Is Anybody Into Fairly Decent Hifi, Just Wanted Some Advice?

[Cletus Van Damme]

My speakers where a light finish as it suited our old furnishings, but when we moved house our taste changed, so i vinyl wrapped them to suit.
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Before.
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After.

They look awesome, really good job. I agree with everything that has been said and I think new is the way to go. I think the reason I was suggesting Arcam is that I like the sound. But liking the sound of a 90's amplifer, could be different to what they make now.

Another thought I had, which I honestly don't if it would be an issue, although I can't see why not, is if I tried an Arcam Alpha 10 power amplifier with the Alpha 9 integrated amp (70 watts) running the high frequencies and the Alpha 10 (100 watts) for the lows and mids. I'm sure that these can be mixed, it would be very cost effective, as it is the amp that is driving the mids & lows that keeps crapping out on me when pushed. Then again I'm maybe talking sh*te...

 

[derrick]

MP3s are just as good.

Stick to bikes.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Find yourself either an integrated or pre/power NAD Silverline. Way way beyond the s/h price point they command (especially the integrated). Hefty but delicate, a difficult trick to achieve. I use the power amp in a system where it's by far the cheapest component and it absolutely holds its own.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

Find yourself either an integrated or pre/power NAD Silverline. Way way beyond the s/h price point they command (especially the integrated). Hefty but delicate, a difficult trick to achieve. I use the power amp in a system where it's by far the cheapest component and it absolutely holds its own.

Cheers I'll take a look man. On a side note, does anybody know what the rough life expectancy is of a solid state amp?

When components start to go to bad etc. Just my integrated amp is 19 years old. The power amp will be similar as I got it off ebay. I have messed about with it, swapping the feeds over between the amps, but the one supplying the mids/lows always trips out at a similar volume. So it would suggest, that they are not powerful enough, or that they have both degraded at a similar rate.

 

[raleighnut]

Another B&W fan here. Also tested in the shop (Sevenoaks in Sheffield - don't know if still there). Had them a while but the range on the 602s3 is brilliant.

Ditto,
I've had the 602 S3 for 6-7 years now, I run em 'Bi-Amped' with the shorting bar removed,

Driven by these beauties.

 

[simonali]

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I'm no expert, but I'm fairly sure those speakers will sound better if you place them further apart.

 

[Salty seadog]

Amps and speakers need matching, I have a Naim amp, tried four different sets of speekers before settling with some B&Ws. Buying new is the way to go, as i initially tried some accoustic solutions, sounded great in the sound room in the shop, but not so good when i got them home, the shop let me try 4 sets of speakers at home before paying for them, I settled for the B&Ws

I have a Naim nate2 integrated amp that I bought second hand in 1994 for £400. I was in the shop I bought it from a couple of years ago and it came up in conversation, without missing a beat the guy says 'I'll give you £300 for it'
22 years after I paid £400 second hand.

I have it paired with a set of TDL RTL 3'S.

 

[simonali]

I used to have some TDL RTL4s. I recall listening to them once at a rather unsociable level and could hear an annoying vibration. It turned out that the wardrobe doors in the bedroom upstairs were being shook by the bass.

 

[raleighnut]

I have a Naim nate2 integrated amp that I bought second hand in 1994 for £400. I was in the shop I bought it from a couple of years ago and it came up in conversation, without missing a beat the guy says 'I'll give you £300 for it'
22 years after I paid £400 second hand.

I have it paired with a set of TDL RTL 3'S.

I paid £120 for my 33/303, if I sold just the 303 now I'd get @£275 for it.

I also nearly bought an original Nait, the guy brought it round to my flat and we plugged it into my set-up, not a patch on my QUAD but don't get me wrong they're a very capable Amp just lacking in outright power.

 

[tamiya]

On a side note, does anybody know what the rough life expectancy is of a solid state amp?
When components start to go to bad etc.

No reason why they'd go bad just from age... main culprit is electrolytic capacitors drying out after 10-15yrs, in audio gear their values aren't as critical as in computers so you might not even notice the difference - anyhow they're easily replaced with new.

