Speaker suggestions for Audiolab MDAC & Quad 909 amp / advice needed please…

parcelmonkey

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After much thought, deliberation, confusion & reading, I’m close to purchasing some hi-fi. :clap: My budget will be up to £3k. For an amp I’m considering Quad 909 connected directly to Audiolab’s new MDAC as reviews seem to be positive for both items. As they both are owned by IAG I’m hoping for some good matching of tonality.

I will be streaming FLAC files from a NAS through a streamer [probably sonos or similar] as I can’t afford Linn’s DS ranges! I know the MDAC is too new for anyone to really comment but in reality I’m happy to purchase the Quad first and then demo from there unless someone suggests otherwise as all reviews point to the Quad performing brilliantly on all levels.

It’s the speakers which are causing problems. I know for £3k I won’t get everything and there will be compromises which I will have to live with. What I like is clarity, openness, great midrange and involving musicality. What I dislike is loose boomy bass, harshness and or a flat sound.

My room is 12’x14’ and the speakers will sight about 7 feet apart from each other outside of a chimney breast and about 8 feet away from where I will sit. Floor is a suspended wooden affair.
Speakers earmarked for demo as follows:
Epos Epic 5
Spendor A5
Wharfedale Diamond 10.7
Wharfedale Jade
PMC GB1i’s
B&W CM8’s
I’m hoping to get speakers S/H wherever possible as it will free up some of the budget for cables and NAS etc.
Does anyone think floorstanders will over dominate my room size and standmounts would be better?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated as to whether my choices so far are good ones. My music tastes are so eclectic they range from prodigy to female vocal, classical to rave and most things in between!

Cheers people for any input….
Regards Ade
 
Cheers people for any input…
Why spend on separate streamer, amp and DAC when you get a Linn Sneaky DS for £1k?

1Tb VortexBox NAS for £420, Spendor S3/5R2 for £850. That easily leaves £500 for stands and cables.

Does anyone think floorstanders will over dominate my room size

Yes.
 
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Hello,

Another option, instead of the Sonos as your streamer, would be a Squeexebox Duet, which you can still pick up for around £130. Use the S/PDIF output to the M-Dac, in turn connect that to the Audiolab 8200P and use with a pair of GB1i's. I have the 1i's myself in my second system with a Shanling MC-3000, but I have heard these with the 8000S integrated and they are an excellent match, as long as you don't expect too much bass excavating.

I figure this would come in under budget, would sound great (I admit I've not yet heard the M-Dac, but it's a Westlake design so the odds are it will be excellent) and give you some money for decent analogue cables (I'd take a listen to Atlas myself, detailed yet smooth and musical). BTW, don't worry about the digital cable, some compostive video cable with RCA termination will work great as it's a 75 ohm cable.

Regarding your speaker positioning, either side of the chimney is not a problem, the GB1i's like around 1M behind them for the imaging to really lock in, but make sure the baffle is at worst level with the chimney breast, if not slightly in front, as positioning the baffle behind the face of the chimney will spell disaster for your imaging.

I certainly don't think that floor standing speakers will dominate your room, in fact if anything I'd suggest bookshelf speakers on decent stands will take up at least as much space as the GB1i's. If you really wanted to try bookshelf speakers, make sure you use good stands, as they are key to good bookshelf performance, something like the Quadraspire perspex stands or even the Partington Super Dreadnought, which are really superb stands for the money. Mate these with the Epos speakers and you will have a system with phenomenal imaging, but for me the GB1i's would steal it in terms of bass weight, but YMMV.

As for the NAS, you would be hard pressed to better the Vortexbox which has been suggested, though if you are confident with computers then a HP N36L microserver (£240 with £100 rebate bringing it down to £140) then load up DBPoweramp Reference and Squeezebox server would be another excellent choice. Just don't buy any hard drives right now as the prices have gone crazy.

Given your budget and requirements this is certainly a configuration I would be very tempted by.

Regards,

Dave
 
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Wouldn't Quad speakers be an ideal match for the 909?

Plenty of 11Ls on eBay; my room is around 14ft x 21ft, and a Quad 77 integrated with a pair of 11Ls fills that easily. Partner the 11L with a 909 and you've got a fine combo, I'd say.

About £220 for a new boxed pair in Rosewood, or £400 or so for the floorstanding big brother 22L, also new
 
Why spend on separate streamer, amp and DAC when you get a Linn Sneaky DS for £1k?

1Tb VortexBox NAS for £420, Spendor S3/5R2 for £850. That easily leaves £500 for stands and cables.


