What to do?

Bit of a quandry with my system.
Im happy with the CDp and speakers that were purchased earlier this year (Jupiter + Contour 1.1)
My amplification leaves something to be desired i feel. I picked it up on Epay for a good price and as a stand in for my dieing 8000A. Its ok, nice mids but seems to miss some mid-bass notes and doesnt really have the presence i crave (Shearne phase2)
Ive been playing with a few bits of DIY but im starting to realise that maybe a turd cant be polished that much. Also im still useing 2.5 T&E for speaker cable so this is an obvious candidate for upgrade aswell. I played with FFRC (erm, not for me) i tried the cross connected coax and also Zanash's recipe but none really delivered. So rather than throw good after bad i think i need to buckle down and sort stuff
Unfortunately im not known for my clear thinking and buying tactics.
Cash seems to be tight at the moment so upgrading is going to be awkward.
I also want a new TT but i guess that really does have to wait.
So where should i be heading to improve and is the S/H market where i should look?

PS. a dedicated mains is on the cards - when i can get a friendly sparky to throw some SWA my way

 

Hiya

I put the reply below on hifi-choice website to a guy with the same sort of question. Ive cut and pasted it because theres a few bargains in it.........some of it is a bit obvious - but the guy was a beginner so I pitched it low-brow.

Hi

Well, Pete.. only an idiot would claim that you wont get more for your money with second hand items!

A good starting point to look at audio classifieds is : http://www.audiophilecandy.com/home.asp

I cherry picked for you, and saw the following:

1) Musical Fidelity Pre 3a 2 x Ma50 monoblocks £1254 new, £400
2) NAD C370 120w p/ch integrated £275
3) Linn LK1/LK200/Spark power supply £250
4) Audiolab 8000S £350

and if you have a biggish room:

Mission 752 floorstanders £100 !!!!!


options 1 or 3 would be my choices.... and if my room were large enough, Id get the 752's while I could and then flog the amp and speakers you currently have to fund the amount youve gone over budget.

Lastly, I seriously dont believe that a NEW amp in your budget will give SUBSTANTIAL improvements in sound, I think going second hand truly is the only way if you want to make an audible difference, not a box-collecting-aesthetic one.

Hope that helps.

Chris

NB *** dont forget that you can knock £25-£50 off each of these by haggling like a good-un.

 

so would a new amp be a good start, or should i consider decent speaker cable and the reasses?
Im really unsure at the mo, its tempting to go s/h, but i wonder if i should save and save and get new, along the lines of primare/AVI etc..

sorry im so vague

 

What are you unhappy about with the current setup? What kind of music do you mostly listen to? What's your max budget? Are you friends with a decent dealer? How easy are your speakers to drive at your preferred listening level? Do you like your speakers? Does your chewing gum lose its flavour on the bedpost overnight? (Sorry, you can ignore the last question.)

-- Ian

 

*What are you unhappy about with the current setup?

i feel it lacks a bit of life, needs opening up and better imageing. Bit more dynamic overall would be nice



* What kind of music do you mostly listen to?

Rock/Techno and classical


What's your max budget?

Thats the stick point, i wanted to go to around £1500, but it doesnt seem to be happening, i have a few things to ebay but doubt ill get that much. Sorry not a good answer


*Are you friends with a decent dealer?

Not really


*How easy are your speakers to drive at your preferred listening level?

Hmm, not to bad i think (Contour 1.1) but the 8000A did seem to run very hot with them



*Do you like your speakers?

Yes, i doubted them for a while but was persuaded to persivere by kind forum members. I maybe dont like them with my current amp but i have heard them sing elsewhere. They were purchased with amplification upgrade in mind. Maybe they lack some low end but i like the cleanliness of them.


*Does your chewing gum lose its flavour on the bedpost overnight?

I tend to soak it in parrafin and scrub it with a wire brush, i find it has a flavour of sorts after the treatment

 

found some ecosse ms2.15 cable for £100, anyone know if its worth a punt?

Or aurum cable 4M oair for £100?

 

On the cable question: nooooooo! My experience is that way madness lies. cables are tweaks to apply to a system you're basically happy with IMO.

