Newbie please help with some advice to choose

Which one?

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gsam

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Hi,
I am new to the forum and the world of Hifi. I used to listen to denon microsystem occasionally and about 6 months ago I bought Cambride Audio 540c and a tangent cd player. Speaker is Tannoy Mercury M3. After listening to this my attitude to hifi has changed completely. I want more.....

Please help me to choose. Budget around £1000. Don't mind second hand. Which one of this would you recommend?

  1. Naim
  2. Quad
  3. Linn
  4. Cyrus
  5. Arcam

Will there be a big differance between manufacturer?
The area I live does not have any facility to have demo. I have to travel about 150 miles. So I am relying on each one of you for help.

Please help.
 
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None of the above on that budget, if it were my money.

Rega Apollo CD - £500
Rega Brio amp - £329
Rega R1 speakers - £300

Those are prices for current new kit.

If buying used the possibilities are endless but I'd start with something like this for a fast, clean sound with excellent timing:

Cyrus Dad7 cd - £300
Cyrus 3 amp - £250
Rega R3 spekers - £500 (new)
 
The rega system, is a superb music player, and if you can stretch, or buy ex-dem, and get the apollo/Brio/R'3s it is a very satisfying system for a realistic price
________
Curvy Webcams
 
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For an integrated amplifier I would get the Cyrus 3 but not the Cyrus 3i.

Btw, if you want to get good advice regarding Cyrus stuff then go to:

http://www.cyrusunofficial.co.uk/

If your Cambridge CD player has a digital out then you could use that as a transport and then get a 2nd hand Dac , perhaps even new say something like from MHDT Labs (http://www.geocities.com/mhdtlab/), Of course then you have to buy a digital cable as well - I'm not sure of quality and price of those.

Speakers are hard to recommend. I've got Kef 103/4, they went really well with the Cyrus 3 I had before. They are floor speakers - I'm guessing around £300 max 2nd hand for those.

-jaspal.
 
Alright well I said it in that other thread but I will say it here too. Active speakers, a pre-amp and keep your CD player.

Something like these new (they are so good for the money!) - http://www.dv247.com/invt/7480?gclid...FSEtEAodlzCRww

Or equivalent second hand from the Sound On Sound classifieds, but I can't see anything that great on there at the moment. - http://www.soundonsound.com/readersads?Cat=18


For a pre-amp I might choose this Cyrus - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CYRUS-PRE-AMP...337QQihZ008QQcategoryZ3280QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewIte

If you like a slightly warmer smoother sound get a valve pre-amp.

Or maybe the 'Prometheus', which also seems perfect from everything people say (search the forum).

You would have a smile from ear-to-ear :D
 
For my money, there are two options. Either something like a Naim 62/140 or 62/110 as a pre power combination. An Avondale AAA5 (a modification of an Arcam Alpha 5) CD player. Stunning for the money. Better still Les W will guarantee his work for 4 years and his customer service is superb in my experience. Then speakers wise it depends on what size you want. If you want little ones something like Rega Kytes, or if you like the looks the early Rega Ela's.

The other alternative I'd try would be an integrated valve amp like the Icon Audio 40 or it's twin brother the Chinese badged Ming Da MC34a. There are some bargain chinese CD players as well, Shanling make one that is supposed to be very similair (if not the same) as the Quad one that costs well over a grand. I think that one is about £300 to £400. If I'd put those two together, I'd still look at the Rega speakers, or maybe something second hand and BBC monitor style, Harbeths or Spendors.
 
frankly (and bluntly)

I don't think you'll find £300 components much different to the £100 components you've got now.

Replacing all your kit with new won't get you maximum bang per buck IME.

..unless, you either buy second hand, or concentrate on just changing 1 or 2 components.

...or a combination of the 2.

For example, there's a unison research Unico amp going on here for £500 ish, and a pair of Ruark Paladins (if you have a decent space) on Pink Fish Media for about £300 ish.

Doesn't leave much change for the CDP, but the one you've got (I feel) will sound a different animal into the above.

Besides, you'd have enough left for a second hand meridian/arcam/rotel etc cdp if you wanted..

'Amp and speakers first' - that's what I believe, and I do the same thing myself, just with more expensive stuff.
 
Thank you Lordsummit. I wasthinking along those lines.
But what is your opinion about cyrus for example Audio quattro and smartpower?
 
Hi,
Thank you.
But I am relatively new and I have not heard of those amps. are they good?
Sam
 
What does it matter what we think. If you are new to this you need to go and listen to the kit and see what you like. I personally am a Naim devotee but Cyrus makes my ears bleed. Others disagree. You may agree, or not. Go listen for yourself.
 
Well, it matters to ME what is the general opinion here AND that is the reason to ask a question here.
 
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Sadly there is no general opinion. Everyone likes something different.

What sort of sound do you like? Warm and 'pleasant' or clean and clear? Is deep bass important or are you interested in tight fast bass? Do you have an especially large room to fill or is a converted closet?
 
I like clean, clear and detailed sound. the size of the room is 22' X 20'.
any recommandations?
 
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For clean and clear I would say actives, but that is a big room to fill for standmounts.

In that case I would get a nice powerful solid state amp. The Alesis RA500 is a good choice and a good price at only £150. Don't be fooled by the price, they are excellent and one would think more like £1,000 if they didn't know better ;)

Then I would get that Cyrus preamp I linked which would leave you about £700 to spend on some good second hand floorstanders. You might find some Monitor Audio Gold 20's for that.
 
Re. speakers. Try to listen to listen to some floorstanders in the Dynaudio Audience range. Very pleasant.
DF
 

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