Your thoughts please.

winty

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Feb 22, 2022
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Hello, I am a newbie so please be patient.
I have a small upstairs (spare room) brick walled music room.About 3 metre Square.
I listen to a wide range of music and have just purchased some Wharfedale diamond 9.1s(a replacement for my Diamond 9s) which are mounted on Mission stands.Amplifier is a Cambridge audio Topaz AM5.
Front end is a Lenovo tablet with Tidal app loaded and I pay for their Hi Fi plus streaming service.
Sound is lovely.
But my question is...........what would you upgrade next ,Amplifier or is front end the limiting factor? (given that Tidal software seems very good)
I love listening to the likes of Dave Brubeck, Ricki Lee Jones, Nina Simone.ie simple compositions not complex multi layer studio creations.
Punchy , dynamic sound is my goal, love to hear individual instruments shouting out , Sax, Double bass etc. I was looking at the Onkyo 9110 amp, but am unsure.
What do you think?
 

winty

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Feb 22, 2022
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I am, I use a cable with 3.5 mm jack to 2 phono
Rather than amps front panel headphone socket.
I would spend £500 , but don't want to spend a lot more.
I have abandoned my 60 plus CDs and Cambridge cd player in favour of streaming.
 

Tinman1952

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I am, I use a cable with 3.5 mm jack to 2 phono
Rather than amps front panel headphone socket.
I would spend £500 , but don't want to spend a lot more.
I have abandoned my 60 plus CDs and Cambridge cd player in favour of streaming.
You see you are currently using the cheapo DAC in the 'noisy' laptop so my first suggestion would be to connect a good inexpensive USB DAC like a Topping D10s via the USB output and connect that to your Cambridge amp.
 

winty

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Feb 22, 2022
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You see you are currently using the cheapo DAC in the 'noisy' laptop so my first suggestion would be to connect a good inexpensive USB DAC like a Topping D10s via the USB output and connect that to your Cambridge amp.
Thanks for that.
Unfortunately the Lenovo is a tablet that does not have a USB, it's only output is the jack socket.
I had also considered other'front ends' but current streamers can be hellish expensive.
There is a big difference in sound using the Lenovo on You Tube MP3 sound versus Tidals. "Master" recordings, the latter sounding lovely.
I went for streaming because my Cambridge CD player transport was becoming noisy and frankly Tidals Master recordings were as good as if not superior to the cd sound on my equipment .
I had considered a Brennan but know very little about them.
 

Tinman1952

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Thanks for that.
Unfortunately the Lenovo is a tablet that does not have a USB, it's only output is the jack socket.
I had also considered other'front ends' but current streamers can be hellish expensive.
There is a big difference in sound using the Lenovo on You Tube MP3 sound versus Tidals. "Master" recordings, the latter sounding lovely.
I went for streaming because my Cambridge CD player transport was becoming noisy and frankly Tidals Master recordings were as good as if not superior to the cd sound on my equipment .
I had considered a Brennan but know very little about them.
Really? I don't know of any tablets without a USB connection....how do you charge it?
Any old phone or tablet can usually be repurposed as a streamer.
I would suggest a Yamaha WXAD10 streamer which has Tidal built in but their price has tripled recently as they have been discontinued.... check eBay.
 

Gray

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Unfortunately (for the OP) the iFi Zen Stream is £399 and you would still need to buy a USB DAC....
But with the D10S you recommended, he'd only be about a tenner over the £500.
I admit that it does seem like a rather expensive change. Could certainly imagine a benefit, but wouldn't like to guarantee he'd think it worth the price....and still with an amp to upgrade :confused:
 
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winty

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What is your Internet situation in the room you listen in and do you own any old laptop or desk top pc's....just asking as these could be utilised in this particular situation.
Thanks for the replies. Yes I have full wireless internet and yes I do have both a laptop and desktop computer.
I have decided to purchase a new front end to avoid clutter, laptops or desktop PCs in the room are not what I want.
The Lenovo does have an older USB micro usb socket, but After much thought the purchase of adapter cables etc and the fact that the charging/output socket (micro USB) connections will degrade (as they always do) with constant use does not look like a sound longer term solution.
So it's front end first, then a little more money spent on a budget amp upgrade .
Thanks everyone for your thoughts.
 

winty

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Feb 22, 2022
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Final note. And a huge thank you to Skinny puppy 71.
I have just tried Tidal on my laptop, laptop via High quality HDMI to my spare Samsung Smart TV, smart TV to a mains op DAC (bought last year from Richer Sounds) via optical lead, DAC to Topaz amp.
Absolutely awesome , best sound I have heard yet.
DAC must have high output ,only need half of previous volume setting on amp.
Once I have my eardrums replaced at local A and E I will be able to enjoy.
 
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Tinman1952

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DAC must have high output ,only need half of previous volume setting on amp.
Normally when you connect to the headphone output of a tablet it sets the volume to about 50% as it thinks you are connecting headphones..... the digital hdmi connection to the TV and DAC will be set much higher I suspect.. probably no attenuation.
I am not sure what a 'mains op DAC' is exactly but I would suggest you would be better to bypass the smart TV via optical and if possible connect the laptop via USB to the DAC. This would remove at least three possible sources of jitter!
 

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