What would you do?

[plastic penguin]

Here's a tempter...

I can locate a pair of PMC DB1is (new) at a great price. Once I sell the RS6s it works out as peanuts. They sound wonderful with Leema, Arcam, Naim but...

If I choose this route I won't have the chance to hear Kef 'R' range, ProAcs... this should be a no-brainer but I'll be knocking the Totems, as well, on the head.

Main hesitation is, obv, a small shortfall in bass. Not an issue with music but DVDs is another matter.

Sure I'll be happy with PMCs but I'll always wonder about the omitted brands.

What would you do?

 

[BronC]

How much are they 2nd hand? The difference is the amount you are gambling by getting them. Buy them - you can't make an omlett without breaking some eggs.

 

[CnoEvil]

Do you have time to hear the R Series before committing?....as you know, I think it's worth the effort.

 

[plastic penguin]

Do you have time to hear the R Series before committing?....as you know, I think it's worth the effort.

Probably could but not audition them and buy at the same time. The dealer in question has a yearly clearout but only over certain days, could be tricky.

Love the Totem Arros but are so limited when it comes to dealers, rarely see them on offer unless they are second hand.

Erm... (drums fingers on desk)

 

[John Duncan]

PP, I've just taken the liberty of mailing you.

 

[John Duncan]

Do you have time to hear the R Series before committing?....as you know, I think it's worth the effort.

Probably could but not audition them and buy at the same time. The dealer in question has a yearly clearout but only over certain days, could be tricky.

Love the Totem Arros but are so limited when it comes to dealers, rarely see them on offer unless they are second hand.

Erm... (drums fingers on desk)

Ah I get it now - Blue Murder time. £559 for a new pair in Walnut and the same price for ex dem in Oak.

 

[plastic penguin]

PP, I've just taken the liberty of mailing you.

Okay, JD, I'll have a butchers. Give us ten minutes. In the middle of putting th washing out (basket in hand as I type)

 

[chebby]

You've heard them before, you know you like them, why f###y around worrying about this and that and the other?

You don't have the time. (The average lifespan - especially at your age - just isn't long enough to listen to every permutation unless you make it a full-time activity for the next couple of years.)

Just get them and be happy and stop going to hi-fi shops (except to get a Nait 5i obviously).

 

[BigH]

If you have heard them and love them then buy them. From my own demo I did not like the DB1s at all, much preferred the Kef LS50s, really I think it is a matter of taste. Main thing about the DB1s was not lack of bass but lack of mid range.

Agree about Totems very hard to track down, same with Dynaudio. Seem to be a lot of good deals around at the moment.

 

[John Duncan]

Just get them and be happy and stop going to hi-fi shops (except to get a Nait 5i obviously).

I'd get the SuperUniti, it rocks.

 

[chebby]

Just get them and be happy and stop going to hi-fi shops (except to get a Nait 5i obviously).

I'd get the SuperUniti, it rocks.

Yeah I'd get some kind of 'Uniti too, but PP already has the CD5i and isn't interested in streaming.

 

[plastic penguin]

Nor do I want an all Naim set-up. Perfectly happy with the Leema. Remember, Chebby, at my age can't afford, at my crinkly age, to f**** about in hi-fi shops.

 

[John Duncan]

But it'd look so cool (and annoy people who say they're rubbish but haven't heard them).

 

[chebby]

Nor do I want an all Naim set-up.

I do (one day) but it would now have to be an all-in-one box and I can't afford any of them right now. (Especially with the speakers I want.)

 

[John Duncan]

I quite like two boxes, gives things a symmetry. UnitiQute on top of a UnitiServe looks the dogs (even though it's totally stupid money and still only 30w a side). Actually, that power amp they've just done for the desktop DAC would be cool...

 

[chebby]

I quite like two boxes, gives things a symmetry. UnitiQute on top of a UnitiServe looks the dogs (even though it's totally stupid money and still only 30w a side). Actually, that power amp they've just done for the desktop DAC would be cool...

