Help me fritter away two thousand English pounds.....

Hi All,

Got up to £2k to spend on either speakers (floorstanders or standmounters), turntable (inc arm) or perhaps an SACD player. All sorted on the amp, cables and rack/stand front, so no reccy's there please! Will almost certainly be buying ex-dem or used to maximise value.

Which of the following speakers would you use with 845 SET's (20wpc)?

Living Voice Auditorium Avatar
Tannoy TD8
Anthony Gallo Reference 3
Usher Audio 6381
Hornings Zeus
Monopulse 42A
Sonus Faber Elector Amator 2
Reference 3A Da Capo
JAS Audio Orior
Wilson Benesch Arcs

Are any of these grossly innefficient? Really need an easy load for the 845's if possible. Deep bass isn't really necessary, more concerned with good driver integration and tonal accuracy - gentlemanly speakers! Any notable exceptions? (ART & DALI noted)

And which of these TT's would you go for?

VPI Scout/JPM9
Clearaudio Solution/Unify
Avid Diva/SME M2
Wilson Benesch Full Circle/0.5 Arm

Any notable exceptions? (Michell/Rega/Linn noted).

Or maybe a juicy SACD player? Not too concerned with cd abilities:

Marantz SA-1
Sony SCD-777ES
Cayin SCD-50T
Marantz SA-11S1
Shanling SCD-T200

Once again, any exceptions? Leaning towards the SA-1 obviously....

Cheers,
DT

 

Go for a funk firm V with rega rb300 and a kontrapunkt b. Plus a decent phono stage. What speakers are you using currently?

 

go for some big altec or klipsh horns - probably find some for about 1500 if you're lucky. although waf is low.....
cheers


julian.

 

It all depends on what you are trying to achieve.

Of the speakers you mention, I'd add Merlin TSM's to the list if you want monitor performance. Add Zu Druids if you don't.

TT, I'd vote for the Scoutmaster, which should be within budget if you import. Alternatively a Scout with SDS.

If you went for the SA15 from Marantz, you should still be able to import a Scout and stay within budget.

 

Hi,

Living Voice Auditorium Avatar

Or

Hornings Zeus

With the exception of the Zeus (and honorable mention for the LVA) - all of them are grossly inefficient.

Hyperion (out of your £ 2K though). My own an't bad from the angles you ask for, but I suspect too far out for yopur taste.

VPI Scout/JPM9

Any late 70's or early 80's japanese direct drive "Superdeck", servied and with a decent Arm. Townshend Rock, any German made "mass" drive, Platine Verdier, you might be able to get any such for your asking price 2nd hand.

No comment. I find SACD a waste of time and money.

Ciao T

 

Julian -Good reccy re the Klipshorns, but a) I'm not sure I need to go to that extreme (aren't they better suited to ultra-flea powered amps i.e. 3-6wpc?) and b) yes, they have very low WAF.

Stereo Mic - completely forgot about Zu speakers. Not familiar with the Merlin brand, so I'd better do some research! A used Scoutmaster is possibly within budget. Not many used examples floating around on this side of the Atlantic though.

3D - Lol, I guess your purist definition of "grossly inefficient" is different from others, but I take your point! I've seen the Hyperions, and they do look very good value (still out of budget). Thanks for the TT reccy's. I hadn't really thought about 70's/80's superdecks tbh. Bit nervous about running into problems though - serviceablity and all that - I want an easy life. Given its commercial performance, I'm sure Sony thinks SACD was a waste of time & money too

Rgds,
DT

 

Amphion Xenon (mine) plus lots of change.

Boxed, mint, first lady owner, non smoker etc. Pics available or home dem if your really interested.

 

Forget SACD...

I've heard some Monopulses and they're very nice too I'd go for summat like that, and a second hand Michel Gyrodec and RB300 - yum yum.

 

There is a pair of Klipsch klf 30 on ebay £500 (102dB) Think that should be efficient enough

 

(lol, just noticed that we have a little video-game avatar competion going on here! Sonic, Streetfighter 2 & R-type! All we need now is Mario and a space-invader!)

 

Good one

I was going to choose a Beavis and Butthead ani, but there weren't any good ones, and since I'm always dashing around like Sonic, it just had to be done.

 

R-type rocks - I couldnt find a manic miner one.

 

out of them:



Which of the following speakers would you use with 845 SET's (20wpc)?

Living Voice Auditorium Avatar YES
Tannoy TD8 YES
Anthony Gallo Reference 3 Dunno
Usher Audio 6381 Dunno
Hornings Zeus Dunno
Monopulse 42A Dunno
Sonus Faber Elector Amator 2 Definately Not
Reference 3A Da Capo Dunno
JAS Audio Orior Dunno
Wilson Benesch Arcs Probably Not

Are any of these grossly innefficient? Really need an easy load for the 845's if possible. Deep bass isn't really necessary, more concerned with good driver integration and tonal accuracy - gentlemanly speakers! Any notable exceptions? (ART & DALI noted)

And which of these TT's would you go for?

VPI Scout/JPM9 This one.
Clearaudio Solution/Unify
Avid Diva/SME M2 Or this one. Not with the M2.
Wilson Benesch Full Circle/0.5 Arm

Any notable exceptions? (Michell/Rega/Linn noted).

