Complete hi fi help .. ?

Hi again ,

I haven't been around any form of hi fi for about 18 months due to following a bit of Pro Audio stuff but now I want to buy another hi fi.

My old hi fi (which I regretably sold) was a Esound E5 , Dussun V8i and some M.A GR20 speakers (bad mistake those MA speakers) which I sold for around £1500 total and I'm struggling to find a worthy replacement.

I had a look/demo in a few local hi fi shops today , one was trying to get me to buy a Naim Nait 5 and CD5i with some Spendor speakers (can't remember name) and another was trying to get me to go for an Audiolab 8000S/8000P/8000CD combo with Quad 22L.
Both demos sounded nice but didn't exactly blow me away. I'm a critical listener who usually listens on Pro Audio monitors with lots of midrange detail , while both of these systems seemed nice for background music , they sounded all highs and lows with hardly any midrange. Also the build of these bits weren't up to much (I could pull forward the Naim amps fascia !) and reminded me more of my old Musical Fidelity Electra system I paid £300 for years ago.

So.. I'm back looking at Cattylink and thinking of another monster type amp like a Dussun V8i, Bada Purer 3.8se or Jungson JA88D 2009 model for an amp with a Jungson Impression MK2 CDP.

I guess this post is to say help.. I'm stuck , I'm not impressed by what I've seen of the UK mid range hifi and I'd like some help in which bits of kit are the best for what I want... before I decide to take the blind plunge and order some huge chinese monsters.

Any ideas in what direction I should be looking at ?

Lastly , I loved the look of the Quad speakers in black piano lacquer but have been offered a pair of gorgeous Aurum Cantus Leisure 3se for the same price, so kit that will go with either of them would be nice.

thanks in advance

 

How much do you have to spend? Something like a old but good Cyrus 3 amp, DAD3 CD player and a pair of Kensai speakers (which I make) can do some amazing things. I've got that set-up as my second system and you are welcome to come and listen if you want.

 

probably about £3k total , though I need an Amp/Speakers now and the CDP can wait a month as my PC is an OK temp source. So £2k total on amp and speakers.

I'm happy to buy used also

 

Any ideas in what direction I should be looking at ?



valves

 

Valves ?

I've never heard a valve amp but the chinese CDP im thinking of has a valve ouput stage and one of the amps has a valve pre-amp.

hmmm

If it makes any difference... I listen to either really hard music or really mellow music. Ranging from Smashing Pumpkins and hard techno/trance to chill out and acoustic albums

 

Valves are probably more for mellow music,,,,eg jazz

With that sort of money you are out of my league.

I was thinking of a valve amp. Could be worth a listen. You'd get a good one for your money.

 

The Nait 5 had to be the worst amp they made. I agree with you it was lifeless and dull.

I have the Esound and a Shengya A10CS int.amp which i bought from Cattylink. While not as big as the Dusson (but not far off) it has good bass and was recommended to me by Snowy. If you go back to Cattylink its well worth seeking advice from him as he is quite Knowledgable.

 

I'm selling some focal speakers...

 

wickfut

you have similar musical tastes to me. Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins on the one hand, Nick Drake on the other, and Underworld and Chemical Brothers on my final, third hand.

I do all that with valve amps.

More important is getting the speakers right - for the room and the kind of musical presentation you like.

If you have a big room, I'd start with decent sized speakers that give a nice chesty thump for dance and rock..

 

my computers playing up, I wanted to edit..
and just say, if you've got a little room, things change - and small near field monitors like Simons make more sense. It's then a question of getting a pair you like the presentation of.

Me, I have a 16x11 room, and have chuffing great monsters!

yeah!

 

Is your amp 220v or 240v ? If it's 220v , are you having any problems on UK mains ?

Yeah I've been in contact with Snowy, he recomended I got the JA88D , Esound E5m and Aurum Cantus Leisure 5's, though my eyes are lusting for the Impression Mk2 and the Bada Purer 3.8se. Something so amazing looking can't sound bad, right ?

Did you have any trouble with shipping etc. What rates did you pay import tax on it? I sourced my V8i used in the UK and only imported the E5 (which had a problem I had to fix with the CD tray being knocked from its runners during shipping) and I didn't have to pay any duty on it strangely enough.

My room is nearly square at about 14x12ft , I was thinking about just getting a larger pair active studio monitors and a pre-amp but I tested my active monitors at a distance before I sold them and the HF doesn't travel very well from near fields and decent mid-field monitors are way out of my price league.

 

I think its 230v which is ok for here now. Cant remember off hand about shipping but i didnt pay inport tax on the amp. The Esound was about £30. The only drawback is that travel from the Far East, as my Amp did suffer some minor damage but it worked and still does now. It is made very well and tough as old boots. The Esound needed a new laser after 6 to 8 months but Snowy posted a new transport to me. Again i think it got knocked about in transit.
As far as speakers are concerned i think you need to demo them in your room preferably with your amp and cd player. I looked at the Cantus speakers but i didnt go for them as its too risky. I demoed some speakers in the dealers rooms before taking them home and some did not suit my room at all, so beware.

 

Why were the Monitor Audios such a bad mistakekk

 

Hmm you have magically waved the hand of fear infront of my eyes, just as I was about to click "Checkout" on cattylink.

 

too bright sounding. Alot of my CDs were unlistenable to. I ended up copying them as WAV files , EQing the top end down a bit with soundforge and then burning a copy so I could play them.

 

What do you mean by the top end of the monitors didn't travel well at a distance?

Do you mean it lost a lot of detail?

Big speakers tend to have the same tweeters as smaller ones (worse, often) so you might like to consider the cause of the problem a little more.

In my experience near fields can work very well in a 14x12 ft room. I was listening to a pair of Kensai in a room exactly that size yesterday and doing A/B comparisons with a pair of Quad ESL57s

 

I found that the nearfield monitos were balanced in a way (I assume) to counter the reflections from the mixing desk and long hours listening fatigue. All the ones I've heard (apart from metal coned JBLs) have been quite soft in the high region.

Obviously other factors such as room sounds play a big part as you don't hear much room when you're sitting on top of them, but to my ears monitors which sounded fine up close lost everything and turned to mush once you moved a distance away from them.

 

Complex subject, but the reason many speakers sound poor when used near-field is poor driver integration. The best speakers for this type of listening are either single driver (or those where the mid/top is from a single driver) or those with very careful crossover design to ensure that the crossover region remains consistent with listener position.

Poorly integrated, or simply low resolution/high distortion speakers just don't cut it when you listen at close proximity - you just magnify all of the bad stuff.

 

That's a shame. I quite liked the Gold ref series - they worked really well for me although they could be a bit on the bright side on harsher material. Good luck on finding a setup that suits you. Maybe avoid metal domes?

 

The balance and the 'turning to mush' are two separate issues.

Yes near-field monitors can be balanced for use on a mixer desk. However, they tend to have a little less bass, and if used further away can sound a bit bright. The top end should not become softer!

The turning to mush point is just a factor of moving further from the speaker, and reflections from the room make up a relatively greater portion of the sound you hear, confusing things. Big speakers will be no better really (though very wide baffles or horns can help), and its not a balance issue. You will have to look at your room to cure this - wall panels to absorb reflections and such.

Where are you based? As I said you are welcome to hear my setup which is in your price bracket and I have a similar room size. What you have been saying sounds rather uncommon, so I think you should be listening before purchase.