Amp question

Hey Guys i'm new to the forum. I'm looking to upgrade my amp and wondered if anybody could make some sugestions.

My current set up is a Cyrus dad3q24 + PSX-R, Cyrus 7 + PSX-r driving a pair of Dynaudio 110's. Looking to get out of the Cyrus thing as I feel this could go on ad infinitum.

Don't really want to spend more than £1500 and i'm looking at an integrated for convenience. I have had primaluna prologue 1 suggested and Unico SE. Anybody any experience of these? Will these partner ok with Cyrus source and Dynaudio speakers?

Any advice - greatly appreciated.

Cheers

D-man

 

hi i do have experience with the unico se, it is a super amp, but may have trouble driving dynaudio spkrs. as far as sound goes it is a very sweet sounding amp,nando.

 

brief experience of dynaudio suggests they are current hungry.

which model of dynaudio do you have? - perhaps other dynaudio users will know its needs.

You mention a valve amp and a class A (I think) amp. I like them, but dont like telling everyone to get valves... and don't know if they would work with the Dynaudio.

There are a suprising number of nice integrated amps here -

http://www.centralaudio.co.uk/

Take a look.

Accuphase, EAR, Krell - lots of options depending on the sound you want and the power you need.

Wih your £1500 you can get an awful lot second hand - you can look a bit beyond the amps you mentioned IMO.

 

Agree with Chris regarding matching the amp to the speakers. I have Revel M22 speakrers which also require masses of grunt to get them singing. I do love valves and so decided to try them with an EAR 8L6 integrated but they sounded flat and one dimensional.

 

just to fly in the face of fashion, if that's the right expression -

using your 7 as a preamp into an x power would, i suspect, give your system the kick it needs at significantly under £1500.

see www.cyrusunofficial.co.uk for more information on everything cyrus (plus somewhere u could offload your 7 should u wish to sell)

regards
robert

 

bottleneck - the speakers are the Focus 110's, anybody's experience with these speakers (i.e. what they use to drive them) would be appreciated.

unclepuncle - thanks for the linkie will have a look.

robert - cu will be my first port of call if I choose to jump shit.

Cheers guys

 

D-Man

no need, I've found the info here - http://www.dynaudio.com/eng/systems/lines/focus/focus110.php

They are 85db and represent a 4ohm load.

It might as well have a sticker on saying "big muscle amps only"

Sticking with the central audio site for the time being (just one of many of course)

I'd be looking at their Belcanto Evo 4 (if you have a cd player with a volume control on it),

the Krell 300il.

Im not reccomending any particular shop here.

At shadow audio, there is a 250w parasound pwr amp at £850 (you would need a pre)

A Belcanto Evo 2i (£1695)

An AVI lab series (£995)

An ATC 150 (£1395)

http://www.shadowaudio.co.uk/index.php?main_page=products_listing_used_products&cPath=21


I know you currently have an amp of smaller power, but to get the most from those speakers they need power, and lots of it..

 

I found this in a soundstage review, so at least the impedance curve shouldn't be a problem:

"The Focus 110's crossover features a simple first-order filter that transitions from tweeter to woofer at 1600Hz. The sensitivity of the 110 is specified as 85dB at 2.83V at 1m with nominal 4-ohm impedance. I was a little concerned about the low impedance value and the effects it may have on amplifier performance if it were to dip below 4 ohms, but Dynaudio assures potential buyers that the crossover is impedance-corrected, so the speaker's impedance will never fall below 4 ohms. One still needs to be careful to partner these speakers with an amplifier that is stable into a 4-ohm load. The IEC long-term power handling of these speakers is said to be greater than 150W, and the frequency response is stated to be 45Hz-25kHz (+/- 3dB)."

 

Hi D-man

Some of that cyrus kit looks very familiar

I would suggest a bel canto Evo 2i integrated and keep the dad3 + psx-r. They can be had off Audiogon for about £1000 (there is also one on hififorsale) and provide plenty of grunt.

 

£1000 for an evo2i is great value.

I've been reading on that parasound amp, it looks like a bit of a beast -

http://www.parasound.com/halo/a21.php

 

I was going to buy that Parasound A21 myself to use direct with a Wadia 301 I had recently (now sold) but it was an inch too high to fit in my rack - bugger!!

Also the new Bel Canto integrated (S300i I think?) can be bought on Audiogon for about a grand and does not need any voltage conversion to use in the UK (according to an email I had from Bel Canto anyway).

 

I pointed out another Parasound to D-man, the HCA-3500 which is for ~£750 in the SOM sale, but which is better?

 

No idea - but the A21 Halo amp is newer (I think) and definitely a much better looker

Given that my hifi is only playing music for about 3-4 hours a week looks and styling become important as I can only sit there starring at it

 

Lots of info here guys, many thanks.

bottleneck - Thaks for those links I think i need to do some serious research.

Bemsca - The Cyrus has served me well and I will certainly keep the cdp, just need a bit more balls with amplification. I was originally thinking of getting Cyrus mono's but I am sure you can get more for your money if you think outside the (shoe)box.

Do people regularly buy from this Audiogon site? If I was to get the bel canto would it need modding for the UK?

 

I use audiogon quite a lot, you have to be very careful regarding voltage conversions - sometimes its a new transformer, and you can be talking hundreds

(and don't forget import duty on top of shipping).


I quite fancy this Krell



and this audio research pre



not bad for about £1,500!

...but then I have a 'thing' for the old class A heatfin-covered Krells, and the Audio Research Pre's I think look the muts nuts, and sound not bad too.

certainly, your dynaudio's wouldn't know what hit them!

 

Isn't that one of the Krells which had such sharp 'precision engineering' that the edge on all the metal would cut a hole in your leg if you brushed past it?

Although the big strong equipment like that does look good, I find myself looking at my stack of 3 big 250wpc amps and pine for my old Cyrus integrated, it was so sleek!

 

Wow after Cyrus they are BIG. Kinda look like some of the rack-mountable guitar kit I used to use.

I think I will struggle to replace 2 Cyrus boxes with a krell power and seperate pre and get away with it.

the bel canto looks good and is in my price bracket any tips re. voltage conversions - presumably this would need to be sent to somebdy to do?

I must admit i'm getting very keen on a beefier amp, playing my kit today it does lack some of the control I would like and really needs to be cranked to get the dyn's singing. Would a more powerful amp allow for lower listening levels?

 

oh not the dreaded WAF!

...try showing her the pics and say.... 'if you let me have that I will buy you shoes' ...


nb
if your cd player has a volume control, a Belcanto Evo 2i for £1000 as mentioned is cheap enough not to bother importing one second hand IMO.

Your money and call however.

 

well not WAF yet, still only GAF.

My mistake I thought the evo2i was an integrated, the cyrus cdp doesn't have a volume control.

 

The evo2i is an integrated (hence the i).

The evo2 is a 2 channel power amp and the evo4 a 4 channel power amp that can be bridged (effectively 2 evo2's in one case).

I have the evo4 and voltage conversion to 240v is just a matter of swapping a few wires around. I believe converting an evo2i is not too complicted (wadiameister will know).