Or maybe a juicy SACD player? Not too concerned with cd abilities:

Marantz SA-1 May be this one
Sony SCD-777ES or this one
Cayin SCD-50T
Marantz SA-11S1
Shanling SCD-T200

Once again, any exceptions? Leaning towards the SA-1 obviously....

Cheers,
DT[/QUOTE]




I havent mentioned my prefered alternatives, just those from the list that I would get if the choice were between those.

 

Great, thanks bottleneck

 

Have heard the ref3A. Very nice speaker should be perfectly OK with 20 wpc (92db, 8 ohm). Very open, image well , nicely balanced, good tone and quite revealing. Would have been tempted but think they would have needed a bit more air round them than my room could give them (unfortunately my speakers are forced rather into the room corners )

Would be well worth a listen, as I suspect would the LV.

Jeff

 

If the Sonus Faber are anything like mine they'd be a great match. Don't look right on paper at all but they match tube amps very nicely and I've tried them on lots of different amps, 8W-40WPC. Mine aren't in the same class but they're my fav speaker in the price bracket. Your welcome to bring your amp and hear them together if your anywhere near penisborough. I've also got an Avid if you wanted to hear that (certainly the top 3 have a family sound, I'd assume the diva is similar).

 

Hi Jeff,

Sorry, must remember to invite you round some time, given how close you are!

I've heard some very positive reports on the Da Capo over on AudioAsylum's SET forum - I just don't think people are very familiar with them on this side of the atlantic. Plenty of glowing press & web reviews too (whatever that's worth).

Quite a bit cheaper in Canada though

Anex,

I think SF are quite conservative with their impedence & dB ratings. I wouldn't be surprised if the EA2 is a fairly benign load. They do, of course, have the other benefit of being just about the most beautiful transducers on the planet .

Nowhere near penisborough unfortunately, would love to hear a top-end Avid some time

DT

 

DT,

you have to add the Spacedeck & Spacearm/Rega/SME into your shortlist. Personal preference is everything but it would love your amp and vice versa I would expect.

I faced the same condundrum with speakers a couple of years ago. A lot of money was asked for many of the suggestions and their popular following. I paid less than £1K for my Cadence Amayas which allow me to run low power valves and enjoy a bit of champagne on a beer budget. If I were to change my speakers I would probably look at Vandersteen 2ce or 3 now.

 

OK chaps, we have a winner!

Basically, I decided that it was common sense to upgrade my source over my speakers - junk in, junk out & all that. The Signums are currently "good enough" for the current system. I think they present all the information the RPM9 & 963SA can throw at them, and could probably present a whole lot more. Upgrading to Elector Amator 2's or Ref3 da Capo's would be slightly pointless in this regard.

Finding a decent SACD player under £2k was a hapless task. The Marantz SA-1 transport is no longer in production and is getting difficult to source parts (thanks testy). The allegedly superior SA-11S1 has an "improved sony FG" mech, but no £2k player should have a plastic transport tray! Also uncertain as to how long this will be serviceable for. Also, being a "current" line-up player, it is likely to drop precipitously in price over the next few years, as Marantz release S2 & S3 models. It does have the best reputation of all the spinners in this price bracket though and seems to be the one to go for if you want the best possible SACD playback.

As for Sony, the SCD-1 is way too big and allegedly "off the pace" nowadays. The SCD-777ES is almost impossible to find. Also supposed to be very average with cd. The XA-9000ES, like the SA-11S1 is in current production and will probably halve in price over the next two years. Very highly regarded in both roles though. Again, it suffers from having a crappy plastic transport mech :-(

Teac DV-50. Now this would have been nice, but there rare as hen's teeth on this side of the pond and usually go for around £2.5k. Found a few for £2.7k, but that's way over budget. For long-term reliability & serviceability, this is the one to go for. Lots of notes for a disc spinner though...

So I decided to buy a turntable.

VPI scouts & scoutmasters are again, almost impossible to find ex-dem and/or used. If only I'd taken advantage the Cherished special offer six months ago - could've had a new scoutmaster for £1400 IIRC. I could've imported one from the states, but you're taking a big risk there, and it is a major hassle what with shipping & customs etc.

Avid diva/volvere. Very, very nice decks but again, hard to find used/ex-dem. Another problem is that they either seem to come with bog-standard RB300's or the SME-M2, which is supposed to be crap. As you know, I didn't want the hassle of changing or buying tonearms.

This left Clearaudio. Good looks & sonic reputation, plenty of upgrade options, good service support & UK dealer network etc. Question is, what deck to go for. They have a lot in the £1-1.5K bracket - Champion/solution/evolution/avantgarde etc. with a number of tonearm options.

After scouring all the mags & internet for pre-loved examples, I chanced upon an Evolution, complete with Tangent linear-tracking tonearm (http://www.craneaudio.com/audio-systems/turntables/clearaudio-evolution.asp). This deck has been recently discontinued, having been in production for almost 6 years. Anyway, I managed to haggle the dealer (who shall remain anonymous) down to £1k delivered for the deck AND arm! The RRP of the pair was £2.4k in 2005! Needless to say, I'm chuffed to bits.

Thanks for all your help chaps. You've been very useful as always! All I need now is a better cart....

DT

 

Are you buying unheard?