Question HiFi Upgrade Advice

[Special K 2]

Hi

Looking for some advice and views.
I currently have the Pioneer P2DAB, this consists of a Network player, DAB Receiver and CD player.

I was thinking of upgrading to the following;

Yamaha A-S801
Yamaha TD500 DAB/DAB+/FM/AM Tuner
Marantz CD6006UKSE CD Player UK Edition
Pioneer N30AE Network
Not sure about the Pioneer N30AE as What HiFi don't give it good reviews.

What are your thoughts on the above, how would it compare to my current system ie marginal or big improvement?

What about using my current Network player (despite cosmetic system size)

Any ideas or suggestions would be great, thanks

 

[BlueWizard]

How bad do you really need AM/FM Radio? BBC broadcasts into the Internet with I think perhaps a dozen or more local oriented BBC Radio Stations.

While there is probably nothing wrong with the Pioneer Network Streamer, you might also want to consider the Yamaha WXC-50 Network Streamer/Pre-Amp (£250) which uses a fast ARM Processor. Excellent value for the money in a compact form factor.

Yamaha MusicCast WXC50 Networked Pre Amplifier - Superfi


MusicCast WXC-50 - Overview - Yamaha - UK and Ireland

This is a Pre-Amp but the Pre-Amp aspect can be turned On and Off. It also has additional inputs for other devices for those wanting to use it as a Pre-Amp only.

While the Yamaha AS801 is a very nice amp with 100w/ch improved 32bit DAC and USB-PC, you might want to consider the

Yamaha RN803 Network Receiver with 100w/ch, Network Streaming, DAB/DAB+ Radio, Room EQ, and Full Bass Management - (£569) -

Yamaha R-N803D Network Amplifier

MusicCast R-N803D - Overview - Yamaha - UK and Ireland

I would never tell you not to buy the Yamaha AS801, but the Tuner becomes questionable with there is no much streaming music, news, and BBC off the Internet.

A-S801 - Overview - HiFi Components - Audio & Visual - Products - Yamaha - UK and Ireland

T-D500 - Overview - HiFi Components - Audio & Visual - Products - Yamaha - UK and Ireland

The Yamaha T-D500 Tuner does appear to have AM/FM/DAB/DAB+ so a very versatile Tuner, but if you have Streaming do you really need a Radio Tuner?

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bluewizard

 

[dazed&confused]

What speakers do you have?

 

[BlueWizard]

By the way, depending on speakers, the system you are proposing is LEAGUES ahead of the system you have -

P2DAB | Pioneer

Steve/bluewizar

 

[Special K 2]

How bad do you really need AM/FM Radio? BBC broadcasts into the Internet with I think perhaps a dozen or more local oriented BBC Radio Stations.

While there is probably nothing wrong with the Pioneer Network Streamer, you might also want to consider the Yamaha WXC-50 Network Streamer/Pre-Amp (£250) which uses a fast ARM Processor. Excellent value for the money in a compact form factor.

Yamaha MusicCast WXC50 Networked Pre Amplifier - Superfi


MusicCast WXC-50 - Overview - Yamaha - UK and Ireland

This is a Pre-Amp but the Pre-Amp aspect can be turned On and Off. It also has additional inputs for other devices for those wanting to use it as a Pre-Amp only.

While the Yamaha AS801 is a very nice amp with 100w/ch improved 32bit DAC and USB-PC, you might want to consider the

Yamaha RN803 Network Receiver with 100w/ch, Network Streaming, DAB/DAB+ Radio, Room EQ, and Full Bass Management - (£569) -

Yamaha R-N803D Network Amplifier

MusicCast R-N803D - Overview - Yamaha - UK and Ireland

I would never tell you not to buy the Yamaha AS801, but the Tuner becomes questionable with there is no much streaming music, news, and BBC off the Internet.

A-S801 - Overview - HiFi Components - Audio & Visual - Products - Yamaha - UK and Ireland

T-D500 - Overview - HiFi Components - Audio & Visual - Products - Yamaha - UK and Ireland

The Yamaha T-D500 Tuner does appear to have AM/FM/DAB/DAB+ so a very versatile Tuner, but if you have Streaming do you really need a Radio Tuner?

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bluewizard

I prefer listening to radio via a tuner, many reason but one is that it has station presets that you can store the stations as opposes to searching up and down.

Also, don't listen too much to internet radio, but it is nice to have.
I do want access to a NAS drive and Air Play.

I din't want an all in one as I sort have got that now, wanted a bigger upgrade hence the discreet amp and separates.

 

[Special K 2]

What speakers do you have?

The speakers I have are Monitor Audio Bronze 6

 

[muljao]

Without giving a specific recommendation, if you buy a good amp with a good built in dac you can go relatively inexpensive with a CD player once it had a digital out

If you added a streamer you could be pretty sorted if you have internet

 

[BlueWizard]

I prefer listening to radio via a tuner, many reason but one is that it has station presets that you can store the stations as opposes to searching up and down.

