Amplifier for Consonance droplet 5 CD Player

S

saikoubaa

Guest
Hello Everyone,

I could do with some advice on optimizing my setup (or soon to be setup). Up to now I have been using my pio DV757 ai or HK CDR2 as cd player. The amplifier is pio vsa ax10i and the front speakers Elegante E83s with an E8as2 sub. Over the last year or two I have been spending far more time listening to music than watching movies.

I decided to look into getting a dedicated cd player. As a subscriber hi-fi news I noticed the review of the opera consonace cd 5.0 player as I was going through the back issues. I love the looks and all the reviews seem great. This must be an improvement to my setup I figured.

Following some research I have now placed an order with chinese hi-fi.co.uk as was unable to have an audition in London and so no point in paying the extra cash without even the benefit of an audition.

Hopefully that is enough background. My question is:

what amps could I use that have a balanced input to take advantage of the cdp 5.0's balanced output?

could I use the possible amp together with the vsa ax10i to Bi-amp the front speakers? How do I do this?

I read somewhere that the arcam p1 monoblocks have a balanced input. could I use these with my pioneer amp?

I hope I have not rambled on too long but any help will be appreciated especially if you have setup with some similarities or if you own a droplet 5.0 cdp!

Many thanks!
 
You don't quote a budget but I assume the P1's are expensive so I am going to bang on about my amp, the Cambridge Audio Azur 840A. It has balanced inputs and a home theatre mode for use with a surround amp if required. The remote is a joy to use and the amp is quite neutral sounding. I bought mine 14 months ago and have lived with it for that long watching the amp gain popularity as more and more people genuinly into hifi discover how good the amp is.
Details here.
Sermon over!:)
 
Thanks for your comments cable monkey. I have actually read very good reviews on the azur 840 (both amp and dp) and I have considered it before buying the droplet cdp. However in many reviews of the droplet they have talked about its output stage being very good and hence not needing a pre-amp. The 840 being an integrated I am not sure how it will affect the droplets sound going through it. My budget for an amp is about £1500 max preferably not more than £1000.00! Thanks
 
Try a s/h Bel Canto S300.
 
Thanks for your comments cable monkey. I have actually read very good reviews on the azur 840 (both amp and dp) and I have considered it before buying the droplet cdp. However in many reviews of the droplet they have talked about its output stage being very good and hence not needing a pre-amp. The 840 being an integrated I am not sure how it will affect the droplets sound going through it. My budget for an amp is about £1500 max preferably not more than £1000.00! Thanks

I assume then you can vary the output of the CDP? There is plenty of stuff out there that fits some of your requirements but not all. You can't bi-amp with the pioneer and use balanced inputs with power amp or else you would just be feeding your CDP to the tweeter or woofer of your speakers. The CA does have fixed level inputs effectively bypassing the pre-amp but then you can't use it as part of the home cinema setup. It is a mute point in my opinion because the pre stage of the CA is very good, it is the whole point of them using switched relays rather than a potentiometer. In my opinion to get the best out of what you want you need a power amp with XLR and RCA connections, preferably switchable. There are plenty out there that fit the bill. Plenty on the second hand market too, making sure that this experiment won't break the bank if it doesn't work out. Something like this can be had for a fraction of your budget second hand.
 
Thank you Mr Sukebe and Cable Monkey(CM) for your suggestions and advice. CM, Thanks for pointing out to me why I would not be able to use my ax10i in a bi-amp setup. It seemed so obvious after you explained that I feel like a right fool for thinking it was possible! I guess I will have to make do with the bi-wire setup. I checked further on the 840A reviews on my hi-fi choice back issues (One full review and two in amp group tests and they were all very +ve). I was going to arrange a demo once my droplet arrives but then I saw in one of the mags that an 840 pre/power is to come to the market about now. the power amp (840W) is to have both balaced and RCA inputs and is rated at 200W per channel! estimated at £1000, this may well be the one I go for follwing a demo.

Am I right in thinking that if I connect the ax10i front preouts to the new stereo amp I will bw able to use them as part of the 7.1 home cinema setup? If not watching movies my intention is not to have the ax10i on.

Mr Sukebe, S300 looks great and also has very nice reviews from 6moons. I will certainly looking out for second hand ones as a new one is outside my budget!

Thanks for your help everyone.
 

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