Hello! Friends , I am planning to buy a new pair of speakers & an amplifier. My choice of music is mostly rock/hip-hop/jazz/ classsical etc.So i guess the set up has to have good alround sound.
I am going to use an old sony 50 cd changer & will upgrade latter. I'll be using Kimber 4pr spk cables & pbj interconnects which will also be upgraded at a latter stage.
I'm already using a nad320bee/nad542/dynaudio audience 52/Kimber 8tc spk cable & hero interconnects. I am looking to better or at least get similar sound quality.
My confusion is that if I should split my budget roughly to 50% for the spks & equally, or pair a more expensive amp with cheaper spks?
My choice of amps is cyrus6/8, creek 50ir/5350SE, Roksan KandyII, Nad 352,RotelRA-05/06. I've narrowed the list acc to the reviews on the net & various magazines but have not had time to go & audition them, also the creek & cyrus seems to be unavailable where I live .So pl give me your valuable opinions.
I've not really been able to narrow down on the spks so all suggestions are welcome. Cheers
The best components in your system currently are your speakers. Your worst, relatively, is the amplifier which hasn't a hope in hell of driving 52s properly. The CD player is OK, but not really in the same ballpark as the speakers.
If you were thinking Cyrus, you should be thinking Cyrus 8, not 6.
Other good combinations I know:
Naim Nait 5i Rega Cursa/Maia Arcam A90
After that, change the CD player and then you'll be in business.
Thanks! friends for your suggestions. But it seems there is some confusion regarding the advice required & sorry for that.
I'm planning to buy a new set of Speakers & an amp, so was a bit confused as to how i should split my budget
I fully agree with your suggestions that i need to change my amp & cd player on my existing set up but i'll be doing that latter. As i need to get a new set at the moment.
Nick, I know you were asking for something else. The 52's are very hard to beat and are suggested quite often as one of the best all-round speakers for varied listening. The Nad 320 is presently choking the life out of the Dyn's, or at least that would be my assumption. Any of the amps you mentioned would be a step up. I will say it once then just follow for a while.
A new source is the biggest improvement you could make right now. I wouldnt even try to evaluate an integrated amp and the 52's with that source.
The 320 is a lightweight, those Dyn's need some juice. I have heard the Arcam A90 that Frank suggested, its a nice piece. Even moving up the line to a C372 would benefit the Dyn's quit a lot. That is if the Naim/Rega is not in the price range.
Indeed, I saw that you wanted to change your speakers and amp, but I suggest that you're not actually getting anything like what the speakers are capable of simply because your current amplifier can't do them justice.
I semi-regularly pair up 52s with far more capable amps and sources and it's only really when I've outstripped the cost of the speakers by at least twice on both the amp and the source that I start thinking about upgrading the speakers.
I think Nick is planning on building a second (new) system, and is not planning on fiddling with his old one. Hope I read that right Nick. I agree fully with the comments on your existing system, including your interconnects, which are the exact speaker/interconnect versions that I have. They were a great (and recent) addition for me and made quite a difference indeed.
May I ask what you like/dislike about your existing system ? Is there something you're looking for in this new package you're putting together that you don't have in the existing setup ?
I will say that putting a nice amp and speakers behind that Sony may leave you shortchanged in the end, despite your choices downstream.
Hey! Chris you've got it right. At the moment I'm looking for a new set & not a change in my old one. I also agree with you regarding changing of cables as it has made a world of a diff to my existing set up, now it just sounds a league apart.
I also completely agree with suggestions that i need to change my amp & my cd player as I've heard my dyns 52 on the new krell integrated & quad 909. After which I felt I was doing injustice to my speakers as they were sounding in completely diff class. So I'll def be upgrading my amp & cd player at a latter stage.
Though I love the sound from my existing set up, there is a constant feeling that I can get more from it esp the speakers. Hence I was wondering if for my new set up I should split my budget to 50/50 for my amp & spk or should go for a more expensive amp & cheaper speakers???? Using the old Sony as a front end is a temporary solution, as if I buy a whole new set up I'll be compromising on every component due to budget constraints.
Hi Nick S., I also have the dyn 52s and before i was using the C352 to drive them but still is not enough, when I changed to krell power amp, immediately came evident what I've been missing during the time that I'm using the C352....the dyn 52s are very very good speakers, only it needs some power to let it shine...
My apologies! I didn't understand that. In that case Nick, I'd make the second system from your first!
Buy a pair of B&W 686 speakers, or Focal Chorus 705Vs (about $600 here in the UK) and put them on the end of your current electronics as your 2nd system. The 320BEE is more than good enough to drive 686s or 705Vs handsomely, and although the speakers are small, they can fill quite large spaces (I use them in a 7x5m room regularly) well.
Then look at completing your first system by building it around your 52s.
The dyna set up is at a diff home in a diff city & so would not like to touch it at the momnet as i'll be using the nad amp/cd combo with some new spk for a diff room at a latter stage.
But for now my priority is to buy a new Amp & spk combo, with existing cables & cd palyer which will be upgraded latter.