Also, don't listen too much to internet radio, but it is nice to have.
I do want access to a NAS drive and Air Play.

I din't want an all in one as I sort have got that now, wanted a bigger upgrade hence the discreet amp and separates.

There is nothing wrong with the system that you originally laid out. That should do an excellent Job.

The Yamaha AS801 has 1xOptical, 1xCoaxial, and 1xUSB-PC input. If you need more, they can be added for a reasonable price. And of course the AS801 has 100w/ch, Phono-In, Sub-Out, and a 32bit/348k DAC.

The Yamaha RN803 is High-Value and at a bargain price, but I would speculate that the AS801 has better amps which is why it cost more.

As I mentioned, the Marantz CD6006UK is a good CD Player, nothing wrong with that. If you could get the Yamaha CD-S700 B-Stock that I mentioned, that is close to a £500 CD player for about £250, but as I said, that is probably a one-off, and when it is gone it is gone.

If you must have a tuner, the Yamaha T-D500 is about the best you will find for the price, mostly because Tuner are very rare today.

As to Radio Pre-Sets, most of your interaction with Streaming (ie: RN803) will be through the APP, and in that you can very likely have Pre-Set Internet Radio Stations.

The Pioneer N30AE Network ( £299) is OK, but ....personally... I think I would rather have the Yamaha WXC-50 Network Streamer/Pre-Amp for £250, but that's you call.

£550/ea = Yamaha AS801 Amp w/DAC
£320/ea = Yamaha T-D500 Tuner
£250/ea = Yamaha WXC-50 Network Streamer/Pre-Amp
£285/ea = Marantz CD6006-UK CD Player
------------------------------------
£1405 = Total

That is a very nice system.

Add another £50 if you want the Pioneer N30AE Network Player.

The Monitor Audio Bronze 6 are about £700/pair, so that brings the total system cost to about £2100. Again, a very sweet enviable system.

Most of these prices were based on PeterTyson and SuperFi, you may find better prices.

If you want to upgrade the Streaming aspect, probably the most Network Player for the fairest price is the Bluesound Node-2i (~£500) -

Bluesound Node 2i Wireless Multi-Room Hi-Res Music Streamer - Superfi

Lots of computing power, good sound, decent APP.

£550/ea = Yamaha AS801 Amp w/DAC
£320/ea = Yamaha T-D500 Tuner
£500/ea = Bluesound Node-2i
£285/ea = Marantz CD6006-UK CD Player
------------------------------------
£1655 = Total

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bluewizard

 

[Special K 2]

There is nothing wrong with the system that you originally laid out. That should do an excellent Job.

The Yamaha AS801 has 1xOptical, 1xCoaxial, and 1xUSB-PC input. If you need more, they can be added for a reasonable price. And of course the AS801 has 100w/ch, Phono-In, Sub-Out, and a 32bit/348k DAC.

The Yamaha RN803 is High-Value and at a bargain price, but I would speculate that the AS801 has better amps which is why it cost more.

As I mentioned, the Marantz CD6006UK is a good CD Player, nothing wrong with that. If you could get the Yamaha CD-S700 B-Stock that I mentioned, that is close to a £500 CD player for about £250, but as I said, that is probably a one-off, and when it is gone it is gone.

If you must have a tuner, the Yamaha T-D500 is about the best you will find for the price, mostly because Tuner are very rare today.

As to Radio Pre-Sets, most of your interaction with Streaming (ie: RN803) will be through the APP, and in that you can very likely have Pre-Set Internet Radio Stations.

The Pioneer N30AE Network ( £299) is OK, but ....personally... I think I would rather have the Yamaha WXC-50 Network Streamer/Pre-Amp for £250, but that's you call.

£550/ea = Yamaha AS801 Amp w/DAC
£320/ea = Yamaha T-D500 Tuner
£250/ea = Yamaha WXC-50 Network Streamer/Pre-Amp
£285/ea = Marantz CD6006-UK CD Player
------------------------------------
£1405 = Total

That is a very nice system.

Add another £50 if you want the Pioneer N30AE Network Player.

The Monitor Audio Bronze 6 are about £700/pair, so that brings the total system cost to about £2100. Again, a very sweet enviable system.

Most of these prices were based on PeterTyson and SuperFi, you may find better prices.

If you want to upgrade the Streaming aspect, probably the most Network Player for the fairest price is the Bluesound Node-2i (~£500) -

Bluesound Node 2i Wireless Multi-Room Hi-Res Music Streamer - Superfi

Lots of computing power, good sound, decent APP.

£550/ea = Yamaha AS801 Amp w/DAC
£320/ea = Yamaha T-D500 Tuner
£500/ea = Bluesound Node-2i
£285/ea = Marantz CD6006-UK CD Player
------------------------------------
£1655 = Total

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bluewizard

Of the streamers, I was looking at the WXC-50, but as I said I mainly want it for a NAS drive and from reading the app for the yamaha wxc-50 is awful as it won't search for files on a NAS drive, not really useful if you have a few thousand tracks.
The bluesound, I understand does not support DNLA.

