Matching Speakers to an Amp - How important is the amps output

[darius0404]

Hi guys,

I'm looking to put together a system around my ipod. At the moment i have an apple ipod dock hooked up to a cambridge A5 amp with a basic 3.5mm jack - phono cable, powering some kef cresta 10 speakers (mounted on some fairly budget stands - cant remember the brand.)

I was looking to invest some money (around £400) to make my ipod sound as good as possible. I know that audiophiles abhor the idea of compressed music, so an audiophile system with an normal compression ipod as the source seems like an oxymoron. However...i wondered - what is the best way to make my ipod sound great?

At the moment, one idea i have is the itube valve dock (dock + 13w valve amp):

http://www.fat-man.co.uk/docs/produc...alveDock.shtml

I understand that valve amps give a warm sound, which can nicely complement the harshness of compressed digital music. However, the output rating is 13W into 8 ohms - which brings me to my question...

How important is the power rating of the amp with regard to speakers? What speakers could you pair this with? Wuld it have trouble driving some larger speakers for instance? I understand monitor audio bronze br2's are excellent, but would this amp have trouble with them? What about tannoy mercury custom F1's?

Any suggestions about making the best of my ipod would be greatly appreciated as well!

Thanks

Darius

[Badger0-0]

I'm pre-empting what you're going to say, but your existing amp seems a decent match as it is.

[scorpion88]

Darius, I have powered my iPod through a Marantz PM4200 (circa2002) which outputs 30w into 8ohms to Tannoy Mx2s and Mordaunt Short 901s and it works just fine.

[BlueWizard]

The Fat Man Amp/iPod Dock might be an interesting combination DEPENDING ON THE PRICE.

Personally, I agree with Badger0-0, your existing amp at 60 watt per channel is just fine and should drive just about any speaker on the market.

Your Kef speakers, though I couldn't find a lot of information, seem perfectly fine for a small compact bookshelf speakers.

Personally, if I were going to do anything in this same situation, I would upgrade the speakers slightly. Go to something with a larger woofer and a warmer sound.

Really, you system isn't that bad as it stands.

For you and depending on the price, the Fat Man combo is more of a novelty.

Steve/bluewizard

[Badger0-0]

To further what Bluewizard says, I'd suggest that all of the speakers you list aren't going to do the trick with a valve amp.

Valve amps can have fantastic qualities and can indeed calm bright/thrashy speakers/sound down somewhat

But the power levels are appalling, if you want to listen at anything above quiet-moderate, IMO.

You need to be looking at very easy to drive speakers to get decent volume and they aren't available at anywhere near the money you're talking about (I looked into this myself, having had a lot of valve experience with Ham radio gear, oh the sound (drool)).

You could consider the likes of Marantz or Arcam to give you warmer sound, but I'd go for warmer speakers first.

Dare I suggest you have a listen to the SVS SBS?

Cheap, but decidedly laid back, IMO.

[dablk]

What they said...

I would also consider getting yourself a ipod dock to give you a truer line level output rather than the (sorry...cowboy) headphone socket...It will also charge your ipod and prolong the life of the headphone socket.

I doubt your cambridge a5 would embarass itself even if you spent the remaining £360 on just speakers and some better cabling.

For £400 why not test drive b&w zepplin.. might be more your thing.

[Badger0-0]

Originally Posted by scorpion88

Darius, I have powered my iPod through a Marantz PM4200 (circa2002) which outputs 30w into 8ohms to Tannoy Mx2s and Mordaunt Short 901s and it works just fine.

Decent first post mate

Welcome to the forums

[scorpion88]

Cheers, glad it was useful.

[darius0404]

Thanks for all your posts guys...

I just auditioned the fatman yesterday at audio excellence in cardiff. Tried it with B&W LM1s, KEF iQ1s and finally B&W 686s.

Firstly, loved the sound of the fatman - it seemed to milk a little something extra from the ipod. A really nice, warm sound, which seemed controlled at all levels.

The KEFs and the LM1s were good, but i was quite blown away by the 686s. Their sound was really substantial, and i have to admit i found myself standing there, smiling idiotically in front of the amp at how good they were.

I must admit that i was sceptical when the guy in the shop suggested them, as ive heard b&ws are quite difficult to power - that said they seemed to be okay with the fatman. The max volume wasnt blowing off any doors but i felt it would be sufficient for my relatively little room.

Given that the 686s semed okay, does it stand to reason that speakers like the Monitor Audio Bronze BR2s and wharfedale 9.1s would be okay too?

Darius

[darius0404]

Oh, and also tested the B&W zeppelin while i was there. I have to say, having come from the fatman with the 686s, the zeppelin sounded a bit...cheap . Which at £400 suprised me!

PLus, the remote has limited functonality, whereas you can control everything with the fatman remote.

[darius0404]

Originally Posted by dablk

What they said...

I would also consider getting yourself a ipod dock to give you a truer line level output rather than the (sorry...cowboy) headphone socket...It will also charge your ipod and prolong the life of the headphone socket.

I doubt your cambridge a5 would embarass itself even if you spent the remaining £360 on just speakers and some better cabling.

For £400 why not test drive b&w zepplin.. might be more your thing.

Another thing, , I do have a dock at the moment. Its the apple dock, with remote. Fairly simple plain looking thing, but i figure it does the job.

[wicker_man]

Originally Posted by darius0404

... but i was quite blown away by the 686s. Their sound was really substantial, and i have to admit i found myself standing there, smiling idiotically in front of the amp at how good they were.

I must admit that i was sceptical when the guy in the shop suggested them, as ive heard b&ws are quite difficult to power - that said they seemed to be okay with the fatman. The max volume wasnt blowing off any doors but i felt it would be sufficient for my relatively little room.

Given that the 686s semed okay, does it stand to reason that speakers like the Monitor Audio Bronze BR2s and wharfedale 9.1s would be okay too?

Darius

I was also very impressed with the B&W 686's when I demoed them, so much that I now own them! I have them paired with a NAD C370 amp, and my MacBook Pro connected to it playing heavy/extreme metal (Apple Lossless/high bitrate MP3).

I have demoed many speakers in my hunt for bookshelfs around £200, and I was initially going to go for the Bronze BR2s (pre-demoing). But when I heard them, I didn't really like the sound. I also demoed the Kef IQ1 (which I didn't like either, sounded a bit thin) and the Diamond 9.1 (which I did like and were good for the price, but not as good as the B&W) along with some others from Epos, Quad and Dynaudio (which were quite a bit more than I wanted to spend).

I hadn't even considered the B&Ws until the dealer suggested them, and I was a bit skeptical considering their small size, relatively low efficiency and having a rear port design, but they sounded much bigger than they looked and had a good amount of bass. My amp is 120wpc, so I should have plenty of power and my room is quite small too (I haven't turned it past 9:00 yet!).

But, as others say, demo the equipment before considering, because it's what sounds good to your ears which you need to trust, not a magazine review or people on a forum!

[Jazzy639]

Ive just seen your post, im in the exact same position as you. ie I play my music from my iPod through my Cambridge Audio A5 and looking to make it sound better.

Ive just bought B&W DM601 S3 speakers, hoping they will match well.