[Sluggster]

As a new system that will play music and AV to a high standard seems to have gone out of my price range I've been looking at the idea of a 2nd hand set up. I'm sure there are some bargains out there.

The thing is, I don't really know what to get. I do know that I don't seem to get on with the ARCAM (too sterile) or Cyrus (too bright) sound. I like the warmth and musicality of my Naim system. The Yamaha I have is probably too top heavy.

I'm looking to get a system with plenty of reserve power and quite a warm sound. I probably have about £8k to spend but will need to trade my Naim amp and power supply in to cover that (so this replacement needs to be good with music).

I'd like HD sound in the pre, but I'm guessing there are not too many of those available 2nd hand. I guess I will have to get a Pioneer LX91 or Denon 3800 (seem cheap at the moment) as the source.

Could I get some suggestions for:
Pre amps and likely cost
Power amps and likely cost
Websites to look at to find them
Any other advice that might help

Cheers,
S

PS: If anyone in the Hampshire area has something similar I could listen to, I'd be grateful.

[Mark.Yudkin]

I'm a little unclear as to what you want. Are we talking 5.1 or 7.1 and do you need to buy speakers (and which) as part of the £8000 or not? Similarly, does the budget need to cover sources?

Since you like Naim, my first thought was "stick to Naim".

As you say, HD and "used processor" are contradictions. An option may be a new Audiolab 8000AP, assuming you have a source with on-board decoding; the Audiolab can accept LPCM over HDMI.

An obvious place to look is the classifieds here.

[Bossk128]

There is currently an 8000AP available on an auction site (not mine I hasten to add!) but it is a bit overpriced for 2nd hand IMO.

[Sluggster]

Hi,

I have good speakers and, at the moment I can live with my sources. Though £750 seems good value for the analogue outputs on the Denon 3800.

I'm really looking at Bryston, Classe, Krell, Lexicon level. I'm after 5.1. I would need the system to be able to take analogue or LPCM output from a good BR player.

The Classe 800 pre I listen to was fed from the analogue outs of a Marantz BR player and powered by a 5200 sounded very good indeed.

I'm not familiar with these makes so don't really know which were considered very good in their day (which, ideally, was in the last 3 or 4 years).

I'm reasonably short on rack space, so a 2 or three box system would be ideal - rather than 5 mono amps!

Cheers,
S

[FrazerT]

I was in the same position myself having a high-end stereo Naim audio system, NAC52/NAP250 & a separate Arcam AV system. Wanted to combine both stereo & home cinema systems into one which could perform stereo duties as well as home cinema. Decided on selling Naim Audio & Arcam gear to part-fund upgrade to Chord AV pre-amp & power amps, which I still use. I've upgraded to another Chord AV pre-amp, previous for sale here:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/ampli...processor.html

I also have a Pioneer LX-91 which you mention an interest in, with on board decoding for HD sound, a perfect partner, for sale here due to upgrade:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/dvd-b...ay-player.html

[John Martin]

Originally Posted by Sluggster

As a new system that will play music and AV to a high standard seems to have gone out of my price range I've been looking at the idea of a 2nd hand set up. I'm sure there are some bargains out there.

The thing is, I don't really know what to get. I do know that I don't seem to get on with the ARCAM (too sterile) or Cyrus (too bright) sound. I like the warmth and musicality of my Naim system. The Yamaha I have is probably too top heavy.

I'm looking to get a system with plenty of reserve power and quite a warm sound. I probably have about £8k to spend but will need to trade my Naim amp and power supply in to cover that (so this replacement needs to be good with music).

I'd like HD sound in the pre, but I'm guessing there are not too many of those available 2nd hand. I guess I will have to get a Pioneer LX91 or Denon 3800 (seem cheap at the moment) as the source.

Could I get some suggestions for:
Pre amps and likely cost
Power amps and likely cost
Websites to look at to find them
Any other advice that might help

Cheers,
S

PS: If anyone in the Hampshire area has something similar I could listen to, I'd be grateful.

Assuming you don't want to replace ALL your gear ...

I don't know how much you would get for your Naim Supernait etc, so why not keep them and get rid of your current AV amp and replace it with a reasonable one with HD codecs built in to use for your AV other than front R and L channels. This would probably be your cheapest option. You would, of course, need an appropriate lead to run from the front R and L pre-outs on the AV amp to the AV input on the Supernait.

Alternatively get an AV preamp with the HD audio facilities and a Naim NAP175 for the centre and rear channels, assuming you want 5.1.

The end result would be that you would keep the music sound you like, and have the HD audio you seem to want. Or do you just want to reduce the box count?

I suspect that if your Pioneer LX08 bluray player doesn't already do HD audio (via HDMI), then no doubt there is a firmware upgrade available that will make it do so. If you must replace it, then consider the Oppo 83 as well as your own suggestions.

I'm assuming that your Supernait has a "unity gain" AV input option to make it easier to integrate it into an AV system where it will power the front channels? It would be surprising if it didn't, as lesser Naim integrateds do!

8-)

[Mark.Yudkin]

I'm really looking at Bryston, Classe, Krell, Lexicon level.

All are well respected and I suspect you couldn't go wrong with any of them. Other options are Accuphase (may be over budget, even used, but worth keeping an eye out for), Burmester (ditto), Elektrokompaniet or Primare.

Obviously you're going to have to scour the second hand market to find something, but finding a used HD preprocessor from any of these brands is reminiscent of hen's teeth. 5 channel power amplification should be feasible though. Legacy processors should be possible, especially with Classe and Lexicon.

I rather wonder about the combination of a "simpler" BD player with analogue outputs in conjunction with electronics of this order. As as stop-gap it will probably be OK, but it wouldn't surprise me if using the non-HD soundtrack over a coax lead didn't sound better.

At the time I bought the Arcam AV9+P1000 (which I know you don't like), the first short list had Anthem, Classe, Krell and Lexicon. Krell excluded itself by demonstrating low level distortion on SACD (unbelievably - I acually told the dealer his kit was defective). Lexicon (MC08, but also MC12) was unable to support connecting all the legacy stereo devices I owned, so was functionally out. I liked the Classe, and would have bought it had I been able to stretch the budget far enough. In the end it was Anthem or Arcam, and my gut feeling went with Arcam, although the auditioning experience went either way.

[littlehomer]

Hi there,

Is there anything in the Tag Mclaren Rhealm that would help you here?

Aside from myself having an AV192 for sale, there are a number of different pieces of Tag equipment for sale here.

The room EQ and processing in the Tag units is excellent.

Depending on what you get in the unit, there is a scaler and all sorts.

Many Thanks,

Daniel.