Where do we go from here?

[admin_exported]

Guys I have caught the upgrade bug, and I am thinking of adding a power amp, would the 8000P be the obvious choice?

Could anyone suggest any alternative ways to blow £300, or should I continue to save for the 'next level' upgrade?

Your opinions would be appreciated.

 

[chebby]

£300 would get you a Beresford Caiman or DacMagic DAC (and enough change for 7 or 8 months of Spotify or some good interconnects for the DAC.)

You could plug the BD-35's optical digital audio output into the DAC and your laptop too (via USB)

 

[Anonymous]

Would adding a DAC be a substantial upgrade over the 8000CD which is itself a £600 CDP, I did think about using the BD 35, however it is slow to use, and really relies on a TV for track selection etc.

Also I do have a laptop, but would probably prefer to stream is I was looking at a computer based set up.

 

[chebby]

white91:
Would adding a DAC be a substantial upgrade over the 8000CD which is itself a £600 CDP, I did think about using the BD 35, however it is slow to use, and really relies on a TV for track selection etc.

I was not suggesting you plug the CD player into the DAC. As you said, the 8000CD won't benefit. I am also not suggesting using the BD-35 as a CD player either.

The idea was to plug the BD-35's optical digital audio output into a seperate DAC to gain better sound quality from your DVDs and Blu-Rays. (Better than plugging it into the amp direct via the RCA phonos in my experience.)

white91: Also I do have a laptop, but would probably prefer to stream is I was looking at a computer based set up.

Just thinking you might enjoy Spotifiy, BBC iPlayer (radio), internet radio, iTunes etc. from your laptop.

If you were to upgrade your BD-35 to something like a Blu-Ray/DVD/HDD recorder (with Freeview or Freesat built in) you could also enjoy Freeview radio (far better quality than DAB and almost as good as a good FM tuner).

 

[the record spot]

If you're planning on going down the Caiman or other DAC route and streaming from your laptop, put the remaining £70 or so for the additional electricity costs associated with running a computer directly from the mains (given you'll need to charge the thing up in a laptop's case). They're power hungry suckers at the best of times!

Other than that, I'd be inclined to add a power amp, as quoted, or better still, get a used one in good condition and then get an internet radio which you can then use to stream wirelessly at lower cost (I think) without relying on your PC or laptop.

(I'd need to check the power requirements of an internet radio against a PC/laptop however but am assuming they are lower rated).

 

[Anonymous]

Ive got an 8000s and an 8000p, When i demoed my kit, i did think it sounded much better with the power amp involved. Ive heard your cdplayer, its a belter, i would of bought it but thought it took to long when loading and changing tracks, but it sounded absolutely awesome. I wouldnt be thinking of putting that through any dac its more than capable on its own.

I would try and get a demo of the power amp in action, well worth 300 pounds.

I choose my 8000s+8000p of everything, and i mean everything, else in the showroom!

The combo is so powerful together its unreal, was speaking to a rega dealer the other month and he was saying that having a more powerful amp than your speakers is the way forward, so all good, he also said bi-amp, but power your tweeters from the 8000p and bass from the 8000s, but not tried that yet. Anyhows id recommend the power amp.

dave

 

[chebby]

reggaedave:The combo is so powerful together its unreal...

Assuming the OP needs that much power.

We are not all on a quest to get more and more volume out of our systems with each upgrade.

As for dealers.. show me a dealer who would NOT encourage bi-amping at every possible opportunity. (Twice the profit, more cables etc. ker-ching!)

Unless the amp is hopelessly underpowering the speakers (and I don't think the Audiolab 8000S could ever be accused of being underpowered with up to 25 amps of output current) or the OP's speakers are extremely inefficient (Mission V63 are actually quite efficient at 89db into 8ohms) then adding an 8000P is surely just a 'volume' rather than a 'quality' move?

 

[Anonymous]

I see what your saying, and yeah you are right. When i chose my audiolabs i felt that the sound generally felt more detailed and controlled with the power amp inc, than with just the standalone 8000s. If someone was using an 8000s then a next step could well be a power amp, monoblock add on.

Hell i went in looking at intergrated amps! ha!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all your thoughts guys.

I am aiming for the best I can in terms of listening, and for that I want to stick to cd (for now).

For ease of use, I have an ipod classic to plug in. Don't listen to much radio outside of the car, but Spotify I think is great so that is an area I will look into.

My reasons for posting were really to see where I could spend my money to improve the system, and also how much I would need to spend. In regard to a DAC for the blu ray, that is a possibility, although I will want to eventually go 5.1, so I will probably get a decent surround amp to take care of film duties.

For hi fi, it seems the next logical step would be an 8000P (or two 8000M?), but all benefits considered, would it offer more value to save for a Naim set-up, which I consider to sound very good.

Finally a quick point about cables, now have a Mark Grant interconnect, Chord speaker cable, I also recently added a mains cable to the CDP (Wattgate IEC and Clipsal plug), not totally convinced it made a huge difference, but could get one for the amp, these are all run through a Tacima cs929, I guess I need to play around with cables to see what I like. It seems crazy I could blow the price of a 8000P on a cable!!