Where to go from here......

Kef 203's anyone? redefines the word Dire
Lord, I would urge you to check out that £600 Rotel intergrated 1062?, I heard one this morning rathering stonking for the cash

 

WM I'm happy with mine, I believe it is some unfortunate soul whose thread we have hijacked. Perhaps we should start a second power supply thread elsewhere

 

Ah, so I'm getting my thread back now????

So what's the general consensus at the moment - upgrade amp and speakers or go for a new amp first and replace the speakers at a later date if necessary ? Might be a problem finding a dealer that stocks my speakers for demo though

I'd never considered Rotel before, but upon numerous recommendations here, I'll have to give the RA_1062 a go.

Batfink

 

I believe in spx 1st, provided the rest is good.
Then amp. as they are very variable, cd last, as they are all fine now, some more than others.
You can get circuit diagrams of Rotel from...Rotel. interesting stuff

 

What would I do with that

 

use it to fall asleep with, or as bog roll

...LCD

 

I think you'll be pleasantly suprised with the LadyDays Lt.C.D.
I use the pre from the same company, and its very good.

I cant say Ive heard the LadyDays, but I know a man (who's oppinion I trust) rate them highly. Also reviewed well in hifi world (Ive got it somewhere if you want it).

Have you bought it and chosen the components yet? Again, the chap I know is a good person to ask about the component choices in them..

Will be interested in your reports on the bottlehead phono when you get it up and running.

Good luck with all this DIY
Chris

 

oh yeah, in answer to original query I'd be home demoing some chunky amps if I were u. Im sure this will give the bang for buck in the described system.

 

Why not just take your speakers along and use them in the dem?

 

Next question: Anyone know of dealers in the Bracknell area (from Reading, down as far as Guildford) that do home demos ? I had a loan pair of speakers from Audio-t in Reading once, but didn't really rate them as a dealer.

 

Try http://hifi.dealers.co.uk/

 

Just remembered something from the weekend...

Saw a Primare (A20 I think) ex dem/ s/h. Says it was reduced from £700 to £450. Anyone know anything about this amp?

 

I think Rewster has one. You could PM him?

Chris

 

Well, I took the trek to Guildford at the weekend and had a look in at PJ hi-fi. First thing that stood out was it was a particularly small store compared to the big full page ad they have in HFC. I also disliked the fact none of the kit had prices on. Didn't see any of the 2nd hand gear mentioned on the website, so I guess that is a supply on demand situation.

Anyway, discussed my issues with the dealer and his first suggestion were the Epos M15 speakers at £650 (and this was before I told him I may also upgrade the amp!). I wondered what his underlying motives were - surely my amp was no match for such a meaty pair of speakers.

I then went on to mention the possibility of upgrading the amp, to which he suggested the Nait 5i. Booked myself in for a demo of the gear later that afternoon and was suitably impressed. OK, so this system took a different stance to my initial problems - ie. it wasn't the last word in transparency and detail - but it had plently of slam and attack and would definitely keep the neighbours awake The speakers had nice clean, punchy bass and the treble wasn't in the slightest bit harsh.

Another problem I mentioned with my current system is that it is too laid back and sends you to sleep. Well, the Naim certainly conquered that little problem and had me tapping me foot right from the very start.

Overall, I was impressed by the scale and authority shown by the amp and will keep it on my audition list, but still not so sure about the speakers and think they may just be too much for small(ish) room.

 

I'm with Data - the speakers are the link in the chain closest to you (apart from the room) and you need to find the right ones for you first. Then find an amp that drives them properly and gels with them. Then when you've saved up a bit play around with disc spinners until you find just the right one for your amp/speaker/room/music tastes combo. IMHO of course.

Now to your system. I would say the call to upgrade your amp is perhaps a bit premature. If I'm not mistaken the C350 isn't half bad and has a fair bit of grunt on offer. I would swap those Crestas for a nice new (or s/h ) pair of speakers before messing with anything else.

At the top of my list for your budget would be the ATC SCM-7s and secondhand Dyn Contour 1.3 Mk. IIs. Both of these speakers are truly excellent, though the ATCs might suit your room better, being smaller and sealed box to boot. Speak to Michaelab about the Dyns.

As for the ATCs I think you'll find they have the best midrange, and some fo the tightest, cleanest, most dynamic bass of any speaker near their price range. The integration of the drivers is also absolutely spot on and they time like nobody's business. They are also very high resolution yet natural and unfatiguing. I think you'll like the way they do female vocals. And they also won't be embarrassed by even very high quality amplification (for one thing, they're rated to 300 watts so they love power). Maybe you could go for one of the abovementioned Rotels? Naim are also said to go very well with ATC speakers.

I also wanted to mention something about the MA Silver speakers. I had a demo of the Silver S6s fairly recently, alongside some other similarly priced floorstanders. They sounded very good for the most part but they still haven't gotten the metal dome tweeters right. When I played [one of] the Spanish guitar track on the recent Hifi Choice Naim sampler CD, the MAs made the Spanish guitar sound like a very convincing steel string guitar. Really. Quite eye-opening.

Anyway, good luck. I'm sure you've got a lot to think about given the depth and breadth of the ideas posited thusfar on this thread.

Dunc

 

Pity

It's a shame you didn't get to hear a pair of Quad ESLs while you were at PJ. I believe they stock them and the 988 is simply a 63 in more modern materials with some detail design changes.

reg :Quad:

 

for those who don't know our store it's a victorian building that's five floors high but has a small footprint! so it does appear that we have a small showroom but behind the scenes lurks three demo rooms of high quality and expense. we prefer to invest in stock in order that we can demonstrate the largest choice to all customers. my direct experience is that we have a considerably larger demo stock than Batfink's other Berkshire retailer. likewise we can offer a wholy unbiased and impartial demo based purely on everyone's needs as no comission or bonuses exist.

hope to meet again batfink.

If carlsberg did hifi shops...!!

 

I knew someone on here worked there

I must admit, you seemed to quote a lot of kit that wasn't on display, so I guess it was all hidden behind the scenes (and yes the other Berkshire retailer is cr*p for selection and the best he could offer me was a pair of B&W 600s). Maybe a complete list of your stock would be good for the customer though - I'm the sort of person that prefers to "browse" rather than have to ask what is available first.

Now, about that discount on the Naim........

 

'Saw a Primare (A20 I think) ex dem/ s/h. Says it was reduced from £700 to £450. Anyone know anything about this amp'

Yes, I use one. If it's a Mk11, it's a powerful 70w and lively. Only 4 inputs. Check the volume control [shaft encoder type] as some are dicky, tho the remote works fine anyway