Potential Amp Upgrade. Your views.

Darkmatter21

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After some consideration i have decided i quite fancy a new amp. I would love to cut down the number of boxes and make a more stream lined system.

The debate is to go from

DacMagic/Chord Chameleon Silver plus/NAD C355BEE (Approx £450)

to

XTZ Class A-100 (£620 W/ free power cable)

This is to go with my Monitor Audio GS10's & Chord Odyssey 2.

I just wondered if this is worthwhile upgrade or not, i know this is subjective so am not expecting an exact answer just what peoples opinions are on it.
 
Have a word with Shaun at Audio Sanctum and see if you can get the loaner unit for a while.....Nothing beats judging for yourself, in your own listening room with the kit in your system.

I'm very interested in this amp and have been for quite a while....When time permits I'm hoping to trail the demo unit too.

I'm looking to replace a Rega DAC and Roksan Caspian with the XTZ...and IMO these are tough shoes to fill so I think the XTZ should well and truly be a step up from your NAD355; not so sure about the DAC side of it as DAC's don't differ nearly as much as amps, IME anyway.

HTH
Darren
 
A Rega DAC is certainly a step up from a DACMagic, well being 50% more you would expect it to be. I agree with what you said about DACs not being as bigger influencing factor as the amp itself, comparing my X-fi to my Dacmagic there is some difference but i would not say its completly night and day.

I might buy one and if i am not impressed return it. Obviously i would be losing £40? or so shipping fee if i change my mind, so i was hoping to get a few opinions here first before i did it.

The NAD C355 is not a bad amp, but i just can't help feeling it could be much better. I think my GS10's are being constrained by two things, the NAD and the stands, which allow the speakers to move more than i would like at even medium volumes.

When do you think you will be demoing it?
 
When do you think you will be demoing it?

Not sure really....I want to pull the trigger now but I became a Dad about 2 months ago and me and Wifey are still on a sharp learning curve:rolleyes:

Here, check this thread. I think I start banging on about the XTZ from post 12.

There's a few members in there who are also looking to demo it at home too. Also, in my post (#12) I link to a half decent review on it over on Wigwam. ;)
 
Before doing anything, I'd get those stands set up solidly and rigidly !! I think you'll notice a huge difference from that alone. Then you can evaluate where to go in the future. I remember siting some floorstanders in the past on granite slabs. The slabs were just placed on the carpet and therefore would rock slightly if nudged. I lost all my bass extension and tightness !! This may well be happening to you if your stands aren't rigid. If you connect the XTZ up as they are, your speakers may topple over !!
 
steveledzep said:
Before doing anything, I'd get those stands set up solidly and rigidly !! I think you'll notice a huge difference from that alone. Then you can evaluate where to go in the future. I remember siting some floorstanders in the past on granite slabs. The slabs were just placed on the carpet and therefore would rock slightly if nudged. I lost all my bass extension and tightness !! This may well be happening to you if your stands aren't rigid. If you connect the XTZ up as they are, your speakers may topple over !!

They are not that wobbly. They have spikes going down to the concete floor. They need filling with sand I think to weigh they down. It is not practical to do this at this point in time but I am looking into what van be done.
 
I might buy one and if i am not impressed return it. Obviously i would be losing £40? or so shipping fee if i change my mind, so i was hoping to get a few opinions here first before i did it.

A home demo is definitely recommended, as with any addition or change to the system, you need to make sure it suits you, your system and your room. That is why we are happy to send out 'loaners' for you make sure it's for you before making a commitment.

If you did decide to return the unit then we would ask for you to just cover the shipping back to us (£20) or you can arrange your own shipping. If you have the unit on loan (Paying half the cost as a deposit) then we would ask you to cover the cost of shipping both ways (£40).

However if you did take the plunge then you would of course qualify for the offer we are running with the free £90.00 power cable thrown in, which might i add ends on the 31st of this month ;)
 
Hmmm, i suppose the risk of shipping is lower than i expected. £20 is not so much. I would just buy it and if it really was unsuitable the safety of just being able to post it back would be great. IF i bought it today would it turn up monday?
 
Ah ok, shame. I suppose that gives me the weekend to think about it. I take it as long as i order before monday morning it will be collected on monday?

Do you have any black ones in stock?
 
Ah ok, shame. I suppose that gives me the weekend to think about it. I take it as long as i order before monday morning it will be collected on monday?

Do you have any black ones in stock?

As long as you order before 11.30 it will be with you the next day. We have one Black finish in stock, this finish has been very popular over the past few months whereas previously it was the two tone Silver/Black.
 
Ah good, lets hope no one buys the black one while i get together the money. Quick question, how far are the speaker terminals in from the edge of the amp? Need to make sure it fits into my rack
 
I think they protude 30mm out of the back of the amp, but i can't work out how far they come in from the sides.
 
Noooo, not the Roksan, I beg you.


I know, I know:rolleyes:

I'm not at all sure I want to let my Caspian go:confused:

I know cost and RRP's don't equate to much sometimes but I do wonder how the £625 XTZ will compare to the £1450 (when new) Roksan:confused:

It's not even about cost as I suspect I could sell my Roksan for roughly the cost of a new A100 D3 anyway.

I think there must be something seriously wrong with me because I can't see anything wrong with keeping the Caspian and buying/owning the D3 too....I don't need or have another system to use both in but I want both:suicide:

Still, I am lucky in that [-]The Fun Police[/-] my darling Wife will [-]order[/-] persuade me to get a grip:)
 
Well i think i will be able to tell you how it compares to my C355(£400) & DACMagic (£200), i am expecting the dac side to be slightly worse but the amp side of things to be much better so overall a better pacakge and less box's in the system which is always nice. The more connections you make the more chances there are for things to be changed.
 
A home demo is definitely recommended, as with any addition or change to the system, you need to make sure it suits you, your system and your room. That is why we are happy to send out 'loaners' for you make sure it's for you before making a commitment.

If you did decide to return the unit then we would ask for you to just cover the shipping back to us (£20) or you can arrange your own shipping. If you have the unit on loan (Paying half the cost as a deposit) then we would ask you to cover the cost of shipping both ways (£40).

However if you did take the plunge then you would of course qualify for the offer we are running with the free £90.00 power cable thrown in, which might i add ends on the 31st of this month ;)

I'd rather have the £90 off the RRP than the power cable :devil:
 
I would be happy with even half that. Is there any other freebies you could throw in?
 
Just found out for the open day they are offering 10% off! Might be worth waiting for!
 
Sorry guys we have to be pretty strict with the offers we have. These products are already a very good price and the cable is a real icing on the cake.

Still no joy on finding a second hand one then strocky?
 
Sorry guys we have to be pretty strict with the offers we have. These products are already a very good price and the cable is a real icing on the cake.

Still no joy on finding a second hand one then strocky?

Not yet, tbh if I had sold my two other amps a week earlier, I would have taken you up on the wigwam April offer :smashin:

Also doesn't help the wifes car engine seized the other week, gonnae cost £900 to fix :rolleyes:
 

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