Help with upgrade- I'm bored!

nashb

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This is my current setup:

M&K K7s fronts and centre
M&K K4 tripole rears
Velodyne 10cht sub
Arcam AVR 300 amp.
Arcam DV79 dvd.

Although the setup is great for movies, music is miising. after reading all the joy u guys experience with separates, I fancy a change. Im gonna sell the above once Ive made my choce and hopefully release about a grand. Ive a another grand to add to the budget.

My choice of music is mainly soul, RnB and jazz.

My speaker shortlist includes:

MA Gold ref 20
PMC OB1
Totem Staff

Theve got be floorstanders(aesthetics) and biwirable/biampable.

Ive looked at the following possibilties:

S/H Proceed AVP/amp setup
S/H Parasound C2/A52
New Arcam AV8/FMJ P22 or P9.

I would love to own meridian/lexicon/BK etc but I cant afford new and the S/H market is thin and my knowledge lacking. :(

With my cash limitation, would separates still be an option or shall I go for a better quality a/v reciever and be done it. :rolleyes:

eg: Sunfire, BK.

TIA.
 
Ead, very under valued, sound pretty amazing :D

Or for a starting point, get a power amp and use your current av300. There is nothing wrong with better recivers (thats what i have) but pre pro is still the best option, it was simply my pre didnt have 5.1 analogue inputs, or video switching etc, so i got the denon with its hoard of inputs.

There are plenty of used meridian processors about, hard to find them with the 5,1 analogue inputs for sacd/dvd-a/hd-dvd etc.

I cetainly wouldnt worry to much about matching the pre to the power, if you like your arcams why not an arcam power and any pre you fancy.

Lots of options, although im not the best to listen to, i use (whats he thinking?)outmoded frowned on thx speakers, a (shock horror) passive sub, and (eeeek) pro power amps driven by an integrated (blasphemmyy!!)

edd
 
Hie Edd,

I have thought of using the AVR + power amp, but which one? Rotel any good. 1075 going in the ads.

Which Arcam? P9?

How good is the Boeringer?
 
I like rotels, very good value for money.

Ive never used arcam gear, ever, so i wouldnt be able to help there. Cant comment on speakers much either, as i tend to buy used gear, so never tried anythign recent from monitor audio.

The behringers that i use are huge cheap and nasty, but give huge amounts of power into just about anyload so suit me. But they way 15 kilos each, and for 6 channels you need 3 of them, which means lots of rack space needed.

Try the usual second hand sites, www.hifitradingstation.com often have the odd multichannel amp, and theres ebay, not to mention the classifieds on here.

edd
 
Nashb,

I don't know if this helps but I tried the PMCs recently and thought that the OB1s were overkill. I thought that the GB1s provided everythig I needed. I tested them purely for movies so can't comment on them with 2 channel. I will (eventually) get the GB1s and I'm going to pair them with a Parasound A52.

B
 
Edd: thanks for the info and link. I shall investigate.

Chewie: I have not yet heard the OB1s/GB1s but will bear your points in mind. How good is the parasound. Where did u here them and what is the price.

Thanks.
 
I would definately recommend keeping your receiver (at least to start with) and getting a power amp. I ran my old Sony STRDB940 with a RMB1075 for around 6 months and the upgrade the amp gave was really very noticable. I eventually dumped the Sony for a RSP1068 and although it is definately better the same jump in quality wasn't apparent that I experienced when updating just the amp.

I guess at some point you will get a seperate processor but upgrading a little at a time is more fun IMO, otherwise you never really learn which bits of kit are the best vfm in your system. Maybe that is me but I prefer to prolong the pleasure of buying new kit, one piece at a time :thumbsup:
 
nashb said:
Edd: thanks for the info and link. I shall investigate.

Chewie: I have not yet heard the OB1s/GB1s but will bear your points in mind. How good is the parasound. Where did u here them and what is the price.

Thanks.

Nashb,

I haven't had a chance to listen to the Parasound as I'm about to move house and everything is all packed up. I managed to get an ex-display model for £1000. If you are interested check out Progressives website ;)

With regards the PMCs I heard them in Sevenoaks in Edinburgh. I think that the GB1s are £1145 and the OB1s are £1600:eek:

B
 
AngelEyes: Thanks for that advice. I guess I was just after a complete new setup! SO u think the Rotel 1075 is a good start with the Arcam? Or do u think a combo with RSP 1068 (like u) would be good?

Chewie: Thanks for the info.
 
chewie13 said:
I think that the GB1s are £1145 and the OB1s are £1600:eek:

B

The OB1s are £2700 per pair.

As for loving the GB1s, if you have a good sub then I'd look at the TB2+'s, which are cheaper than the GB1s but very highly regarded.
 
a note on the ead ovation, i had one of these.

the best one to find is the later 8800 model, if you can, the original i used has some severe limitations despite its amazing sound quality, namely

only DD 5.1 and DTS 5.1 , its not 7.1
Only prologic 1, not 2, or IIx, it still sounds good, as its digital rather than analogue.
Only switches composite and svideo
no 5.1 analogure input
only 1, yes 1, optical input, the others are coaxial.
all analogue signals are converted to digital, then back to analogue, not so good for sacd, dvd-audio, or vinyl.

This is why i sold it, to what i valued it as £400, and why i went to an integrated with as many inputs as possible :D

edd
 
Edd: Thanks for that cos I was tempted by the EAD but knew that u used to own one and sold it cheap! :thumbsup:

I was just about to ask about it and u beat me to it. :smashin:

I might be able to get Arcams P1000 and AVP700 s/h so maybe thats the route to go for me. :confused:
 
if you can demo them go for it :D

the ead is an incredible piece of kit, just very inflexible, if you can live with its awkwardness its very rewarding, i just ended up with so much equipment i was using all kinds of external switches for optical and component video etc, drove me mad.

nothing beats extra power reserve if you ask me, cleans up the sound no end.

I will get another processor, but only when the hd sound formats have settled down, id say 2 years. no need to hurry with such things.

edd
 
Smurfin said:
The OB1s are £2700 per pair.

As for loving the GB1s, if you have a good sub then I'd look at the TB2+'s, which are cheaper than the GB1s but very highly regarded.

:oops: Ma Bad :oops: It was the FB1s I listened to.
 

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