Pairing active speakers with a CD network player

Pejose

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So I'm thinking of buying a Marantz M-CR612 to go with a pair of Adam T7V's but would like to know if they would be a good match and would I be able to control the speaker volume through the Marantz remote or would I have to adjust it on the speakers?

The reason I'm going for this combo is that I want a pair of speakers that perform really well at low volume and I'm told that actives would do that and the Adams are fantastic value. The Marantz because I need a CD network player that is compatible with actives (I want it to play CDs, internet radio and Spotify etc but don't want a separate CD player and network player).
 
An easy set up and you’ll be delighted with the Adams.

The preouts will drive any active speakers, and you would use the remote for volume, source selection and anything else as you normally would.
 
I’d also consider this if you’re anywhere near.


And this.


They do everything the 12 does.
 
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An easy set up and you’ll be delighted with the Adams.

The preouts will drive any active speakers, and you would use the remote for volume, source selection and anything else as you normally would.
So in terms of sound, I'm hoping for a wide open spacious sound, as though it's not coming from the speaker but is just all around the room. Don't know what you call that, surround sound, 3D audio, soundstage? Would that be generated by the studio production of the track at time of recording, the CD network player or the speakers, or a mix of all?
 
So in terms of sound, I'm hoping for a wide open spacious sound, as though it's not coming from the speaker but is just all around the room. Don't know what you call that, surround sound, 3D audio, soundstage? Would that be generated by the studio production of the track at time of recording, the CD network player or the speakers, or a mix of all?

I’m not at all sure what you mean by ‘wide open spacious sound’?

If you mean surround sound, ie Dolby 5.1, or similar, then you’d need 5 speakers and an AV amp and you’d need to use one of the ‘surround’ options in those amps to spread the stereo signal around the 5 speakers.

If you’re simply after good quality stereo music, then first you need a decent stereo hifi, which the Marantz and Adams certainly will be.

After that it is the recording quality that determines the ‘soundstage’.

But if you’re after ‘3D’ ( with sound coming from the rear of the room and whatnot) then I’m at a bit of a loss to understand what you’re trying to achieve.
 
Another option, even though it is a two box solution would be -

Yamah WXC50 preamp streamer which has built in Spotify connect etc and can be used as a preamp for the speakers. It also has a subwoofer output for future expansion, a couple of analogue input if you go down the turntable route (with built in phono stage) and has a pretty good built in DAC. It runs the Yamaha multicast software connectivity and can be sued multiroom or stream other services or music on a pc/nas. A bit of a bargain at £269.


Add a Tandgent CD1 using the optical output into the yamaha using it as a transport only. £159


Both of these are small and take up less room that an all in one or traditional separates. Plus I would suggest, as you are not paying for the power amp stuff in the all-in-one, then this will probably sound better And be more flexible in the future.
 
If you are looking at Active Speakers at that sort of price point then consider the Kali Audio range.

They come from the professional studio monitor market and get amazing reviews and are able to produce a really wide and flat sound stage at wide dispertion angles.

We liked them so much we added them to our sites as we think they have a great retail market offering.
 
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I’m not at all sure what you mean by ‘wide open spacious sound'?
So the other day I listened to a Ruark R3. The sound on the Ruark was very open. It didn't sound like it was coming straight at me from the speakers, it sounded like it was coming from all around the room if that makes sense. It could be the tracks I was listening to though rather than the Ruark. Stereo imaging maybe? I don't know.
 
So the other day I listened to a Ruark R3. The sound on the Ruark was very open. It didn't sound like it was coming straight at me from the speakers, it sounded like it was coming from all around the room if that makes sense. It could be the tracks I was listening to though rather than the Ruark. Stereo imaging maybe? I don't know.

Aha. That makes sense.

That simply means a good soundstage.

In that case then yes.

A little experimenting with positioning and good actives will give you a fine soundstage.

Always, and forever, recording dependant.
 
Ps, if you can not get the speakers a suitable distance apart one of the Ruarks would be a great buy.

I’ve heard nothing but praise for them. And Ruark are legendary.
 
For instance, if you can get to Birmingham.


A little old fashioned looking for some perhaps, but very much 21st century audio engineering.

 
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Ps, it may have been the ‘3D’ effect of the the R3 you were hearing.

It certainly seems to be a genuinely useful bit of DSP and certainly not the usual nonsense lobbed into cheaper stuff.

 
Been reading a bit about the Adams and Kali Audio actives and users have been saying that they give off a hissing noise. Has any owners on here heard this, and how distracting is it?
 
Been reading a bit about the Adams and Kali Audio actives and users have been saying that they give off a hissing noise. Has any owners on here heard this, and how distracting is it?

Only if you sellotape your ear to them.

Lots of people use them for very near field use. That is about a foot and a half away from them on a computer desk or similar.

And they feed them with a noisy laptop or pc analogue output.

They are no noisier than any amp with a transformer.
 
Ps, it may have been the ‘3D’ effect of the the R3 you were hearing.

It certainly seems to be a genuinely useful bit of DSP and certainly not the usual nonsense lobbed into cheaper stuff.

I was well impressed when I started listening to it, the track I was listening to was Strong by London Grammar, which sounds amazing through Dolby Atmos on my headphones/tablet, which is why I chose that to demo with. I wanted to see how the Ruark reproduced the deep rumbling bass and awesome sounding vocals. The vocals sounded really spacious but the bass was very weak unfortunately. Shame as I would have bought it otherwise.

After reading the review you linked above it all makes sense. The Ruark has 3D audio which I guess accounts for the wide open sound I was hearing.
 
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Only if you sellotape your ear to them.

Lots of people use them for very near field use. That is about a foot and a half away from them on a computer desk or similar.

And they feed them with a noisy laptop or pc analogue output.

They are no noisier than any amp with a transformer.
That's good to know as I'd be listening to them from about 4-8 feet away.
 

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