Occasionally we'd get dry solder joints after decades of power cycles; just reflow the whole board. Transistor amps don't wear out but they can overheat if the heatsink thermal paste has dried out, worth cleaning & regreasing.

Speakers the foam rolls deteriorate & that's harder to DIY. Paper cones can rot or mold & cockroaches move in, Mylar lasts longer in the tropics. Speakers worth renewing every so often unlike transistors; I'm now hankering after electrostatics though... ahh, one day.

I'm more into C&V audio gear though, suits my music. I'd use valve if they didn't run so hot as for transistors, they go on forever. Right now I've got home brew amps that haven't been powered off for 25yrs & counting.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

I got a Yamaha amp on demo, it was way cheaper than what I would normally look at, it was on offer at £629. 100 watts RMS into 8 ohms, superb build quality, it went a lot louder and had better control of the bass at high volumes. When pushed hard, my Arcam's lose control of the the bass with these speakers, it sounds boomy and ponderous. The Yamaha just didn't sound as good in general though, it sounded a bit thin and grating, not as open and not as much detail as my Arcam's. I've been listening it at more respectable volumes and it sounds fantastic, be nice to have both though. I think I'll have to pay a bit more, I do like the Arcam sound but they ain't cheap.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Cheers I'll take a look man. On a side note, does anybody know what the rough life expectancy is of a solid state amp?

When components start to go to bad etc. Just my integrated amp is 19 years old. The power amp will be similar as I got it off ebay. I have messed about with it, swapping the feeds over between the amps, but the one supplying the mids/lows always trips out at a similar volume. So it would suggest, that they are not powerful enough, or that they have both degraded at a similar rate.

One of the reasons that it's worth paying decent money for decent kit - the likes of Sugden (which I have), Quad, Naim etc - just send whatever needs fixing back to them and they sort it. Sugden have been very cheap for the two repairs I have needed these past couple of decades.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

One of the reasons that it's worth paying decent money for decent kit - the likes of Sugden (which I have), Quad, Naim etc - just send whatever needs fixing back to them and they sort it. Sugden have been very cheap for the two repairs I have needed these past couple of decades.

I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the info. I have thought about Naim. When I returned the Yamaha amp the dealer salesman tried to sell me a Naim all in one amp/streamer/DAC thing. It was a little square box for £2000, he played it with the later version of my speakers, Kef R5's, these were £2000 too. It wasn't what I was looking for, but it sounded pretty good, just not enough power. It was 40 watts RMS into 8 ohms. I know it will be a quality 40 watts, but I think I need more than that. Nice bit of kit though.

I've heard good things about Sugden, don't know much about Quad. I wanted to try a Roksan Kandy K3, my local shop lists it on their website. I was told that they don't have it in stock, and would not order one for a demo, only for a sale. I thought that this was a touch poor, more so with the price of the stock in the shop. Its a major online retailer too, Peter Tyson. So if I'm buying something from there will have to be a Naim, Arcam, Marantz, or an expensive Yamaha.

 

[derrick]

I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the info. I have thought about Naim. When I returned the Yamaha amp the dealer salesman tried to sell me a Naim all in one amp/streamer/DAC thing. It was a little square box for £2000, he played it with the later version of my speakers, Kef R5's, these were £2000 too. It wasn't what I was looking for, but it sounded pretty good, just not enough power. It was 40 watts RMS into 8 ohms. I know it will be a quality 40 watts, but I think I need more than that. Nice bit of kit though.

How many watts do you need for a home system. i run a Naim System, have never had it at full power, and i like to turn up the volume.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

How many watts do you need for a home system. i run a Naim System, have never had it at full power, and i like to turn up the volume.

I don't know I'm thinking 100 watts @ 8 ohms min. My current amps are 70 watts @ 8 ohms, but they are old. The Roksan Kandy K3 is 140 watts @ 8 ohms. Wish I could hear the thing. Its just my current amps that make me think I need more. The speakers I have seem to like lots of power. I do play it loud though.. I'm just judging this off my current equipment nothing else..