The UnitiQute would do fine on it's own for me.

 

[John Duncan]

Yeah but no but. Oooooo...

 

[plastic penguin]

If you have heard them and love them then buy them. From my own demo I did not like the DB1s at all, much preferred the Kef LS50s, really I think it is a matter of taste. Main thing about the DB1s was not lack of bass but lack of mid range.

Agree about Totems very hard to track down, same with Dynaudio. Seem to be a lot of good deals around at the moment.

Read an awful lot about the LS50s need a fair bit of breathing space behind to work at their best. TBF, so do PMCs and MAs but having had first-hand experience of DB1s it seems like a fair shot. Although a big DB1 admirer they weren't 'night and day' better than the MAs.

 

[CnoEvil]

Read an awful lot about the LS50s need a fair bit of breathing space behind to work at their best. TBF, so do PMCs and MAs but having had first-hand experience of DB1s it seems like a fair shot. Although a big DB1 admirer they weren't 'night and day' better than the MAs.

It depends what you call "a fair bit"......I think it's pretty versatile, and has a 2 part bung in case there is a problem.

The R300s can get boomy without breathing room, but again, the outer bung greatly helps offset this.

 

[chebby]

Yeah but no but. Oooooo...

Yes but no but they are supposed to go side-by-side, with a gap between them, or spaced apart in a rack or shelves or whatever. At the very least you should put the amp above the source to give it ventilaton. (And that wouldn't look 'right'.)

(Why do they always show wrongly positioned gear in publicity photos and then tell you that's all wrong in the instructions?)

 

[plastic penguin]

Read an awful lot about the LS50s need a fair bit of breathing space behind to work at their best. TBF, so do PMCs and MAs but having had first-hand experience of DB1s it seems like a fair shot. Although a big DB1 admirer they weren't 'night and day' better than the MAs.

It depends what you call "a fair bit"......I think it's pretty versatile, and has a 2 part bung in case there is a problem.

The R300s can get boomy without breathing room, but again, the outer bung greatly helps offset this.

"fair bit" is my term as opposed actual comments made. Have read on this forum they need a decent amount of room from the back wall to work well. Again, this is entering the realms of the unknown for me.

Don't particularly like using bungs... knackers all the frequency response. That's why I admire the Totems so much. Not only do they sound the dogs, but are incredibly easy to site.

 

[ID.]

Unless you're prepared to do it with the thought that you could sell them on for little or no loss, I'd hold out for the totems. Taking into account my (poor) memory and your past posts, I think it's the totems you really want.

I'm sure you'd enjoy the PMCs, but as you say, you may be left wondering what you missed out on. That's without even getting into the issue of the R series, which are speakers that interest me, but I don't really have the room for them.

 

[chebby]

Yeah but no but. Oooooo...

Anyway. Defeats the point of an 'all in one' rather. (And adds another mains lead and another interconnect and another little slab of clutter and another box to store.)

However. It is only £650 and has 50watts per channel...

 

[CnoEvil]

Don't particularly like using bungs... knackers all the frequency response. That's why I admire the Totems so much. Not only do they sound the dogs, but are incredibly easy to site.

I agree with you about "full bungs", but the 2 part bung system that Kef uses works much better, as you can use only the outer part.

 

[the record spot]

Yeah but no but. Oooooo...

Anyway. Defeats the point of an 'all in one' rather. (And adds another mains lead and another interconnect and another little slab of clutter and another box to store.)

However. It is only £650 and has 50watts per channel...

Or you can get an Onkyo TX8050, which has 100wpc, and can be used either as a streamer, should you so wish, or as a straightforward amp. £350 in Superfi just now. * cough *

As to PP's dilemma. I feel his pain. Were it my cash, I'd audition a few. Deals come up all the time, it's just a case of knowing what you want and a bit of biding your time. Till something else comes along. Doh!