That is why I mentioned the Pioneer N30AE, but the what HiFi review is somewhat off putting.
Also correction, My speakers are Monitor Audio MR6

 

[Nat64]

Forget the tuner and get one of these .

Yamaha NP-S303

https://petertyson.co.uk/yamaha-np-s303-network-player?___SID=U

It will do all your streaming plus you can have as many radio stations as you like and you can pre-set them all.
Uses yamaha musicast system.

I have one and it is very good.

Failing that those RN Yamaha receivers are also very good.

 

[BlueWizard]

Of the streamers, I was looking at the WXC-50, but as I said I mainly want it for a NAS drive and from reading the app for the yamaha wxc-50 is awful as it won't search for files on a NAS drive, not really useful if you have a few thousand tracks.

The bluesound, I understand does not support DNLA.

That is why I mentioned the Pioneer N30AE, but the what HiFi review is somewhat off putting.
Also correction, My speakers are Monitor Audio MR6

There are people who complain about every App on every Streaming Device made. That's nothing new.

As to not searching an NAS Driver, that doesn't make sense -

According to this Graphic, it does support NAS Drives, and it would seem to me that WXC-50 would simply see NAS Drive as another computer on the Network, which it sort of is. I think the NAS has to be running a DLNA Server though, and many new NAS Drives come with DLNA built in, though you might have to turn it on.

If you really want the best Software, I think Yamaha might be compatible with ROON Networking Software.

Roon Labs - Networking Software

As to BlueSound not using DLNA, I'm not sure how big a problem that is. It uses a proprietary communication protocol, but from what I can tell it does everything that DLNA will do.

You might want to check out some review on-line or on YouTube to see if you can get a consensus on the Yamaha and BlueSound Software.

But again, just as someone somewhere hates a give piece of audio equipment, also someone somewhere hates a give Networking APP. Though they are not necessarily wrong. I suspect in some way every Network App fall short on some aspect.

Network Software is one of the hardest aspects to get a handle on. Very few comprehensive demos on-line to draw from, and most reviewers only give brief mention to the software.

There are others here in the forum who have Yamaha Streaming Products, and there is a forum specifically for Streaming Devices, perhaps they can give you more insight into how the Yamaha works with NAS and what are the limitations of the Software.

AV Forums - Music Streamers

I think if you are looking for the Prefect Network Streaming system, you are unlikely to find it.

Steve/bluewizard

 

[Special K 2]

There are people who complain about every App on every Streaming Device made. That's nothing new.

As to not searching an NAS Driver, that doesn't make sense -

View attachment 1115307

According to this Graphic, it does support NAS Drivers, and it would seem to me that WXC-50 would simply see NAS Drive as another computer on the Network, which it sort of is. I think the NAS has to be running a DLNA Server though, and many new NAS Drives come with DLNA built in, though you might have to turn it on.

If you really want the best Software, I think Yamaha might be compatible with ROON Networking Software.

Roon Labs - Networking Software

As to BlueSound not using DLNA, I'm not sure how big a problem that is. It uses a proprietary communication protocol, but from what I can tell it does everything that DLNA will do.

You might want to check out some review on-line or on YouTube to see if you can get a consensus on the Yamaha and BlueSound Software.

But again, just as someone somewhere hates a give piece of audio equipment, also someone somewhere hates a give Networking APP. Though they are not necessarily wrong. I suspect in some way every Network App fall short on some aspect.

Network Software is one of the hardest aspects to get a handle on. Very few comprehensive demos on-line to draw from, and most reviewers only give brief mention to the software.

There are others here in the forum who have Yamaha Streaming Products, and there is a forum specifically for Streaming Devices, perhaps they can give you more insight into how the Yamaha works with NAS and what are the limitations of the Software.

AV Forums - Music Streamers

I think if you are looking for the Prefect Network Streaming system, you are unlikely to find it.

Steve/bluewizard

The problem with the MusicCast app is well documented, and Yamaha have even noted it.
You can't search specifically for an album, artist etc on a NAS.
You can search through the whole list stored on a NAS drive, sequentially, which is fine if you have a few tracks but if you have thousands it isn't really any good.
It's searching for say a specific Album, say, that is the problem, this would be an issue for me as I would be mainly using it for the NAS facility not the streaming stations etc.

Yamaha Musiccast - experience and app issues...

 

[Nat64]

I bought a NAS , and to be honest havent used it much at all atm.
It is a bit of a faf loading up all your cd's, then streaming etc etc.
I think the fact that i havent played around with it much says it all.

I suspect the Bluesound Vault2 is really what i am looking for , but it is expensive imho.

I keep hoping someone will make the equivalent of the bluesound vault 2 in a cabinet that matches the rest of the hifi.

Come on Yamaha.............get one made ans i will buy it.