Thanks for that but i've already heard the majik dsi coupled to PMC GB1i's. As good as this was with the dynamics and musical involvement it produced, somewhere along the line it sounded muddled in the midrange of many tracks on my demo. My concern would be that the sneaky is the smaller brother of the majik and things would sound less again. Not knocking the Linn DS's, for what they are they sound incredible but I do feel there is better for less of my hard earned...
Will certainly look into the VortexBox NAS.
Cheers...
 
EDIT: Yes, didn't notice your room dimensions; in that case..XTZ 99.25mkII Standmount Loudspeaker Piano Black, Pair | Standmount Loudspeakers | Loudspeakers | Audio Sanctum ....I've got the MkI's and love them

All the best
Darren

This looks interesting. Obviously i'll wait until I have DAC & amp but these look good and definitely not aware of these until your reply, so thanks for that. Can't see any reviews online. Can you elaborate on your own impressions regarding MK1's please. I've seen some members upgrading crossovers to MK2's so can only presume the sound is even better.
Do you think these will give good middrange but keep bass tight without losing control. Obviously I appreciate they won't go too low, but I can live with that as long as they stay in control. :smashin:

Regards Ade.
 
Hello,

Another option, instead of the Sonos as your streamer, would be a Squeexebox Duet, which you can still pick up for around £130. Use the S/PDIF output to the M-Dac, in turn connect that to the Audiolab 8200P and use with a pair of GB1i's. I have the 1i's myself in my second system with a Shanling MC-3000, but I have heard these with the 8000S integrated and they are an excellent match, as long as you don't expect too much bass excavating.

I figure this would come in under budget, would sound great (I admit I've not yet heard the M-Dac, but it's a Westlake design so the odds are it will be excellent) and give you some money for decent analogue cables (I'd take a listen to Atlas myself, detailed yet smooth and musical). BTW, don't worry about the digital cable, some compostive video cable with RCA termination will work great as it's a 75 ohm cable.

Regarding your speaker positioning, either side of the chimney is not a problem, the GB1i's like around 1M behind them for the imaging to really lock in, but make sure the baffle is at worst level with the chimney breast, if not slightly in front, as positioning the baffle behind the face of the chimney will spell disaster for your imaging.

I certainly don't think that floor standing speakers will dominate your room, in fact if anything I'd suggest bookshelf speakers on decent stands will take up at least as much space as the GB1i's. If you really wanted to try bookshelf speakers, make sure you use good stands, as they are key to good bookshelf performance, something like the Quadraspire perspex stands or even the Partington Super Dreadnought, which are really superb stands for the money. Mate these with the Epos speakers and you will have a system with phenomenal imaging, but for me the GB1i's would steal it in terms of bass weight, but YMMV.

As for the NAS, you would be hard pressed to better the Vortexbox which has been suggested, though if you are confident with computers then a HP N36L microserver (£240 with £100 rebate bringing it down to £140) then load up DBPoweramp Reference and Squeezebox server would be another excellent choice. Just don't buy any hard drives right now as the prices have gone crazy.

Given your budget and requirements this is certainly a configuration I would be very tempted by.

Regards,

Dave


I've demoed an Audiolab 8200CDQ with 8200P, but whilst it was good it just didn't make my foot dance if you get my drift. I thought the Quad 909 might be a bit more muscular. As to the GB1i's, at my last demo I liked them. As to positioning, I can keep them in front of the chimney, so no worries regarding messing up the imaging. My only problem will be one speaker will sit very close to an MDF cabinet halfway up the back of the speaker [it hides gas meter] and the other speaker will have no obstructions.

Not sure what differences if any this will make, I suppose I won't know until I start listening to something.

Thanks for your input on NAS etc, much appreciated.
Cheers...
 
This looks interesting. Obviously i'll wait until I have DAC & amp but these look good and definitely not aware of these until your reply, so thanks for that. Can't see any reviews online. Can you elaborate on your own impressions regarding MK1's please. I've seen some members upgrading crossovers to MK2's so can only presume the sound is even better.
Do you think these will give good middrange but keep bass tight without losing control. Obviously I appreciate they won't go too low, but I can live with that as long as they stay in control. :smashin:

Regards Ade.

Personally I think the 99.25's will really surprise you...across the whole range;)

For the money I think they are incredibly hard to beat...and hard to beat for a fair bit more too.

check this review out : http://www.avforums.com/forums/speakers/862415-xtz-99-25-review-uk-first-mkii.html
 
I would not rule out a second hand set of PMC DB1i's with that system. The MDAC will be a great addition to the system and Sonos will compliment it fine!