I'm not familiar with your amp, but general consensus seems to be that Dynaudios like power. Given your musical tastes (rock/techno/classical) it might be worth trying an amp with a bit more welly. Hard to suggest something without knowing your budget, but I would suggest finding a local dealer with a reasonable range of stock, not a branch of Sevenoaks or the like if possible, and use your charm and skill to get some home dems of likely candidates. You'll probably have to leave a credit card deposit, but any decent dealer will allow a long weekend at home with something as a minimum, even if you're not a regular.

-- Ian

 

Thanks SB
as i thought really, i need to save a lot to get it sorted, at least i should know where to head tho

 

Not really just need to look at the problem from a different perspective.

 

And that would be??

 

What I mean by that .......sorry for the extra post .....is that ! what makesa good cable ?

The ammount of copper or super insulation, its configuration ?

You can with a little imagination build a cable that will emulate many of the hi spec designs with everyday materials.

 

Hmm, i see your point, but maybe SB was right and i should sort my front end first

 

Come on you got to do the Tuner first !!

I'm waiting to know what you think of the mods !

 

LoL
Hopeing to start it tonight, if i get my assignment done

/suffering a case of Open Uni induced depression

 

baaah!!

did I not post my last post?

who says you need to spend £1500 if you dont want to!!

have you seen the amp GRAHAMN got for about £600 second hand? He prefered it to his trivistary thing.

You're dead right that a better amp would kick your speakers up the arse, and you dont have to blow £1500 if you dont want to!

Theres all sorts out there - even that 120w NAD would give you more poke.

Why not give me old mucker Nick a call at the emporium and say the magic words '' Dear Nick, I have a gay little amplifier. Give me a big fat dynamic mutha of an amp for £xxxx and I will cross your palm with silver!!''

How does this tickle your fancy...

aaah come to daddy.... just get a little cheapy pre, and you can scare the neighbours..

YAMAHA F2200 professional series power amp 200 watts per channel,big and heavy with grab handles, gain controls and vu meters 350

AND you get to watch the VU meters while you listen to it...

or a little Crimson power amp...
CRIMSON 620 stereo power amp, 200

dont understimate it, its quite beefy.

this one sounds like a giggle...

AUDION platinum hybrid , valve input stage , mosfet output, remote controlled integrated amp 1500 600
very smooth

come on!!! happiness lies in big, fat and class A. Or T if your rich.

Chris

 

Hmm Audion sounds kinda funky eh
Ill do some research and maybe phone them tomorrow
Do you know if they take p/x?

>edit scrub the audion, apparently bit pants with rock and dance, tho i shall research more

 

Indeed they do trade in.

In fact, what made me shop at the emporium in the first place (when I live hundreds of miles from there) is....

1) you get a trade in on your old kit for only about 25% shy of what you'd get from selling it privately.
2) you get to trade in against other second hand kit.

Theres no other dealer as generous in those two terms than this one that Ive ever heard about in the UK.

Where did you hear that Audions cant rock? Thats like saying valves are muffled, naim is thin, CD is awful yada yada yada !! Badchamps audions sounded pretty rockin to me... that one has a mosfet pwr stage aswell, Id be suprised if it didnt have a boot full of welly.

NB Im secretly hoping you go for the Yamaha, I just love that product description... it sounds like its languishing in the shop, and needs a shovel mittened maniac to crank it !!

Also, that LINN combo on hifi for sale, dont know much about it, but it looks like a total steal at that ££.

 

It was the first review i came across, said that it got muddy and confused on fast paced music.
Also in the soberness of morning i need to work out how to raise cash.
anyone want a Audiolab with a couple of broken input connecters??

 

i shouldnt of started looking at that site
that plinius looks interesting

<edit> arse, just checked my account. I best wait a while

 

penance, as has been mentioned, Dynaudios are not the easiest speakers in the world to drive and do require a bit of welly - I think they're rated at 4ohms and 88dB.

With my Contour 1.3MkIIs (which are even less sensitive at 86dB) I'm happily using my Arcam FMJ A22 (100W into 8ohms) with them. The A22 cost £1150 when new but I got mine ex-dem for £580 - there are usually a few A22s knocking around and you should be able to get a s/h one for around £500. IMO it's a highly underrated amp. When I got my speakers (s/h off a friend) I took it up to his place to dem the speaker and we compared it with his behemoth MF NuVista M3 which he was using at the time. I preferred the Arcam - a quarter of the new price of the NuVista and half the rated power output!

Something worth considering

Michael.