Help with my first Hi-fi system

Oddidude

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So I'm looking to spend around £300-350 on a new hi-fi setup and have come across this combination: Cambridge audio cd5, Cambridge audio dacmagic 100, Cambridge audio am5. What are your opinions of this setup or are there any better ones for the same price? I am going to be using M-audio BX5 D2 speakers to listen to this whole setup.
Thanks in advance:D
 
Hi and welcome

The setup will not work with those speakers as is.
The m-audio are active speakers which has its own built in amp so will negate the need for the CA am5 amp. It also has a balanced XLR and a 1/4" balanced/unbalanced inputs only and No stereo or 3.5mm inputs which the cd5 and dm 100 requires to connect to.

You could forgo the D2 and look at conventinal speakers for similar money, I.e,

Q acoustic 2010i
Wharfedale diamond 121
Monitor audio mr1
There are other that will fit the budge also.

Or alternatively, you could forgo the amp/ DM100 andlook at the Dac Magic plus which has all that the dm100 has plus Balanced XLR outputs which could connect to the D2's. The Dac Magic plus can be had for same price as the dm100 and amp together but it can be had for £50 less than the norm in a deal RS are currently running.

Which room is this setup going into and how big is it?
Any other sources to consider, like to, pc, etc
 
Hi and welcome

The setup will not work with those speakers as is.
The m-audio are active speakers which has its own built in amp so will negate the need for the CA am5 amp. It also has a balanced XLR and a 1/4" balanced/unbalanced inputs only and No stereo or 3.5mm inputs which the cd5 and dm 100 requires to connect to.

You could forgo the D2 and look at conventinal speakers for similar money, I.e,

Q acoustic 2010i
Wharfedale diamond 121
Monitor audio mr1
There are other that will fit the budge also.

Or alternatively, you could forgo the amp/ DM100 andlook at the Dac Magic plus which has all that the dm100 has plus Balanced XLR outputs which could connect to the D2's. The Dac Magic plus can be had for same price as the dm100 and amp together but it can be had for £50 less than the norm in a deal RS are currently running.

Which room is this setup going into and how big is it?
Any other sources to consider, like to, pc, etc

This setup will be going in my bedroom, which is relatively small, and it would be useful to be able to connect a mp3 player, although it is not completely essential, to the speakers and I can probably just connect my PC to the DAC with a toslink connection I would like to keep the speakers I currently have so I will look into the dacmagic plus
 
So you already have the m-audio d2s?
If so then the DM Plus or similar will be the one to look at.

Pc to dac will be much better than mp3 player to....in fact you couldn't connect it directly to dac, cdp or speakers unless it has a digital output which I doubt it has.
 
So you already have the m-audio d2s?
If so then the DM Plus or similar will be the one to look at.

Pc to dac will be much better than mp3 player to....in fact you couldn't connect it directly to dac, cdp or speakers unless it has a digital output which I doubt it has.
I think I'll probably get the dacmagic plus although my only issue is if I want to use headphones then am I right in saying I won't be able to due to the lack of amp? I was looking to get the Schiit vali to sort this issue out. What is your opinion of this choice? Any better options?
 
Don't know anything about Schiit to comment on but have heard of them.
The DM plus has headphone output and a amp is not required to use it.
 
Don't know anything about Schiit to comment on but have heard of them.
The DM plus has headphone output and a amp is not required to use it.
But isn't it a pre-amp built into the dacmagic? Don't I need a power amp rather than a pre-amp to power headphones?
 
But isn't it a pre-amp built into the dacmagic? Don't I need a power amp rather than a pre-amp to power headphones?

Not quite. You are correct in that It is can be a used as a pre amp but it can also be used a as headphone amp and has enough power to drive them for a quality sound. Though it's primary function is a external dac
Typically, headphone amps are small and very low in power and not enough to drive conventional speakers. The DM's, Beresford and other similar dacs can also be seen (depending how you look at it) as headphone amps with a quality dac and pre amp functionality. I used to have a Beresford tc7510 dac which, for test purposes, I used as pre amp and as headphone amp for a while. Couldn't fault it one bit

For more info and better explantion than I can give have a look at the following link.

Do my Headphones Need a Headphone Amp? | headphone.com

Some CD players have head phones sockets and can be used without an amp.
 
Not quite. You are correct in that It is can be a used as a pre amp but it can also be used a as headphone amp and has enough power to drive them for a quality sound. Though it's primary function is a external dac
Typically, headphone amps are small and very low in power and not enough to drive conventional speakers. The DM's, Beresford and other similar dacs can also be seen (depending how you look at it) as headphone amps with a quality dac and pre amp functionality. I used to have a Beresford tc7510 dac which, for test purposes, I used as pre amp and as headphone amp for a while. Couldn't fault it one bit

For more info and better explantion than I can give have a look at the following link.

Do my Headphones Need a Headphone Amp? | headphone.com

Some CD players have head phones sockets and can be used without an amp.
So would I need a separate amp to drive something like Beyerdynamic DT990 600 ohms? I could always get a lower impedance version but I've heard the 600 ohm sounds different
 
Those look to be some serious cans.

I'm no expert on headphones and cannot say with 100% certainty whether or not some will require separate amp to work at a sufficient level or to get the best out of them though the latter is very feasible when you consider that hifi speakers can benefit from having their own amps, i.e mono block amplifiers, but i reckon the DMPlus will be fine. You could add a separate headphone amp after if need be.

I think to be sure that the DMPlus is up to the task with your headphones, you can pose that question in the headphone section where more knowledgeable answers can be given, unless somebody can chime in with a more definitive answer.

Headphones & Portable Music | AVForums
 
Those look to be some serious cans.

I'm no expert on headphones and cannot say with 100% certainty whether or not some will require separate amp to work at a sufficient level or to get the best out of them though the latter is very feasible when you consider that hifi speakers can benefit from having their own amps, i.e mono block amplifiers, but i reckon the DMPlus will be fine. You could add a separate headphone amp after if need be.

I think to be sure that the DMPlus is up to the task with your headphones, you can pose that question in the headphone section where more knowledgeable answers can be given, unless somebody can chime in with a more definitive answer.

Headphones & Portable Music | AVForums
Thanks for all your help. I'll see if I can find out if the DAC will be enough on its own
 
You're welcome and I hope u get what you need.
 

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