Phil
 
Personally I think the 99.25's will really surprise you...across the whole range;)

Hi,
What are your Mk1's like at low volumes though? Do they lose clarity and just become muddled when the volume is low?
Hope not... Always concerned with small boxes that they need oomph to sound good.
If you could give me your experience with this it would be much appreciated. :thumbsup:
 
Hi,
What are your Mk1's like at low volumes though? Do they lose clarity and just become muddled when the volume is low?
Hope not... Always concerned with small boxes that they need oomph to sound good.
If you could give me your experience with this it would be much appreciated. :thumbsup:


I dem'd a few speakers about 3 years ago now, mainly floorstanders including KEF iQ90's, QUAD 22L's, Epos M22i's and B&W 683's and to cut a boring story short I ended up taking a chance on the XTZ 99.25's.

Initially my plan was based solely around a 5.1 set-up using a Yamaha Z7 AVR for all duties, HT and 2-channel music-listening. Since then I've added a true stereo amp (Roksan Caspian M-1 series integrated)

I was using my SVS SB12+ with my XTZ 99.25's for a while, for stereo music duties too, but the XTZ 99.25's were plenty on their own...in fact, in my room I preferred them without my sub in the equation. (for music, still love my sub for movies)

For me, in my room, using my kit (Roksan amp, Rega DAC and CD6003 as transport) the 99.25's work well at all levels, IMO anyway. Personally, I think all speakers have the potential to sound a bit underwhelming at really low-levels...It's just how our hearing/brains work...isn't it?

Anyway, if you're having trouble sleeping... check out a couple of my old threads that will give you an idea on how I've arrived at my current set-up.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/hi-fi-systems-separates/1237379-stereo-amp-up-use-my-yamaha-z7.html?highlight=z7

http://www.avforums.com/forums/hi-fi-systems-separates/1358235-beresford-tc-7220-my-experience.html

Hope this helps
Darren
 
... My budget will be up to £3k.
For that summ you can get valuable gears.
But I advice most of the money invest in speakers, as they are most important part of the system.

I curerntly use Dune HD Base 3.0 as an universal streamer - it connected to Denon AVC-A1SRA by coax and Denon receiver acts as decoder for multichanel music/movies and also as DAC for stereo amplifier connected to Zone2.
I also have Beresford speaker switch and can select which amplifier or which speakers I can use.

Stereo amplifier is Merecus Onesta (2000year model retailed for a bit less than 4000€). When I switch between amplifiers I see that Meracus is better, but not as much if I switch betwen different speakers. Good amplifier is a must, but after certain level the difference is really small. I've compared Meracus before buying with one of top McIntoshes - sure there were the difference, but really small and in my oppinion not for 10K€ ;)

Source: I've intended to buy good CD, but after testing Denon AVC-A1SRA with 2 players I've found, that to get improvement I need to spend 2500€ for CD player, as Denon's DAC was playing same (they were playing differently, but I cant say which is better) as Primare CD21 and next model which plays better than Denon was CD31 - you can hear the difference, but only on certain CDs with really good recording ans mostly with classics, where music is more vivid with more instruments.
Next probably will be Oppo BDP-95.

But 1000€ difference in speakers is really big.
My hobby is speakes DIY/upgrades, and I've compared many speakers before upgrade with my equipment - there is really big gap in sound with price increase in speakers and much more noticable than with same investment in other equipment.

I will be streaming FLAC files from a NAS through a streamer
How about Oppo BDP-95? According to reviews and owner's feedback it have quite good DAC.

What I like is clarity, openness, great midrange and involving musicality. What I dislike is loose boomy bass, harshness and or a flat sound.
You describing my speakers, which I have in sales thread ;)
http://www.avforums.com/forums/spea...00-rrp-3800-grand-sentral-500-rrp-1050-a.html
Before buing them I've auditioned well-known brands MA Golds and Platinum, B&W 80X, CMs, different Triangles, and found them not as musical as Blues.


My room is 12’x14’ and the speakers will sight about 7 feet apart from each other outside of a chimney breast and about 8 feet away from where I will sit. Floor is a suspended wooden affair.
My room is 3x5.5m and floorstanders fit there well.
I've replaced Audes Blues with seriosly bigger Excellence 5, and they look and sound nice even I've been adviced that they require bigger room.
But you should take in account room accoustics, as most of the "boomy bass" problems are from there.

Speakers earmarked for demo as follows:
Epos Epic 5
Spendor A5
Wharfedale Diamond 10.7
Wharfedale Jade
PMC GB1i’s
B&W CM8’s
Wharfedale Diamonds: bored and not interesting,
B&W CMs - they have very clear midranges, but I think the are a bit bright, I cannot listen them for a long time.

Good luck with your search.
 
I would not rule out a second hand set of PMC DB1i's with that system. The MDAC will be a great addition to the system and Sonos will compliment it fine!

