Wireless setup with powered speakers

[ARRLTTS67]

All, I want some advice on upgrading my audio system.

It currently consists of :

Apple Airport Express, connected directly to Audioengine A5+ (powered speakers)

Wireless streaming is essential to me, and I use iTunes, so Airplay is a must. My iTunes library is lossless/FLAC and I like to think I appreciate quality music. If I didnt want a wireless streaming solution I would happily spend £500 on some decent speakers and £400 on a decent amp.

My research suggests that one obvious upgrade for my system would be to got a steamer/amp, something like the Cambridge Audio CXN or Pioneer N-50A. Would either of these work with my Audioengine speakers?

 

[davedotco]

There are a lot of ways to skin this particular cat, a lot of it will come down to functionality and how and where you store your music.

For example, if all your music is stored on an iThing, then an AEX plus A5s give you what you want in a simple and inexpensive package, on the otherhand, streaming from a computer or NAS will need some sort of streamer to select, handle and control your music. it depends on what you need.

A really complete solution might be the Cambridge streamer, the Streamagic 6 is a lot cheaper than the new CXN at £399 and a pair of fully active Yamaha HS5s will handily outperform the A5s. Either Cambridge models have pre-amp functions to control the speakers and they have full streaming capability, Airplay, internet radio and music services such as Spotify connect, pretty much everything in fact.

This is one solution, there are hundreds out there.

 

[ARRLTTS67]

Many thanks for that. I think you got where I am at.

APexpress+A5s, do meet the minimum requirements. All my (losless) music is in iTunes so the whole setup works seamlessly.

If I had £1000 to spend how would I make it better, I guess is my question.

Your suggestion seems to be, a better streamer, i.e. replace the APexpress with something like the Cambridge Audio Streammagic 6, and then also upgrade the speakers. From my reading the HS5s are similar to the A5+ so I would assume something more like the HS8 would give a noticable upgrade.

This setup would indeed be around £1000, however I am keen to hear of other ways (to skin a cat). Is there a better combination, or better investments for me, assuming I plan to stay in the sudiophile game for the long run.

Thanks y'all

 

[davedotco]

If everything is on your iThing, then a streamer is probably overkill, you need to think of your needs now and in the future.

The A5s a rather nice product, as a simple, complete solution for the desktop, they are excellent. They are powered speakers, ie conventional speakers with a build in stereo amp, and they are 'voiced' to sound like hi-fi speakers, ie warm and a bit soft.

The Yamahas are fully active, with all the performance advantages that gives, spend a little more and get the HS7s, the HS8s are very powerful, much more so than the specs suggest and can be overwhelming in normal domestic rooms.

As I said, there are lots of options here, at around £1k, the elegant Adam Artist 6 floorstander combined with a Streamagic 6 does everything and looks great if that is important to you.

But then, if you want to keep it ultra simple, the Yamaha RN-N500 is a full system in a pair of speakers, streaming, Airplay and Spotify Connect all built in, nothing else needed, just £599.

 

[ARRLTTS67]

Thats really useful, cheers.