magic.
- SPEAKERS:
XTZ 99.36 FLR (or MKII if FLR is not available, you can email them for more details i guess) - mind you, the prices on their website are per speaker.
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Ok, that's about it. If it were my money, I would be looking at system 2 or 4. The first one is of course better then the fourth, but system 4 is WAAAY cheaper, and I would use the leftover money to sourt out an analogue rig
.
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