Phil

Bear in mind the Sonos doesn't support Hi-Rez streams unlike the Squeezebox Touch (which I would recommend overt the Duet for around £40 more)
 
Bear in mind the Sonos doesn't support Hi-Rez streams unlike the Squeezebox Touch (which I would recommend overt the Duet for around £40 more)

This is very true, however HD streaming is not a prerequisite of the OP after reading the posts!

Regards

Phil
 
This is very true, however HD streaming is not a prerequisite of the OP after reading the posts!

Regards

Phil

Fair comment, but IMO it's better to future proof when spending considerable sums :smashin:
 
For that summ you can get valuable gears.
But I advice most of the money invest in speakers, as they are most important part of the system.

I curerntly use Dune HD Base 3.0 as an universal streamer - it connected to Denon AVC-A1SRA by coax and Denon receiver acts as decoder for multichanel music/movies and also as DAC for stereo amplifier connected to Zone2.
I also have Beresford speaker switch and can select which amplifier or which speakers I can use.

Stereo amplifier is Merecus Onesta (2000year model retailed for a bit less than 4000€). When I switch between amplifiers I see that Meracus is better, but not as much if I switch betwen different speakers. Good amplifier is a must, but after certain level the difference is really small. I've compared Meracus before buying with one of top McIntoshes - sure there were the difference, but really small and in my oppinion not for 10K€ ;)

Source: I've intended to buy good CD, but after testing Denon AVC-A1SRA with 2 players I've found, that to get improvement I need to spend 2500€ for CD player, as Denon's DAC was playing same (they were playing differently, but I cant say which is better) as Primare CD21 and next model which plays better than Denon was CD31 - you can hear the difference, but only on certain CDs with really good recording ans mostly with classics, where music is more vivid with more instruments.
Next probably will be Oppo BDP-95.

But 1000€ difference in speakers is really big.
My hobby is speakes DIY/upgrades, and I've compared many speakers before upgrade with my equipment - there is really big gap in sound with price increase in speakers and much more noticable than with same investment in other equipment.


How about Oppo BDP-95? According to reviews and owner's feedback it have quite good DAC.


You describing my speakers, which I have in sales thread ;)
http://www.avforums.com/forums/spea...00-rrp-3800-grand-sentral-500-rrp-1050-a.html
Before buing them I've auditioned well-known brands MA Golds and Platinum, B&W 80X, CMs, different Triangles, and found them not as musical as Blues.



My room is 3x5.5m and floorstanders fit there well.
I've replaced Audes Blues with seriosly bigger Excellence 5, and they look and sound nice even I've been adviced that they require bigger room.
But you should take in account room accoustics, as most of the "boomy bass" problems are from there.


Wharfedale Diamonds: bored and not interesting,
B&W CMs - they have very clear midranges, but I think the are a bit bright, I cannot listen them for a long time.

Good luck with your search.

Seriously you have given me much to think about. Have replied already to your sales post, shame about geographical location re speakers. Maybe the PMC OB1i's can compare in SQ as they sometimes come up for sale for similar price as your speakers advertised, although they don't look anywhere near as good looking :blush:

Will have to look into the OPPO although how to compare with the MDAC will be difficult without dealers nearby!

Many thanks about your conclusions re amps etc, I can understand what you are saying, got to be a case of diminishing returns. I'm hoping the Quad is going to be good enough as all reviews seem to point to this.

Thanks for your input and I will think very carefully about what you have said...
 
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Forgot, can't go for OPPO instead of MDAC as the Audiolab will act as a simple preamp, otherwise I will be without....
 
Forgot, can't go for OPPO instead of MDAC as the Audiolab will act as a simple preamp, otherwise I will be without....
As I understand, volume control affects only headphones output - same with many other DACs with headphones out.
You better check it from dealer, as it seemes that it will not act as preamp for RCA/XLR outputs.
 
As I understand, volume control affects only headphones output - same with many other DACs with headphones out.
You better check it from dealer, as it seemes that it will not act as preamp for RCA/XLR outputs.

I thought the MDAC was the same as Audiolab 8200DQ but without the analogue outs?:(

Therefore, I hoped to use it purely to connect directly from streamer to DAC to power amp, or have I got this really wrong... :facepalm:

Hope not, otherwise it's the 8200CDQ...
 
I thought the MDAC was the same as Audiolab 8200DQ but without the analogue outs?:(

Therefore, I hoped to use it purely to connect directly from streamer to DAC to power amp, or have I got this really wrong... :facepalm:

Hope not, otherwise it's the 8200CDQ...

The MDAC can be used as a Digital Pre (see link below for confirmation)

Selectable DAC mode or Digital Pre-amplifier mode, allowing direct connection to power amplifiers and active speakers in digital only systems

New Audiolab DAC
 

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